Bo Pelini voiced his frustration about Nebraska fans leaving a game early. It happened two years ago. He is a fiery coach, and often lets his emotions get the best of him. He shouldn’t be fired because he cares about his players. In fact, he should be applauded for his candid ways. That said, Bo needs to go. Example number one: Nebraska goes up by 18, only to get blown out at home against UCLA. Example number two: in a SportsNation poll on espn.com, 65% of people said Nebraska is no longer a top college football program.

Last Saturday, Nebraska looked like a top college football team for one half of football. Nebraska was able to run the ball successfully, and the UCLA offense looked lost.

Then Pelini forgot he had to coach two halves of football. The players came out of the locker room looking like they didn’t want to win the football game. He made no scheme changes to counter UCLA’s effortless scoring. And guess who was watching? Football fans across the country, the same ones who say Nebraska is not a top college football program. What did they see? A Nebraska coach who can’t win big games and a Nebraska coach with no ideas on how to stop his team’s plummet to a 41-21 loss.

When UCLA was down by 18, their players appeared energetic, ready to fight back and win. When UCLA started playing well, I saw defeated Nebraska players, with an entire half of football left. I saw helpless athletes in a losing scheme. UCLA’s coaches made adjustments. Pelini did not. He was out-coached by 38 points, the number of points Nebraska let UCLA score unanswered after Nebraska had held a 21-3 lead. He was unable to motivate his players after the UCLA offense started scoring points.

The Wisconsin game should have been the end of the Pelini era, but I understand the loyalty Nebraska fans have towards a coach who was hired by Tom Osborne and turned around the program. After this UCLA game, I think it is clear that it is time for Pelini to be fired. There are just too many big game losses, and not enough big game wins. Here are a few of Pelini’s big game losses:

In 2010-2011: Texas A&M (a 9-6 loss against a lower ranked opponent) and Oklahoma (Big 12 Championship game loss, 23-20).

In 2011-2012: Wisconsin (48-17 loss in the College Gameday game of the week) and South Carolina (30-13 loss in the Capital One Bowl, after an early lead).

In 2012-2013: UCLA (36-30 loss after gaining a first quarter lead), Ohio State (63-38 loss, after an excellent first quarter and an early lead), Wisconsin (70-31 loss in the Big Ten Championship, as Nebraska looked lost and seemed to give up early) and Georgia (45-31 loss to Georgia in the Capital One Bowl).

And what do these big game losses mean? They mean a coach who hasn’t brought his team to a BCS bowl. Bo Pelini wins games, as shown by his nine wins or more in all of his seasons at Nebraska, but not the right ones. Nebraska has had multiple opportunities to get to a BCS bowl under Pelini, but has failed each time. Even worse, Nebraska has been nowhere near contention to play in the BCS National Championship game. Nebraska’s goal shouldn’t be to win nine games. It should be to win the National Championship game.

In Pelini’s time, Nebraska has had exceptional players. Think of Ndamukong Suh, Prince Amukamara, Alfonzo Dennard, Rex Burkhead and LaVonte David. These players could have led Nebraska to a BCS bowl with better coaching. But, unfortunately, Bo Pelini is not the man for this job.

The coaches who can lead Nebraska back to the top of college football, and change the mind of the 64 percent of people who don’t think Nebraska is a top college football team, are Oregon’s offensive coordinator Scott Frost, who led Nebraska to a share of the 1997 national championship as the Huskers quarterback, Boise State head coach Chris Petersen and Kirby Smart, No. 1 ranked Alabama’s defensive coordinator.

Frost is leading an offensive attack for a team ranked No. 2. Without Chip Kelly at the helm, Frost has been able to maintain the Oregon offense, with the Ducks scoring 66, 59 and 59 in his first three games. Coupled with a top defensive coordinator, Frost would put the Huskers in a position to dominate for years to come.

Petersen has been able to build a program that isn’t in one of the Big Six conferences into a perennial powerhouse. Petersen coached his team to two Tostitos Fiesta Bowl wins.

Smart may be the biggest stretch, but is the best possible outcome for the Huskers. Smart has coached one of the best defenses in the country since 2007. In his time as defensive coordinator at Alabama, the Crimson Tide have won three national titles.

Until Pelini is gone, I will continue to be loyal and have my heart broken every few weeks by a team that looks so good at their best, but so bad at Bo Pelini’s worst.