The Identity of The Nebraska Player Who Spit On Chase Daniel Is Revealed

According to Maurice Drummond of Team 1380, Missouri Linebacker Sean Weatherspoon told him after the game that he "wasn't going to name names" as to who spit on Chase Daniel...but then said, "Number 93."

So, who is #93?

The player is junior starting NT Ndamukong Suh, a 6'4" 300 pound DT out of Portland, Oregon.

Bo Pellini said yesterday he would look into this story and find out the details, because if it was true, "it's unacceptable."

We'll see if Suh is on the field this Saturday when the Huskers travel to Lubbock to take on Texas Tech.

The Secret Nebraska Game Plan?

When I saw that the spread on the Missouri-Nebraska game was only 10.5, I was shocked. It struck me as odd, considering anyone who had watched Missouri play this year and watched Nebraska allow Virginia Tech's dreadful offense to score 35 points last week would know that the Tigers were going to put up huge numbers on the Huskers.

But, then came the rumblings out of Lincoln that head coach Bo Pellini had a "secret game plan." This secret game plan was supposed to be the Nebraska solution to the problems posed by the Missouri offense.

This story was on the Omaha Journal-World website Friday:

Without releasing any details, Nebraska assistant coach Mike Ekeler let it be known this morning that the Huskers would have something different in store for Missouri on Saturday night.

Ekeler told a Big Red Breakfast crowd: "I'm jacked about this game plan.''

"I won't say too much because I don't want it out there, but I'm very, very, very excited about this game,'' said Ekeler, the NU linebackers coach. "Very excited. And I know our kids are chomping at the bit. We were probably ready to play on Tuesday.''

The crowd laughed.

"No, I'm serious,'' Ekeler said.

Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini and defensive coordinator Carl Pelini haven't tipped their hands at all this week. Missouri will challenge the Huskers with an offense that ranks No. 2 nationally in both scoring and total yards.

"I told Carl yesterday, 'Win, lose or draw, I tell you what: This is one of my favorite game plans that I've been associated with,' '' Ekeler said. "Carl, he's an Ivy League guy and he's a little more laid back, and Carl just said, 'Yeah, Ek, just don't jinx us.' ''

Guess "Ek" jinxed them.

I honestly have no idea what the "secret game plan" could've been. Nebraska appeared to be going with the Arkansas Cotton Bowl game plan of challenging Missouri to run, which Derrick Washington was more than happy to do to the tune of 139 yards and 2 TD's.

Of course, if that was the "secret game plan," it didn't really stop Chase Daniel and the Missouri passing attack. Daniel only threw 23 passes...mainly because 24 weren't really necessary...and he completed 18 of them for 253 yards and 3 TD's.

Perhaps the "secret game plan" was to attempt to get in Daniel's head before the game...by spitting on him. From ESPN.com:

Daniel said he took great satisfaction in the five-touchdown margin of victory. He said a Nebraska player spit on him before the game.

"I'm not going to say who it was. He knows who it is. That's bush league. That's blatant disrespect," Daniel said.

Daniel called Nebraska one of the "dirtiest" teams he's played.

Pellini, speaking with Nebraska reporters Sunday, didn't necessarily sound 100% convinced that Daniel's story was true.

"I'm going to try to get a hold of coach (Gary) Pinkel today and find out exactly what he's talking about," Pelini said. "That's news to me that something like that happened. And usually, you'd know about something like that.

"I'm going to investigate it and find out because that's unacceptable, if something like that happened."

I'm not quite sure why Chase Daniel would make something like this up, but I do know that Daniel already wasn't too popular with the Huskers and some of their fans after comparing Nebraska's defensive scheme last year in Columbia to "high school stuff."

And, Daniel's story this year isn't playing well with some fans in Husker Nation...

Fun With College Fans And Message Boards

I've observed in my experience doing TV and radio that no fan base---including the incredibly odd, yet small, segment of Cardinal baseball fans who believe that the sun rises and sets over the Grand Ballpark Village Canyon---is as unhealthy as the "college sports fan whackjob."

This isn't limited to football. This isn't limited to Missouri, Illinois, and Saint Louis U fans. This is every school. They all seem to have them...although I can't imagine Harvard and Yale grads get too worked up over the play-calling in one of their team's games. They're not representative of all college fans, by any means. But, they are there. And, when it comes to BCS schools---at the very least---some of the best reading material can be found on these school's fan message boards.

So, as you can imagine, when Daniel's story of spitting made its way around the Internet, Huskerboard.com provided some quality entertainment. Here's my personal favorite, from a gentleman going by "Husker X:"

The saddest thing about this whole season will be IF Daniel manages to run the table with this cupcake schedule he'll actually think he achieved something. I cannot wait for Oklahoma to wipe the smirk off his face. I agree that the alleged incident is pretty classless, but talk about a whiny bitch. You run up the score on an opponent and then walk around Lincoln with two hands in your pants. Please.

