Perhaps Nebraska football coach Bill Callahan was caught up in the moment.

In late August, a few days before the Huskers' opener, Callahan spoke in bold terms about his West Coast offense, saying, "We don't take what defenses give us, we take what we want."

This week, Callahan discussed his offense in a more measured manner, mindful that Nebraska has been woeful of late in two areas that Callahan considers to be of paramount importance: Turnovers and third-down conversions.

The Huskers rank 105th nationally (out of 117 Division I-A teams) in turnover margin at minus-1.25. NU has committed 16 turnovers to opponents' 11.

Callahan also is troubled that in the last game and a half, Nebraska has converted just 3 of 18 third-down opportunities.

The Huskers' offense has been a hot topic since the offseason because of the dramatic transition to the West Coast system from the previous run-based attack that for three decades helped define the program.

Discussion of the Nebraska offense intensified this week in the wake of last week's 14-8 home win against Kansas, in which the Huskers managed only one sustained scoring drive against the Big 12's seventh-ranked defense.

Although Callahan has backed off on his bold proclamations, he remains committed to his system as Nebraska (3-1, 1-0 Big 12) heads in to today's game against Texas Tech in Lubbock, Texas.

Kickoff is set for 6:10 p.m.

"We're going to push the system," Callahan said. "There's going to be some hit and miss with that and some growing pains. But we're trying to make plays and move the ball with play-action passes, mixing it up with the run."

Callahan said Nebraska was a handful of plays from putting away Kansas.

"I'm very confident in the vision of what we're doing," Callahan said. "It didn't produce the amount of points we wanted (against Kansas), but I was pleased when I looked at the film. And you can grow from that, the players can grow from that. Conceptually, the players continue to believe in what we're doing."

Nebraska ranks 75th nationally in passing offense and 15th in rushing offense, leading some to question why Callahan didn't call more running plays against Kansas (the Huskers ran 32 times and passed 24).

Callahan said Nebraska's game plan against Kansas was sound. The Huskers failed to execute a handful of pass plays that might have produced a more decisive triumph, he said.

Callahan was asked whether he planned to stick with his system even if it continues to struggle.

"We'll do what we need to do to win," Callahan said. "I'm not going to force it to the point where, you know, I'm going to put a square peg in a round hole."

When a West Coast attack is functioning well, it can be an effective ball-control offense.

Controlling the ball figures to be particularly important today for Nebraska against a Texas Tech squad that leads the nation in passing offense, averaging 423.0 yards per game.

The Red Raiders (3-2, 1-1) are led by fifth-year senior quarterback Sonny Cumbie, who has completed 60.8 percent of his passes for 2,085 yards and 11 touchdowns, with 11 interceptions.

Cumbie's interception total matches that of Nebraska sophomore starter Joe Dailey, though it should be noted Cumbie has thrown 175 more times while operating a spread offense that relies heavily on shallow-to-medium crossing routes.

Callahan continues to express confidence in Dailey, who ranks 83rd nationally in passing efficiency.

"Yeah, I think he's very capable," Callahan said of Dailey. "He did it against Western Illinois. We have to do it again."

Callahan referred to Nebraska's season-opening victory against the Division I-AA Leathernecks, in which Dailey completed eight of his first 11 throws for 105 yards. For the season, he is 64 of 118 for 745 yards and eight touchdowns.

Dailey echoed Callahan's comments in saying Nebraska was "a few plays away" from a breakout game against Kansas and just needs to eliminate "very minor mistakes." Dailey was booed in the fourth quarter last weekend when he threw two interceptions as the Huskers were trying to put away the Jayhawks.

Dailey said he learned how to deal with critics by watching and listening to Jammal Lord, the former Husker who started at quarterback during the last two seasons.

"Jammal never listened to anyone, and I believe in the same thing he believes in — you're not as good as anyone says, and you're not as bad as anyone says," Dailey said. "You have to believe in what you can do and go about your business. It doesn't matter when it's all said and done as long as there's a ‘W' under our name."

Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.