Husker's play dirty?

As soon as Bo Pelini was hired at the University of Nebraska, t-shirts started popping up in the local shops with sayings like, "My Bo-friend's back," and "Bo Know Best." Well, after Chase Daniel's comments in the article below, perhaps the next shirt should read, "Say it ain't so Bo." You tell me if you think Nebraska is dirty. But anyway you look at it, no one can say they are a football dynasty anymore. Dirty or clean.

Published Sunday October 5, 2008
Huskers a dirty team, QB Daniel says
BY LEE BARFKNECHT WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

LINCOLN — In his final appearance against Nebraska, quarterback Chase Daniel of Missouri didn't hold back on the field or in the postgame interview room.

During MU's 52-17 victory, the senior Heisman Trophy finalist completed 18 of 23 passes for 253 yards and three touchdowns. After the game, Daniel kept attacking."They came out hitting," he said. "Nebraska was definitely one of the dirtiest teams I've played. It's football, so you've got to be ready for it. . . . You've just got to go out there and play."

Asked to elaborate on the dirty play, Daniel leveled an accusation."Walking out before pregame, I got spit on," he said. "I've never really done that before."Spit on by a player?"Yes, by a player. A Nebraska player," Daniel said.Who was it?"I'm not going to say who it was," Daniel said. "He knows who it is. I think that's bush league. I've never done that. That's blatant disrespect."

Daniel also wasn't wild about some comments that came out of the Nebraska camp last week. Among them:NU coach Bo Pelini talking about shutting out Missouri; tailback Marlon Lucky saying Missouri had better watch out because NU was mad after losing to Virginia Tech; and linebackers coach Mike Ekeler's remarks at the Big Red Breakfast about being really excited about the Blackshirts' game plan.

"We heard everything," Daniel said. "The moment it came out, we heard it."That's just blatant disrespect for us. You've got to settle (it) on the field, and I think we more than did that tonight."

The payback stretched far behind Saturday night, Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. The scope included the Tigers' drought in Lincoln back to 1978.

"This win is not just about this 2008 team," Pinkel said. "This is about 30 years of a lot of different fans around the country and the world and ex-players."I'm proud of my players for competing hard and getting a win at one of the toughest places in the country to play."

Daniel said it wasn't all that difficult in Memorial Stadium after some early hubbub from Husker fans."They were pretty loud for the first two series," he said. "After that, they sort of stopped it. It's awesome to play in front of it. Where else would you rather be? It's 90,000 fans and a hostile environment. To be able to come out and play a lot like that says a lot about our team."

Did Pinkel detect any nervousness in pregame from his fifth-ranked team?"No, they were excited. Very excited," he said. "We had great practices last week. . . . And they took it personal. When you hear about something since 1978, they cared."