STEVEN M. SIPPLE / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Wednesday, October 13, 2004 7:00 pm
Nebraska secondary coach Phil Elmassian recalls a question Lou Holtz used to ask his players and assistants, oh, about 20 years ago, during another era of college football:
If an opposing team plays its best, and you play your worst, could you still win the game?
Of course, there was a time when several college football powerhouses including Nebraska could sputter on a Saturday and still prevail even if a lesser opponent was on top of its game.
"Those days are over, man," said the 53-year-old Elmassian, in his first season with the Huskers.
And that goes for virtually every team nowadays, he said.
"You have to be at your best every game regardless of the opponent," Elmassian said as Nebraska prepared to play traditional Big 12 doormat Baylor at 1:05 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
Given the nature of Nebraska's last game a 70-10 loss at Texas Tech the Huskers (3-2, 1-1 Big 12) should have little problem getting motivated to play the Bears (2-3, 0-2).
Nonetheless, many Nebraska fans, and perhaps even a few players, will wake up Saturday morning taking victory for granted. After all, the Huskers have outscored the Bears by an average of 44.3 points in the past four meetings.
Throw past results out the window, Elmassian advises.
In this day and age in college football, virtually no team can afford to look past an opponent, no matter the circumstances, Elmassian said.
"That's how you get your butt kicked," he said.
It hasn't always been that way.
Elmassian recalled a conversation he had in the 1970s with an Ohio State assistant regarding the way the Buckeyes practiced during the week of the Northwestern game.
Instead of preparing for Northwestern, Ohio State would use a large share of that week to prepare for bitter rival Michigan. The Ohio State aide made no bones about it.
"You can't even think about doing it that way now," Elmassian said.
The fact is, the gap between the sport's traditional powers and the rest of the pack has diminished thanks to the NCAA. Scholarship reductions imposed during the early 1990s, from 105 to 85, have leveled the playing field.
Academic restrictions more stringent now than in decades past also have contributed to a more even distribution of talent across the country.
Elmassian becomes animated as he discusses parity among college teams.
"I hate to bring this up, but I will," Elmassian said, referring to Saturday's crushing loss at Tech. "They're playing at their best, and we're probably playing one of our poorest performances on defense. But it's still 21-10 in the third quarter. There's perspective. We still had a chance to win that game in our worst scenario."
Ask Louisiana State about parity in the college game, Elmassian said. The Tigers, last year's co-national champions, already have lost twice this season.
"Let me tell you what, Coach (Nick) Saban could've run for governor last year," said Elmassian, LSU's defensive coordinator in 2000. "Now, he's running from the state."
Of course, at Baylor, expectations are relatively low. The Bears haven't played in a bowl game since 1994. They were 3-9 last year, 1-7 in the league.
Elmassian doesn't want to hear it.
"They're a physical team," he said. "Offensively, I think they work to establish the run. They do a good job with their play-action passes. We have to be extremely disciplined on first and second down."
Baylor will try to confuse Nebraska's defense with several formations and personnel groupings, Elmassian said.
Nebraska, meanwhile, will try to avoid the confusion and breakdowns on defense that occurred in the loss to Tech, the worst in program history.
The setback led to a difficult week in Husker Nation.
"You have no problems winning can't solve," Elmassian said.
Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.