Some more from Struggling Joe, in a follow-up I commented to him about how the impression that I and others further away from Nebraska got from the media was a very disgruntled and unhappy fanbase with Coach Callahan and the team. I wondered whether it was just a vocal minority.

I guess I may have been speaking more from my perspective on that one. There are definitely a lot of old school fans at Nebraska and they’re going to be hard on Callahan no matter what he does. But from my perspective and from the people that I talk to, they definitely know that a change needed to be made and that there was going to be some down time until things get turned around. I think if I actually lived in Lincoln and sat in the stands, I would hear a different story I’m sure, but I think that is why I’m glad I’m not able to get to most of the Husker games. 🙂

Then, as if on cue you had SI.com’s Stuart Mandel’s mailbag starts off with this.

It’s only been two games, and, even though they both ended in Nebraska victories, it’s clear Huskers fans are becoming increasingly agitated with second-year coach Bill Callahan. A year after watching his offense bumble its way through the school’s first losing season in 43 years, the Huskers’ loyal legions — and lord knows there’s a bunch of them — were hoping for something more encouraging than an average of 273.5 offensive yards — ranked 99th nationally — against Maine and Wake Forest.

According to Mandel, “But from where I sit, it’s looking more and more to me like Callahan’s hiring was a potentially colossal mistake. Not because he can’t coach, but because he’s the wrong coach for Nebraska.” This is 1 season and 2 games into his tenure.

Struggling Joe responded to that on his blog.

I bring that up in part, because you can guess what the second issue from the mailbag was:

It seems like every job Dave Wannstedt gets, he finds himself immediately in hot water. I can’t remember the last week of football where fans in Chicago, Miami, or now, Pittsburgh, haven’t called for his head. How long will Wanny last at Pitt, and is it possible this Panthers squad isn’t the Big East contender we thought it was?
–Zack, Rockville, Md.

Wannstedt’s situation is similar to Callahan’s in one sense: Wannstedt walked into a program that wasn’t exactly broken and, therefore, won’t be afforded the same patience as a coach in a rebuilding situation (and ironically, the two face each other Saturday, after which one of them is going to be feeling even more heat). The difference is, while Callahan had no connection whatsoever to Nebraska, Wannstedt is a definitive Pitt guy, which is why I, like most people, bought into the hype — in spite of the fact that, as you mention, his sterling coaching reputation, due primarily to his role as defensive coordinator for the Cowboys’ 1992 Super Bowl team, seems to be impervious to actual wins and losses.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, folks. He’s been there two games. While the apocalyptic media reaction in Pittsburgh has certainly been amusing (“Pitt’s 16-10 loss to poor little Ohio University … was one of the sorriest chapters in the university’s athletic history,” wrote one particularly over-the-top columnist), there are still a lot of games left for Wannstedt to turn things around, and as of now the Panthers are still undefeated in the Big East. If we’re still talking about the same thing next year at this time, however … well, see the above comments on Callahan.

So it’s decided. A new coach has a little more than one season to make even a moderately successful program into a top-15 team.

Now back to some more Q&A with Joe.

You touched on the offenses struggles. Is it simply a matter of transition still. Players from the old system still trying to fit into the new along with new recruits learning the system at the next level? Is it something with the offensive coordinator? Is he coming in for the heat (or does Callahan call the offense)?

It’s definitely a little of both. It’s new players trying to fit into the new system. I mean you have half of the guys that were recruited to run the option and the other half are just new players period and are trying to learn the new system as well. Offensive Coordinator Jay Norvell calls the plays but I’m sure Callahan has a lot of input. That guy has his nose buried in the play sheet all game it seems, so I can’t imagine he doesn’t play a part. So while you have all this newness going on, you still have to execute on the field and that is the other half of the problem. Dropped balls have been the biggest problem as far as execution goes and the other problem is getting the offensive line to gel. I’m actually impressed with QB Zac Taylor’s performance so far. Last week he was victimized by six drops and three knockdowns.

