I sit here watching  the Nebraska v. Western Kentucky basketball game with a heavy heart.  After watching hours of news coverage of the tragic events that took place earlier today at the Westroads Mall in Omaha, I decided I needed a break.  There is now 12:50 to play in the game and the Huskers, who have struggled all night, have finally pulled ahead by four.  Normally I would be in a great mood.  Tonight I am numb.

My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone that was affected by this horrendous act by an obviously disturbed man.  I know Nebraskans will rally and we will all get through this together.  In the end we will be stronger for it.  God Bless.  

According to Lincoln Journal Star, Tom Osborne has given Bo Pelini his “full support” to coach LSU against Ohio State in the Bowl Championship Series championship game.

“Bo has been at LSU for three years, and its players and coaches have worked very hard for a chance to win the national championship,” Osborne said.

Osborne acknowledged in his statement that the game is “particularly meaningful” to Pelini since LSU is playing Ohio State. Pelini was a free safety for the Buckeyes from 1987-90. As a senior, he received the “Bo Rein Award,” given annually to Ohio State’s most inspirational player.

From the Lincoln Journal Star:

Former longtime Nebraska assistant coach Ron Brown confirmed Monday that he’s been hired as tight ends coach. He’s passed his recruiting test and is set to hit the road today.

“I think more than anything, I can get back into recruiting quickly,” Brown said. “I travel a lot (for the Fellowship of Christian Athletes) and now it’s just a matter of getting acquainted with the kids.”

Pelini isn’t commenting on his staff until its in place. But it appears other offensive assistants will include Shawn Watson, who will continue his role as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, Barney Cotton for the offensive line and Ted Gilmore for the receivers. It’s unclear who will coach the running backs.

New defensive assistants, sources say, will include Bo’s brother Carl Pelini, and Marvin Sanders, who coached Nebraska’s secondary with Pelini in 2003.

Other names that have surfaced include Jimmy Williams, who coached linebackers at Nebraska in 2003, and possibly LSU assistant Bradley Dale Peveto, who’s the Tigers’ special-teams coordinator.

So far I like the moves, although I hope Watson will move away from a complicated West Coast philosophy and move more to a Spread version of the offense.

Now that LSU is ranked number two in the country and will play Ohio State for the national championship, Bo Pelini might coach the Tigers defense one more time (against his alma mater for all the marbles).

According to Lincoln Journal Star, on Sunday night, LSU head coach Les Miles told a Louisiana reporter that Pelini would be coaching in the national title game. And his players in Baton Rouge are all for it.

“Why wouldn’t they let him coach in a bowl game?” LSU linebacker Ali Highsmith said to the Baton Rouge (La.) Advocate. “He’s their coach now, but he’s still our coach, too.”

Added Tiger safety Craig Steltz: “I hope we get the chance to go to battle with him one more time.”

This might be possible since there is a recruiting dead period (coaches can’t contact recruits) from Dec. 17 to Jan. 1.

“I would want to make sure I do the right thing by LSU for all the things they did for me,” Pelini said. “But that wouldn’t really change anything from now until mid-December. I’m going to work for Nebraska right now.”

Pelini also indictated he’s need to talk to T.O. about the possibility. There are valid arguments on both sides of this coin and it doesn’t seem like an easy decision to make.

Georgia coach Mark Richt was hired by Georgia at the end of the 2000 regular season after serving as an offensive coordinator at Florida State. With FSU in the national title game that year, Richt elected to stay around and coach the Seminoles in the bowl game. If he had to do over again, Richt said Sunday night that he would have not coached Florida State in that game.

Three weeks ago I surfed the net to get some insight on the pending search for the next Husker coach.  My search took me to an LSU message board.  At first I was seen as an outsider, but soon I was welcomed as a college football fan.  I have now developed long distance friendships with folks in Louisiana.

We just learned that Bo Pelini is the new Husker coach.  The majority of LSU fans are disappointed to loose Coach and at the same time they are happy for him and his family.  There are some, however, that are happy to see him go.  College football is the same in Louisiana as it is in Nebraska.

