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Send your sports questions or comments to John Bishop at jbishop@broadcasthouse.com.

John Bishop's Sunday School

In today's college football, no one should be surprised when Nebraska "struggles" to beat San Jose State by 23 points. Despite a lack of marquee games through two weeks, already the college landscape has been altered through so-called upsets and near-misses of the major powers. I know there is going to be panic over the lack of a run game; the sloppy tackling that most thought would be the first thing to dissipate under a new regime; and the ability for Nebraska to find new ways to shoot itself in the foot with turnovers and penalties.

One thing all Husker fans are going to have to accept in 2008 is that this growing process under a Bo Pelini-coaching staff is going to be every bit as tedious and uncomfortable as it was in 2004 with Bill Callahan. The difference will be in what areas the team will struggle. Make no mistake, there are no problems with cohesion amongst the players and coaches and there is no "flipping the culture" that masked the entire Pederson/Callahan error...er, era. But there are still adjustments that need to be made, talent gaps that need to be filled and growing pains that will be experienced.

Barney Cotton said after the game that he is still standing by his offensive line. That's good, because not many others will after a second straight week of lackluster....borderline, bad....rushing by the NU offense. SJSU should be given credit for having a solid D-line, but all the hype was that the Nebraska O-line was going to be the strong suit of the team. After two games, you could argue that the O-line is actually the weak link. One thing that needs to happen for this line to start clicking is for Cotton to find his five starters and get them working together. Depth is great, but continuity is what is needed right now.

I have to say right now that the "or" between I-backs Roy Helu and Marlon Lucky can be erased. Helu just looks better out there in the run game. Sure, the holes have been hard to find, but Helu seems more able to make plays with his feet that Lucky cannot. The Huskers still very much need Lucky this season, but the start next week belongs to Helu.

I am in no position to hand out Blackshirts to Husker first team defenders, but if I did have a choice, one guy who would be at the head of my line is DT Ty Steinkuhler. The elder "Stein" was last week's team defensive player of the week and this week, Steinkuhler anchored down the middle and seemed to spend a lot of time in the SJSU backfield. It was also his pressure of Myles Eden in the fourth quarter that helped Zach Potter get his fourth quarter interception.

Also give an "adda-boy" to DE Pierre Allen who took over for the injured Barry Turner to lead the defense in tackles with 10 and tackles for loss with 3.

Four Moments That Changed This Game

1) Joe Ganz's 12 yard third down completion to Nate Swift on NU's lone TD drive of the first half. The way the defense was whiffing on tackles at that point, there's a reasonable change SJSU is up more than 6-0 if NU has to punt from deep in its own end.

2) The Spartans awful play calling in the final 1:17 of the first half after intercepting Ganz at the NU 30. They had two timeouts and still could only get to the Husker 15 in 73 seconds. Three short pass completions and ZERO shots at the end zone. Imagine how things look if SJSU is within 14-12 or tied at the half rather than settling for a field goal that missed.

3) More ultra-conservative Spartan play calling in the 4th quarter. After Castille's fumble at midfield, SJSU drove to the NU 9, but two (predictable) runs off the spread option gained nothing and the Spartans had to settle for a field goal. Right after that, the game ended when.....

4) Niles Paul returns the ensuing kickoff 85 yards. Nothing more needs to be said except, Niles Paul is a star in the making.

Stat Of The Game, Part I: Nebraska's offense went from 11:30 to play in the 2nd quarter to the 11:23 mark of the 4th quarter (two full quarters) without running a play in San Jose State territory.

Stat Of The Game, Part II: After their sloppy start, the Nebraska defense held the Spartans to just 132 yards of offense in the second half. Take away SJSU's 55 yard pass play in the fourth quarter (which was later nullifed by Potter's INT) and the not-yet-ready-to-be-Blackshirts yielded only 77 yards in the final 30 minutes.

Note to self.... Never, EVER use the word "spread" around Bo Pelini. I bet Mary Pat always washes the "bed sheets" never the "bed spread."

The Sunday School Husker Confidence Index: My weekly gauge of where this team seems to be based on my preseason prediction of a 9-3 regular season. I have to say things don't look quite so optimistic. There are probably one or two more losses in this team based on what I saw Saturday. Thankfully, there is one more game and a off week to prepare for Virginia Tech. This team needs that time.

I get kind of bored with the whole "the fans aren't into the game" commentary that inevitably follows such lackluster games when it looks like the home team needs a little boost. I could have told you before kickoff it was going to be a blase atmosphere. Every other person I passed walking into the main gates seemed to have one, two or four tickets held over their heads in a desperate last gasp effort to get rid of them.

Despite the Bo-phoria that preceeded the season, I still sense a "Pedey Shine" induced hangover among the masses. It might take a big win or two before Husker fans regain their mojo.

Khiry Cooper will likely be a star at this University at some point in his career. But it looks like that star won't shine until after this academic year -- on BOTH fields of play. Cooper, the fifth round draft pick of the L.A. Angels, was the talk of fall camp mostly because NU fans and media were wondering if he would take the baseball money or keep his commitment to Nebraska. But with the wide receivers looking like a pretty sound unit, Cooper is going to have to show something special in practice to break onto the gridiron in 2008.

And don't assume that his lofty draft status is going to guarantee him a spot in Mike Anderson's starting lineup at Haymarket Park. Anderson told me Saturday that Cooper has a lot of potential, but it is still raw and undeveloped. Making the jump from high school pitching to college hurlers can be a tough transition. Also, the Huskers seem to have center field in pretty good shape with D.J. Belfonte. This isn't to say Cooper won't contribute for the '09 baseball team, I just wouldn't get my hopes to high just yet.

2004 Olympic wrestling hero Rulon Gardner was at the game showing off his gold medal. As great as that achievement was for big Rulon, I think showing off his missing toe would have been more appropriate. If you don't recall his story of survival after a snowmobile accident, go Google it.

Washington got robbed. But not by the officials, by the rule book and by the pinheads who write it. You likely have seen, or will see, the "excessive celebration" penalty Washington's Jake Locker got on his potential game-tying touchdown against BYU. Locker was penalized for throwing the ball over his head after scoring. The 15 yard penalty set up a longer PAT, which was subsequentially blocked, giving BYU a 28-27 win.

It is written into the rules that after a score, the ball must be returned to an official or near the dead ball spot. There is also a rule against "throwing ball over ones head." But if you see the play, you realize the rule is absurd. Locker made a fine individual effort to score, then flipped the ball aside in euphoria and joined his teammates in celebration. By emphasizing the excessive celebration rule and writing (nitpicking) rules into the rule book, you threaten to take the emotion out of football. No sport is more emotional than football and to legislate to this extreme is pointless and truly worthy of penalizing.

Don't forget to catch the Friday Husker Tailgate on 1400 KLIN all season long at 8:00am. Join me and Jack Mitchell along with 1620 the Zone's Kevin Kugler and former Husker I-Back Damon Benning. You can hear it in Lincoln on KLIN and in Omaha on 1620 AM. Out-of-state listeners can either catch it on KLIN.com or go to FridayHuskerTailgate.com.