• Video: Nebraska coach Bo Pelini at the postgame press conference:



LAWRENCE, Kan. — Maximize the few playmakers you do have: Roy Helu and Niles Paul.

Scrap that shotgun spread and commit to the power formation: I-back. Fullback. Wide receiver. Two tight ends.

This was the strategy Shawn Watson should've employed as soon as his offense collapsed in October.

This was the ticket to a Big 12 North title. This was beautiful.

And then, on first-and-10 from the Kansas 46 early in the second quarter, something very fishy happened.

Zac Lee took the snap and dashed left behind the line of scrimmage. Another option?

No. Lee pulled up, pivoted, set his feet and found Paul wiiiiide open behind the safeties for 37 yards.

Tom Osborne, you can sit high above the field in a cozy suite. You can shake hands and stroll around in a red sport coat, looking like a senior citizen without a care in the world.

But you don't actually expect us to believe you didn't have something to do with that play, did you?

Sure enough.

About two weeks ago, Osborne gave Watson a tape of old plays. You know, Tommie Frazier, Scott Frost, the glory days.

One of the clips was an option pass — the same one you saw Saturday. Watson credited Osborne — “He's a beautiful human being.”

For a moment, Watson teared up. Then he continued.

“All those twists, he's helped enhance us. Coach (Osborne) gets the credit for those …

“He's been in there hacking away with us.”

Osborne isn't exactly OC in disguise.

The A.D. stops by Watson's office about once a week. He had seen Watson transitioning to more power sets the past month, so Osborne offered a few pointers.

The message: You may want to try some of this old stuff.

The past two weeks, Watson — with a major assist from Ron Brown — has searched the old tapes for a little of the old magic. He has identified a few wrinkles this offense can use.

Finding anything that works this season has been a chore. The frustrating part: It didn't seem like Watson recognized what he had — or didn't have.

He entered fall camp believing he had “something special” with the spread. He thought his new quarterback and new receivers could thrive, just as Joe Ganz and Co. did last year.

But as October wore on, it became clear that NU doesn't have four worthy wideouts and Lee needs a safe pocket with plenty of blockers. He needs one or two reads. He needs to throw downfield off play-action.

Force him to scan under duress and hit short targets and he struggles. Mightily.

Strangely, it seemed Watson was the last to see the ills, or was he just stubborn. Either way, could he adapt? Could he coach to his strengths?

It took a while — and a little help from a white-haired wizard.

Watson and the offensive staff went back to the drawing board a few weeks ago.

“We've had to get out of all of our comfort zones,” Watson said.

Watson and Brown each compared the brainstorming session to the scene in “Apollo 13,” when the minds at mission control pondered creative techniques to bring the troubled space shuttle home.

“You really find out how good of a coach you are when you have injuries and setbacks and trials and things don't go the way you planned,” Brown said. “You've got to figure out a way to go move the ball and win football games. That is the mark of a good coach.

“Shawn, he's the guy that's been humble enough to throw it all out on the table and say, ‘You know what? Let's see what we've got here. We can't put in what we don't have, so let's do what we can do.'

“It took humility to do that as a coordinator.”

Why not sooner?

“We were trying to figure it out,” Brown said. “It doesn't just happen overnight. You evolve to it, because you realize, ‘Oh, this is where we're at right now.'”

Having a healthy Helu has enabled the transition. Could NU have relied upon power formations without a workhorse at I-back?

Would've been tough, Watson said.

But power football doesn't require the same precision as the spread.

You just need feisty blocking and a few threats. And it doesn't hurt to have an offensive coordinator willing to change.

He'll never let his pride get in the way of winning a football game, Watson said.

“I love what I know, but I'm not afraid to open my box.”