Boo Pelini

The Nebraska Cornhuskers made their first trip to Orlando for the Capital One Bowl since losing to national champion Georgia Tech 45-21 in 1990. Steve Spurrier and South Carolina from the SEC was the opponent.

Nebraska Dave and I were knee deep in pregame fanfare.









Nebraska began the game strong, scoring on the opening possession and held a 13-9 lead in the fist quarter. Although South Carolina was tough, particularly on the defensive front, the game was there for the taking.

Then came the all too familiar implosion. After fumbling at the Gamecock five heading in for a touchdown, South Carolina uncorked a bomb which resulted in a score. Then prior to the half, a Hail Mary catch made by All America receiver Alshon Jeffrey resulted in a touchdown and BOOM, the 'Huskers were down 16-13.

Nebraska moved the ball deep into Gamecock territory on each of their first four second half possessions but came away with 0 points. If you want to learn how to lose a football game, pull out this game film. Penalties, miscues, missed field goals and turnovers.

Meanwhile, with Pelini wearing out yet another poor officiating crew, South Carolina was executing their game plan. Appropriately, the Nebraska papers had some extensive commentary on this subject. So did Nebraska Dave; Boo Pelini.

The Big Red gave South Carolina every opportunity to seize control of the game, and the Gamecocks were all too happy to oblige. While the Internet was quick to throw Taylor Martinez under the bus for this loss, this is not his fault. Nebraska more than matched South Carolina in speed and there were a handful of painful drops of well placed passes, but the Cornhusker offensive line faltered down the stretch against a very strong SC defensive front which limited the offensive options. This has been an area of concern for a few years now.

The 'Huskers did not appear to be well coached for this game on either side of the ball. With the O-line getting whipped, rolling out Martinez would have been nice, as would a screen pass or three. The Blackshirts rarely applied significant pressure on an average signal caller, allowing him to hit his fleet footed receivers.

Word on the street was that Pelini was less than corrigible at the team hotel to some of those who made the trip in this horrendous economy. Combine that with performances like we saw in the Capital One Bowl, he may not be long for Lincoln.

The offense should be good in 2012, but the defense, not a bright spot in 2011, suffers heavy losses including Lavonte David, who will be impossible to replace. It is hard to imagine the 2012 Conrhuskers in the Rose Bowl, much less the national title picture.

Maybe the staff should focus on the little things, like solving on the field discipline issues, including mental collapses and penalties.

What's left in our wallet? Nothing.