Nebraska Football 2011: Pelini Moves Forward with First Season in Big Ten

Can the Nebraska Cornhuskers get back to the historical dominance that once was?

Can they do it in a new conference? 

With a rich tradition of striving for excellence still intact, the 2011 Nebraska Cornhuskers have joined the Big Ten, but not without much work to do.

Don't worry, Nebraska has started out their stance in the Big Ten by going 2-0 already.

I take a further look at Nebraska's inaugural season up to now and the advancement they face in this conference. 

A New No-Huddle Offense

With a new no-huddle offensive scheme, the Huskers are not afraid to implement new systems into this football program. In fact, having a new offensive coordinator in Tim Beck could assuredly bring a new look to this young offense (Nebraska has two sophomores and one freshman as starters on their offensive line alone).

This kind of budding performance shows. Unfortunately, the Cornhuskers are last in the Big Ten in turnovers.

Quite a humbling start for this program, nonetheless, there still remains to be optimism.

Controlling the Ball

In working to enhance the primary concern of turnovers, as well as the urgency to improve on both sides of the ball, head coach Bo Pelini knows that improvement comes with more convergence.

"Once again, it's fundamentals. When you're careless with how you carry the ball, it will hit the ground," Pelini said.

Nebraska’s sophomore quarterback Taylor Martinez is adapting to fundamentals, but he has had a bad streak with controlling the ball. Martinez has played just three games in his college career in which he has not had a fumble.

In Martinez’s defense, he comes into Week 3 against Washington with 335 passing yards, 301 rushing yards and six touchdowns (including five rushing scores). According to Fox Sports, Martinez finished the second week of FBS action sitting fourth in the nation in rushing.

Staying Effective Each Quarter

In speaking to Husker fans during the match-up with the Fresno State Bulldogs, you would have thought that the air was sucked out of the room going into the fourth quarter. Nebraska (leading 28-26), had struggled offensively.

They missed some key plays defensively and had their fans at a near-cardiac state. Then Nebraska started controlling the ball better (had a 100-yard kickoff return by freshman Ameer Abdullah for a touchdown) and were executing on their plays, finishing off Fresno State 42-29.

"I hope we never come that close [to losing] in a game again, that about gave me a heart attack!" said Steve Denton, a lifelong Husker fan.

 It could be said of the Cornhuskers that they play at their opponent’s caliber. It seems as if they do not show any more than what is needed against their opponent. No, they are not the team that comes out and scores 42-0 at the half. They may not be the dominant team that is steamrolling their way into the Big Ten.

No, they are not. Do not count them out, though.

Remain Focused

In fact, what they are is a team that is rebuilding around a new offensive plan having completed only 13 of 30 third down conversion attempts. The Huskers have strained on defense with having allowed their rivals 212 yards in the air. However, they have held their opponents to just one rushing touchdown thus far.

More improvements are sure to come.

Bo Pelini shows his true-to-form attitude about critics when he states, ''If I start worrying what the public thinks, I'll end up in a rubber room probably.” (huskerextra.com)

It’s fair to say that Pelini remains focused on building this team back into the notable program that it once was.

Patience Will Pay off

While he addresses improvement every week and makes his players accountable for their abilities on the gridiron, Pelini can only express what this team has done.

He cannot foresee what they may do. He knows what they are capable of doing. He is shaping them for that success.

Week by week, game by game, it’ll come.

Huskers Will Just Have to Show You

I have to admit, I love his no-nonsense attitude when a reporter asks him questions about the future. When asking the coach about the match-up of Huskers vs Huskies Part III, how do you think Nebraska will stop their run? Will they try 52 run plays on you guys again? Is (Alfonzo) Dennard going to play?

 According to Husker Locker, Pelini's response was, “find out Saturday.”

When prodded again about the defense, Pelini repeated, “find out Saturday,”

Okay, but coach, will you be able to….

Okay, alright, I get it.

No matter what questions one may have, we will just have to tune in on Saturday.

11^th ranked Nebraska will host unranked Washington. This is the third time in a year that these

 two teams have faced each other. They are 1-1 against one another, which included a 19-7 loss

 against Washington in the Holiday Bowl, December 30, 2010.