Brian Christopherson of the Lincoln Journal Star really summed up today’s game:

New week, old story: Opposing offense manhandles Nebraska’s defensive front, befuddles its linebackers, scores with virtual ease, crowd groans and wonders when nightmare ends.

A close game at the half was a different story in the 2nd as the Aggies score three touchdowns and manhandle the Huskers.

Huskers fall to 4-4 on the season, 1-3 in Big 12 play.

TO says no changes until the season is over. Can we call the season over today?

Stay tuned for the 2nd half.

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Back to the action. Nebraska 14 - Texas A&M 16

Callahan explained Watson’s role on the sidelines today is to share playcalling duties and give Callahan a chance to spend some more time with the defense…

A&M Driving. Chewing up yards like I’ve been eating chocolate chip cookies. 80 yards in 9 plays resulting in a 2 yard touchdown rush by Lane PAT Good.

Nebraska 14 - Texas A&M 23

The Huskers start at their own 37. Huskers into Aggie territory on a 7 yard rush by Castille, and 8 yard rush by Helu. 4th at 5 at the 43. Punt, touchback.

Aggies with the ball at their 20. 13 yard rush, 15 yard penalty. Just like that, Texas A&M is at midfield. 3rd at 7 at the 35. Huskers need a stand here. 4th and 2 at the 30. On the road with a lead and offense that hasn’t had any chance moving the ball, I’d go for - and so do the Aggies. 6 yard gain. 1st and 10 at the 24. Touchdown. PAT good.

Nebraska 14 - Texas A&M 30

Huskers start at the 24. 6, 7, and 10 yard passes (Lucky, Hill, Lucky) and Nebraska is near midfield. Helu with a 13 yard carry. Nebraska to the A&M 40. Nebraska to the 27. 2nd and 7 at the 11.

4th Quarter
Nebraska turns the ball over on downs.

Texas A&M starts at the 9. 3 and out. Punt.

Nebraska starts their drive at the 37. Scoring drives are crucial at this point as the Huskers need 16 points to get to the tie. 12:37 to go. Huskers face 4th and 5 and punt. Terrible call in my opinion as this is clearly 4-down territory.

Aggies first and 10 at their 24. They continue to move the ball at will - into Nebraska territory. Under 9:00 to go, Aggies at the 32.
At the 12 with 7:11 to go.
At the 7, under 6:00.
3rd and goal at the 1, nearing 5:00.
Lane with his 4th touchdown on the day. 2 point try failed.

Nebraska 14 - Texas A&M 36

—
The Fire Cosgrove and Fire Bill Callahan search traffic starts to ramp up again
—

Nebraska starts at the 20 with 4 minutes and change.

With 3:22 to go, Keller fumbles. Aggies take over at their own 42. I’ll conclude the live blogcast and report back with the final.

1st Half
Nebraska broke the curse of their opening drive 3 and outs, but was forced to punt after a 6 play, 20 yard drive.

True to recent history. A&M proceeded to shred the Husker D and marched down the field in a 9 play, 72 yard drive culminating in a 2 yard touchdown pass from Stephen McGee passed to Earvin Taylor. Extra point missed.

Nebraska 0 - Texas A&M 6

Nebraska is driving, and Yahoo’s live play-by-play gives us this nugget of insight:
M. Lucky passed to M. Lucky to the left for 12 yard gain.

Castille on a 3 yard Touchdown rush. Extra point good.

Nebraska 7 - Texas A&M 6

Nebraska has their first lead in the last 3 weeks.

With the ball at midfield, the Huskers make a defensive stand and force A&M to a 4th down. The Aggies go for it and get the first. Drive continues. A&M continues to get yards in chunks averaging 7 yards per play. A penalty pushes them to 3rd and goal from the 21. Incomplete pass!

Matt Szymanski kicked a 39-yard field goal

Nebraska 7 - Texas A&M 9

(live blogcasting will resume in a few minutes as I need to get my daughter down for her nap. Yes folks, I dare you to find this kind of hard-hitting Husker coverage anywhere else! )

And I’m back Castille fumbled on the Nebraska drive, recovered by A&M.

At the end of the Quarter, Texas A&M has racked up 156 yards of offense to Nebraska’s 125.

3 and out by the Aggies, Nebraska has the ball, 3 and out. Punt. I’m not listening to the game, so maybe someone can fill me in on the 1 yard punt. Block? Muff? The Husker’s waste a great opportunity having the ball near midfield as A&M begins their drive from the 9.

Scoring update from Ames, after 3 quarters, Oklahoma and Iowa State are tied at 7 with the Sooners threatening…Touchdown. OU 14 - ISU 7. Back to Husker coverage.

