The Scarlet Letter

Moving

2009-04-27T11:50:00.003-05:00

I'm doing a bit of consolidating with my blogs and both will now be written about here at WordPress.

Until I can move all the posts over to the new blog, all archives will remain here.

Countdown to Lincoln

2009-04-01T13:06:00.002-05:00

In a few short weeks, I'll be on my way to one of my favorite places in the world. Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska. Spring practice is in full swing. I've missed a lot by not writing so hopefully I'll be able to resurrect the blog a little bit. Patrick Witt is gone and we've got a wide open QB competition full on, so there will be plenty to write about.

Time to Sign

2009-02-08T15:15:00.007-06:00

Last week Nebraska locked up their class of 2009. The Huskers had 20 prospects sign on the dotted line which, according to Rivals.com, wound up as the 28th best class among FBS schools. Nebraska finished fourth in the Big XII, and maybe most importantly, first in the North. Kansas closed hot on their heels, and with the Jayhawks the odds on favorite to with the North in '09, it puts them in a enviable position.

I'm going to post the signing class in the sidebar like I do every year and leave the profiles up all year long, because as we all know, most of these kids will be redshirt candidates and will be in the weight room or the playing on the scout team meaning you won't hear about them next year.

Right now, I want to focus on my top five signees from the '09 class. They might not be the top five as far as their rating goes, but are just as important.

#1 - Cody Green - QB
Ok, so this one is fairly obvious and shouldn't shock anyone that follows recruiting. Cody finally made his way into the Rivals Top 250 at #173, and is the sixth ranked dual threat QB by the same site. Watching his highlights he moves well and can operate outside the pocket. One thing that stands out to me is his accuracy and how he can hit a receiver with little seperation downfield. He'll be a run second player, but can make good decisions and can produce with his legs. The Dayton, Tx QB rushed for 27 touchdowns and threw for 36 more and racked up nearly 5,000 yards. He's enrolled right now and will go through spring practice. I'm excited to get a look at him come April 18th. If Green can replicate his success in high school, and he played against top competition in football-centric Texas, he has the potential to become a Husker legend. But let's not give him the Marlon Lucky treatment.
#2 - Chris Williams - ILB
The kid loves to hit and be physical and will bring an attitude and swagger back to the Blackshirts. Some fans have been down on Nebraska recruiting citing that we aren't going against the nations best for players. Williams reeled in offers from Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas A&M and LSU. The Huskers also beat out North rival Missouri and Texas Tech. Williams is fast as well, and routinely blows up plays in the backfield and has a nose for the ball. Don't sleep on his ability in coverage either. I can't wait to watch him with '08 signee Will Compton in the next few years.

#3 Andrew Green - CB
Watching our secondary the last several seasons has been an anyurism inspiring task. Too long have our corners been owned by marginal wide receiver talent and flat out embarassed against players that make it to the next level. Green finished as a three star player on Rivals, however this kid has amazing potential. The recent Heisman winner was a three star kid too, not that I expect Green to get one, but it should be pointed out that these rankings aren't an exact science. Green is probably one of the most physically gifted DB's in the country.

#4 Rex Burkhead - RB
Mr. Do-Everything. Probably one of the most versitile athletes that Nebraska picked up, and it was quite the coup too. Stanford (don't laugh, if Harbaugh stays they'll compete), A&M, Auburn, Cal, Michigan and supposedly Texas was on Rex. He's been racking up awards left and right since the season ended. The Plano graduate created a ton of excitement with fans. He cuts, he blocks, he catches and does it with relative ease. A common thread through most of these kids this year is they come from top tier teams. Burkhead is no exception.

#5 Taylor Martinez - ATH
When it's all said in done and it's 2012, it might be written that we stole this kid right out from under a lot of schools noses. He played QB for Corona Centennial and won a ton of awards after being a solid verbal for the Huskers. He ended up roping in some Player of the Year Awards from Cali, including the LA Times naming him POTY. More than likely he'll be in the defensive backfield and it's hard to see him having a future as QB at Nebraska, regardless, watching his highlight videos show that this kid is a football player.

Don't get me wrong, there are a ton of players worth mentioning, and I wish I could but I'm way to lazy to write about twenty players today. I'm excited about this class and it's showing that our staff isn't so bad when it comes to rounding up recruites. Keep in mind the underdeveloped players leftover from the Callahan era just won nine games after getting embarassed in '07. Sure, cutting some dead weight and bad attitudes *cough* Corey McKeon *cough* helped, but the staff did an incredible job.

I bought my spring game tickets this past week. College football season just ended a few weeks ago, but I'm already primed for '09.

Suh-per Huskers

2009-01-02T10:06:00.003-06:00

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.

Going Bowling

2008-12-07T20:53:00.006-06:00

This time last year, the coaching search was freshly completed to replace the deported Bill Callahan. If you would have told me a year ago that the Huskers would get back to a New Year's Day bowl game and finish 8-4 and tie for the Big XII North title (well, sort of) I would have taken it. It wasn't the prettiest season, but the team and program have improved tremendously.

Nebraska will square off January 1st against the Clemson Tigers in the Konica Minolta Gator Bowl at noon on CBS. The Tigers have survived a tumultuous season and the firing of Tommy Bowden. Under then interim and now permanent head coach Dabo Sweeney, the Tigers won four of their last five just like the Huskers.

Clemson will bring a potent running attack against a solid Huskers run defense. Junior running back C.J. Spiller is the speedster out of the backfield with the potential to break out and make a big play with his speed each snap he gets. The key for the Huskers will be to key in on him and make sure to hold him to minimal games and not allow him to reach the second level of the defense. Senior James Davis is the power back and has been used to set up Spiller in the running game, lulling defenses to sleep before bringing in the faster Spiller.

The Tigers also will show up with their 16th ranked defense, which includes their 12th ranked passing defense. Nebraska's rushing attack will be the key which is not a great strength for Clemson. Softening up the front seven and bringing in the secondary will help the passing game for the Huskers.

The bottom line to get our program turned around this year was to be competitive. Against good teams, we were. Two games we should have and could have won were against Virginia Tech in September and two weeks later in Lubbock, Texas against Texas Tech and finish 10-2. After going 5-7 in 2007, that would have made national headlines. Winning those two games would have made a world of difference in the post season picture and the Big XII North, especially the game against the Red Raiders. Win that game, and we would have had the pleasure of getting steamrolled by the Sooners last night.

The second element was getting back to the post season. My initial prediction was that the Huskers would finish 7-5 and make the Insight Bowl in Arizona. It would have been respectable and acceptable to a majority of Husker nation. However the New Year's Day game in Florida will do more for confidence among returning players and for recruiting. Now with the extra practices, the Huskers of the future will have more time to play together as a team rather than having to wait for spring to get together again.

Watch the ESPN breakdown of the Gator Bowl...

Winning this game will be a springboard into 2009 where Nebraska will have a realistic shot at winning the North against a rebuilding Missouri and suspect Colorado. Kansas State and Iowa State I would imagine will be solid victories with both of them coming to Lincoln. The big road test could be against Kansas who will have quarterback Todd Reesing and go to wide receiver Dezmon Briscoe. The Jayhawks, I expect, will be the favorites to win the Big XII North starting next season.

Also, congratulations to Buffalo head coach and Nebraska great Turner Gill for winning the Mid-America Conference Friday night against then undefeated Ball State. The Bulls were the worst team in all of FBS college football when he took over and has turned them into a competative team over his tenure. Auburn and Syracuse are reportedly interested in Gill for their vacant head coach spots. Here's to Gill, couldn't have happened to a classier individual.

Late To the Party

2008-10-29T08:18:00.006-05:00

Once again, we'll wrap up last weekend a couple days too late. The picks from the weekend at TSL ended up being 4-2 in the Big XII with Texas A&M and Texas Tech winning on the road against North opponents. Non-conference was 1-1 once again, I'm no longer picking LSU for anything this season. The good thing was that Ohio State lost, dashing any hopes for a third consecutive national title game berth. Thank God.

