Husker Buzz: Pelini having ‘fun

I imagine when Bo Pelini decided to leave the NFL in 2003 he did it to be part of moments like Saturday.

Senior walk-on quarterback Ron Kellogg's 49-yard Hail Mary pass to Jordan Westerkamp against Northwestern was one of the more special moments we've see in Memorial Stadium in quite some time.

During Monday's press conference it was no surprise people were still talking about the play, and even Pelini couldn't go without reflecting on it one more time.

"The fun part for me when I finally saw it was to see the reaction of the kids. If you ever get a chance to watch that, watch Ameer Abdullah and his reaction," Pelini said smiling. "He was running around - he dropped his helmet and was almost running in a circle. He didn't know what to do. From my standpoint that's what it's all about. That kid had given it up for his teammates and he wasn't alone.

"That's what college sports is all about. It's the experience of the student athletes. I'll coach a lot of football games and I'm probably going to coach a lot in the future, but you only get one opportunity at this thing and that's an experience - it's just a great thing to see the kids."

On the other end of it though, Pelini said he still hurts for the Northwestern players and the way that game ended for them.

"From my standpoint, I walked over and I talked to as many of those Northwestern kids as I could, because I understand what they were going through inside," Pelini said. "I was happy as heck for our kids. As happy as our kids were, you could see the crushing blow that those kids were dealing with."

Another thing Pelini remembered about Saturday was it was hard for him to get too excited about the final play until he know the call would stand after being reviewed.

All Pelini could think about was having a Big 12 Championship taken from him in 2009 after officials added more time to the clock to allow Texas to kick a game winning field goal.

"I've been in that spot before where they say 'the final play is under review,'" Pelini said. "I saw everybody cheering and everything else going on and I was sitting there thinking and saying 'ok, let's wait here a minute.' I wasn't sure exactly. I couldn't see it well enough. I just saw bedlam going on.

"I was thinking 'oh my goodness there's going to be a riot here if this thing gets called back."

It's hard to say what exactly this win on Saturday means for the Huskers, but if one thing's certain, Pelini and his team won't have much time to think about.

With trips to Michigan and Penn State, along with home games against Michigan State and Iowa it's only going to get tougher in the month of November.

"I think they understand its' going to be a heck of a challenge," Pelini said of the final four games on the schedule. "I try to beat into our guys heads to control what you can control. We have to stay the course, stay the process and keep working every day.

"We can't worry about what's going to happen three or four weeks down the line. You take week-by-week, day-by-day and try to get better."

It's a shame Michigan-Nebraska won't meet again until 2018

The Big Ten scheduler must not be a fan of college football, because I can't think of any reason why Nebraska and Michigan won't play again until 2018 after this season.

When the Huskers joined the Big Ten it was to play teams like Michigan and Ohio State on an annual basis.

With the Big Ten going to 14 teams in 2014, along with new East-West divisions, Husker fans and quite frankly college football fans get the shaft by not seeing these two storied programs play again until 2018.

To make matters worse, Michigan is not scheduled to come back to Nebraska in 2019. The Huskers will go to Ann Arbor in 2018, but there is no return game scheduled at all for 2019 or the foreseeable future, meaning NU will travel to Ann Arbor three times from 2011 to 2018 and Michigan only once to Lincoln.

Incognito news not a surprise

Hearing the news about former Nebraska offensive lineman Richie Incognito with the Miami Dolphins really doesn't come as a surprise to me.

Incognito has always been a guy that's had a hard time with authority and he's always had a hard time keeping his emotions in check.

The fact that he continues to get so many chances in the NFL with his storied past tells you just what type of talent he is. Former Nebraska head coach Bill Callahan once told me Incognito had first round type talent in 2004, and the fact that he's still in the NFL in 2013 says something right there.

Unfortunately for Incognito, it doesn't look like he'll be playing football again anytime soon.

Three and out

***Not only does Nebraska running back Ameer Abdullah lead the Big Ten in rushing with 1,108 yards, but it's also fifth highest eight game total in school history only behind Bobby Reynolds (1,260 yards), Lawrence Phillips (1,233) and Mike Rozier (1,219 and 1,129). That's some pretty good company to be in right there.

***I kind of got a chuckle when somebody asked Pelini if the Blackshirts were going to be handed out this week. As Pelini said, "there are much bigger fish to fry" right now then talking about black practice jerseys.

***It will be a busy Friday for Husker Sports Network color analyst Matt Davison. He will be doing the broadcast of the Florida Gulf Coast vs. Nebraska game on Friday from Pinnacle Bank Arena at 8 pm with Kent Pavelka, then jumping on a jet later that night to get to Ann Arbor to call the football game on Saturday with Greg Sharpe. I'm sure jealous I won't be able to see the opening game at the new arena. It's going to be quite a scene on Friday.

Sean Callahan can be reached at sean@huskeronline.com and he can be heard each day at 6:50 am and 4:50 pm on Big Red Radio 1110 KFAB in Omaha during the football season. He can also be seen on KETV Channel 7 TV in Omaha during the fall and each week he appears on NET's Big Red Wrap Tuesday's at 7 pm.