We also just learned that LSU will play Ohio State in the BCS Championship game.  Congratulations LSU!  You earned the right.  In a system that doesn’t work, it’s refreshing that a team can play its way into the Championship Game — unlike Ohio State.  If only the so called “experts” would have gotten it 100% right and put Oklahoma in the game as well.

Nebraska dominated the Sun Devils today 62-47 with a mix of strong defense, clock management, and ball control.  Things looked bleak early on when ASU forced 4 quick turnovers and turned it into a 17-10 lead.  A  timeout by Doc Sadler quickly regrouped the Huskers and they used the clock to their advantage in moving the ball around and picking their shots.   Nebraska had just 9 total turnovers and forced 19 in a slow paced game that was designed to keep ASU cold and not allow them to run, which is what they wanted to do.  

Ade Dagunduro led the way with 15 points 5 boards and 4 assists followed by 14 apiece for Maric and Ryan Anderson.  Nebraska shot 45% compared to 42% for ASU.   The Huskers held ASU’s top two scorers to 8 points each.  James Hardin never really seemed comfortable  and was held way below his season average of 20.6 points a game.    The defense pressured Jeff Pendergraph into 5 turnovers and when he did get the ball he seemed rattled and did not make very good decisions.

We were promised 94 feet and today that’s exactly what we got!  Great game HUSKERS!

During Bo Pelini’s first-ever press conference as a head coach, he made sure to give credit where credit is due. He said, “I wouldn’t be standing here today if it weren’t for Frank Solich.” He thanked Solich for the opportunity to become a defensive coordinator and added that he thinks Solich doesn’t get enough credit for his decades long service to the University.

Here’s the audio from the press conference, care of Huskers.com.

Some interesting notes…During T.O.’s introduction he called Pelini a great motivator and said “it doesn’t matter what you have in your head if you can’t translate it to the field.”

Pelini called Nebraska “a special place” and said of all the places he’s been as a coach, no place can match Nebraska for what the program means to the state.

At a 4:00 pm press conference today, The University of Nebraska announced that Bo Pelini is the Huskers 28th Head Coach.

I was impressed with Coach Pelini’s first news conference.  Then again, it was mostly coach speech.  One thing that MAY have made me a Pelini fan was when he talked about Frank Solich and how he was grateful to Frank for giving him the opportunity to coach here.  I agree with Bo, Frank’s contibutions to the University are often forgoten.

 Welcome Bo!

 While playing Wichita State for a spot at regionals, the Nebraska women’s volleyball team did exactly what it is supposed to do, win.  Playing in the Coliseum for for their final time, 3 time National Player of the Year, Sara Pavin put down 15 kills while hitting .481 and Tracy Stalls added 10 kills and 4 blocks.  Jordan Larsen registered 11 kills 9 digs and had 5 aces.  The Huskers tallied 15 total aces while beating the Shockers 30-22  30-19, 30-19 in front of a crowd of 4,056.  

Nebraska is now headed to Madison, Wisconsin , for their NCAA record 14th straight regional, against Michigan State on Friday

ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit reported on espn.com today that LSU head coach Les Miles would accept the open job at Michigan. This promted Miles to call a press conference in Atlanta just two hours before his Tigers played Tennessee for the SEC Championship (a game they just won).

“There’s misinformation on ESPN and I think it’s imperative that I straighten it out. I’m the head coach at LSU, I will be the head coach at LSU and I have no interest in talking to anybody else. I’ve got a championship game to play and I’m excited about the opportunity of my damn strong football team to play. That’s really all I‘d like to say. It’s unfortunate that I had to address my team with this information this morning. With that being done, I think we we’ll be ready to play.”

So, are we to believe the same sports news network when it says its unnamed sources say Bo Pelini will be in Lincoln on Monday to accept the Huskers’ offer? I think it’s unlikely they’d be wrong in both cases, but it does prove that speculation and secondary sources do not equal “a done deal.”

[via Detroit Free Press]

[UPDATE] Lincoln Journal Star reports that LSU linebacker Darry Beckwith told the paper right after his team’s 21-14 win over Tennessee, that Bo Pelini told the team before the game he is leaning toward taking the Nebraska job and that it’s his dream job. So it sounds like he’s been offered the job but has yet to accept it.