Two observations:

1. Cupcake schedule? Missouri has already beaten Illinois on a neutral field and Nebraska in Lincoln, and the Tigers will take on the #17 Oklahoma State Cowboys this Saturday and the #5 Texas Longhorns in Austin in two weeks. Odd.

2. Anyone see any irony in a Nebraska fan complaining about "running up the score?"

More from Husker X:

Daniel doesn't behave like a winner. Even if you enjoy a blowout as you should, you don't go to the press and yuck it up about how good you feel. You show respect even if it isn't shown to you by some a-hole in the stands. And then to generalize that Nebraska is the dirtiest team he's ever played based on that alone is more than disrespectful. It's petty. It's small and reveals the class of Missouri's key team leader.

Daniel behaves like a spoiled brat; this is the second time he's opened his massive trap and let the bile come out after a good win. It shows the core of the Missouri program at its finest. They have no idea how to handle winning, which isn't surprising, because they haven't done much of it until recently. I think the fan base should be looking forward to the day when the kids that represent their school can play with class and respect. Keep this crap out of the media. Daniel ought to lick his bruised ego in private.

But, as mentioned above, it seems like every school has their segment of hyper-sensitive adults who spin facts like James Carville on ecstacy. From my (almost) alma mater's Tigerboard.com, which, like every other fan base in the world---with the exception of the Yankees, Red Sox, and any SEC school---believes ESPN is out to get them. This comes from MizzouBill06:

This is on espn.com (from analyst Mark May):

Missouri is running the spread better than anyone in the country, but I still think Oklahoma has the best offense in the Big 12. OU runs the ball better, in my opinion. The Tigers have looked unstoppable, but they still haven't faced a good defense.

How can he make a statment like that when OU hasn't played a decent defense either. Just another case of a hack analyst drinking the Bob Stoops Kool Aid.

For the record, #1 Oklahoma did play a good defense when they played (at the time) #24 TCU, and the Sooners were able to put 35 points up on the Horned Frogs' defense. At the same time---it should be pointed out---that after the first quarter, Sam Bradford and Company couldn't do much against TCU.

But, the bottom line is that, in some corners of Missouri football fandom, Mark May, Lou Holtz, and Chris Spielman are up there with Mark Mangino, Matt Davison, and J.C. Louderback as favorite targets because they're not sold on the Tigers' dominance just yet.

In the whole scheme of things, none of their comments matter. If Missouri keeps winning by beating Oklahoma State, Texas...and eventually Oklahoma...you won't find many people doubting their talent. Well, maybe with the exception of a few Illinois fans. From louis18 on STLToday.com's Bernie's Press Box:

I know Michigan is down, but the Big House is no easy place to win (see Wisconsin last week) and Illinois is romping. Mizzou is again fortunate to see Illinois early in the season, because Illinois gets better with each week. And the Mizzou win over Illinois will be a quality win when it comes time to determine who is going to a BCS bowl. It is good to have two high quality college football progams in the area, and both conduct themselves with class. Rams, take note. P.S. If the Rams finish 0-16, they should lure Arrelious Benn out of Illinois and take him with the first pick.

This a rational post, with the exception of what I put in bold. This is similar to the KU fans who said they "just ran out of time" last year at Arrowhead Stadium. Perhaps area fans will be "again fortunate" to have Illinois fans chanting, "BCS, BCS, BCS" this year at the Braggin' Rights Game...even after Missouri was "again fortunate" to beat Illinois.

And, while that Illini fan post was fairly reasonable, we have this one from a gentleman calling himself "coloradosprings" on STLToday.com who made it a habit to insist Missouri was doing it with smoke and mirrors all last season and that the Illini were the superior team:

"Penn State would crush Mizzou."

Perfect. Penn State sure did crush Purdue this past weekend.

Now that all of the local whackjob segments of the area college fan bases have been skewered, please feel free to forward a link to an especially amusing post you come across to tmckernan@insidestl.com.

The September 2008 insideSTL.com Girls Next Door Party This Friday At Sugar Lounge On Washington Ave.

Today is the first day you can vote for your favorite insideSTL.com Girl Next Door from the month of September online. Just make sure you're registered and logged-in to simply click on your favorite GND and give her your vote.

We'll be giving away the $500 prize at our GND Party this Friday night at Sugar Lounge on Washington Avenue. Doors open at 11 p.m., and voting will open up at 11:30 p.m. We'll crown the winner at around 1 a.m.

As always, if you haven't been to one of these events, I highly recommend checking it out. The ladies from this month are quite lovely, and plenty of GND's from previous months make appearances and enjoy the fun and games.

Here's a friendly reminder of our September Girls Next Door:

Amy Watts

Cherish Kelly

Maria Clayton

Jessica Marie

As always, if you or someone you know would be interested in competing in the insideSTL.com Girls Next Door Contest for the $500 monthly prize and the $2,500 yearly prize, email me at tmckernan@insidestl.com.