Welcome to a crossroads.
Somewhere between the release of balloons after a Nebraska first down in the second quarter and 38 unanswered points by Oklahoma State, you probably said, heard or thought something along the lines of, "What now?"
You weren't alone in wondering. Everyone is asking the same question. The answers, though, are a mixed bag.
The hardest part is identifying the problem and fixing it. Fingers have been pointed at everyone. The players. The coaches. Steve Pederson. Harvey Perlman.
Take your pick of who to blame. Each choice has its own reasoning.
The players have talent, make no mistake. Both sides of the ball are brimming with experience, hype and NFL potential. But the offense suffers from dropped balls and mental miscues, and the defense misses tackles and blows coverages.
NU quarterback Sam Keller said his team can't bear to lose like this, and can barely muster the words to say it. Bill Callahan stands by him.
"It hurts to watch these kids hurt," Callahan said after the game. Callahan also placed blame for the loss on himself and his coaching staff. So have a lot of fans.
By this point in the season, it seems a foregone conclusion that defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove will be gone at the season's end. Questions for Callahan no longer relate to whether Cosgrove will be fired, but when.
But after two straight losses, when Nebraska was outscored 96-20, the heat is on Callahan more than ever. His next loss - which fans fear is all too imminent - will tie the fourth-year coach in losses with the man he replaced, Frank Solich.
As of right now, he trails Solich in wins by 32.
This is where a great deal of fans' animosity towards Pederson stems from. Pederson dumped Solich in a season when Nebraska finished 10-3, and made his now-infamous "We won't surrender the Big 12 to Oklahoma and Texas" declaration.
Nearly four years later, Pederson has admitted that he did not envision Nebraska being where it is now. The blowouts against Missouri and Oklahoma State were supposed to be in the Huskers' favor.
And yes, some do want Perlman's head, despite the fact that his job isn't solely athletic in nature. In tracing the path of error to find its root source, fans have asked "Who hired Callahan?" and found Pederson.
And when they ask "Who hired Pederson?" they find Perlman.
Some fans are still miffed at the way Pederson gutted the program and athletic department in favor of its vision. Those who were patient in the beginning are now starting to ask what he was thinking.
And Perlman is finding blame for being the sole individual that brought Pederson to Nebraska. Initially, when former Nebraska Athletic Director Bill Byrne left for Texas A&M, Perlman announced his intent to put together a search committee to find another athletic director.
But Perlman made the decision on his own, before the committee met, to hire Pederson. His reasoning was that Pederson was a "perfect match."
Since then, though, Pederson has clashed with Nebraska, and his single-biggest move - and one that his job may depend on - is starting to unravel in its fourth year.
In addition, Pederson's reputation as an excellent, savvy businessman continues to suffer as Nebraska slips from national television coverage to Pay-Per-View. The Huskers won't even get that for the Texas A&M game this weekend.
So as Nebraska continues to lose games, television coverage and the dollars that come with winning on TV, it's hard to argue much is going right in the program.
Nebraska lost its homecoming game, with the 1997 national championship team watching.
Midway through the third quarter, a balloon reading "Beat OSU" floated up into the gray sky. Perfect imagery for the Nebraska football team, except for one thing: the Huskers are falling.
And there are still at least five games left.
Jonathan Crowl is a senior English major. Reach him at jonathancrowl@dailynebraskan.com
