Nebraska Lost, Nebraska Found

In Pelini , who will never be mistaken for a cadaver, Osborne certainly didn't pick a coach in his own image. Where Osborne is as placid as a pond on a summer's day, Pelini is more like a wave crashing violently against the shore. "When he's on the field, his hair's on fire," says linebackers coach Mike Ekeler. "Intense. Relentless. It's why he's such a great motivator. When you're around him, you can just feel the competitiveness." Pelini can also be saltier than Osborne , who might go so far as to utter a "dadgummit" if he's really riled up. The most memorable moment of Pelini 's season as the Huskers ' defensive coordinator came after a game in which he felt Kansas State had run up the score in winning 38--9. After the game he went up to Wildcats coach Bill Snyder and gave him a blistering, profane piece of his mind. "He got a lot of criticism in the media for doing that," says O'Holleran. "But Nebraska fans loved it."

Despite Pelini 's cautioning that there are no overnight solutions, he does have enough talent at his disposal for the Cornhuskers to make an immediate improvement on last year's 2--6 conference record, which tied them with Iowa State for last place in the Big 12 North . Most of the key elements in the productive offense are back, including four starters on the line and running back Marlon Lucky , a dual threat who rushed for 1,019 yards and gained 705 more on pass receptions, leading the team in both categories. Quarterback Joe Ganz, who took over late in the season when Sam Keller went down with a broken collarbone, and who threw for 1,399 yards and 15 touchdowns in his final three starts, is back as well. He will have the benefit of running the same offense because coordinator Shawn Watson is one of two assistants Pelini retained from Callahan 's staff.

Ganz, a rising senior from Palos Heights, Ill., remembers how quickly he became aware of the state's passion for Nebraska football. "This nice, older couple came up to me in Wal-Mart when I was a freshman, before school had even started," he says. "They not only knew who I was, but they said they had seen me on tape and they liked what they saw. I was stunned. It's like everybody in the state is an assistant coach. To have that level of interest is amazing."

GRADUALLY, AS if Osborne and Pelini are blowing dust off a neglected antique, old Nebraska reemerges. Photos of Cornhuskers All-Americas and school Hall of Fame members, which under Pederson had been removed and replaced with pictures of the current team, have been returned to the walls of the football offices by Osborne 's decree. ( Pederson , now the athletic director at Pittsburgh , and Callahan , the New York Jets ' assistant head coach--offense, declined to comment for this story.) Former players had not been invited to stand on the sideline at home games under the previous regime, but they have been informed that those passes will be available to them again. "The reason I'm sitting in this nice office today is not because of what I did," says Pelini . "It's because of what those guys did."

Pelini is making an extra effort to reach out to Nebraska high school coaches. When he was invited to address their association, he surprised everyone by bringing his entire staff along. In addition to the scholarship-worthy players, the Cornhuskers ' new leadership is depending on in-state talent to infuse the walk-on program, a longtime Nebraska tradition that has renewed emphasis. Osborne hired Jeff Jamrog, a onetime walk-on who by his senior year was a scholarship player, a starting defensive end and an academic All-America, to oversee the recruitment of walk-ons. The Huskers expect to have 30 walk-ons in the fall, including several in-state products who transferred from other schools.

"There have always been a significant number of players in the state who were willing to pass up other offers, even scholarship offers from Division I schools, just for the chance to walk on at Nebraska ," says Jamrog, officially the assistant athletic director in charge of football operations. Jamrog himself declined offers from South Dakota and Nebraska-Omaha when Osborne gave him the chance to walk on with the Cornhuskers in 1983.

At Nebraska his story isn't that unusual. During Osborne 's tenure as coach, 30 players who began as walk-ons went on to play in the NFL. Although they hope to get back to finding gems among the nonscholarship players, the Huskers count on the walk-ons for more than just what they can contribute on the field. "The walk-ons have always helped set the tone," says Pelini . "A lot of times these are guys from small Nebraska towns who are grateful just for the chance to become part of the program. They're the ones who understand what it means in this state, and the example they set in their enthusiasm and effort tends to become contagious. The players who aren't from here start to understand pretty quickly what it means to be a Husker in this state."

What follows, Huskers fans hope, is that the attitude and the enthusiasm and the renewed embrace of tradition will quickly be reflected in the won-lost record. But there will be plenty of time to worry about that later. For now, in the spring, it is enough that there is a new feeling in Nebraska—a new feeling that is reassuringly old.