Nebraska Asks, 'What Home Disadvantage?' After Roy Helu Jr. and Co. Tame Tigers

It began way back on September 25th.

Nebraska, perhaps underestimating South Dakota State (a fiery, FCS opponent) came out flat and scratched out an ugly 17-3 win.

It was a game that led many college football fans to believe that T-Magic and his explosive offensive attack were decidedly less than advertised.

12 days later, however, the Husker players and coaching staff seemed to right the ship and cruised to a 48-13 victory over Kansas State, not only in front of a national television audience but also on the birthday of the Wildcats' most prolific coach—Bill Snyder.

Yet, in the Cornhuskers' next battle on the hallowed turf of Memorial Stadium, the troubling trend continued.

October 16th was arguably the most important date on Nebraska's schedule because it presented a golden opportunity for the Huskers' to write the final, decisive chapter in their burnt orange book of horrors, an agonizing tale that has chronicled Nebraska's futility during their travails against the Texas Longhorns.

To say that the Huskers played flat was an understatement.

The Texas fans that inhabit Bleacher Report might disagree and contend that Nebraska simply got beat (then again, after losses against Iowa State and Baylor, they might not be as boastful).

However, this writer has lived in the Lone Star State for 16 years and has befriended plenty of diehard orange bloods. To a man, they agreed with the majority of Husker Nation that the Longhorns did not get the Huskers' best shot.

A sickening amount of errors, committed by an uncharacteristically tight Nebraska squad, kept snowballing into what amounted to a very disappointing Cornhusker loss.

The following week, in Stillwater, OK, the Huskers played another uncharacteristic game. Nebraska prevailed, outgunning the Cowboys, 51-41.

Yet, the game was odd in the fact that five of the Huskers' touchdowns came through the air, via young Taylor Martinez's arm, and the other was the result of a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Niles Paul.

It was the first time in anyone's memory that Nebraska had compiled over 50 points without any of them coming as a result of a rushing touchdown.

What stuck in the minds of many of the Husker faithful was the fact that the Huskers seemed better suited to play away from the friendly confines of Memorial Stadium in Lincoln—that, and some of the comments that the television announcers made to that effect.

The national audience soon learned that some Nebraska fans, a group generally known for their good sportsmanship, had taken umbrage in the wake of the loss (and the Huskers' overall ineptitude) against Texas.

Paul, who had dropped more passes that day than probably any other Cornhusker receiver, had taken the brunt of the attack.

It was reported that Paul's brothers, who had been in attendance that day, had almost gotten into a fight with some Husker fans who were more than displeased with the receiver's poor play. In addition, Paul's Facebook page had been inundated with a barrage of hateful comments, so much so, that Paul had to take them down.

Husker Nation's demonstrative frustration over Nebraska's inability to exact revenge against the Longhorns did not go unnoticed by the rest of the college football world. Many outsiders, here on Bleacher Report and elsewhere, wondered if the majority of today's Husker fans had taken on the fiery, outspoken demeanor of Nebraska's current head coach, Bo Pelini, which to some has often been viewed as a poor reflection on the program.

They contended that this type of behavior would have never reared its ugly head during the Devaney/Osborne/Solich years. Their assertion (and to some extent, this writer agrees) was that the younger Husker faithful, raised during the era of excellence of the mid-to-late 90's, had become spoiled by winning and were now lashing out in a way that was not customary to the long-standing reputation of most Nebraska fans.

Make no mistake, this writer would have loved nothing more than for the Huskers to deliver a punishing, parting shot to the team that has plagued Nebraska since the inception of the Big 12, but personal attacks on Husker players and their families makes the Nebraska fan base no better than the likes of Colorado.

Finally, the announcers made note of how the Huskers seemed to play better on the road while playing tight in front of the Sea of Red in Lincoln—a conclusion that flies in the face of sports logic.

However, it raised some interesting questions: Can a fan base "love" a team too much? Do the expectations set by Husker fans seem suffocating to the players as they hear the moans and groans of the crowd elicited by dropped passes, missed assignments and other in-game mistakes?

Before I receive a flood of negative comments, at this point, I'd like to defend Husker Nation: After four oppressively disappointing years under Bill Callahan, years in which he stripped away not only the essence of Nebraska football, but turned his back on their storied history as well, many Cornhusker fans have grown increasingly weary of the program's failures.

I'd also like to go on record as being a staunch supporter of Bo Pelini. No, he is not the placid, stone-faced leader that Tom Osborne was, but he has taken the wreckage of a program and restored it to national significance once again. Sure, he might berate an official or reporter every now and again, but to me, it is a sign that he takes his job to heart, which is much more than anyone could ever say for the shrugging, snake-oil salesman that was Coach Callahan.

And if you'd like to see how quickly a fan base can turn against a coach, take a stroll over to the Texas Longhorns' page here at Bleacher Report. Despite Mack Brown's renaissance of that program, many short-sighted, ignorant and loud-mouthed fans are calling for his head after just one poor season.

Never mind that he took them to the BCS national championship game last year and assembled a team that won it all in 2005.

Yet, after all the talk concerning Nebraska's inability to win at home, Coach Pelini's win/loss record in conference home and away games deserves a closer look.

Since Bo Pelini's first full year as head coach (2008), the Huskers, prior to this season's Missouri game and in conference games only, have posted a 5-4 record at home and an 8-2 record on the road.

So perhaps there was something to that "home jinx" after all.

Those of you who were unfortunate enough not to be in attendance on Saturday, and tuned in at home, were greeted with those same statistics as well as the media's belief that the Nebraska coaching staff was also buying into it to some degree.

Before the game was underway, the television announcers underlined the point by informing their audience that the Huskers had done what they could to treat their game against the Tigers as a road game.

According to the talking heads, the team had checked in earlier than usual at their hotel and had even toyed with the idea of driving out of town and then back to Lincoln.

Whatever they did, it worked.

Even though Mizzou did an admirable job of containing Martinez and even knocked him out of the game, it didn't matter. The Huskers, behind Roy Helu Jr., jumped out to an early 24-0 lead, baffled and battered former NU commit Blaine Gabbert, and sailed to a 31-17 win. Before the day was through, Helu had gained 307 yards on the ground on 28 carries (a school record).

So, for a week, Nebraska silenced its critics by winning an important game at home against a Missouri team off to their best start ever and fresh off a win against the nation's former No. 1 team, Oklahoma.

This Saturday, the Iowa State Cyclones loom on the horizon. Normally, it would be hard to put the words "Cyclones" and "loom" in the same sentence. However, the 'Clones walked away from Lincoln last season with a dramatic two-point win (dramatic by their standards, anyway) and humbled the Longhorns earlier this year in Austin.

Needless to say, Nebraska, who still controls its own destiny, won't be taking this game lightly, be it home or away.