Posted on Fri, Nov. 20, 2009 11:07 PM
Pelini-shaped defense has Huskers on verge of title
More News
LINCOLN, Neb. | Carl Pelini thought Nebraska’s defense looked tired last weekend, and that speaks volumes about the Cornhuskers’ improvement.
A weary defense helped Nebraska beat Kansas 31-17. This was a Jayhawks’ team aching for a victory, motivated on Senior Day, and a program that had scored no fewer than 32 points against the Huskers over the previous four seasons.
The fatigue could be attributed to the heavy lifting all season by the Huskers’ defense, coordinated by Pelini, coach Bo Pelini’s older brother. The Cornhuskers rank among the Big 12’s top four in all major defensive categories and lead the league in scoring and pass efficiency defense. Kansas State tests that defense in tonight’s 6:45 game that will decide the North Division championship.
“They’ll be ready for us,” Carl Pelini said. “They’re as well-coached and as sound a team as we’ll play this season.”
Pelini knows. He spent three years on Kansas State’s staff as a graduate assistant and restricted-earnings coach, living some of that time with Bob Stoops, then a Wildcats assistant and a fellow Youngstown, Ohio, native. It’s why Pelini isn’t overwhelmed by Kansas State’s success in Bill Snyder’s return to the sidelines.
With a victory, the Wildcats will be bowl-eligible for only the second time since 2003. Big 12 rushing leader Daniel Thomas and quarterback Grant Gregory weren’t even part of last year’s roster.
“What I see with them is patience,” Pelini said. “I count on teams losing their patience, but that doesn’t happen with them. They stick to their ideas and make them work.”
No better example, Pelini says, than the Oklahoma game. The Wildcats fell behind 21-0 but then scored on four straight offensive possessions, driving at least 62 yards each time and closing the deficit to five points.
Pelini’s career took him from Manhattan to the high school coaching ranks in Kansas City. He spent two seasons as the defensive coordinator at Blue Valley under Steve Rampy and then became Winnetonka’s head coach and athletic director during 1995-99.
The highlight of his high school tenure came in 1997, when the Griffins won eight straight and battled Liberty for the conference championship. Pelini then continued his high school coaching career near his Youngstown, Ohio, home when his mother developed cancer.
“Those were great years in high school,” Pelini said. “You play the hands you’re dealt, and you’re forced to be a good fundamentals coach.”
Pelini returned to the college game for good after the 2003 season. Bo, his younger brother by about 2 1/2 years, became Nebraska’s defensive coordinator in 2003, and Carl figured to work his way back as a graduate assistant.
“Bo said, ‘Come on and join us, it’s Nebraska, you’ll be here for a long time,’ ” Carl Pelini said.
The long time lasted one year. Then-coach Frank Solich was fired after the season, and the Pelinis were gone, too, after helping the Cornhuskers win the Alamo Bowl. Carl hooked on at Minnesota State for one season and joined Solich at Ohio for three years before returning to Nebraska last season.
What the Pelinis found was a lost defense. Nebraska was coming off a brutal season in which it surrendered at least 40 points six times, and as many as 76 and 65 in a game.
“Confidence was a big problem,” Pelini said. “But about the middle of last year, it started to come together.”
It started on the line, with wildly talented tackle Ndamukong Suh, and spread to the back seven. What Pelini now sees is a defense that’s as good as any at Nebraska since the national championship days of the 1990s.
“We’ve played team defense, and that’s always what you want to see,” Pelini said.
With a victory today, it can become something else Pelini wants to see — a championship defense.
To reach Blair Kerkhoff, call 816-234-4730 or send e-mail to bkerkhoff@kcstar.com
Posted on Fri, Nov. 20, 2009 11:07 PM
@Nyx.CommentBody@