Texas and Big 12 Football Capsules: Neb's Pelini says comment on fan lethargy not rip job
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Bo Pelini isn’t one to backtrack.
On Tuesday, the fiery Nebraska coach said he was merely making an observation, not ripping the fans, when he said he was disappointed with the "dead" atmosphere at Memorial Stadium for last weekend’s Kansas game.
Some fans reacted with anger on radio shows and websites, saying Pelini shouldn’t insult the people who pay the bills and have sold out an NCAA-record 310 consecutive home games since 1962.
Others say Pelini spoke the truth and that the fans need to ramp up the volume to support the Huskers and make the stadium more intimidating to visiting teams.
Pelini first commented about the crowd on his weekly television show, taped shortly after Saturday night’s 20-3 win over the Jayhawks. On Monday he said, "I felt like I was at a scrimmage."
Pelini didn’t back off Tuesday. He said after his weekly news conference that the stadium was quieter than it’s ever been in his three seasons at Nebraska and that just before the team came out of the locker room for kickoff "you could hear a pin drop."
Nebraska football is king in this state of 1.8 million, and the fans are proud and passionate. Over each stadium entrance is a sign that reads: "Through These Gates Pass the Greatest Fans in College Football."
Fans already were a bit sensitive after receiver Niles Paul, criticized for his poor outing in the loss to Texas a month ago, said he plays for his coaches and teammates, not the fans.
Pelini dismissed the fan fuss.
"There are going to be fans that are always a little disgruntled," he said, adding that he didn’t believe his comments indicate a disconnect between the fans and the program. "It was just an observation."
Rod Hansen of Omaha, who has attended 314 consecutive home games, said fans have a right to be upset.
He said he supports Pelini as a coach and likes the direction of the program. But he said Pelini should concern himself more with what happens on the field than in the stands.
"He stepped in it," Hansen said. "I don’t know what his thinking is."
Hansen said he and other fans near him "hollered our guts out" for a defensive effort that held Kansas to 87 yards and five first downs. The offense, which went three plays and out on its first two possessions and punted six times, scored two touchdowns but otherwise didn’t do much to excite the crowd.
"Fans have to have something to yell about," Hansen said. "It’s not that they’re not into the game. You’ve got to have a good play here and there."
Johnny Rodgers, the Huskers’ 1972 Heisman Trophy winner, said he can’t fault the fans.
"It was a boring game," he said. "I don’t know how excited you could get about it. The coach can say what he wants about the fans, but he can’t forget that they’ve been showing up in force since before I was playing and they’re always at the road games."
Nebraska was a 35-point favorite over the Jayhawks and the game time was moved to 6 p.m. to accommodate a pay-per-view telecast. Conditions were crisp the day after a snowstorm, with the temperature 34 degrees at kickoff and a light breeze.
Pelini has often complimented Nebraska fans for their willingness to travel to away games and bowls.
He said the fan base at Texas A&M, Saturday’s opponent on the road, is similar — with one exception: "Our fans are better than the Aggies’ fans."
Pelini said A&M has a unique culture and set of traditions.
"I know they have some kind of thing on Friday night, like cheer practice," Pelini said, referring to the midnight pep rallies dating to 1913 known as "Yell Practice."
Asked if Nebraska fans, in light of their performance at the Kansas game, need cheer practice, Pelini smiled and lowered his head in a mock expression of defeat.
"I’ve got enough to worry about," he said.
No. 16 Sooners sticking to same approach on road
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) — Bob Stoops doesn’t want anyone looking for a deeper reason why he decided to silence some of his players as No. 16 Oklahoma tries to tackle a growing problem in Big 12 road games.
Stoops said Tuesday that his reasoning behind allowing only five players to talk to reporters this week was not related to the four-game Big 12 road skid for the Sooners (8-2, 4-2 Big 12), who happen to have the nation’s longest home winning streak.
"There’s just too many messages out there. That’s all," Stoops said. "I’d rather some older guys that have been around, let them talk. It gives them a little more attention, guys who I think deserve it. And they’re all good players, right?"
Indeed, Stoops allowed access to some of the team’s top standouts: defensive end Jeremy Beal, receiver Ryan Broyles, linebacker Travis Lewis, offensive lineman Eric Mensik and running back DeMarco Murray. Notably missing was quarterback Landry Jones, a team captain along with Beal and Lewis.
"He’s got class, he’s working, he’s got a lot to do," Stoops said. "He’s only a sophomore."
Jones is 1-5 in road games over the past two seasons, with the only win coming last year at Kansas. He also has wins this year against Cincinnati in a game played at the Bengals’ stadium instead of on campus and against Texas in a Cotton Bowl stadium half-filled with Oklahoma fans.
Stoops frequently defends Jones by saying his supporting cast hasn’t done enough to help him win on the road. He doesn’t plan to make any changes to the Sooners’ weekly routine, saying that it worked in the years before Oklahoma lost several star players — including Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford — while going 8-5 last season.
He also considers those neutral-site games to be road victories.
"I think we’ve had three regular seasons that we’ve been undefeated, so we’ve got to be doing something right on the road through the years," Stoops said. "Obviously, last year was one where it wasn’t the best. We don’t need to go back into all the different reasons last year wasn’t the best in a lot of cases."
In each of its losses this season, Oklahoma has immediately fallen behind on the road. Missouri returned the opening kickoff for a 7-0 lead, and Texas A&M went up 9-0 in the first 3 minutes on an errant snap for a safety and a quick scoring drive.
Stoops said he is "not out there gauging" his team’s energy level prior to games to determine whether it differs on the road from at home, but he has never noticed a warning sign that the Sooners would be in trouble.