Last year before the game, the beaten into the ground theme was your AD Steve Pedersen, since he left the same job at Pitt. He’s still very well regarded by Pitt fans and alum for revitalizing and modernizing the entire athletic department and key programs — football and basketball (aside from the decisions to go from Pitt to Pittsburgh, and junking the old colors for the boring color scheme — which we equate to the difference between San Diego Charger old school unis versus the dull new ones — but I digress). Again, this may be distorted by distance and simply a very vocal minority, but what is the overall feeling about Pedersen and the job he’s done in Nebraska? It seems he is getting much abuse for his moves (and the way they are done) even as most quietly concede the necessity.

Pedersen has definitely taken the brunt of criticism so far. First of all, he had to deal with the initial firing of Solich, (You know, the breaking away from the old guard.) and then he got taken through the ringer when the job was turned down a few times before finally landing Callahan. I’m personally glad he landed someone with “NFL” experience because I think that is kind of the new trend. It certainly has paid off huge dividends in the recruiting wars as we touched on earlier.

Getting back to Pedersen, it’s hard to gauge the public perception this season because he really has been left out of the media spotlight. But I’m sure if he were to get introduced before or during a Husker game, he would get boo’ed. You know, one of those deals. I’m sure his name gets cursed and will get cursed until the Huskers have a winning season. But I give him a lot of credit for basically being the guy responsible for this whole change. If the talent keep coming in, people will have no choice but to get on board.

You’ve mentioned how the defense has carried the team — and the stats bear that out. Where is the strength of the D? Is it up front with the D-line, or is it a strong secondary that leads allows more help to come up front and blitz more?

There’s no doubt that the strength of the defense is the defensive line. They’ve recorded 16 sacks in two games so far, including 11 against Maine which was a school record. They have all four starters back from last season and the depth has almost doubled from what is was last year as well. I really thought the LB’s would be the glaring weakness coming into the season but the d-line has made them look REAL good so far. Since the other team is worried about containing the d-line, the LB’s have been freed up to make more plays. And it’s reflected in the fact that the LB’s, themselves, have three interception returns for TD’s this season.

Leave it to me to find the a rational Nebraska fan to discuss this stuff.

Pitt’s O-line is sticking with the “we can’t worry about the other team’s stats, we have to do our job” approach when it comes to discussing the fact that the Husker D has 16 or 17 sacks in just 2 games.

As discussed a couple times over the week, Pitt is hoping to open up the passing game a bit more and free-up Greg Lee.

“It might help me out,” Lee said Wednesday, “but I’m not sure if Nebraska will really cater to the guy on the other side, seeing as how they really don’t know that much about him or he hasn’t really done that much here. Maybe it could (help) and maybe it couldn’t. I’m not sure what they’re going to do.”
…
“Sometimes when you’re struggling, you like to shake things up a little bit, and I think that’s what coach Wannstedt’s doing,” Palko said. “Joey’s still going to play a lot. He’ll play in our (three receivers) package.”

Nebraska’s blitzing defense could work in Pitt’s favor, if Palko can unload passes before being trapped in the backfield. Lee, mindful of the speedy Kinder’s presence on the field at the same time, thinks he can be there to gather them in.

“Because they blitz a lot and don’t leave so many guys in the secondary, it gives me a better chance of making some catches,” Lee said.

It’s just that niggling issue of Palko still getting enough time to throw.

Nebraska too, is trying to get their offense in gear. Despite being 2-0, and 56 points in the 2 games, half the points came directly from the defense on turnovers taken in for scores. Nebraska has yet to get much of a running game going. Presumably they will try to get that working better, but the receivers know they will be expected to step up against the strength of Pittsburgh’s defense — the secondary.

“They’re going to come up and get in our face,” Gilmore said. “We have to be good at getting off the line of scrimmage and using our hands and not letting them disrupt our timing.

“Our guys know what’s coming; we just have to answer the bell.”

