SMITH: SDSU provides Huskers with necessary wake-up call

Nebraska needed Saturday.

Sure, no one wearing red was anticipating a 17-3, closer-than-the-scoreboard-showed win against a team that NU coach Bo Pelini essentially said wasn't good enough to play with his. Most fans wearing yellow and blue weren't expecting it either.

But it happened. And it's a good thing for the Cornhuskers that this year's edition of the Iowa State debacle came against South Dakota State instead of Kansas State.

The last two weeks are a lesson for the Huskers.

It's a lesson that when this team is ready to play, it can dominate a quality opponent like Washington. It's also a lesson that this team isn't good enough to coast through any games.

The No. 6 Huskers have mastered the role of discounted underdog. Since Pelini's arrival, every big game has been a chance to make a statement. Last year's Oklahoma game was a perfect example.

They've struggled, however, to perfect the part of big favorite. Cue the tape of last year's loss to the Cyclones or Saturday's mess against the Jackrabbits.

If this team is truly a top-10 club, it'll have to approach Kansas State the same way it approached Washington. The Wildcats aren't going to the Fiesta Bowl, but they know a win against Nebraska would put them in control of the Big 12 North.

Mercifully for the Huskers, Saturday was a mulligan. It's not a reason to hit the panic button or a killer of championship dreams. Remember, a 14-point win doesn't look too awful on paper, especially not with Kansas, Minnesota, Mississippi and Virginia Tech losing to FCS schools. Nebraska even moved up a spot in the USA Today Poll.

But also remember that the Jacks nearly scored two touchdowns — in the first half, the ref ruled that running back Kyle Minett didn't cross the goal line, and in the second half Derek Domino's interception return for a score was called back on a blocking penalty.

If those points counted, Saturday could easily have veered from bad dream to full-fledged nightmare for the Husker faithful.

And against any other team remaining on Nebraska's schedule, a showing like Saturday's almost certainly would have equaled a loss.

Instead, the faint-heartened scheduling of former coach Bill Callahan might have saved the Huskers from a plunge down the polls that would have spoiled any national title hopes.

After the game, Husker players and coaches seemed to be in a sort of exasperated shell-shock.

Wide receiver Brandon Kinnie said not taking the Jacks seriously might have contributed to the performance.

Striking a different chord than earlier in the week when he said he'd prefer to never play FCS teams, Pelini said the Huskers prepared well but just failed to execute against a talented Jackrabbit club. He refused to say, however, that his team took SDSU lightly.

But that's beside the point. The fact that every Husker seemed relieved just to escape the field with their 4-0 record intact meant Nebraska failed to do its job.

Nebraska is still a good team. They're still the favorites to win the Big 12 Conference. Taylor Martinez is still the same quarterback that ran all over Washington. Rex Burkhead and Roy Helu Jr. are still the same running backs that sliced open the defenses of the first three opponents.

But, as Burkhead said, Saturday was a wake-up call.

If Nebraska has a repeat performance of the SDSU game against the Wildcats, they'll lose. They needed a wake-up call. They needed Saturday.

Mitch Smith is a junior news-editorial major. Reach him at mitchsmith@dailynebraskan.com