Count Al Borges among those who preached patience when Nebraska began running the West Coast offense in 2004.

Borges, in his third season as Auburn’s offensive coordinator, brought his version of the West Coast offense to Auburn the same season Bill Callahan arrived in Lincoln.

Said Borges prior to the 2004 season: “Nebraska doesn’t want to be patient, but that offense doesn’t happen overnight.”

For Auburn, the transition wasn’t difficult. Borges focused on running the football with running backs Carnell Williams and Ronnie Brown, and the Tigers went 13-0 in Borges’ first season. Nebraska, meanwhile, finished 5-6.

Let’s fast-forward.

Nebraska and Auburn will meet  in the Jan. 1 Cotton Bowl, and the Huskers have the nation’s No. 9 offense.

Borges’ thoughts on Callahan’s offense three seasons later?

“It reminds me a lot of ours,” Borges said. “I won’t say we’re mirror images, but we’re very similar.”

The common trait is both teams’ penchant for running the ball. Whereas most West Coast offenses start with passing, Borges said, NU and Auburn focus first on rushing.

“Bill thinks a lot like I think,” Borges said. “He knows you have to be balanced.”

Nebraska is one of only three teams — Louisville and Oregon are the others — to rank among the nation’s top 25 in both rushing offense and passing offense. The Huskers are ranked No. 25 in rushing and No. 18 in passing.

“They have all the concepts that go into the West Coast attack, and (Callahan) knows when to use them,” Borges said. “I don’t believe it’s as much the Xs and Os as much as how it’s taught — the timing of the receivers, the precision of the routes, the footwork of the quarterback.

“Not that Xs and Os aren’t big, but if you were to prioritize the importance, if you were to identify a West Coast offense, it starts with how the offense is taught.”

Borges said his offense at Auburn has become more of a hybrid of the West Coast offense during his three seasons.

The Tigers, who averaged 420 total yards in 2004 and 409 in 2005, haven’t been as productive this season. They average 332 yards  — 155 rushing, 177 passing — to rank 68th overall.

“It hasn’t been what it’s been,” Borges said, noting Auburn’s loss of three receivers off last year’s team. “The first couple of years we were very efficient throwing the football.”

Quarterback Brandon Cox has thrown for 2,087 yards and completed 61.2 percent of his passes with 13 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Running back Kenny Irons, who missed two games because of injury, has rushed for 821 yards, averaging 4.7 per carry.

“We have not been as prolific offensively as we were my first two years,” Borges said, “but there are times we have been efficient.”

Borges’ general observations of Nebraska’s offense have come from seeing a few games on television. He’ll be spending more time in the coming weeks dissecting Nebraska’s defense, led by Kevin Cosgrove.

It will be the third time the coordinators have faced each other in a bowl game; Borges was offensive coordinator at UCLA when Cosgrove was defensive coordinator at Wisconsin.

In the 1999 Rose Bowl, Wisconsin defeated UCLA 38-31, although the Bruins, behind All-America quarterback Cade McNown, rolled up 538 total yards.

Wisconsin also defeated UCLA in the 2000 Sun Bowl, 21-20. UCLA, held to less than 27 points for the first time in eight games, had 396 total yards.

Borges said he’s most impressed with the discipline of the Nebraska defense.

“They have enough in their package and a multitude of packages where they aren’t predictable,” he said. “They’re not going to make it easy on you.”

Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-4736 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.