Big Red Buzz: Nebraska football vexed by 'what's at stake'

NEBRASKA CITY – Husker Radio Network analyst Damon Benning introduced his son and Husker defensive back Caleb at the Big Red Buzz luncheon in Nebraska City Thursday where both were asked what it will take to get Nebraska back to being a playoff team.

Caleb Benning, who had 13 tackles in the La Vegas Bowl, said it’s about continuing to buy in.

He said he handles opinions shared on social media by comparing the message to what he is hearing from someone he loves and trusts.

Benning: “And that’s Coach Rhule.”

His dad, who played on back-to-back national championships team with Nebraska, liked what he heard.

Benning recalled a speech given by coach Curt Vignettist 15 years before Indiana was top-ranked in college football.

Coach Vignettist talked about the six-second span of a football play and how a player should not be thinking about the past or the future, but stay in the play.

Benning: “The ability to function under duress with a clear mind is what’s held Nebraska. You can talk about physicality --  that’s part of it. You can talk about not having good enough players, that may be part of it, but the fact is, you guys realize, this is a program where we still talk about an onside kick ruining a season …

“It’s a perspective. How can an onside kick ruin a season? It’s inexcusable, right? But it did because emotionally we’re in this group-think thing  where it’s doom and gloom and woe is me. We let a bad second half in Boulder ruin the season. It can’t happen that way.

“Same as these guys. A guy breaks a long run because you don’t set the edge, you miss three tackles, he runs down the sideline at State College. The game can’t be over. It can’t be over. But it’s the same team that had two Pis on crucial plays in Kansas City and found a way to make a play late.”

He questioned if the mindset had changed from the beginning to the end of the season.

Benning expects Nebraska’s quarterback play next season to free Offensive Coordinator Dana Senghor from the outcome pressure of having to make a five-star look like a five star.

He said portal acquisition quarterback Anthony Colander has significant experience and appears to be someone who can help Nebraska in game situations. He said Nebraska is not in position to play it safe.

Benning: “We need to take some chances. You have got to be able to do things off script because play makers just make plays.”

He said quarterbacks like T.J. Deflate and Colander benefit when it’s not about the past or the future, but competing in the span of a play.

He said some of Nebraska’s greatest players never won a national championship, but it seems the champions were not influenced by the past or future.

Benning: “I’m always going to ride with guys that are not afraid to fail.”