Nebraska played in inverse order in terms of their performance two weeks ago in Ames, Iowa. The first half made me believe that Baylor would stand a chance to win in Lincoln. The though made me ill. I can't imagine how many problems Robert Griffin is going to give us down in Waco next year. But the defense adjusted in the second half and didn't give up any more points in a 32-20 win for the Huskers.

Our safety play is atrocious. Anyone who has been watching this year knows that. Matt O'Hallon is quite possibly the slowest safety to ever play for the Huskers, and Larry Asante, while improving, still looks lost in coverage. I will say that O'Hallon did make a career saving tackle to prevent a score in the second half.

Quentin Castille needs to hang on to the ball. This is the second straight week we've left points on the field, and this week was due to Castille fumbling on the two yard line that would have made the score 36-20 and nailed the coffin shut on Baylor. Instead, they had to rely on the defense to come up with a safety, which was nice to see.

The one big bright spot on the weekend and the win was senior wide receiver Nate Swift breaking the all-time receptions record set by the Heisman Trophy winning Johnny Rogers with 143. Swift finished the day with 147 for his career. Rogers was only at Nebraska for three years compared with Swift's four, however it shouldn't diminish the feat that much. People traditionally think of Nebraska as a run first school, however the Huskers did toss the rock around quite a bit under legendary coach Bob Devaney.

The Huskers are going to have to play mistake free if they plan to give Oklahoma a game down in Norman this Saturday night. My prediction is if the Huskers can move the ball and play virtually mistake free, we could be looking at a Texas Tech-esque game. However, if they turn the ball over and commit stupid penalties, as this team has show a propensity to do, they'll lose big.

This weekend in Norman, both schools will commemorate the "Game of the Century" between the Huskers and the Sooners which was played on November 25th, 1971. From what I've read, most of the players from both squads will be on hand before the game. I'd take a Nebraska win to cap off the event.

Obviously, I wasn't around for that game, however all the highlights I've seen and condensed versions of the game how could you forget it? How many times have you heard Lyle Bresmer's famous "Man, woman and child!" call from that game when Rogers returned one of the greatest punt returns in college football history? If you watch that highlight and don't get goosebumps, you might want to a have a trained medical professional examine you.

It's not often a school hosting a game will acknowledge a loss, however this game between #1 and #2 to decide who played for the national title in '71 was historic. It would be nice if things got back to normal with these teams playing each other every year, sadly since the Big XII is a please Texas first conference now, the Red River Rivalry took over the day after Thanksgiving clash between our one true rival. Anyway...

Here is how the picks stand on the year. In the Big XII, the record stands at 14-4 and overall is 17-7. Hopefully this week I'll have something other than SEC and Big 10, although the Georgia Florida match up will be hard to ignore.

Weekend Roundup

2008-10-24T08:37:00.011-05:00

Hey fans! It's Baylor week!

I know that this doesn't inspire a big reaction with Husker fans, however this year's Baylor squad is bringing a phenom in the making to Lincoln at quarterback. Robert Griffin the Third is basically an Olympic caliber athlete with pads. As a freshman who graduated high school after the fall semester last year, he set Big XII records in the 110 meter and 400 meter (I think) hurdles and finished third in the NCAA National Tournament in some other hurdle event.

Keeping Mr. Griffin contained is going to be a task for the Nebraska defense that played it's best game against the Iowa State Cyclones last weekend. More on that when we break down the game at Memorial Stadium later on.

#8 Texas Tech at #23 Kansas - 11am: Kansas is coming off a stinging loss to Oklahoma where the Jayhawks defense gave up over 700 yards of total offense. Ouch. That being said I still like their chances now that I think about it. I don't think the Red Raiders are for real given their performance against the Huskers and making Texas A&M look like a decent squad last weekend. I think it will be a see-saw battle, but I think Reesing and the Hawks come out on top. For the Raiders their upcoming schedule looks something like this. At #23 KU this weekend, at home against #1 Texas, home again versus #6 Oklahoma State and on the road to #4 Oklahoma. Yikes.

Kansas 41-Texas Tech 35

#4 Oklahoma at Kansas State - 11:30am: The Sooners have given up a ton of offense the past two weeks to Texas and Kansas, both of whom have great starting quarterbacks. The Wildcats on the other hand have a struggling at worst and inconsistent at best Josh Freeman under center. Point being, I don't believe Ron Prince and his Cats have enough in the tank to pull an upset like they did in '06 against Texas.

Oklahoma 49 - Kansas State 25

#6 Oklahoma State at #1 Texas - 2:30pm: Can Texas get up for another big game? Yes. With the ordained Heisman front-runner Colt McCoy calling the shots on offense and Will Muschamp freaking out on the sideline and pumping up the Horns defense, the only way Mack Brown's team will lose is if they are out played. Yes, the Cowboys went on the road to Columbia and upset Missouri, but Missouri ain't Texas as we saw last Saturday night. Sorry Mike Gundy, you might be 41 and still a man, but your team won't win in Austin.

Texas 38 - Oklahoma State 28

Colorado at #15 Missouri - 5:30pm: Missouri has had two losses in the last two weeks to bring them (and their fans) back down to Earth. I still like the Tigers to win out and win the North, however winning this game decisively is key to not having a giant meltdown like some past Gary Pinkel coached teams have been prone to. Dan Hawkins and Colorado are having offensive woes and a quarterback controversy at the wrong time. Homecoming in Columbia this weekend, expect a big win from Chase Daniel and company.

Missouri 45 - Colorado 14

Texas A&M at Iowa State - 6pm: Ever hear that old expression that goes "only a face that a mother could love?" It pertains to this game. If you aren't a fan of these teams, and even if you are, it would probably be best to avoid this one. Despite the Clones losing big to the Huskers at home, I generally like how they play in Ames. They nearly beat Kansas earlier this month. I expect they'll handle the Aggies.

Iowa State 27 - Texas A&M 21

Baylor at Nebraska - 11:30am: Nebraska has been here before. Early kickoff, at home, mobile quarterback. The Huskers are improved over their second game of the season they played against San Jose State and they'll need to be because this isn't your older brother's Baylor Bears. I fully expect the Huskers to prevail on Saturday morning, however I don't think it will be easy. I'm confident that the coaching staff is taking Baylor seriously, and they should. Most of the players of the roster have never played Baylor, and most of the Bears have never been to Lincoln. In front of 85,000+, it will be their first game in front of a huge crowd. We'll see how their freshman star does on Saturday.

Nebraska 38 - Baylor 21

So last week Ohio State bit me in the ass, and I suppose they'll probably do the same this week since they're in my next pick as one of my two out of conference matchups.

#3 Penn State at #9 Ohio State - 7pm: Maybe it's because I've seen this before. Maybe it's because the entire college football watching population has seen this before. Ohio State, once again, is poised to win the Big 10 and get a crack at the national title for the third year in a row. I'm going to pick Penn State because I think they are the better team. If these two played on a neutral field, Penn State would be the clear favorite. Since it's in Columbus and at night, the Buckeyes will probably win. Please God, please don't let the Buckeyes win this game. Consider it an early Christmas present for yours truly.

Penn State 31 - Ohio State 28

#7 Georgia at #13 LSU 2:30pm: Good Lord I'm really getting tired of picking a Big 10 game then an SEC game, but there just isn't anything out there that has two ranked teams playing each other. So, we'll make the best of it. I know that the Tigers got their pants pulled down in front of America two Saturday's ago, and had a gritty comeback win in Columbia, South Carolina but I really like them back in Death Valley this Saturday afternoon. What? An afternoon game in Baton Rouge? Hope that's not a bad omen for the Bayou Bengals. Georgia's inexperienced offensive line on the road will be a liability, however it's hard to bet against Mark Richt's road record in the SEC, which is one of the best over the last seven seasons he's been head coach of the Bulldogs. Still, LSU in this one.

