According to The New York Times, Todd Peterson, our junior wide receiver from Grand Island, knows the score.

“It’s tough when you don’t win. I know it’s college, but it’s business at the same time. There’s a lot of money involved. We’re feeling pressure.”

The same article also looks at the general disarray that occurs in a leadership vacuum.

Before practice Tuesday, the senior cornerback Zack Bowman said local criticism, articles and rumors were seeping into the team’s psyche.

“Next thing you know, you’ve got guys questioning guys, and guys questioning coaches and stuff,” Bowman said. “That’s where your team starts to break down.”

There is also mention in the article of a fight between two players that left one player with a bruised face.

Huskers.com has a transcript of Maurice Purify’s comments to the press on Tuesday.

Here’s what he says about not giving up:

I can only speak for myself. I am not collapsing. I am still here. I’m playing as hard as I can, and when you don’t play hard that is when you get injured. I still want to make it to the next level, so I cannot quit on myself.

Purify may have had some issues off the field, but he’s shown toughness on the field (drops aside). I’d love to see him have a big day against the ‘horns on Saturday.

According to Omaha World Herald, Mack Brown will play his second string defense in the first quarter of the game this Saturday. Not becasue Nebraska’s having trouble moving the ball. No, that would be too easy an answer. He’s doing it to develop his players and to keep everyone motivated. Imagine that…

Omaha World Herald is running a story about how fan negativity is weighing on the players. [Insert whining sounds]

Nebraska football captain Zack Bowman showered, wandered outside Memorial Stadium on Saturday and thought he couldn’t feel any worse about the Huskers’ loss to Texas A&M.

He was wrong.

“People will come up and be like, ‘You suck!’” said Bowman, a senior cornerback. “To me, to the team, they say it to anybody. Anybody associated with the football program. It’s bad.

My message to the players: leave it all on the field and this negativity will vanish in a flash. The fact that defenders half-heartedly jogged after OSU players on their way to the endzone two Saturday’s ago is simply inexcusable.

The players’ quoted in this story also seem to lack a fundemental understanding of Husker culture. Nebraska is much more than a football team. The team is a point of pride for natives of the state and graduates of the university.

Bowman also said some players want to fight the disgruntled fans. I know this must be a major newsflash to these young bucks, but they are far from the toughest dudes in the Cornhusker state.

Personally, I could care less what words BC utters. But for the sake of discussion, let’s examine his lastest arguements.

According to Lincoln Journal Star, BC sustained one of his best an offensive drives of the season today.

About resigning, he said: “No, I’m committed. I said I want to be here. I want to be here. I signed an extension to be here … No, (resigning is) not an option.”

Surely, one broadcaster questioned — with the season’s results, the firing of Steve Pederson, and a book coming out that alleges Callahan said unkind things about Tom Osborne — the coach must wonder if he’s the right man for the job.

“I don’t acknowledge that book at all. All I would tell you is … I’ve done an excellent job in every area. It’s hard for the media to know, but what we’ve done off the field, and what we’ve done on the field. I think it’s well-documented,” Callahan said.

Well, BC’s right about one thing. His horrible performance on the field is indeed well documented.

Wow. A not-so-great Texas team are 21.5 point favorites against Nebraska this week. Unfortunately, the way the Nebraska defense is playing, it seems like they can make an average team look stellar.

I can’t help but wonder why we aren’t seeing Joe Ganz on the field this season. He was good enough to fight for the starting position last August. But now, for reasons untold, he’s not good enough to take a snap?

Samuel McKewon for Nebraska State Paper reports on Keller’s performance yesterday:

Keller struggled again with placing the ball where his receivers could make catches in stride. Balls were behind them, at their feet or beyond their reach. A few times Keller left his feet to throw, aiming the football like a soft-tipped dart. Other times he dumped the ball to Lucky when better options downfield were available.

Loserhan and Cosgrove are not the only problems we have. People say Keller is a leader, but he was not elected captain. And where is it that Keller is leading us? We had a strong leader at QB in Zac Taylor. So strong, he made his coaches and team look good. Those days are over, and soon so will these days be bygone. Could it be any more obvious that it’s time to develop our younger players?

I know Loserhan won’t make that call–it would indicate that he was wrong in the first place. It’s time for TO to deliver the knock out punch so we can start to improve.

Husker Nation is not likely to dwell on yesterday’s game like it did on the USC, Ball State and OSU games. But I think it’s worth looking at what the opposition is saying.

Dennis Franchione, feeling good about his first-ever victory over Nebraska, told the Houston Chronicle what he was thinking about calling his QB’s number again and again.

“Believe me, when I was calling those plays, I was only worried about making first downs and touchdowns,” said Franchione, whose team became bowl eligible for the second straight year and third time in his five seasons at College Station. “That’s probably not exactly the way we want it, but when you have something they can’t stop and won’t stop, you’re going to make them do it until their nose bleeds.”

Jorvorskie Lane, who had 130 yards rushing and four TDs yesterday, added to the indignities.

“I could have driven my car through those holes they were giving me.”

Let’s lighten the mood around here. Tom Osborne says no changes until after the season. And the general consensus is that Callahan and his people will be gone.

You are now in the AD job. Who would you hire and why? I’m only looking for your head coaching candidate, but if you want to step into the realm of offensive coordinator and/or defensive coordinator feel free.

I know this is going to turn to Bo Pelini talk and as most of our regular readers know, I’m not sold on him as a candidate, but to date, no one has been able to give me a reason to change my mind. Think of this as “convince the Administrator” if you wish.