Aggies driving from the 9. Mixing it up, Rush, Pass Rush. 2nd at 5 at the 29. They are still moving the relatively close to At-Will, but Nebraska has moved that 7 yard average per play down into the mid 5s. 2 incomplete passes by McGee and they face 3rd and 10. 4th and 12 and Nebraska forces a punt.

Another scoring update, Texas goes up 17 - 7 at Baylor at the close of the 3rd.

Swift fumbled the punt. A&M takes over and Jorvorskie Lane rushed up the middle for 1 yard touchdown after a 27 yard rush. Extra point good.

Nebraska 7 - Texas A&M 16

Huskers start their drive at the 35. 2 yard rush by Lucky, incomplete pass. 3rd and long. Swift makes minor atonement for his fumble and holds on to a 21 yard pass. 2 incomplete passes and another 3rd and long at the A&M 42. 4th and 3 at the 35. Huskers go for it. Incomplete.

Aggies take over on downs. Penalties on both sides, 3rd and 14 for A&M. McKeon with a sack! Aggies forced to punt.

With 9 minutes to in Ames, the Cyclones are in the Red Zone down 14-7. #6 South Carolina just lost to Vanderbilt. Back to Husker coverage.

Drive started at the 20. Helu on a 3 yard rush, Lucky with a 10 yard reception. 1st down at the 34. Helu 15 yard rush. Huskers with a 1st down near midfield. Lucky with a 25 yard reception. 1st and 10 at the 18. Huskers are in the RED ZONE. Keller to Purify. Touchdown. PAT good. Drive Summary: 9 plays for 80 yards. Nebraska has outgained the Aggies in yards 236 -202.

Nebraska 14 - Texas A&M 16

Aggies start at the 20. With 1:45 left in the half, this would be a moral victory if the Husker defense can step up, stop the drive and maybe give Keller a chance to run some 2 minute drill.

At Ames, pinballing action in the endzone on an attempted touchdown pass by the Cyclones resulting in an interception. Back to Lincoln.

Aggies forced to punt with 1:09 left in the half. Seems like the momentum has turned, can the Huskers take advantage?

Huskers take over at their 20. Pass incomplete. 6 yard pass. 17 yard pass. Incomplete (ball at the 43). 4 yard pass. 0:09 to go.

HALF TIME: Nebraska 14 - Texas A&M 16

Sideline notes from crew in the stands:
OC Shawn Watson was down on the sidelines calling plays today instead of being in the box.

Energy level seemed positive by the team on the sidelines. Defense, despite giving up some yards, have been playing rather aggressive.

Nebraska gained 284 yards in the first half with 106 of that on the ground. Castille ownes 49 yards of that on 7 carries. A&M was held to 216 yards of offense. If you like to extrapolate trends on small data sets, Nebraska looks like they may hold their opponent to under 500 yards of offense today.

Turnovers have played a major role in this game. 2 lost fumbles by Nebraska have led to 7 points by the Aggies.

Bo Ruud left the game with knee injury. Ice, then a brace. No official word from the Nebraska coaching staff, but his return looks doubtful.

I’ll be starting a new post for the 2nd half…

ESPN sent a reporter to Nebraska this week. How could they not? News is in the air, breathe it, and you have a story.

Let’s see how she does describing our local color:

Cattle trucks rumble down Highway 30 on another dreary day in mediocrity. The sun has been trying its darnedest to poke its head out, a DJ crackles between hog reports and outdated songs. But the rain keeps coming, and the banks of the Loup Power Canal are about to give.

They do not ask for much in these parts. Water for the crops, good health for the family, a 10-win season for the football team. And like most towns in Nebraska, the football team is everywhere in Columbus. The grocery store on the corner sells Husker Chops. The garbage-truck driver who runs Big Red Sanitation has a bumper sticker that says he’s a Cornhusker. He’s the proud pops of Cory Schlesinger, one of the last great Nebraska fullbacks.

Husker athletics is a $70 million operation. So it’s not unusual that a consultant might come in from time to time to help guide or reshape a process to gain further efficiency. According to Omaha World Herald, former AD Steve Pederson believed a man he met while AD at Pitt could provide this type of insight. Sadly, as with most things Pederson tried, it didn’t work out that way.

William J. DeLeo, who held senior management positions with Duquesne Light, Gulf Oil and Price Waterhouse, was paid $15,000 per month plus expenses since last January. But his advise was not welcome in Lincoln. He questioned employees’ work ethic and instituted a quarterly performance review that pitted neighbor against neighbor, friend against friend.