LSU 24 - Georgia 13

Weekend In Review (Late Edition)

2008-10-22T12:20:00.002-05:00

Ok, so I’m a little late to the party, but this week was back to class and some other busy work around my house. Better late than never, right?

Our boys looked pretty darn good on Saturday in Ames against Iowa State. Aside from the one big play which was pretty basic and we just forgot to tackle, it was a great day for the defense. In fact, had that play not occurred we would have held the Cyclones to under 200 yards of total offense. Regardless, the Blackshirts held the Clones and Texas Tech (last weekend) to their lowest total offense per game of the season.

Nebraska also cut down on the penalties that have been driving everyone nuts this year to four. It looks like the team is moving in a good direction and with five conference games left, now would be a good time to improve week to week so we can finish the season between six and eight wins.

Going into the game with Baylor this weekend I wouldn’t take it being Baylor for granted. I really believe we will win, and this game will fly under the radar considering the other games in the Big XII, but ONLY if Nebraska wins. If Baylor gets their first road win in the Big XII, stuff will hit the fan.

On my picks from the weekend, let’s get the bad news out of the way first. I completely whiffed on Ohio State and Michigan State. Ohio State is doing something I’ve been having nightmares about the past few weeks, and that’s beating (sometimes pounding) Big 10 foes. If they beat Penn State this weekend (if there is a God, let the Nittany Lions win) in Columbus they will be in the hunt for yet another crack at the BCS Title. Ugh. But I guess this is what the rest of the country felt like when the Huskers would choke year after year playing Miami or Florida State for the title.

On to the good news, I picked a perfect weekend in the Big XII and hit my other non-conference game between Georgia and Vanderbilt. For the year the record now moves to 12-4 overall and 10-2 in conference. Go me.

Looking ahead before I make my official Friday picks, this is how I see it this weekend.

#8 Texas Tech at #23 Kansas – The Jayhawks will finally expose Texas Tech’s poor defense. KU wins.

#4 Oklahoma at Kansas State – Easy pick here, OU big on the road.

#6 Oklahoma State at #1 Texas – If the Horns win, it will be (basically) three top 10 teams in three weeks. I’m going to wait on this one.

Colorado at #15 Missouri – Homecoming in Columbia, night game at The Zou and two stinging and embarrassing losses? I like the Tigers big against a team with a quarter back controversy.

Texas A&M at Iowa State – Wow, could there be a worse game than this one? Iowa State at home.

Baylor at Nebraska – Of course you’ll have to wait for this one, but I think you know what I’m thinking.

This weekend I’ll miss my second Husker game (missed New Mexico State) of the year and will not make it up to Lincoln. Saturday night I’m going to pretend like I’m 14 again and see Metallica in Kansas City. Now, I’m off to buy some black Lee jeans and white Reebok high tops.

Weekend Roundup

2008-10-16T11:38:00.007-05:00

Well, let’s hope that this week I can be a little more on the mark than I was last weekend. Missouri and Oklahoma bit me as far as my Big XII predictions. Out of conference I was 1-1 picking LSU over Florida. Looks like the Gators are a better team than I thought losing to Ole Miss a few weeks ago in The Swamp.

So as the season stands (starting last week) i'm 5-3 overall and 4-2 in the Big XII.

# 7 Texas Tech at Texas A&M – 11am: This one should be an easy road win for the Red Raiders. Some Aggie fans are trying to do a “foil out” at Kyle Field this weekend. Like tinfoil. Seriously. The Aggies are absolutely horrid and made Kansas State QB Josh Freeman look like Jamarcus Russell in the Sugar Bowl against Notre Dame. The Raiders (the Red one’s) will win big.
Texas Tech 45 – Texas A&M 25

Baylor at #8 Oklahoma State – 2pm: Is this a possible trap game for the Cowboys? Sandwiched between road games against Missouri and Texas it’s possible. Not unlike how the Boys caught Mizzou last weekend with their game between Nebraska and Texas. Baylor is improved, but will not win in Stillwater come Saturday. The Boys are for real.
Oklahoma State 37 – Baylor 21

#16 Kansas at #4 Oklahoma – 2:30pm: I’ve had this game circled on my calendar since last year. Why? Because I want Kansas and their fans brought back down to Earth, and OU coming off a loss to Texas will be just what the doctor ordered. I’m hoping Stoops will have his team focused and ready to go. If they are, the Jayhawks could be in for a long afternoon in Norman.
Oklahoma 38 – Kansas 17

Kansas State at Colorado – 6pm: The Wildcats picked up their first conference win last weekend at A&M. It may be awhile before they win another. The Buffs have been knocked around the past two weeks by ranked opponents. It could be a tight one, but I expect Colorado to come out on top.
Colorado 24 – Kansas State 14

#11 Missouri at #1 Texas – 7pm: Obviously the matchup of the week. The storyline of Chase Daniel in his home state taking out his aggression by not even getting a look by Texas will be told ad nausea on ABC. Daniel might have a chip on his shoulder, but if the Tigers thought they had a solid defense in their face last weekend in the comfy confines of Farout Field, Texas will be even scarier. Texas has a raw and untested secondary, but hell, the handled Oklahoma. I’m guessing the vaunted front seven will pressure Daniel all night. The Tiger offensive line will have to play lights out to help their team win. The X factor is how prepared will Texas be after their huge win and number one ranking? If Mack Brown can get his team up emotionally and they did their homework this weekend, this game might get out of hand. I’m thinking it stays close though.
Texas 38 – Missouri 27

Nebraska at Iowa State – 11:30pm: This game actually has me nervous. Iowa State is about as consistent as the Huskers are, so anything is up for debate with this one. We typically play crappy in Ames, and the Cyclones are a different team in Jack Trice Stadium than they are when they are on the road, like last week when they lost to Baylor by 28 points. I think Nebraska sticks to their plan from last weekend against Texas Tech to keep their defense on the sideline.
Nebraska 33 – Iowa State 24

Alright, with the Pac 10 being atrocious and a general lack of big games in the ACC and Big East, I’m having to turn to the Big 10 and SEC for my two out of conference picks this weekend. You would think Michigan at Penn State would be huge given Joe Pa’s futility against the Big 2 (the Wolverines and Ohio State) since joining the Big 10 (11). However, since Michigan is 2-4 we’ll have to look elsewhere.

#12 Ohio State @ #20 Michigan State – 2:30pm: I really don’t like either of these teams this season. The Buckeyes were embarrassed by USC earlier in the year, and Michigan State hasn’t really played anyone yet. I’d like to think with freshman phenom Terrell Pryor at quarterback and Chris “Beanie” Wells back at running they would beat the Spartans in East Lansing. Not this year. With senior QB Brian Hoyer and outside shot Heisman candidate Javon Ringer in the backfield, I like the Spartans to win and go undefeated in Big 10 play until their showdown with Penn State at the end of November.
Michigan State 20 – Ohio State 14

#22 Vanderbilt @ #10 Georgia – 2:30pm: If this game were in Nashville, I’d like to think the Commodores could give the Bulldogs a game. Now, being in Sanford Stadium I would reduce their chances to nil. Georgia is playing tough after being gutted on national television by Alabama. What people don’t remember is that when the Bulldogs woke up they tried to climb back in during the second half and outscored the Tide 30-10 but still fell short. Vandy is getting into the tough part of their schedule and will get beat up.
Georgia 27 – Vanderbilt 13

What Will Be

2008-10-14T09:11:00.007-05:00

The championship picture in college football is shaping up to be a convoluted mess come the end of November. You may not have noticed, but this weekend was the tipping point which will irritate football fans more than a two loss team winning the BCS title last year.

The presumptive (and one of my picks ) first half of the national title contenders, Oklahoma, lost to a Texas team that many college football experts predicted would not win at least nine games for the first time in over a decade under Mack Brown. Seems like most of those critics hope the wives of guys who bought their preview mags back in June threw them in the trash.

