Another one from the Archives...
R E D C L A D L O O N
LOON DROPPINGS 11:
Kansas State 38, Nebraska 9
11.15.003
Fuel for thought: Amoco Oil Co. was bought some time back by British
Petroleum, but it took until this fall for the familiar red-white-and-blue
gas station symbols to disappear and be replaced by green ones emblazoned
with the letters "BP." Around these parts, many people thought those letters
actually stood for "Bo Pelini" -- after all, it was he who was getting the
credit in recent months for juicing the Big Red Machine up into serviceable
shape. But as the Cornhuskers have gone further down the road in '003, it's
become evidently clear that they've begun to run out of gas. What a time to
slam into a high-octane foe like Kansas State, who by the time everything
was said (and said ... and said ...) and done Saturday turned NU's
rock-ribbed defense into just so much petroleum jelly. The only thing left
for a Loon to do after witnessing the worst throttling in Lincoln since Ike
was building interstates? Well, how about getting really tanked?
A few takes:
J. LOW: Watching LR3 woofing at Nebraska's quarterback at midfield before
the game made the Red Clad Loon suddenly drift back to 1983, to the
cataclysmic ending of the American cinematic epic "Rocky III." That's the
one where the Italian Stallion danced about the ring, shouting and cleverly
goading his opponent, Clubber Lang, into making a mistake. That's right, Sly
got inside Clubber's mohawked noggin, went about his business and watched
his opponent implode. Something similar happened on Tom Osborne Field on
Saturday. After playing an inspired first half -- five whole completions in
a row on the final second-quarter drive, hokey smokes -- Jammal turned into,
well, Jammal. That is, he runs like a damned gazelle, but he throws like
one, too. Those hardy souls who braved it out until the final moments
Saturday witnessed the end of an era in Lincoln. Not just Lord's Last Stand,
but the final chapter of a Cornhusker recruiting philosophy of taking a raw
athlete out of high school -- ech, maybe he can throw a spiral, maybe he
can't -- and eventually turn him into an effective run-throw quarterback for
a National Championship contender. Meantime, Roberson simply went Tecmo on
the Blackshirts, accounting for a must-be-a-misprint 403 yards, truly
defining what it takes to be a "crazy 'Cat." Congratulations, Ell, you're
the first KSU quarterback since the dawn of time to have a winning record
against Nebraska. Enjoy your trip to the Holiday Bowl.
THANK HEAVEN FOR SEVEN: Or it might have been worse. Amid the hand-wringing,
wrist-slashing and Solich-Countdown-Clock-synchronizing, let us focus on one
of the bright spots for the Big Red on Saturday. Demorrio Williams, as he
has done every weekend this fall, was all over the field being a playmaker.
Williams finished with 14 tackles, nine all by his lonesome, and got the
only two schmacks of the game that resulted in a loss of yards for KSU. With
the score 31-7 in the fourth and Kansas State with the ball, ABC cut to a
shot of Williams slamming up against his teammates, trying anything in his
power to turn back the avalanche that had fallen in Lincoln. The only thing
he couldn't do Saturday was circle the globe at light-speed to reverse the
earth's rotation and thereby turn back time, like Christopher Reeve did
while wearing his blue tights. Demorrio was super on Saturday, but he wasn't
Superman. Regardless, a deflated and scuffed game ball from this Senior Day
goes to No. 7. Thanks, Demo, we hardly knew ye.
THE RUNNING (IT UP) MAN: It was a bittersweet feeling to see Sticky Ricketts
nab an INT late in the game to halt was was certain to be yet another
Wildcat touchdown drive. On one hand, you had to feel good for Pat, the
first guy the opponents look to pick on each week, in getting a pinch in his
final home game. But it sucked that KSU was so far ahead at that point, it
was completely unnecessary for the Wildcats to throw. As far as Bo's
"what-the-hell-were-you-thinking-running-up-the-score-like-that" speech to
Dr. Evil at the end of the game goes, well, from his perspective Pelini is
probably right. He was the only one on the field with that perspective,
however -- over the last decade, there's been enough animosity between these
two schools to start a small war. And Bo wasn't around when KSU would patsy
their way up to Lincoln, a la 1976, 1984, 1989 ... or hell, 2001, for that
matter. For years, Nebraska padded their fat stats at the expense of the
undermanned 'Cats. I know that being a die-hard fan means you have to have
some selective amnesia, but it was just two years ago when Eric Crouch was
carrying the ball on three straight plays to close out a game that was well
in hand. Husker fans lecturing others about running up the score is like
Gordon Gekko complaining about double-dealing in the stock market. Dr.
Evil's machine-like playcalling sucks, but if you can't get over it, then
look at this way -- when walk-ons like Seth White and Kevin Guse came to
Nebraska, they dreamed of playing against guys like Ell Roberson and Darren
Sproles. Thanks to Frank Solich and Bill Snyder, those dreams have now been
realized (sigh).
THE BOTTOM LINE: Do you know when your favorite team has hit rock bottom?
When the opponent actually tries to give you two free points by having their
punter run out of the end zone, but you line up offsides and render the
safety null and void. Do you know when your favorite team has really hit
rock bottom? When its senior quarterback can't handle the exchange from his
senior center on a designed quarterback sneak play, and the other team
recovers. Do you know when your favorite team has really, really hit rock
bottom? When you can't even cling to the old "well, they're a much better
team at home" theory any more, which was basically the last and very final
gimmick in your red utility belt. And so, the final home game (show) of the
season is all wrapped up, Loons. NU didn't exactly walk away as grand prize
winners, but for their performance Saturday they earned a nice parting gift:
A trip to lovely Boulder, Colorado (cue simulated studio-audience applause
here)! Back in September, the Buffs didn't even look worthy of being a
contestant in this one, did they? But sure as shootin', Gary Barnett has
CU's Wheel of Fortune spinning when it counts. Unfortunately, the Huskers
can't say the same. Nebraska hasn't had back-to-back losses all season, but
unless something crazy happens, they're in Jeopardy. Is it time for the
Dailey double? Will it matter? Nope. Colorado 27, Nebraska 13.
==STEVE==
Red. White. Loon.
Show your true colors in THE POND,
Home of Nebraska's RED CLAD LOON