When asked why there’s such a discrepancy between the Sooners outscoring three conference opponents 140-17 at Owen Field while losing both road games, he fired back: "Ask those other teams why maybe they didn’t play so well here."
In order to reach its annual goal of winning the Big 12 championship, Oklahoma will need to find some answers. The regular season concludes with road games at Baylor and then No. 12 Oklahoma State, which holds a one-game lead over the Sooners and Texas A&M in the South standings.
The team’s rallying cry has been to play the same way on the road as at home, but it hasn’t been that simple so far.
"Until we do it, we can just talk about it and philosophize and theorize, and we just need to go out and play good football," offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson said. "We’re capable of it. We’ve done it a couple times this year. We need to do it again.
"Good teams do it every week. Talented teams do it once in a while."
-- Jeff Latzke
Pickens reveling in No. 12 Cowboys’ success
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — As a self-made billionaire, T. Boone Pickens can relate to being an underdog that comes out on top. Seeing his favorite team do just that makes Oklahoma State's top booster smile.
"Go back and look at my record. I'm always the underdog and I kind of like the role," Pickens said Tuesday after he spoke at the Creativity World Forum. "The underdog, they underestimate you and you come through. Sure, I loved those days I had that happen.
"Do I like to win as the favorite? I like winning anytime."
The No. 12 Cowboys (9-1, 5-1 Big 12) find themselves in the unusual position of being the favorite this late in the season.
Oklahoma State leads the Big 12 South with two games to play for the first time, and has the chance to appear in its first conference championship game and BCS bowl game with a strong finish.
Even Pickens didn't see this coming. Before the season, he said he expected his alma mater to win eight games. At the time, even that prediction seemed optimistic for at team that lost starting quarterback Zac Robinson, two NFL first-round draft picks and nine defensive starters.
Now, even the man who's hundreds of millions of dollars helped jump-start the program's rise to national prominence is among those who underestimated Mike Gundy's Cowboys.
"I'm infinitely happier where I am," Pickens said. "I feel very good about it."
Back in 2003, Pickens donated $20 million to a stadium renovation project at the Stillwater university. He came back in 2006 to donate $165 million, along with a pledge to turn it into $300 million through investments. In return, the school named the stadium after Pickens.
He said he spoke to Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones a couple of years ago about how both had new stadiums in the works. Pickens suggested that fans will pay to see the new stadium for about two years, but then asked Jones: "You know what happens after that?"
"You've got to win," Jones replied.
"That's right. You aren't going to fill it up if you don't win," Pickens said. "So, we're winning and we're going to fill it up."
Pickens said the continuing support of the program is crucial since Oklahoma State is trying to make up for years of having a much smaller budget for sports. Until his donation, the Cowboys also were training in inferior facilities.
"That's so important because you're competing against Texas, which is the top program dollar-wise. They're over $100 million athletic budget and we're $50 million," Pickens said. "That's pretty tough. So, how do we do it? Fill up the stadium."
The next project is building an indoor practice facility, since Oklahoma State is the only Big 12 school without one.
The complex was part of a planned athletic village that was to be funded through Pickens' big donation and subsequent investment, but those plans stalled due to the recession.
Athletic director Mike Holder started accepting bids for the project in October, but then called off the process to rework the plans to fit the school's budget.
"That's coming up," Pickens said. "Holder's working on it every day. He's going to get it solved here at some point."
It's been a season of milestones for Oklahoma State, including its first wins at Texas and Texas Tech since 1944. Pickens attended the Cowboys' 33-16 win at Texas on Saturday on the sly, passing up a few invitations from friends who wanted him to come along.
"It was a great day," he said, noting that he would have been 16 years old the last time OSU won in Austin. "I loved it."
With a win Saturday at Kansas, the Cowboys would match a school record with 10 wins and reach that total for the first time in the regular season.
After that comes a showdown with No. 16 Oklahoma in the Nov. 27 Bedlam rivalry with a spot in the Big 12 championship game on the line.
"You never get a home run if you don't get up to bat. I can tell you that we're up to bat now," Pickens said. "We're at the plate and we've got a chance to make it an unbelievable year for OSU. If we don't make it, we'll be back next year."
-- Jeff Latzke
State
Three teams vying for Southland Conference title
FRISCO (AP) — The Southland Conference championship is still within reach for three teams heading into the final week of the regular season.
Stephen F. Austin and McNeese State enter their games Saturday tied atop the conference with 5-1 records. The Lumberjacks host Northwestern State, while McNeese visits Central Arkansas.
If both teams win, they would repeat as co-champions, though the Lumberjacks would earn the league's automatic berth in the NCAA playoffs by virtue of their 32-27 victory over the Cowboys on Oct. 9.
Stephen F. Austin can clinch the title outright if Central Arkansas defeats McNeese. The Cowboys would earn an outright title if they win and Northwestern State beats the Lumberjacks.
If the Demons beat SFA, they need a Central Arkansas victory over McNeese. Should that happen, Northwestern would earn a share of the conference crown and lock up the league's playoff bid.
Hardin-Simmons football coach retires
ABILENE (AP) — Hardin-Simmons coach Jimmie Keeling is retiring after 21 seasons in charge of the once-dormant football program.
The 75-year-old Keeling made the announcement Tuesday, three days after the season ended. He is the Abilene school’s all-time leader in wins and ranks sixth nationally among NCAA Division III coaches with a 172-53 record.
Hardin-Simmons went more than 25 years without football before Keeling was hired to revive the program in 1990. He led the Cowboys to the national playoffs 11 times.
Keeling previously coached at several Texas high schools and won a state championship at Lubbock Estacado.
Assistant coach Jesse Burleson will serve as interim head coach until Keeling’s replacement is named.