Looking at the old adage of if you lose early enough in the season, by the time the bowl bids come out, all will be forgiven. This will be the case for one USC. Yes, the same Trojans that laid an egg up in Corvallis, Oregon. Ohio State who lost to SC by more than 30? It’s a possibility if not a long shot, but the fact that it’s still on the table shows there is something wrong with the BCS. I know, I know “hey, I already knew that.” And you’re right, you did already know that.

A year ago from last weekend, LSU lost to Kentucky. No biggie, they'll recover. Well, in their last regular season game they lost to Arkansas and looked to be on the outside looking in. West Virginia went on to lose to Pitt and Missouri lost to Oklahoma in the Big XII championship and opened the door for LSU and Ohio State.

Look folks, these two teams were not the best two teams by the end of the year, but USC had to go and lose to Stanford earlier in the year and Orgeon as well. So they were relegated to playing Illionis who had three losses in the Rose Bowl. If we had a playoff, my guess is USC and Georgia would have settled it for the title, and would have been one heck of a game.

But no, the teams with the best shot at BCS glory are the teams with the path of least resistance. That's why my pick for the big game will be USC and OU, yes, two one loss teams. But if all goes according to plan, that should be their only marks in the loss column by the end of the year.

Two teams that can mess it all up, (well three) are Alabama and Penn State (and Texas) provided they win out. A one loss Bama team would make it in, so would an undefeated Penn State team (so long as Texas and Oklahoma have more than one loss). Got all that? Playoff people, playoff!!

Now, regarding this weeks poll First things first, Texas should not be number one. I know most are impressed by their win on a neutral site over then top ranked Oklahoma, but I still think Alabama’s win in Athens is still more impressive. The Crimson Tide should be number one. In fact, this is how I see the top 10.

1. Alabama - not playing shouldn't help or hurt you.
2. Texas - jumping from #5 to #1? They're a good team, but come on people. Calm down.
3. Penn State - quietly one of the most impressive teams this season.
4. Florida - Tim Tebow back with a vengence.
5. Oklahoma - down but not out, best shot at Big XII South title.
6. Texas Tech - sneaking in, will be exposed.
7. Oklahoma State - still undecided if this team is legit, but thinking they are.
8. USC - shouldn't be ranked above undefeated teams in the Big XII, sorry Petey.
9. Georgia - waiting for the showdown with Florida, shouldn't look beyond Vandy this weekend.
10.Missouri - off weeks suck, Daniel proving me right that he's not even the best QB in the Big XII.

At the moment both polls have BYU in the top 10. I’m calling BS on that one. Had it not been for a horrible penalty on Washington’s Jake Locker the Huskies would have probably won that game against the Mormons. Then Washington lost by 50+ points to Oklahoma. Washington is a horrible team and almost beat the Cougars. BYU should not be within 10 spots of Oklahoma in the rankings.

Speaking of non-BCS schools being in the top 25, along with BYU, Utah and Boise State are all undefeated. There is a very real possibility that two of these three teams could make an argument to be in a BCS Bowl game. If BYU wins out, they could make an arguement for the BCS Title game. In my opinion, Boise State was the worst thing that could happen to the BCS system when it defeated Oklahoma two years ago.

Why? Because it’s going to legitimize the case for teams like Hawaii to go to the Sugar Bowl and get shattered by team that didn’t even play in it’s conference championship game. My guess is more of these games are going to turn out like last years Sugar Bowl and less like the 2007 Fiesta Bowl.

So I’m still holding on to my prediction that Oklahoma will face USC for the national title. Oklahoma has a much easier road to the end of the year despite the loss to Texas. Their only major hurdles come at the end of the year when they face Texas Tech in Norman, Oklahoma and when they travel to Stillwater to face Oklahoma State. I wouldn't be worried about the Jayhawks in Norman this Saturday.

Texas on the other hand has to play #11 Missouri (who was #3 before last weekend), #8 Oklahoma State, at #7 Texas Tech, Baylor, at #16 Kansas and then at home to Texas A&M who they haven’t beat since Vince Young was around. If Texas makes it to and wins that Big XII championship they shouldn’t have to play in the national title game. But that won’t happen, Texas will lose one or probably two of those games, and if they don’t, they would be one hell of a team for it.

Weekend In Review

2008-10-13T00:01:00.000-05:00

So I was wrong. It happens a lot. What I saw yesterday against Texas Tech was a surprise to say the least. Sometimes a team's best defense is it's offense, and that statement rang true yesterday down in Lubbock.

The constant penalties are still irritating as hell to see. Although I will say that some of the officiating was enough to make me pull out what little hair I have left. Some of the calls on us and non-calls on the Red Raiders was nuts. Despite the poor discipline and being unable to stop the big play, the Huskers took it to overtime and played a pretty decent game.

The big stat in our favor was the time of possession which was about two-thirds in our favor. Also, we racked up about 50 more total yards on the day with 472 I think. Marlon Lucky looked good, as did our receivers who are mostly possession guys who don't get a whole lot of yards after catch.

Three big things heading into next week in Ames, Iowa, a place where we've played like crap or sub par the last few times.

Penalties. We look very sloppy and confused a lot of the time. Suh is good for one personal foul per game the last few weeks. This obviously has to stop. I like his intensity, and he had a hell of a stop on third down in the fourth quarter yesterday, but Carl needs to get through to this kid that his actions the last three games are unacceptable. I can take a guy getting a personal foul every so often, but three weeks in a row? That shows me something is going on there that isn't either being addressed, or absorbed by the player.
Emotion. We've had to "get up" emotionally three weeks in a row against a team that would be in the top 10 had it not lost it's first game to Eastern Carolina, and two top ten teams when we played them. This has happened only one other time in Husker history. I'm wondering when we drop a bit as far as motivation. Is it this weekend against the Cyclones or when we return home against Baylor? Tough to stay high for that long.
What to do about Joe Ganz? I know most of you want to rally behind the kid, and I do too. He's a good, solid QB and has done very well considering the extenuating circumstances. That being said, I'm getting a little leery of him holding on to the ball and trying to force plays to develop. There are times to unload and take a few yards rather than looking for a big play, and tossing it out of bounds when you're about to take a sack. I'm not saying we bench him, because if you are saying that you have to ask who starts in his place. Patrick Witt? Zac Lee?

Well, I sure didn't pick 'em that well this weekend, against any sort of points spread anyway. Straight up wins and losses I went 5-3, with my losses being LSU, Oklahoma and Missouri. Picking against OU and the Tigers of Missouri didn't enter into my mind, but LSU did. Should have went with my gut. Oh well, live and learn.

Here is what the Big XII looks like for next week and my early bird picks...

#7 Texas Tech at Texas A&M: Tech, duh. At this point A&M is clearly the worst team in the Big XII.

#16 Kansas at #4 Oklahoma: Too bad this game didn't happen last year, then I could have been saved from the dumb KU fans in the area sqwaking about their team. OU big in this one. The Sooners still have a good shot at winning the South (explaination below) and the national title.

Baylor at #8 Oklahoma State: Baylor with the upset? Doubtful.

Kansas State at Colorado: The only reason the Wildcats looked good this past Saturday was because they played the Aggies. The Buffs will pick up their first conference win this weekend.

#11 Missouri at #1 Texas: Is there anything better than watching Jeremy Maclin cry? I know I sound like a brat after Mizzou torched us last week, but it was still good to see. The only thing better would have been finding a picture of Chase Daniel with is mohawk and dirty upper lip.

So, how will the Horns respond after their big win over rival Oklahoma? Will the Tigers be able to rebound against a better opponent they lost to in Austin? Sorry Tigers, this will be your second straight loss. Texas' schedule is absolutely brutal the rest of the way. Check this out. #8 OSU at home, at #7 Texas Tech, Baylor (don't laugh, possible trap), and then at #16 Kansas. They'll wrap up against rival Texas A&M who they haven't beat since Vince Young was in the gun either. That's four opponents in the top 16 in five weeks. Yikes.

Nebraska at Iowa State: The Clones nearly took out the Jayhawks at home but lost a lot of fire in the emotional loss, and it showed yesterday losing 38-10 to Baylor in Waco. Total homer pick here, but I'm going with the good guys in this one.

