Monday, November 5, 2007
BY CASE KEEFER
ckeefer@kansan.com
Nebraska defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove stripped the Cornhusker defensive starters of their “blackshirts” two weeks ago.
The black jerseys were a sacred tradition for the Nebraska football team and worn by the eleven starters everyday at practice. They accompanied the Cornhuskers during five national championships from 1970 to 1997. Cosgrove said he took the privilege away thinking the defense would earn them back.
But after a 76-39 loss to Kansas, the Nebraska defense has a better chance at solving global starvation than getting its coveted practice jerseys returned. Nebraska head coach Bill Callahan was bombarded with questions from reporters asking how he would repair the defense.
“If I knew the answers to all those questions, I wouldn’t be answering this one,” Callahan said. “It’s just been very difficult for a lot of reasons. I’m not the type of person or coach to ever sit up here and give an excuse and I’m not going to start right now.”
The Jayhawks’ 76 points were the most scored on the Cornhuskers in Nebraska’s history. Nebraska also surrendered 572 total yards to Kansas and allowed it to score a touchdown on 10 straight possessions.
The performance of the defense was particularly frustrating to the Cornhusker offense. Led by junior quarterback Joe Ganz’s 405 yards and four touchdowns in his first career start, Nebraska attacked the Kansas defense like no other team had this season. Senior wide receiver Maurice Purify said it was hard to accept that 39 points wasn’t enough.
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“I’m not saying you can’t worry about the defense but we have our job to do,” he said. “Our job is just as hard as the defense’s job and we can’t do both of them.”
Purify wasn’t the only Cornhusker letting out his negative emotions. The score was 62-31 late in the third quarter when Kansas running back Brandon McAnderson pushed forward for one of his team’s 12 successful third-down conversions.
Nebraska defensive lineman Kevin Dixon exited the field yelling at teammates and flailing his arms after the play. Senior safety Bryan Wilson said the incident represented the defense’s feelings in a game where it totally collapsed.
“It’s so far out there, it’s such a stretch, it has never happened to guys on this team,” Wilson said. “So we kind of didn’t know what to do about it.”
Everything the Kansas offense tried on Nebraska worked. The secondary did nothing to prevent Jayhawk sophomore quarterback Todd Reesing from throwing six touchdown passes. The defensive line was dominated all day as McAnderson rushed for four touchdowns.
“We’re trying to do everything we can, there’s no other options referring to coaching changes and things of the nature,” Callahan said. “We are going to do the best we can to finish this season with this staff.”
When asked whether the mention of coaching changes meant he and Cosgrove’s relationship had deteriorated because of the poor defense, Callahan refused to comment.
Few Nebraska fans remained in Memorial Stadium after the blowout. But the ones who stayed took notice when Nebraska athletic director Tom Osbourne, who led the Cornhuskers to three national championships as a coach, walked by.
They greeted Osbourne with screams of “Help us, Tom.” After giving up the most points ever scored on Nebraska, it’s going to take more than Osbourne to get the starting defense its “blackshirts” back.
— Edited by Luke Morris
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