Nebraska's Brothers Pelini Are Doing A Lot Of Denying And Apologizing This Week

Carl Pelini, Nebraska's defensive coordinator, has denied that he shoved a credentialed reporter on the field after a 9-6 loss to Texas A&M on Saturday. His younger brother, head coach Bo, apologized today for his own outbursts during the game.

In today's press conference, Bo apologized for allowing his frustration with the officiating in Nebraska's 9-6 loss to "get personal." Over the weekend, he declined to comment on his behavior, but it seems that some strong encouragement from Nebraska chancellor Harvey Perlman did the trick.

Officials penalized the Cornhuskers 16 times (including seven personal fouls) for a total of 145 yards on Saturday. Both of those marks are school records. Bo may also have reached a personal mark for F-bombs in this cute sideline chat with quarterback Taylor Martinez, which was captured on the ABC broadcast. There is convincing lip-reading evidence that he is yelling something about Martinez calling his dad during the game:

In the press conference, Bo also defended his older brother, Carl, and explained that he was not attacking TexAgs.com co-owner Brandon Jones on Saturday; he was attempting to help a player off of the field. While the video that Jones recorded — which cuts out early and has no sound — is inconclusive, the Zapruder-esque images TexAgs.com has compiled in their official statement make it quite clear that no player was involved in the altercation.

The TexAgs.com statement explains that Jones "did not speak to or provoke a Nebraska player in any way" and there was "no Nebraska player in close proximity to the incident." It continues:

One report suggested a player was tangled in a cord from Jones' camera and Pelini was protecting his player. There were no cords of any kind attached to the camera.

In other media reports a Nebraska spokesperson and Head Coach Bo Pelini have indicated that Carl Pelini was helping a player get off the field and that he accidentally bumped into a camera man (presumably Jones) along the way. The still images make it clear that no Nebraska player was in close proximity to this incident. Further, the video and still images both confirm Jones' account – Pelini's attention was not on a player. He was confronting a man wearing maroon, turned to leave, then turned back toward Jones and purposefully lunged toward him to grab the camera. Jones never had any interaction whatsoever with any Nebraska football players.

TexAgs.com explains that their concern was never over the camera, but that "a credentialed member of the media was attacked unprovoked by a member of the Nebraska coaching staff." Neither Pelini has commented on the new images or report.

Bo Pelini apologizes for sideline tirades [ESPN] TexAgs.com Official Statement Regarding Carl Pelini Incident [TexAgs]