NEW ORLEANS — The game came with an alarming start to Husker fans. But in the end, Monday night’s national title showdown finished exactly as they wished – Bo Pelini on the receiving end of praise from national pundits.

In his last game as LSU’s defensive coordinator, Pelini’s defense emerged triumphant after a shaky beginning in which it surrendered 10 points and a 65-yard touchdown in the contest’s opening six minutes.

But the Tigers responded strongly to their initial failings, the defense coming back to net three turnovers and five sacks in a 38-24 win over Ohio State.

And a day after the victory, the French Quarter still intact despite a massive party that kept the music playing until sunrise, national analysts were looking on Nebraska’s hiring of Pelini in a positive light.

“Bo Pelini is the next Bob Stoops,” said Tony Barnhart, longtime college football writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “A guy who is fundamentally sound who has been around great coaches all his life, who knows what a championship football team is supposed to look like.

“The fact that he was able to come here and have that defense ready to play with all the things going on, I think speaks well to him and his ability to run an organization.”

Some Husker fans were rankled recently when Sporting News’ columnist Matt Hayes gave Nebraska a C-minus grade concerning the hiring of Pelini as its new football coach.

Hayes’ point was that Nebraska is too established as a football program to hire someone who has never been a head coach before.

Others are more optimistic about Pelini’s chances to turn around the Huskers, coming off a 5-7 season.

“I think there’s a stability now with Pelini because of an earlier presence, and obviously Tom (Osborne) must have a real comfort level,” said Malcolm Moran, who has covered college football for USA Today, The New York Times, Newsday and the Chicago Tribune.

“I’m looking at this from a distance, but I think the biggest thing Nebraska needs now is to get back to the stability, the comfort level that existed for a long time.”

Of Monday night’s game, Moran said, “I think (Pelini) impressed a lot of people.”

Added Mark Blaudschun of the Boston Globe: “Last night certainly helped him. It was a great game plan by him.”

And what do outsiders think of the Nebraska program as a whole? Has missing bowl games in two of the past four seasons caused the program to slide off their radar screen?

Moran: “Oh, no, which is the problem. (The program) was on the map in a way that wasn’t much fun to watch. I mean, you saw things that you never thought the Blackshirts would ever experience. (Nebraska) always remains visible, but this season it wasn’t for the reason that existed for decades. The struggle became so bad that you couldn’t look away.”

Blaudschun: “It’s not off the map, but we’re scratching our heads at the nature of (Nebraska’s) decline. It’s like Notre Dame this year. People expect dips, but it was so bad at Notre Dame. When you see dips like that, it’s like, ‘What is going on there?’”

Barnhart: “Nebraska to me, is a franchise college football program, like a USC, like an Alabama, like a Notre Dame. They made a philosophical decision to go in another direction. It didn’t work out. Every great program sags at some point. This was Nebraska’s turn and I think Pelini will definitely bring it back to where it needs to be.”

Briefly

Despite Pelini’s strong showing Monday night, the Huskers have suffered a de-commitment. Offensive lineman Dan Hoch (Harlan, Iowa) is now off Nebraska’s list in favor of Missouri. The loss gives Nebraska 16 commitments for its 2008 recruiting class. National signing day is Feb. 6. Also, quarterback recruit Sean Renfree no longer plans to make an official visit to Nebraska.

Reach Brian Christopherson at 473-7439 or bchristopherson@journalstar.com.