Bo Knows Soft

Pelini takes defense to task after victory
Associated Press

LINCOLN, Neb. -- It's a word any self-respecting football player dreads hearing. But Bo Pelini went there Tuesday.

The coach called Nebraska's defense "soft."

The 22nd-ranked Cornhuskers beat Florida Atlantic 49-3 on Saturday, but Pelini made it clear the performance he saw won't be good enough when the big games arrive.

"Overall, man to man, I thought we played soft at times," Pelini. "We've got to get that fixed."

As Pelini gave his defense a verbal flogging in front of reporters, 300-pound nose tackle Ndamukong Suh stood with his sister, Ngum, in the back of the room.

Suh had seven tackles against FAU, closing in from 5 to 10 yards behind the play to make a couple stops, yet Pelini called the performance of Suh and fellow tackle Jared Crick "average at best."

When it was Suh's turn to speak, he said only Pelini and maybe his sister are allowed to say such things about him.

"I definitely take it personally, but I know exactly what he means, so I don't take it too hard," Suh said. "We weren't as physical as he hoped. Basically, we want to start a new line of scrimmage. There is the main line of scrimmage where the ball is set, but we want to move their linemen into the backfield and start a new line of scrimmage. I don't think we did."

Pelini has often said that he's more interested in the final score than the numbers on the statistics sheet. He couldn't remember how many yards the Huskers allowed to the Owls.

Told it was 358 -- the most by an opening opponent since Louisiana Tech rolled up 569 in 1998 -- Pelini said, "Whatever it was, it was way too much for my liking."

Nebraska never sacked Owls quarterback Rusty Smith.

And though Pelini said he was pleased the Huskers had three takeaways, he pointed out they could have had more. Safety Larry Asante dropped a sure interception, and there were a couple FAU fumbles Nebraska could have recovered.

Geez Coach Pelini, take it easy on the boys. Actually, this is exactly what I like about Pelini. After Saturday's game I was on Cloud 9, but to be a good team you can't settle for pretty good. And holding FAU to 3 points is only pretty good if you don't record a sack and let them roll up 360 yards. Nebraska will have to get itself in check before playing Va. Tech, Mizzou and Texas Tech.