Nebraska Football: Bo Pelini Rips ‘Mentally Weak’ Team
By Kyle Kensing
Dec 1, 2012; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers coach Bo Pelini reacts against the Wisconsin Badgers during the Big Ten championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium. Wisconsin defeated Nebraska 70-31. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Brian Christopherson of The Journal Star‘s Husker Extra reports Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Bo Pelini called his team “mentally weak” after a lackluster practice this weekend.
The defensive-minded Pelinin was particularly hard on that unit. Christopherson quotes the coach as saying:
"“The offense was better than the defense, but you could have put a grade-school offense out there against our defense and they would have been fine.”"
Pelini might be sharing some of the heat he is currently feeling from restless Nebraska faithful. Though the Huskers won 10 games in 2012, the program has yet to reach a BCS bowl under Pelini’s guidance. And perhaps more noteworthy than Nebraska’s 10 wins are the four losses, because of how it lost.
The Cornhusker defense allowed 36 points or more in each of its four losses. The low point was surrendering 70 to Wisconsin in the Big Ten Conference championship — though that was barely the low point. The Cornhuskers allowed 63 points in a debacle at Ohio State on Oct. 6.
Bo Pelini is certainly sending a message to a Nebraska defense that was far removed from the vaunted and feared “Black Shirts” of the 1980s and 1990s. The Cornhusker defenses of that era overwhelmed opposing offenses, rarely letting teams break out of the teens in scoring.
Improvement is needed immediately if the Huskers are to compete for next season’s Big Ten title. Nebraska loses top defensive contributors Will Compton, Daimion Stafford and Eric Martin.