Familiar Territory

2008-10-12T12:52:00.007-05:00

I’ve been here before.

After seeing Missouri get upset last night at home to Oklahoma State, I realized something this morning watching the replay or recording, if you will. I have had to suffer through a Missouri team doing well against my team who traditionally beat the crap out of them. No, I’m not speaking of the 42-6 loss in 2007, and I’m not talking about our first loss the Tigers since 1978 back in 2003 even. I’m talking about a different league here.

Back in the late 90’s, in my football world all was well. Nebraska was just coming off another national championship, and everyone in my house was happy. My NFL team was a perennial playoff and Super Bowl contender. Something I had enjoyed since as long as I could remember. But a funny thing happened on our way to the end of the millennium.

Tom Osborne retired, even though the Huskers did accomplish another conference title and a couple BCS Bowl appearances, but I’m not here to talk about the Huskers. I’m here to talk about my pro football team, the San Francisco 49ers.

I can’t imagine I’m not unlike a lot of guys my age who were children of the 80’s. How could you not be a fan of Joe Montana, Jerry Rice and being a Husker fan, players like Roger Craig and Tom Rathman?

I’d have to say in my football watching career, 1994 was the greatest year for me. Nebraska exercised some major demons by winning their first national title since 1971, in the Orange Bowl, against Miami. That’s poetic justice on the prairie. To top it off a few weeks earlier, the 49ers beat San Diego in the Super Bowl in dominating fashion. A football sweep! Unheard of.

Fast forward back to 1999 and I’m at Northwest Missouri State going to college. The St. Louis Rams are one of the biggest surprises in the NFL. The 49ers are working on missing the playoffs for the first time in about 20 years. A blend of disappointment I’d come to have to deal with regarding both teams over the next five years.

“The Greatest Show on Turf” is something I heard about as the “same old sorry ass Rams” put it on my team year after year for the next few years. Watch a former sacker at a grocery store win league MVP's and constant shots of his annoying wife while telling his heart warming story. Watching Marshall Faulk wrap up a nice career. Seeing Isaac Bruce and Tory Holt pick up 10 yards at a time with ease. And while at home, playing that stupid Todd Rundgren song after every touchdown.

So, like I’ve said. I’ve been here before. Once dominate team I cheered for is now a doormat for former doormat. Now, the Rams are back to where they used to be and the 49ers are no better than mediocre. But, the important thing to remember, is that everything will pass. Missouri may never return to a doormat, but everything plays out in cycles. I know Nebraska fans aren't used to that, because the top of our last cycle last for about 35 years, so dealing with the bottom is hard for us to do.

We’ll beat Missouri again. We’ll even beat them in Columbia, even though we haven’t done it since 2001. Yesterday showed that this team is moving in the right direction. Sure, we didn’t win and we still made a lot of boneheaded mistakes, but it was much better than the previous week, right?

If watching the NFL and one of the pro Missouri teams has taught me, it’s that even if I have to sit through a few years of the media being all over said Missouri team, things will eventually reshuffle. Now, if someone can somehow convince Jeremy Maclin to go into the 2009 Draft, that would be awesome. And have Blaine Gabbert transfer to South Florida or something.

Ready Or Not

2008-10-10T09:56:00.003-05:00

This Saturday the Nebraska Cornhuskers will travel down to Lubbock, Texas and try to avoid an embarrassing loss to the Texas Tech Red Raiders. That’s right, not try to win but try to avoid falling on their faces. Hey, at least this week it won’t be on national TV for the entire (or at least 30% of it) country to witness.

Nebraska is wrought with problems. Allegedly there has been some rumblings about certain coaches not getting along and having some heated disputes. Once again, take the “allegedly” and “rumblings” with a giant grain of kosher table salt. Nothing has been confirmed and until it is, we’re only talking about heresy here.

The current betting line (not that I gamble much, ahem) on the game has the Huskers as 20.5 point dogs. Yikes. Vegas doesn’t have much faith in Pelini and his reconstructed defense apparently.

Why the giant separation set by Vegas odds makers? Well, this make come as a shock to you but Tech’s offense is pretty darn good. While Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford and Texas’ Colt McCoy get all the press clippings (typical) along with Missouri’s Chase Daniel (painful). Tech’s QB Graham Harrell, with his 12,000+ career passing yards, is quietly having a darn good year. Actually, he’s passed for more yards than any gunslinger in the country with 2027.

The statistical matchups are enough to make you cry. Nebraska’s return to defensive mediocrity might take a bit of a slide after tomorrow. Currently, the Huskers and Pelini rank 83rd nationally in total defense and we’ve only played one Big XII opponent. If the team doesn’t start coming together on the defensive side of the ball, we could dip down into familiar 2007 territory.

Texas Tech doesn’t run the ball a whole lot. In fact they are 63rd in that nation pounding the rock. However, they defend the run fairly well. I’ll be honest though, Tech really hasn’t played anyone, but neither did Missouri (sans Illinois) up until last week and they had no issues stopping our offense. What we need to worry about is Tech’s ability to pass, something we couldn’t stop in hurricane winds. Nebraska is giving up an average of 243 yards per game which shakes out to being 93rd in the country. Ouch.

Remember 2003 and how we nearly led the entire country in takeaways? Remember Daniel and Josh Bullocks? Barrett Ruud? Demorrio Williams? Yeah, that’s a nice thought. Waking up back in reality in 2008, the Huskers are 88th in turnover margin.

So let’s review. We can’t stop the pass, we can’t create turnovers. Sorry to say, but if you read my prediction for the Big XII yesterday you can see I don’t have much confidence of the Huskers avoiding a blowout. I think I tossed out 63-21 and I’m sticking with it unfortunately.

I’ll leave you with something a little more disturbing. Before October of 2001, when we beat #2 Oklahoma in Lincoln with the toss play from Mike Stuntz to Eric Crouch, in the eight years previous to that the Huskers beat 26 opponents that were in the top 20. In the eight years since then? Zero. That’s right, a big fat goose egg. Since we beat the Sooners and when we melted down against Colorado 36-62 and lost to Miami in the Rose Bowl, we have defeated zero opponents in the top 20.

Now I live in Kansas City and Missouri and Kansas are top 25 teams. A Missouri quarterback is leading the Heisman voting too. I'm worried about a home game against Baylor. Baylor!! If I told my 17 (1997) year old self this, he'd say I'm living in bizzaro world.

Weekend Roundup

2008-10-09T15:26:00.003-05:00

Every Thursday until the end of the season I’m going to make some not so scientific predictions that come from my even less intelligent understanding of football. Just kidding. But I will go around the Big XII and make my picks along with some other big games across the country. Without further adieu, let’s jump right in.

Iowa State at Baylor- 6pm: These two teams will bring their identical 2-3 (0-1 in the Big XII) records to Waco Saturday night. Apart from these two teams being the presumptive bottom feeders in their respective divisions, they are also breaking in brand new quarterbacks. Sophomore Austen Arnaud will bring his 63.3% completion rating and seven touchdowns Floyd Casey Stadium. True freshman Robert Griffin will try to help the Bears rebound after their demoralizing loss to Oklahoma last week.
Baylor 27 – Iowa State 20

Kansas State at Texas A&M – 1pm: Two more teams that are much maligned going into week six of the college football season. They are both 0-1 in the conference and have both lost non-conference games. The only difference is that the Aggies have lost to Arkansas State. At home. This is probably the best shot either team has at winning an in conference game and I’m going with the away team on this one. Unfortunately it’s not on TV, because I’d like to see how bad both teams really are.
Kansas State 24 – Texas A&M 20

Colorado at #16 Kansas – 11:30pm: Dan Hawkins has his program moving in the right direction. They beat rival Colorado State to start the year and beat then ranked West Virginia. However, they looked a little shaky against Eastern Washington of all teams. Away from Folsom Field, they aren’t doing so hot losing to Florida State 39-21. Plus they dropped their conference opener at home to Texas, losing 38-14. Kansas on the other hand had a gusty comeback on the road in Ames. I like KU at home in this one.
Kansas 35 – Colorado 20

