Alexander;1103263 said:
Nebraska had that game in hand. Yes, the turnover was critical, but so was Callahan's clock management prior to the winning field goal.
Smarter use of his timeouts would have helped had everything stayed the same. They would have had two shots from the 40 after the ignorant personal foul on Texas.
I can see why Oakland gave up on him and Nebraska boosters are less than enthralled.
WOW ... do you really know the reason why he was even let go in Oakland?
People look at the situation and only see how he called out his players after the fact people like Tim Brown and Charles Woodson had bashed him in the media. And do you know why? It was all started because he wanted Al Davis to go in a different direction, instead of paying overpriced veterans like Tim Brown, Rod Woodson, Trace Armstrong, etc., This got back to the players and as Tim Brown so kindly put it, "he was messing with my money." Care to guess what ensued afterwards?
The downward spiral in Oakland had NOTHING to do with what Coach Callahan said in that PC, but moreso what he said to Al Davis behind closed doors.
After the season was over, Al was forced to choose between going with younger players (the direction Coach Callahan wanted) or to stick by his veterans. He stuck by his veterans and you can see exactly where it got him.
As for the boosters being less than happy with BC? I suggest you look a few feet from campus at the newly built $40 million dollar state of the art training facility. Or perhaps even look up atop the stadium at the $10 million dollar HD big screen, which only Texas has beat with their Godzillatron.
Anyways, I agree Coach Callahan could have used his TO's better down the stretch, but without the halftime adjustments he made, Nebraska isn't even in it.
The line was absolutely getting blown up by Texas' lineman, but in the 2nd half, it wasn't the case. Nebraska went to the air and trusted Zac, even after his 1st half performance where he was consistently missing WR's. It allowed Nebraska back into the game. Minus that drop by Nate Swift on one of their stalled drives in the early 3rd quarter, and we may be talking about the playcalling of Texas on a 4th down where they have to go for a TD.
In hindsight, I applaud the Nebraska coaches and players. They were absolutely getting their arses kicked in the 1st half and I honestly thought the game was about to get ugly. Instead they came out and played so inspired in the 2nd half and fought their way back into a game with a very talented squad.
PS -- Texas fans ... never complain about Colt McCoy again. That guy earned my respect today with his poise in the pocket. A few times he was absolutely unloaded on, but he stood tall and delivered the pass without even worrying about the rush. Case in point was the Limas Sweed TD. When a 6'6 295lbs. defensive end line Carriker is about to unload on you, and you put that pass on the money, that's VERY impressive.
Hurts to lose this one the way we did ... but I'm nothing but proud of those boys for that 2nd half effort.
Hopefully we get to see the rematch in Decemeber.
