Nebraska quarterback Joe Ganz didn't look like a man on the verge of tears at the post-game press conference Saturday. He looked more like a man on the verge of flipping over the podium that was in front of him. Fresh off a 52-17 loss to Missouri, Ganz came to the podium with all of his pain and shame on display for everyone to see.
"Are the guys taking the loss pretty hard?" someone asked him.
"What do you think?" Ganz replied.
There was no need for the question. The answer was already on his face.
Nebraska coach Bo Pelini was asked the same question his starting quarterback did in response to another difficult question earlier in the conference.
Pelini was asked if he was embarrassed after the game. The question didn't sit very well. It appeared that podium was going to get knocked over after all.
"Yes, damn right, yes," Pelini said. "I am embarrassed."
Meanwhile at the Missouri press conference, Chase Daniel was busy calling the Cornhuskers "one of the dirtiest teams" he'd ever played against. Before that, Daniel's coach, Gary Pinkel, said "Nebraska's going to be a good football team," as if the Huskers weren't this year, but would be in the future.
Pinkel then took an opportunity while talking about his running back Derrick Washington's three touchdown performance to note how MU will have to work on its punting game in practice this week after not using it on Saturday.
Pinkel wasn't asked directly about the punting game or even special teams play. He just decided to throw it in there.
It was Missouri's first win in Lincoln since 1978, but you'd think the Tigers would at least act like they'd been there before.
The lows don't get much lower for Nebraska fans, players and coaches than after an embarrassing loss to a rival like Missouri. The Tigers made sure they rubbed it in, too.
Although unsportsmanlike, Missouri earned bragging rights with the victory.
After decades of being Big 12 conference pushovers, MU got its payback on the biggest bully of them all Saturday.
A future in which the black and gold rules supreme in the Big 12 North used to be viewed as unimaginable, but is now a reality.
The Tigers have a stranglehold on the division this year and are almost a sure-fire lock to play for the conference title. Pelini and crew plan on making sure the Tiger rule doesn't last long.
Despite the lopsided score on Saturday, Big Red fans shouldn't get used to conceding the North title to Missouri every year just yet.
Believe it or not, positive things happened on the field for the 35-point losers on Saturday and have been happening all season at Nebraska.
After last season's 5-7 showing, the return of effort and passion in the Cornhuskers is the most encouraging development in the program for quite some time.
It was there again on Saturday. Husker fans should also be pleased with Tom Osborne's decision to hire Pelini, especially after Saturday's loss.
Yes, I'm talking about the loss in which Pelini's defense gave up 52 points. Believe it or not, it was the defensive game plan I was most impressed with. Obviously it wasn't executed like the coach had planned, but the idea was a good one.
Seriously, what would you call that concoction of a defense Pelini came up with? A 3-1-5-2?
It looked absolutely insane and brilliant at the same time. It didn't feature any traditional safety alignments as far as I could tell. There were seven defensive backs on the field at almost all times, lined up in places I've never seen them line up in before and there was constant pre-snap movement.
It looked like the perfect defense to use against a spread offense, but the Huskers appeared to be one misstep here or there from making a stop.
If anyone can shut down these spread offenses around the Big 12 conference for NU, Pelini showed with Saturday's game plan that he is probably that guy - as crazy as it may sound.
Pelini wasn't going to sit back in a base set while Missouri decked and dunked the Huskers to death like in last year's 41-6 loss.
Pelini went for broke and lost. Lost big, in fact, but you have to love the attitude despite the end result.
He wanted to get after Daniel and create mistakes - not hope that some would just magically fall into NU's lap. A more conservative defensive approach ("Cosgrove-ian," if you will) probably would have resulted in fewer MU points, but a loss is a loss.
Pelini was shooting for the upset instead of a respectable margin of defeat - something at least one former coach who's returned to the NFL was once accused of.
If you were looking closely, you could see Pelini's system working early in the game during MU's second possession. There were red shirts in the Missouri backfield and Daniel looked flustered.
He looked like a quarterback about to make a costly mistake. A bad pass interference call in - or more precisely, out - of the NU end zone gave MU a first down after Daniel chucked up the desperation heave.
I know Husker fans are probably tired of giving their coaches time to implement ideal systems, but give Bo a couple of years to get his defense in order. I don't think Missouri will be evening up that series record with NU anytime soon.
Pelini's defensive sets and pre-snap movements were confusing just to watch - imagine how tough they are to learn and then execute on game day. Or better yet, imagine how frustrating they are for an offense when ran correctly.
Pelini needs more time before he can shut down the Missouris of the college football world, but that didn't stop him from trying on Saturday and you have to respect that.
Mark May and Reece Davis of ESPN disagree with me. The two TV analysts basically made fun of Pelini by reading his pre-game comments before they showed the highlights of MU's big win.
Pelini said before the game that his team was going to try and shut out the high powered Tiger offense. May and Davis chuckled about it before rolling the tape.
What the analysts failed to realize or mention is that a defensive coach that doesn't set his goals on a shutout is a coach that's not doing his job.
Pelini's not about style points or keeping a game close to save face. As the coach has said himself, Pelini is about winning football games.
As bad as the final score was on Saturday, Husker fans should feel comforted with Pelini at the helm. If championships are what you want, Pelini is NU's best shot. His intensity will likely continue to rub off on this team the rest of the year and on future Husker teams down the road.
Plus, that wacky defensive system Pelini is using will only get better with more time and repetition.
krisknowlton@dailynebraskan.com
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