#17 Oklahoma State at #3 Missouri – 7pm: Chase Daniel will get the spotlight of an ESPN channel for the second consecutive week to further push his campaign for the Heisman Trophy. It’s not hard to see why. Daniel and company are putting up the third most yards through the air with 375.6 yards per game. They’re also just coming off a big win for the first time in 30 in Lincoln, Nebraska and might be caught off guard looking forward to Texas in Austin next weekend. Don’t fall for that though, this team seems to be the real deal and incredibly focused. The Cowboys will bring their third ranked rushing attack to Columbia against an untested Missouri defensive squad. The folks at Farout Field better add a third digit to the scoreboard.
Missouri 55 – Oklahoma State 38

#5 Texas at #1 Oklahoma – 11pm: Undoubtedly the most important game in the Big XII and arguably the most important game in the country this weekend. The Red River Shootout is typically not one to disappoint. Texas has been doing well all season outscoring opponents by an average of 35.8 points. They’ll have their work cut out for them facing one of the most well rounded teams in the entire country in what people are calling Bob Stoops’ best team. So far. Oklahoma to me always comes out firing but slips up every now and again, however they always get up for big games (well, sort of). Just from memory, only the ’05 Vince Young team really handled OU, so I’m giving the nod to the Sooners to continue on undefeated and remain number one in the country. If Texas wins, they have a tough road to remain unbeaten. Games against Missouri, Texas Tech and Kansas on the road could take a toll on the Horns.
Oklahoma 37 – Texas 27

Nebraska at #7 Texas Tech – 2pm: Anyone who is a Nebraska fan and lived to tell the tale of 2004 in Lubbock may have been lucky enough to suppress the memory of 70-10 and Beau Davis’ five interceptions. Oops, sorry Husker fans. Bones is still on the team too. I’m not looking forward to this game at all. It’s Bo Pelini’s first game away from the confines of Memorial Stadium where his team is still ranked 115th in penalties. Going on the road probably won’t do him or the undisciplined Huskers any favors. They are essentially facing the same offense, only with less running, that they faced last week against the Missouri Tigers. One big difference is that Mizzou head coach Gary Pinkel exercised some class and let off the gas a bit. Red Raider head man Mike Leech isn’t so thoughtful. Get ready Nebraska fans, this one could be painful. Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree must be licking their chops while watching film of the Huskers this week.
Texas Tech 62 – Nebraska 21

This weekend gave me no shortage of non-Big XII matchups that will keep my remote hand happy.

#4 LSU at #11 Florida – 7pm: This game actually features one of my picks to play in the national title game. Yes, I picked LSU to go back to the title game against Oklahoma at the end of the season despite the lack of experience at quarterback. Even with Glenn Dorsey departing for the NFL and former defensive coordinator Bo Pelini packing for colder weather in Nebraska, their defense is still basically second to none. Florida has a lack of dependable weapons around Heisman Trophy winner and all-around swell guy Tim Tebow to really dominate this LSU defense. Stranger things have happened in the SEC however, like the Gators losing to Huston Nutt and the Rebels in Gainesville two weeks ago. I like the road team in this one.
LSU 24 – Florida 20

#6 Penn State at Wisconsin – 7pm: Unfortunately for the formerly in the top ten Badgers, they have had to travel to Ann Arbor, Michigan and then turn around and host Ohio State and now Penn State this weekend. Say what you want about the Big 10, that’s a tough stretch for any team. Penn State is coming off a strong win against Illinois two weeks ago and seems poised to win the Big 10 if (and that’s a big if) they can win on the road in Madison and then later in Columbus. Two places that have been houses of horrors for the Nittany Lions. Do you know what a Nittany Lion is? It’s named after the mountain lions that live on Mount Nittany near the campus of Penn State University. Consider that your trivia for the weekend you can impress your friends with while watching the game.
Penn State 28 – Wisconsin 21

A Little (Big) Something

2008-10-06T20:52:00.003-05:00

I posted this on a Nebraska message board but I think it bears repeating on here as well for you to read. Those of you that are still around anyway. Don't worry, I think I've got my juggling act down to a science so I should have time now.

After five games, it looks like we are all hitting the panic button, myself included to a certain degree. Saturday night was sickening. If there are people that didn’t feel that knot in their stomach when we were on the receiving end of one of the worst beat downs in recent conference history, I might question just how much people are paying attention.

Unless recruiting picks up and we make significant strides, this team is in for a long and painful few years. The teams that are in recruiting hotbeds will make strides within their borders and where they are showing a significant presence. Success breeds interest, and with our culture quickly becoming “what have you done for me lately,” the more we lose, rebuild and struggle to get back to the top of a now powerful conference, the further we slip behind Missouri, Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma and even Colorado. The more distant our success gets in the minds of the kids we are recruiting, the harder it will become to convince kids to come to Lincoln. When our head guy says the process never interested him much, I think that’s a problem.

Just to give some perspective, a 17 or 18 year old senior in high school was 11 or 12 the last time we had a player win a Heisman or play in a national title game. The last time we won the Big XII conference they were 10 or 11. And, the last time we won a national title they were six and seven years old. We have a ton of advantages built in at Lincoln, we all know that. But when those same advantages are becoming more even around the nation at big existing programs and upstart programs who are on a winning streak the past couple seasons I think that creates another big problem. We have a ton of tradition, but who does that mean more to? The fans and supporters who have been with this program for years and decades? Or to a kid from Southern California who has maybe seen a few of our nationally televised games from the last few years where we consistently get dominated? The team their parents tell them was dominate before they watched football.

This brings us to another argument I’ve seen here lately. What should appeal to big name recruits is that they will be able to come in, start early and help turn around the deficiencies they see on the field while on their visits. Right now if the staff is using that approach for selling something very intangible and something that is very hard for a high school senior to wrap his head around. If this were the case, then why have some teams been consistently bad? Why haven’t recruits flocked to programs on a backslide because they’ll be able to help restore a winning tradition and attitude?

This staff deserves more time, at least most of it anyway. Repairing the damage from the last several years can’t be solved in a spring practice session, fall camp and five games into their first season. It takes time, patience and some tolerance from the fan base. Look no further than at the team that beat us Saturday night. Pinkel has had his head called for too many times to count down in Columbia. But they stuck with him and now look where they are. Say what you will about him being a poor coach, but the Tigers are firing on all cylinders at this point.

2001: Pinkel’s first season, they went 4-7 with a 3-5 conference record. Not much to say other than this looks like what we could possibly be in store for this year. But they did beat their big rival, although KU still was a poor program at the time. The notion of comparing our situation now to that of Oklahoma’s when Bob Stoops entered seems almost laughable at this point. Hey, I’ve seen the parallels drawn on here.

2002: 5-7, non conference wins a against Illinois, Ball State and Troy State. They lost to Bowling Green on the road. Missouri beat their rival Kansas for the second year in a row.

Other than that it was a less than stellar conference record. They went 2-6.

2003: Enter Brad Smith as a major player. They lost to Kansas but had wins over rivals Illinois and Nebraska. Finished 8-5 (4-4 Big XII) falling in their first bowl game under Pinkel to Arkansas. They finally get over the hump against Iowa State and beat Texas Tech for the first time also. It took them three years just to have a winning record and not have a losing one in the conference. Three years to get to a bowl also.

2004: Disappointing loss to Troy State on the road in their second game. The Tigers regressed and finished 5-6 after their first bowl appearance in years. They finished 3-5 in the Big XII and had a five game losing streak in the conference and lost to Kansas. They barely won in Ames in overtime. Had they not won they would have been 4-7 and 2-6 in conference, dropping their final six.

2005: The Tigers got back to a bowl game in Smith’s final year at Missouri. They lost at home to New Mexico. Imagine that happening here. They finished 6-5 with a conference record of 4-4. Keep in mind that 4-4 is the best conference finish they’ve had in Pinkel’s first five years. They pull out their first bowl win in decades against South Carolina in the Independence Bowl.