NU receivers need to have a sense of urgency about reducing the number of dropped passes, Gilmore said.

The Huskers were plagued by drops in each of their first two games, both wins. The missed opportunities by receivers are partly to blame for NU’s lackluster pass completion rate of 42 percent.

Here’s a scouting report on Pitt from a Nebraska paper, including some commentary from the Ohio defensive coordinator.

Very much the theme of the stories today. Both in terms of short term and long term.

OK, 6-5 isn’t the ways most fans expected to open the Dave Wannstedt era. It isn’t the way Wannstedt expected to open it, either. But with a ragtag defensive line which lost two solid starters, and with an offensive line that never had any, there was only so much of Tyler Palko-to-Greg Lee that could be effective.

Wannstedt and his coaching staff must shoulder some of the blame. Despite the switch in strategies, the offense shouldn’t be this bad. The Panthers’ staff was outcoached by Charlie Weis and Notre Dame. And never, ever, should this team lose to Ohio – no matter where the game was played.
…
After the worst start in 20 years at Pitt – and those two decades in between include some awful seasons – fans are already looking for the bandwagon’s exit doors.

Wannstedt is trying to wean the Panthers off the West Coast offense and mold them into a power team. For the most part, he doesn’t have the players he wants. He may as soon as next season.

Patience is not often tolerated in major college football.

But, it’s just too early to show Wannstedt the exit doors. It’s too soon to cast this as a mistake.

Another long-view column.

The current coach and his previous two predecessors have had the same mission, and it’s not an easy one.

This is still Pitt.

How quickly hungry fans forget just how bad the Panthers were less than a decade ago. Does 72-0 ring any bells?

How fast so many people were to dismiss the advances the program made in eight seasons under Harris and to cheer his forced departure.

Yet what Harris did — taking Pitt from a doormat to a perennial bowl team, and doing it rather quickly — is more the exception, and it’s not something that should be forgotten because that’s in the history books now, too.

Harris, now at Stanford, took the Panthers as far as he could. It was time for a change.
…
Here’s the thing: We can’t pin it on Wannstedt, at least not yet.

Pitt is a work in progress, as it has been for some years.

To me, these columns should have run by Monday or Tuesday (or even held until after the upcoming game). I’m not necessarily disputing their points, but with only a couple days before the next game the longest view with which I care to even glance at is Pitt now at 8500-1 odds of winning the BCS Championship.

By Wednesday, the attention shifts to the upcoming game — what Pitt can do to win and what to expect from Nebraska. It’s now Thursday, the time for speculating and lecturing about the long-term and planning for the future is something done in a football week during the first few days after the last game. Now it is about the present situation and preparing for the opponent.

Now for the short-term, it’s about the offense.

Pitt quarterback Tyler Palko believes the Panthers’ offense is struggling because it is in a state of transition.

But he laughed at the notion that the new offense, which is more run-oriented than the offense under former coach Walt Harris, is restricting him from making plays or slowing his progress as a player.

Like anything in life, he said, there are growing pains the whole team is going through but that doesn’t mean the offensive system isn’t working.

It’s going to have to be a hell of a leap needed just to get the offense back to looking like it did against Notre Dame. There’s a reasonable question of just how much patience should be shown over the offense’s performance.

Offensive Coordinator Matt Cavanaugh tried to shift the blame away from Palko for the 2 interceptions run back for touchdowns against Ohio. The first he blamed himself for calling “a play using a route that works in the NFL, but not necessarily in college, because of the difference in the spacing of the hash marks.” The second he blamed DelSardo because he didn’t come back to the ball.

I’m not sure I buy either excuse, and that still doesn’t explain why Palko put so much air underneath the ball on both throws. Besides, Palko doesn’t need excuses to be made for him.

“It’s a feeling-out process with the offense,” he added. “As much as I study, it’s just a matter of getting used to the offense. We’re all working hard and putting in the time. We need to make better decisions. I made some poor decisions and got exposed.”

Pitt can’t afford the mistakes this Saturday.