Huskers hope for Baylor win after back-to-back losses

Nebraska football is not divided.

Or at least that's the message the team is trying to get across.

However, that claim has come under scrutiny after an incident between offensive lineman Keith Williams and I-back Dontrayevous Robinson. 

After Robinson fumbled away one of NU's eight turnovers against Iowa State on Saturday, he jogged back to the sidelines with Williams screaming in his face.

Tight end Mike McNeill said he was well aware of the confrontation between Williams and Robinson and that the time and place might have been wrong. However, he said it is something that may need to happen occasionally.

"Maybe it didn't need to be on the field, but at the same time it's not OK to fumble the ball away," McNeill said. "(The coaches) always want us to hold each other accountable, and at some point you have to say, ‘Hey, that's not OK.' Sometimes you have to be responsible for your own actions."

The argument between the two players played out on the field in front of the team and more than 80,000 screaming Husker fans. NU head coach Bo Pelini said it was an event that should never have taken place.

"It's a guy trying to be a leader, but you have to do things in the right way and (at) the right time," Pelini said. "You don't point the finger; you point the thumb. There's a time and place with all those types of things. That wasn't the time and place."

McNeill went on to say that he felt Williams meant no harm by what he did, but it publicly showed the frustration level of the NU offense, which is consistently compared to last year's NU defense.

The important distinction being made, however, is that the current state of Nebraska football is nothing like it was in 2007 when the defense was nearly the worst of all Football Bowl Subdivision schools.

In former NU coach Bill Callahan's final season, the Huskers had several divisions throughout the locker room. According to many players, nobody was playing for the team. Instead, everybody worried about themselves and their futures.

The lack of leadership stood out to several players still on the team today, but those same Huskers say the leadership has been there in several different ways this year. Pelini agreed, saying the team leadership hasn't changed much since the year started but could use a little revamping.

"As far as our leadership, as far as our effort, as far as our want-to, our attitude, that's been good," Pelini said. "The leadership of guys stepping up and making plays when plays have to be made – that's the leadership we need. That hasn't always been the case."

Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh experienced the 2007 season and said what is happening among the players now is nowhere near where it was back then. Suh said a main reason for that is because everybody is accountable.

"(We) never point the finger," Suh said. "That's how you get separation and start (divisions) in the team. Like coach (Pelini) said, take care of yourself as a defensive unit, as a special teams unit (and) as an offense. We're just going to take care of our business and move forward from the mistakes we've made and the trouble we've caused ourselves."

After two straight losses, frustrations have run high in the Cornhusker locker room, but according to players and coaches, it hasn't affected the team unity.

"I think we have a lot of character," Pelini said. "Obviously, there's no one in there that doesn't want to win. There has not been an issue like that on our football team. If there was, I understand how to address that."

The Huskers look to rebound this Saturday when they travel to Waco, Texas, to take on Baylor. The Bears are still win-less in the Big 12 Conference, showing both teams are in desperate need of a win.

Pelini has said multiple times that winning solves a lot of the problems week to week, and that isn't fixing to change anytime soon.

"You can't concern yourself with things that are out of your control or let it influence you one way or another," Pelini said. "No matter what happens, you have to do what you do and be prepared to do it at an extremely high level to make sure you give yourself the best opportunity to win."

spencerschubert@dailynebraskan.com