It’s important to note that at this point the spread is the norm, Pinkel is splitting time between Smith, who was seen as the best shot for the Tigers to win, and true freshman Chase Daniel. I remember Tiger fans that I knew having a fit when he would do this because they felt they could have won more games with Smith “under center” most of the time. As we now know, preparing Daniel was paramount to his progression as a player. Also, their now vaunted spread offense was still working out it’s growing pains. Pinkel’s record is also 28-30 overall, 16-25 in the Big XII and 1-1 in bowl games. Does any of this look remotely familiar? I’m not saying we should have retained Callahan, because at this point Pinkel had some signature wins, but this data does deserve a look.

2006: Daniel’s first year on his own. This season, in my opinion, was the major turning point when you could tell something was going on down in Columbia that was for real. The Tigers start the season 6-0 and beat Texas Tech for the first time in Lubbock since the Big XII formed. They get their first win over Kansas State since Pinkel’s started. They get to their second consecutive bowl game but lose to Oregon State finishing 7-5 and 4-4 in the Big XII. Once again, no winning record in conference play. Six. Seasons. In. A. Row. Keep that in mind.

2007: This is the season where it finally came together for the Tigers. Rucker and Coffman step up and become probably the best tight end tandem in the country, Maclin returns and Daniel is in this third year and second as a starter. The Tigers go 11-1 in the regular season and rank as high as #1 in the entire country. Pinkel finally gets over the hump and goes 7-1 in conference and the Tigers win their first Big XII North title in their history. They would lose to Oklahoma for the second time, but went on to defeat Arkansas soundly in the Cotton Bowl. The Tigers registered wins over Nebraska, Kansas, Kansas State (first time in Manhattan in like 25 years I think).

We all know how this year is stacking up. If Missouri can avoid dropping the trap game this weekend against Oklahoma State and beat Texas in Austin, they have a chance at something bigger than last year. If (and probably when) they get to the Big XII title game in Kansas City they’ll have to get over a hump they couldn’t do last year. I don’t think it’s likely they beat OU, but they are in line for a big time bowl game. I know the Big XII championship game loser is supposed to be relegated to the Cotton Bowl, but I think with their offense and the fact that Daniel seems to be the frontrunner for the Heisman, they could possibly pick up an at large bid if the only loss is to OU in the conference title game.

My point with all this Mizzou talk is that building a program takes time. You have to break a few eggs to make an omelet, as the saying goes. Sure, they had a losing tradition and mild fan support to say the least, but they do have a good pipeline into Texas and they are locking down their borders with each passing year, which is full of talent. You can change your losing tradition and mild fan support easier than generate home grown talent. We can counter our lack of top notch in-state talent (not to say we don’t have any, because we do) with our tradition, facilities and fan support, however we need to build on that tradition we have and look to the present and future for answers, not the past. Just because something worked in the infallible days of the 90’s doesn’t mean it applies today. You adapt or you become irrelevant, bottom line. Our facilities will continue to be a step above most of the country, but if we continue to lose (and support starts to decline) this could be compromised. And, the worst possible scenario would be losing the support of the fans. It’s hard to imagine, but how many people will continue to shell out a good chunk of change to watch our team lose? Especially for how impatient our fans are.

So, what happens if we go 4-8? Or what if we don’t win another game the rest of the year? What if it takes us seven more years to get a winning conference record again? Or we don’t get to a bowl game until 2010? What happens if we turn into Iowa State? How many of you will tell yourselves, “hey, we’re Nebraska that can’t happen to us.” Really? Why not? Sure our traditions will be different, but what about right now? Personally, I’d rather watch us win now than watch my DVD sets from our national title years. How many of you will stick around? How many will still donate to the school and drive hundreds of miles every weekend to Lincoln? How many of you will still care if it takes us just as long to get to the top as it did for Missouri? How many lives does Bo have? Because I can tell you this, if we run him out of town if he doesn’t turn things around to our timeframe, we could be in for a lot of trouble. He could prove to be in over his head, but I’m willing to sit and watch it play out for several years if we have to. Life is full of risks.

Will the rest of the Nebraska faithful be as patient? This is my final point, and something I’ve seen here for awhile that causes me my biggest bone to pick with my own fellow Husker fans. A bit of self-loathing, if you will. Where do we get our sense of entitlement? Because we are Nebraska we will be back? For a group of fans that prides itself in being honest and humble, these are not the words of a man that expects little in return for his hard work. We deserve to be on top of the Big XII. Why? Why do a great deal of Husker fans feel it is their God given right to have their team be top dog in a conference they can no longer compete in? If you don’t go out and earn it every year, every game and every down that talk of rights amounts to a steaming pile of BS. Some of us need to temper our expectations with a healthy dose of reality. Because if we don’t, we will become a forgotten entity. They’ll talk about the ghosts at Memorial Stadium and talk of a time when you could win in a state like Nebraska, but no more. We’ll no longer be relevant, then in my mind the unthinkable will happen. We’ll lose our identity and we’ll lose our record as fans. Think about it.

Also, if you made it to the end of this, congrats, I have a tendency to be a little “wordy” as my wife puts it. To those that construe this as whining and that I should give them my season tickets (I’ve seen this posted on here today) because I’m voicing my opinion on an internet message board, you need to step off and check yourself before you get a verbal beat down. I put my money where my mouth is every year, and it’s a damn good amount of money too. So the next time you rail on someone who shells out over a grand or much, much more each year in donations, game tickets, gas money, hotel fair, the money spent on campus for merchandise and Runza’s at the game, you best think about clicking that “Post Message” button below the text screen you’re probably drooling on. Anyway, end rant.

Almost August

2008-07-29T09:41:00.002-05:00

It’s the last week of July and as the days grow shorter and NFL teams are already in training camp it can mean only one thing. College football programs around the country will start their own fall camps within the next week. Nebraska will start practice August 4th in preparation for their 2008 season that starts with Western Michigan in Lincoln on August 30th.

In roughly four and a half weeks we’ll have the opportunity to see the new version of Nebraska Football. However, the offense may look a little familiar. As most of you probably know Offensive Coordinator Shawn Watson and Wide Receivers coach (and Recruiting Coordinator) Ted Gilmore have been retained by Bo Pelini from Bill Callahan’s staff.

The big change that everyone is looking for is on the other side of the ball. A few weeks ago, before the Big XII Media Days down here in Kansas City took place, Pelini stated that there are no Blackshirts on the team as of yet. I like the attitude and mentality that these things are not just handed out because you start for Nebraska on defense, because as last year clearly showed, the starting unit was in no way deserving of the notoriety of having a Blackshirt.

I’m personally not expecting the jump the defensive unit made from 2002 to 2003 when Pelini thrust the Huskers from a middle of the pack squad to nearly tops in the nation defensively. I’m hoping for it, but it’s a big hill to climb. The main thing I want to see is a team that doesn’t look like they have cement in their cleats and doesn’t die. It’s hard to imagine things staying status quo, or God forbid, get worse.

The team is leaner. Offensive Guard Matt Slauson has lost weight as has MIKE Linebacker Phillip Dillard. How will this translate into success on the field? Remember in Rocky III when Rocky got all inflated and soft fighting “suckas” as Clubber Lang put it? It wasn’t until he trimmed down after finding the eye of the tiger (not a not to Missouri, mind you) that he knocked out Lang. This is probably a really dumb analogy, but I really love that movie. I’m not saying that the defense will be able to knock everyone out, I’m just saying and hoping it’s not a repeat of last year on the field.

When you have as much time as the fans of Nebraska to ponder last year and look for any sign of progress that points towards any improvement this season, you look under just about every stone you can find. As of today there are 33 days between now and August 30th. Let the countdown begin.

