Judging by how Bo Pelini handled his first loss as Nebraska head coach this past Saturday, Husker fans should be legitimately concerned for the guy’s life heading into this weekend’s tilt with Missouri.
Pelini went nuts on an official late in the Huskers’ loss to Virginia Tech, earning a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that led to a Hokie touchdown. It was 28-23 at the time of the penalty, and a field goal would’ve kept Nebraska within one score. Now, Pelini is going around telling people that his plan is to shut out the Tigers, who are averaging 54 points per game.
ESPN.COM reports that Pelini says he doesn’t have any anger management issues, but that he is a poor loser:
“I take losses hard. I took them hard as a coordinator and position coach. When I start enjoying losing, or when I can handle it well, it’s time for me to go into another profession.”
Pelini added that nobody, such as AD Tom Osborne, has told him that his temper is a problem. And if they do, he’s going to break their neck.
Looking forward to this week, Bo is setting very attainable goals for his team (via CNNSI):
“We’re going to play the best we possibly can and try to shut them out.”
Unfortunately, his players aren’t even buying what he’s selling when it comes to squashing a Tiger offense that put up 606 yards on the Huskers last season:
Defensive lineman Ndamukong Suh saw enough positives to build on against the Tigers.
“This team is definitely capable of shutting them down and putting them in tough situations, which we did in brief instances when we were executing on the same page against Virginia Tech,” Suh said.
In other words, Suh is pretty sure that Missouri won’t score on every play, but isn’t making any promises beyond that.
Nebraska players are still bent over comments that Tigers QB Chase Daniel made after last year’s 41-6 thrashing of the Huskers, when compared their once-feared defense to a high school team.
Pelini’s bunch will have their chance at revenge Saturday night in Lincoln. If they fail, well, Pelini will probably just have a heart attack right there on the field.
1:14 pm on October 2nd, 2008
I know Coach Pelini will kick my trash for this, but Coach, I've got a better opportunity of dating an Italian/Portuguese/Turkish model than you do of shutting out Missouri. Just count to 10 before you do anything rash.
4:34 pm on October 3rd, 2008
A reporter asked Pelini what his goal was defensively against Missouri. And he said, "We’re going to play the best we possibly can and try to shut them out." TRY to shut them out. What goal do you expect a coach to have — especially one as defensive-minded as Pelini? The flack he's gotten for this quote — which was prompted by a specific question — has become ridiculous!