Monday Reading Room: It's Iowa-Nebraska Week

I realize you all know how to get around the World Wide Web via PC, laptop, tablet, smartphone, or coffee table.

But I'm going to try to save you some time and/or draw your attention to Nebraska football-related stories and columns you may not have come across in this, the week of the Iowa-Nebraska game. (No trumped-up nicknames for the series are necessary, thank you very much.)

One of the things I've enjoyed most about this football season is reading the good, intelligent work of sportswriters at the Omaha World-Herald and Lincoln Journal Star. Here are some of their recent offerings:

Tom Shatel of the World-Herald, like everyone in Nebraska, didn't find much to admire from the Cornhuskers in their 45-17 loss at Michigan Saturday. He wrote:

On a day with a BCS bowl on the line, and on a stage where big players play big, the Nebraska Cornhuskers showed us an old, too-familiar look.

The closer they get to a BCS bowl, the further away they are from reaching it.

Will Bo Pelini ever get there? Days like these raise serious questions. ...

Big, bad Nebraska of the Big 12 was simply a diversion to old business for the blue people, who could be seen patting Husker fans on the back and saying, “Good luck next week. Who do you guys have?”

“Iowa,'' said one Husker fan.

Getting stoked for that one?

Steven M. Sipple of the Journal Star was impressed by Michigan quarterback Denard Robinson. He wasn't so taken with Nebraska.

Let's be real: Nebraska (8-3, 4-3 Big Ten) didn't play like a team worthy of a conference title and BCS bid.

No. 20 Michigan (9-2, 5-2) is a good-not-great team. The Wolverines, though, regularly pounced on the Huskers after their multiple miscues, and suddenly -- coo coo ca-choo -- Mr. Robinson and company had a blowout on their hands. ...

Never mind Robinson, though. Nebraska's defense felt plenty of stress, in part because the Husker offense didn't exactly carry its share of the load. Michigan had the ball for 41 minutes, 13 seconds, compared with NU's 18:47. Yikes.

Sam McKewon of the World-Herald finds Nebraska's defense lacking and its offensive strategy puzzling.

What, exactly, was Nebraska offensive coordinator Tim Beck's plan?

While he didn't show for postgame interviews - are he and Carl Pelini trading off now after losses? - he seemed to like the option and zone-read game.

Michigan's defense seemed to like it, too. ...

You know the story with Nebraska's defense. Not enough depth. Not enough horses. No pass rush. Average recruiting. It can't be on the field for 80 plays and 41 minutes. The Blackshirts need the Husker offense for cover. When Beck and Co. can't provide it - when the plan looks bad from the jump - you eventually get defensive breakdowns. You get 28- or 31-point losses.

What's it mean for coach Bo Pelini?

That,  four years in, his team still relies on a few elite athletes - Lavonte David, Burkhead, Alfonzo Dennard, Martinez when he's on - and "just so" play-calling and execution from everyone else.

Brian Christopherson of the Journal Star gave a lot of the gory details of Michigan's second-half dissection of the Huskers. Including:

Wisconsin? Yes, there were similarities, and not just in the final score. (The Badgers beat the Huskers 48-17.)

In that game and in this one, Nebraska self-destructed.

Special teams had their share in the defeat, as Christopherson points out.

On special teams, the Huskers twice fumbled kickoff returns, had a punt blocked, saw Michigan succeed on a fake field goal and roughed the punter just when it seemed Nebraska had momentum.