Hope Hides Behind Defeat

Nebraska hopped off the bus hoping for a win against USC but left Los Angeles with all it could have reasonably expected: a respectable loss its loyal fans could take back to their Monday jobs.

You call this progress in the proud Husker Nation?

Yes.

The real fear in Big Red land was USC blowing the Cornhuskers from here back to Lincoln, but that didn’t happen.

Nebraska was never going to beat USC at the Coliseum on Saturday. Not in Year 3 of the reconstruction under Bill Callahan and not with 5-foot-9 cornerbacks covering Dwayne Jarrett.

USC entered the game ranked No. 2 in the coaches’ poll, and Nebraska was 19th.

Sixty football minutes later, that seemed stunningly accurate.

There’s not really much that can prepare you for USC, certainly not beating up Louisiana Tech and Nicholls State by the combined score of 105-17.

“Our guys competed hard against one of the best teams in the country,” Callahan said. “But when you compete against teams like this, the margin for error is minute.”

Nebraska, at times Saturday, played like a team trying to negotiate defeat.

The Cornhuskers hit hard, played hard, even scored a touchdown, and still got beat by 18 points -- 28-10.

It was, though, a well-managed setback.

The game ended with USC inside the Nebraska 10, declining to push for a meaningless touchdown that would have skewed the final outcome.

Let’s cut Nebraska some slack, though. After 100 years or so doing things one way, it is undergoing an extreme football makeover.

Three years ago, it mothballed the vaunted option attack -- the essence of Nebraska football under Tom Osborne -- and went to the West Coast. Nebraska wanted Callahan, a former NFL coach, to transform the program into a pro-style outfit that could compete with USC for players and titles.

These things take time, though, and Nebraska showed Saturday it is not quite ready for prime time.

Nebraska was plucky, for sure, faking a punt on fourth down in the first quarter and turning it into a 28-yard pass play from Dan Titchener to Todd Peterson.

Although beautifully executed, the play suggested Nebraska was going to need a trick play or 10 to pull off this upset. It was almost a concession it couldn’t play with USC for four quarters.

A team that thought it could match up would not have run out the clock, as Nebraska did, trailing 14-3 late in the first half.

Nebraska got the ball back at its own 15, with 2:40 left, and decided going to the locker room down 11 points was better than possibly giving USC the ball back with a chance to be down 21-3.

USC did make it 21-3 in the third quarter, and the only thing close to palpable drama came when Nebraska quarterback Zac Taylor cut the lead to 21-10 on a bootleg touchdown run with 12:44 left. USC answered with a 14-play, 81-yard touchdown drive and that was that.

Nebraska did not earn a win but it did earn some respect.

“Their defense was big and strong,” USC quarterback John David Booty said. “Sometimes we had trouble in the passing and running game. A lot of teams will give up in second half; they kept fighting the whole game. They just weren’t going to call it quits. They made it tough on us at times.”

There may be no such things as moral victories for coaches and players, but there are for fans.

“This was a loss,” Callahan said.

It was a benchmark game, though, and Nebraska coaches and players had to satisfy the insatiable hunger of fans looking for reasons to believe.

Nebraska fans are among the most devoted and knowledgeable fans in college football. They once gave Texas tailback Ricky Williams a standing ovation on his way off the field after beating Nebraska in Lincoln. Nebraska fans use their checkbooks to buy their way into opposing stadiums in support of their team, but they can also smell a fraud.

They are smart enough to measure progress and assess damage.

In 2004, Callahan’s first year, Nebraska needed a field goal late in the game to avoid a shutout in a 30-3 loss at Oklahoma.

This isn’t that Nebraska.

“We are closing the gap with USC,” Callahan said. “But we still have a long way to go.”

This Nebraska makes you want to see how much more progress will be made by next year, when USC plays in Lincoln on Sept. 15.

Sam Keller, ineligible this year after transferring from Arizona State, probably will be Nebraska’s starting quarterback.

Nebraska may not be ready now.

But it might be ready then.