The Nebraska Cornhuskers are searching for answers at the wrong time.
Coming off two losses to Virginia Tech and Missouri, first-year coach Bo Pelini is not surprised that his team is experiencing some growing pains five weeks into the season.
And those pains could worsen when Nebraska plays the second best offense in the nation in No. 7 Texas Tech at 2 p.m. Saturday at Jones AT&T Stadium.
Pelini took the blame for a 52-17 loss to Missouri last week, the worst home loss in 53 years, in which the Tigers repeatedly marched down field en route to more than 200 yards rushing and passing. He said he did not have his team prepared and he may have tried too hard to make something happen.
"I think we're still trying to find out some about our personnel and what is best for this group as far as giving our guys the best opportunity to have success," he said during his weekly press conference Tuesday. "Some of that is personnel oriented, some of that is philosophical. You can't always try to pound a square peg into a round hole. You've got to evaluate, look at your personnel and what they do best and put them in positions to have success. You have to adjust as you go along. That's offensively, defensively and special teams."
Nebraska's last two games against Tech (5-0, 1-0 Big 12) have been historic losses. In 2004, Nebraska came to Lubbock and had seven turnovers in its worst loss in school history, 70-10. A year later in 2005, the Red Raiders won 34-31 in Lincoln, Neb., during the Cornhuskers' homecoming week, which marked Nebraska's first homecoming loss since 1968.
Nebraska (3-2, 0-1 in Big 12 Conference play) allows 376.2 yards per game, which is 82nd in the nation, and struggled to move the ball against Missouri. Unable to stop Chase Daniel and the Tigers high-powered spread offense, Nebraska's 14 penalties amounted to 101 yards.
On top of that, the Cornhuskers run game has disappeared, partly because of the Virginia Tech and Missouri defenses.
After rushing for 567 yards in its first three games, Nebraska has run for 134 yards in its last two. However, the Cornhuskers fell behind early in both losses.
"I think the offensive line is very capable," Pelini said. "Maybe the type of runs, that's kind of what we're looking at, what personnel groupings, what formations, where are we at our best. The vision of what you want it to be and what it needs to be at this point, you've got to be willing to adjust as you go a long. That's part of where we are."
Tech defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill said Nebraska has a plethora of offensive formations with different personnel groupings. In other games this season, McNeill said UMass used 10 personnel groups, Kansas State used two and SMU had one.
"You have to be able to get lined up against a lot of stuff," McNeill said. "You gotta be able to get into 10 different personnel groups. We gave (the defense) a majority of looks on Tuesday; we (gave) those same looks Wednesday, and added the two groups we didn't see Tuesday, and Thursday we (did) all of them."
Tech guard Brandon Carter said with the Cornhuskers on the rebound, he would not be surprised if Nebraska looked like a completely different team on Saturday.
"They are something to worry about because teams like that do have a mentality that they have nothing to lose and they try to mess up other people's seasons," Carter said. "That's a huge credit to them. I think they will pull something out that we haven't seen, try trick plays. It comes down to us; if we do our job correctly, then we will come out with a win."
Nebraska must find a way to slow down quarterback Graham Harrell and Tech's offense, Pelini said. The Red Raiders racked up over 600 yards in total offense in a 58-28 win against Kansas State on Saturday. In his last three games, Harrell has 15 touchdowns and no interceptions, while the run game has produced more than 100 yards in five straight games.
"He's a good player. I think all of coach Leach's quarterbacks are well-schooled," Pelini said. "They understand the system. (The coaching staff) kind of brings them up through the system. He makes good decisions; they protect him well; they give him outlets, they make sure he doesn't get hit a lot."
Under center for Nebraska is senior quarterback Joe Ganz, who has thrown for 1,287 yards, nine touchdowns and five interceptions. Ganz's favorite receiver is Nate Swift, who has 20 receptions for 304 yards and three touchdowns.
In a Tuesday press conference, Ganz evaluated his performance so far this season as "OK," acknowledging he needs to realize that the big play is not forcing a throw. Instead, he said he needs to settle down in stressful moments.
"Sometimes I feel when we get down, you kind of rush and try to make that big play," he said. "When the big play is letting it come to you and taking a check down and letting them run for 30. Just don't feel like I need to make every play, kind of rely on my teammates to help me out. Just understand that sometimes the best play is to punt on third down, and just be more consistent."
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