Pelini Puts NU Back On the National Stage Tonight
3 comments so far
January 7, 2008 by
Serving in his role as the LSU defensive coordinator in tonight's BCS national championship game, Bo Pelini will be a part of a game that has the attention of college football fans around the country. For a fan base that desperately craves a return to relevance (let alone dominance...), that is very good news. Personally, I hope it goes better than the last two times NU has been perched in such a spot. Like most Husker fans, I'm an LSU fan tonight.
Nice Storyline
It is fair to say that LSU's defense will be on full display tonight, and by default so will Pelini. That defense and the departure of their well-liked coordinator is a valid storyline for the game, and I expect Fox's broadcasters to at least give it some attention. If things go very well for LSU's defense, I suspect they will play it up big. That is, phrases like "no wonder Pelini has attracted a head coaching opportunity at Nebraska" could be used. That's a very good thing.
Basically, I'll be rooting for things to go well. I might even try to get a count of the number of times Nebraska is mentioned, just to get a quantifiable sense of NU's "rating" for the night.
Some will say that it will help recruiting. I think that is a bit too simple. Recruiting is all about relationships, not publicity. Kids don't see a school on TV and say "gee, I think I'll go there." This sort of good publicity helps with the media types, though. There are very few chances when NU gets mentioned in a spot where scribes from the coasts actually care about it. And, in college football, the opinions of those people still matter a great deal.
Upside and Downside
NU stands to gain in this, no matter what. From a publicity standpoint it's a "just spell the name right" situation. Of course, I have seen an ESPN show misspell Pelini's name in a graphic. So, it's possible to screw up. But frankly, it is very rare for a school to get this amount of relevant discussion following such an abysmal year. I only hope it goes well.
NU's last two trips to the big stage - a nationwide television audience - went very poorly. The first was a televised de-panting at the hands of USC. The second was during the horrible dead-man-walking game against Colorado, when NU got 65 points hung on them. So, yeah, can we please get this one to go better that those two?
Personally, I'm pulling for LSU, and I think they should win this game. But, I'm not of the mindset that they will roll over OSU like Florida did last year. Why? Well, for starters, that was last year. Also consider that Tressel is a great coach who learns from mistakes. Also, Michigan wasn't supposed to beat Florida this bowl season either. Finally, and most importantly, the "speed factor" may be overrated. Pelini himself has downplayed it in interviews.
Or maybe I'm just gun shy about the public spotlight for NU, considering how poorly things have gone for the Huskers in recent trips to the big stage. Regardless, I'm a Husker fan wearing purple and gold tonight.
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kyle Jan 07 08
like i said before big 11 is a joke they cant even count
doombob Jan 08 08
OK, breezing right past that one. Pelini showed a great game plan on defense, trusting his corners to do their job and the front seven to establish pressure. Defense really set up the momentum shift in this game. It was awesome to see him get the Gatorade bath and I hope we get to see it many more times.
Dwayne Jan 08 08
It was nice to see Pelini was able to make some adjustments during the first half, something NU's previous d coordinator was unable to do. Does Texas A&M come to mind? And that was A&M, a middle of the pack team at best.