I Knew 2006 Would Show Up Eventually

I feel for Doc Sadler right now. After an impressive start, it looks like Nebraska is settling back into the team that caused Barry Collier to get out of college coaching.

Tonight in Norman, the Huskers completely fell apart and looked utterly sad. Oklahoma was playing without their starting center who was serving a 2 game suspension. The first time the Sooners played without 6'11 Longar Longar, they got drilled by Texas. Game 2- they crushed Nebraska 70-53.

Going into the game, I talked about getting the ball to Aleks Maric as much as possible and you could tell that Doc had told his team to do exactly that. However, Alek's first touch came after the game was nearly 3 minutes old, which infuriated the Husker Head Man. Maric was completely shut out of the game as Oklahoma's zone defense worked to perfection for most of the night. When they did get it inside to Aleks, the Sooners forced turnovers and turned them into easy points. Maric's line: 8 points on 3-5 fgs, 4 rebs, and 5 turnovers!

Defensively, Nebraska was asleep all night and allowed sharp shooter Michael Neal, among others, to bomb away at will. Neal finished with 2o points on 6 of 10 3 point shooting. On the glass, the Huskers were dominated 37-21, giving up numerous second and third chance opportunities for the Sooners. The Huskers couldn't find open shots and they couldn't get the rebounds when they missed. When Oklahoma missed, they ran down 11 offensive boards and scored 12 second chance points to 2 for Nebraska.

The effort in the 2nd half was pathetic, getting out scored 40 to 27. All the talk about great energy for all 40 minutes was a joke for at least tonight. Doc Sadler was left to walk up and down his bench and ask where his team from November went. This is conference play where teams know you inside and out and they remember your weaknesses. After 2 straight losses to NU, Oklahoma embarrassed Nebraska tonight.

The 31 year old Jeff Caple totally out coached the older Doc Sadler. Huskers are now 0-2 in the Big 12 and still only have 1 road win. They better beat a bad Colorado team (Thursday morning update - CU beat Iowa St last night) at home this weekend or things could really get ugly. They've got Texas waiting after that.