Ndamukong Suh made a huge statement yesterday on the field helping the Huskers to a 26-21 win over the Clemson Tigers. Now, Husker fans are awaiting to hear a statement from him that could impact the 2009 season. Suh will feel out what is draft stock is, however he has stated multiple times that he is coming back to get his degree at Nebraska. We can only hope.Suh aided the Blackshirts (and yes, after yesterday they deserve that title) held the vaunted Clemson rushing attatck to four yards on the ground. Yes, that's right. Four. All we heard about for the last several weeks was how home run hitting C.J. Spiller and the thundering James Davis were going to rip our weak Big XII defense to shreds. Maybe the offenses in the Big XII really are that good. Although in the first half the vastley more athletic and speedy Clemson D kept Shawn Watson and Joe Ganz in check.
Yesterday marked the first win in a New Year's Day bowl game for the Huskers in nine years. You have to go back to the Fiesta Bowl from the 1999-2000 season when Nebraska defeated Tennessee 31-21. What does this win mean for the program under first year head coach Bo Pelini? For starters, the mythical standard of wins in a season has been reached with nine. Why is this number so important?
Since the Tom Osborne era began in Lincoln, and before Bill Callahan stepped off a plane freshly being fired from his head coaching job in Oakland for Al Davis, Nebraska had only won less than nine games one time from 1969 until 2003. We all know what happened next, 2004 and Callahan come along and we miss our first bowl game since the '68 season, then miss another bowl in '07, one year removed from winning the Big XII North.
Could this victory help position the Huskers for a spot in the Big XII Championship in 2009? It
certainly seems plausible, and it is possible, but I'm still skeptical. Our road games in the division include a trip to Columbia where we haven't won since Eric Crouch and his 97 yard Heisman moment scamper to pay dirt, and a drive down to Lawrence where we gave up 76 in 2007. Also, the same Colorado team that needed to be put to sleep with a miracle field goal when we were 17+ point favorites will welcome us to Boulder as well. If we win the North next year, we clearly deserve it.I know a lot of people will be riding high after the Gator bowl win, and they should. Turning a 5-7 team into a 9-4 team is a big deal. More than ESPN will let on in their bowl week coverage. However, the excitement should be tempered with a does of reality heading into next season. Despite having some great young talent, and a lot of returning defensive starters including defensive tackle man-child Ndamukong Suh, we should be able to slow some of the conference offenses down a bit. However, our offense takes a bit of a hit.
First and foremost, Joe Ganz will graduate and take Nate Swift and Todd Peterson with him. These three helped us to our solid record this year in a way that will be felt when the new players and probably starters take the field in the spring and next fall that most probably won't expect. Roy Helu will be back. So will Gator Bowl unsung hero Quentin Castille. Marlon Lucky will be gone, but his role was diminshed as the season went on. Hopefully Niles Paul, who made some boneheaded moves yesterday, Menelik Holt and Chris Brooks are ready to step up.
The offense live will also need to fill some holes, although the line turned out to be a bit of a question mark this year. There was a lot of hype surounding Lydon Murtha and Matt Slauson going into the season, but they showed that they are just human and not the superstars that the Lincoln Journal-Star would have you believe.
So I would enjoy the transition year to the Bo Pelini era. He showed that these kids were talented enough to beat they teams they were supposed to most of the time, and that they were still far from competing with the big boys. He has them on the right track, and with national signging day just a little more than a month away seems to be closing the year out strong.