He brainstormed ways to take the standard raises given to university workers — raises approved by the Legislature — and put them into a “performance pool” and dole them out as he saw fit.

“I almost went nuts when that guy came in,” said one longtime Husker coach who spoke about DeLeo on the condition his name not be used.

DeLeo’s presence ratcheted up the paranoia of athletic department employees who “always worried they would show up for work and wouldn’t have a job,” said fired head football trainer Doak Ostergard.

“Everything is disposable nowadays,” said Ostergard Wednesday. “You get done eating food and you throw away the container. People treat other people that way, too — if you can’t do anything for me right this second, I’ll get rid of you.”

Double Nickel is Jason Peter’s new blog. And the guy can express himself really well (with the help of his wife!).

Exhibit A:

The biggest problem I have with this team is the lack of being physical.

Nebraska teams may not have always been the most talented team on the field but they were always the most physical. Being physical isn’t something that you can just turn on, it is a characteristic that is developed and that process begins and ends in practice. It was shocking for me to learn that our current team only practiced in full pads a few times in training camp and then not again till after the USC game. Trust me this played a huge role in us getting tossed around like rag dolls over the course of this game.

When I played for Nebraska the games were the easy part, practice was the time when your toughness was tested. We would do “live” drills the entire practice, two days a week. This included one-on-one blocking, inside run station, goal-line and a team station. When we walked into the stadium on Saturday, anything they tried to do felt like they were running it in slow motion. The games are NOT won on Saturday but rather during the week.

Nick Benes, a senior at Wayne State College and the editor-in-chief of the college newspaper, “The Wayne Stater” wants to give Loserhan a chance.

In this Bleacher Report post, Benes asks that fans remember how BC managed a comeback two seasons ago.

Nebraska was 5-5 and reeling, with many people questioning Callahan before Kansas State came to Lincoln in November.

Jordan Congdon made a 45-yard FG with less than a minute left to give the Huskers a come-from-behind 27-25 win.

Their next game—the day after Thanksgiving—Nebraska blasted Colorado 30-3 (prompting Gary Barnett’s firing) and the players showed their “Restore the Order” shirts underneath their pads.

Then came the big one: Nebraska, down 28-17 early in the fourth quarter, came from behind to beat Michigan in the Alamo Bowl 32-28.

We are good people. But this is business, and Callahan is poison. It’s not about his record any longer, it’s bigger than that. Much bigger.

T.O. sent out a letter to former players yesterday, fundementally undoing the NFL-style lockdown procedures the two-headed Pederhan concocted to insulate itself from reality.

Please feel free to come visit us — anytime. Just walk in our front door and say you are a former player and I promise you, you will be welcomed with open arms. My office is on the third floor, and as you know, my door is always open. The football coaches are on the second floor and the weight room and athletic medicine are just inside the front doors of the new north stadium complex. You are welcome to come see us at work, attend practice and join us for home games.

Beginning immediately, a limited number of tickets and sideline passes will be made available for former football players. Additional tickets for guests will be available for purchase, but there will be no charge for these single-game tickets/passes for former players. Next year, we intend to again make available a limited number of season tickets for players to purchase with no donation required.

I hope Jason Peter takes this opening to breathe on Loserhan’s neck a little.

[via Life in the Red]

I love a good book and from the sound of things, Jonathan Crowl, a senior English major and reporter for the Daily Nebraskan, has written one.

The Nebraska Way, published by the independent publisher iUniverse Inc., will be available next month. It features a foreword by Doak Ostergard, who Crowl relied on heavily as a source.

Ostergard joined the Athletic Department in 1984 and was fired abruptly in February 2007. Ostergard said the main purpose of the book was to educate people on the qualities of the football program and speak on the way “business has been done recently.”

The book includes an account of profane criticism from Callahan toward former football coach Tom Osborne, who was described as “trying to run things from Washington” during his tenure in Congress. After a phone conversation with the former coach, Ostergard said Callahan referred to Osborne as “a crusty old f—.”

Ostergard also recalled a meeting with Callahan where the coach voiced his frustration over an article printed in a local newspaper. “F-ing people need to get a life,” Ostergard quoted Callahan as saying in the book. “Why don’t they go read a book or get lost in the Sandhills? I’m going to get me a real newspaper. I’m going to read The New York Times.”

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha.

[UPDATE 10/19/07] Omaha World Herald is carrying T.O.’s repsonse to this “brush fire.” It’s typically gentlemanly (he is a former politician). “I understand that head football coaches, like everyone else, have emotions,” Osborne said. “I’m not surprised that my long-term influence on the program could sometimes be felt as a controlling force even while I was away, but that was never the intent.”

I wish we knew what he really thinks.