Bo Pelini is starting tp feel some heat in Lincoln. (Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports)
All is not well in Lincoln, Neb., after the Cornhuskers were shellacked to the tune of 41-21 by UCLA on Saturday.
After the game, one of the most beloved players in Cornhuskers’ history, Tommy Frazier, who was honored Saturday for his recent induction into the College Football Hall of Fame, called for head coach Bo Pelini to replace Nebraska’s defensive coaching staff.
“I hate saying this but this crap is getting old,” Frazier tweeted. “How in the hell do you not make adjustments or put your players in the position to compete? If this is what is going to happen for the remainder of the season, count me out. I don’t care if we lose a game but the way we are losing is just not what #Nebraska fans deserve. I have fought, bled and cried over this program. I didn’t do all that for the program to become what it has today. Time for change!”
Frazier’s criticism rankled Pelini and on Monday he responded.
“Since I came back here, I’ve embraced former players,” Pelini told multiple outlets. “If he feels like that, then so be it. We don’t need him. That’s a shame.
“Until you’ve sat in this seat, until you’ve sat here and done it, anybody can have an opinion. It’s easy to point fingers when you stand outside and throw stones. So I just take for what it is,” Pelini said.
Frazier, the runner-up in 1995 for the Heisman Trophy, did not back down after hearing Pelini’s response.
“I said what I said. He’s right: He doesn’t need me,” Frazier said by text message, ESPN reported. “He needs someone to help him. But what he’s doing is not what Nebraska fans deserve, period.”
During his Monday news conference, Pelini shouldered the blame, saying he had done a lot of “soul searching” about a football culture that he said puts too much pressure on players.
And Pelini promised changes.
“I want our players to get back to having fun again. I want them playing to win and not worrying about losing the game.
“I didn’t feel that was the case on Saturday. I saw it in their look. I saw in their demeanor. I’ve been around long enough to know that it starts with the guy in charge.
“Accountability goes both ways. It starts with me. It ends with me.”
The Nebraska defense has yielded more than 500 yards in four of its past five games and given up more than 200 points during that time.
The Cornhuskers defense is preparing for Saturday’s opponent, South Dakota State. In three games, all victories, the Jackrabbits have averaged slightly more than 40 points a game.