In the Door

2008-07-11T09:14:00.007-05:00

The Nebraska Athletic Department Development office made the information available for new season ticket holders today and I was able to get my foot in the door as a season ticket holder in our first year of donating. I will be able to look down upon all the Husker faithful as I am in section 39, row 99 and seats 15 and 16. So we are basically in the northeast corner of the stadium, but at least we have a backrest. Hopefully as the years go on, the donations go up and the "priority points" accumulate, I'll get a little closer.

GO BIG RED!!

A Return to Form

2008-07-08T09:48:00.005-05:00

Now that the calendar has gone from May to June and now into July, the Husker blog here will be heating up again. Recruiting is about to start taking a turn for the more exciting with a prospect by the name of Cody Green making a decision between either a stint in Lincoln or down in Texas for the Aggies. Green is one of the higher rated dual-threat quarterbacks in the country and could make a sizable impact for this team in the next few years provided he commits to Nebraska and then signs in February of 2009.

According to my calculations the season will begin in no less than 53 days, which can put a smile on anyone's face considering if you aren't a die hard baseball fan, this time of the year can prove to be very boring on the sports front. Although watching my Red Sox and following Formula 1, once we move past the 4th of July, my focus tends to return to my beloved Huskers. So in the coming days and weeks I'll be back on with some insight into the team and some opinions on the Big XII and the college football landscape at large.

One thing that will be spun into the mix this year will be a considerable amount of information regarding a rising North power in the Missouri Tigers. Since my last post, I've been hired by an individual who has close, very close ties, to the University of Missouri. I'll actually be behind enemy lines September 20th (a Nebraska bye week mind you) to help work the sidelines while the Tigers take on a team led by former Nebraska QB and current Husker legend Turner Gil. Will I secretly be cheering for Buffalo? Probably. But as the scoreboard will probably read 87-10 at the end of the game, I may keep that to myself. I'll be sure to wear some sort of parphenilia to keep me honest. It's an experience I can't pass up, even if it is the Tigers.

Great Expectations

2008-05-13T20:43:00.010-05:00

You may or may not have noticed as a Husker fan that your program is in good hands. Tom Osborne is at the helm as Athletic Director, and Bo Pelini has returned from the South to save our program and restore Nebraska as a national power again. Just like in the 90's when we won the Big 8 and Big XII on a consistent basis. Dreams of Blackshirts and Sears Trophies dance in the heads of many Husker faithful. Ah, to once again go toe to toe with Oklahoma again. Hopefully every year in the Big XII Championship Game. Right?

Not so fast. I know the buzz across the Cornhusker State is ecstatic, and the positive vibes aren't a bad thing, however these lofty expectations should be tempered a bit. Most realistic fans that I converse with are looking at us going 7-5 or even 8-4 next season at best. Teams like Virginia Tech, Missouri and Oklahoma may be too much for Pelini and company to handle. Sounds reasonable right?

There are a few (and I put that label on them because I would like to think they are the minority) that the Huskers have a shot at numbers like 9-3 and 10-2. While I appreciate people that set high goals for themselves, I'm not a big fan of people placing unrealistic ambitions for things that are out of their control. It's one thing to have faith, it's another to be blinded by it.

Some would be content to rub the two sticks of tradition and history together and hope that it sparks a fire that ignites the Husker program as it was during Devaney and Osborne. There are a few things wrong with this. While it may make for a renewed enthusiasm to tell bedtime stories to your young Husker fans while tucking them into bed, it doesn't automatically restore the balance of power in the Big XII North, let alone the entire conference.

While we were wallowing through the Bill Callahan experiment, teams caught up and passed us by. Annual punching bags Missouri and Kansas each pummeled Nebraska last year by a combined score of 117-45. In case you weren't taking notes because you were too stunned that your worst nightmares have come true, those two games should have shown as an example of a team with no identity and a team that was lost. Despite all the great offensive scheming and recruiting under Callahan, Nebraska had lost it's way. All under the patient guise of the good natured, down-home attitude of the Nebraska people and it's fans. Do you still feel robbed? Or have you moved on?

The presence of Pelini and Osborne alone won't be enough to start anew and rebuild what was lost. To regain what we once had, if it can ever be obtained again, is going to take great effort and perseverance from not only the people within the walls of Memorial Stadium, but the fans that fill it every Saturday. What are you going to do if 2008 yields another 5-7 bowless team? Are you going to leave at halftime? Are you going to boo? Or, are you going to partake in the unthinkable and not buy a ticket? It seems harsh and unrealistic to even speak of the beloved sell-out streak ending, but the present state of affairs warrants the question being posed.

So it all boils down to this I suppose. What do you expect? Where do you realistically see our team? If you still see us presently with the Texas's and USC's of the world, I'm sorry. Of course traditionally with our forth ranked overall record, our nearly four dozen conference championships and five national championships we belong. Right now we are on life support. Right now I'm engaged in a thread on a Nebraska message board that asked the question of "which of Texas's recruits would you most like to have?" I remember when a kid would have been labeled certifiable if he chose Texas over Nebraska. Now we fantasize about which one of their players we covet and wish upon a star we could have.

How far we seem to have fallen. But I have faith that the program, just like the people in the area, have the ability to pick themselves up off the floor and dust themselves off and return to striving for excellence. The only question is how much patience will you have? Are you willing to let Osborne drag his legendary name into the muck that could be created from unmet expectations? How about this, do you even remember when Osborne was under criticism from his own fans because he couldn't beat Oklahoma? Or schools in the South? Just keep in mind over the next few seasons that even legends had their time facing the firing squad. Pelini will be no different.

Nebraska Highlights

2008-05-10T21:48:00.002-05:00

Ok, so I took a little heat for my last post regarding the return of Richie Incognito the week prior to the Spring Game. Well, I did attend the game and did happen to get a photo snapped with Heisman Trophy winner and Nebraska legend Johnny Rogers. I'm also including the highlights from the 1996 Fiesta Bowl, just to show you all how much I love you. Things will probably be slow for the next several months. I'll try to post what I can regarding 2009 commits but won't give too much detail considering how I was burned by posting about some 2008 decommits. I'll try to keep things interesting and do what I can to update on the regular now.

Cheers.

Mixed Signals

2008-04-22T09:10:00.006-05:00

A picture is worth a thousand words, as the old adage goes. The picture to the right is more telling than most pictures I’ve seen coming out of the 15 practices this spring and last Saturday’s Spring Game in Lincoln, Nebraska. A few of the characters you may recognize, but the man in the white shirt and hat may throw you for a loop, since you are looking at the back of his head. That person is none other than formerly disposed and troubled offensive lineman Richie Incognito arm in arm with Bo Pelini. Forget who he was after the tenuous Bill Callahan era? Well, here is a refresher course.

Incognito hails from Englewood, New Jersey and was the first freshman offensive lineman in Nebraska history to start. This was either an indication of greatness, or that the offensive line was starting to crumble under the watch of former head coach Frank Solich. I thought this way then, as I still do now. To make a long story short, Incognito was accused of getting into many an altercation with male and female members of the University along with citizens of Lincoln. The final straw reportedly was in 2004, after Callahan took over the team, Incognito allegedly assaulted a teammate. It was at that point when Callahan placed him on injured reserve and suspended him indefinitely which led to Incognito requesting a transfer to Oregon. He never played a down as a Duck, but was drafted in 2005 by the St. Louis Rams with the 81^st pick overall.

It was yet another troubled Nebraska player, but in Incognito's case, praying on people smaller than him for no reason other than his rampant steroid abuse and resulting “roid rage.” To see him welcomed back to a program who rightly tossed him aside borders on ridiculous, sickening even. After his dismissal his Father even took it upon himself to accost Nebraska fans on internet message boards. Classy.

Now it seems in an effort to get back to the Nebraska way, there has been somewhat of an abandonment of certain integral foundations the current staff is attempting to perpetuate. I attended this past weekends Spring Game, and also attended a luncheon for my booster club that I belong to. The featured speakers included a video from basketball coach Doc Sadler, who was originally schedule to appear but could not attend due to recruiting engagements. Baseball coach Mike Anderson was also a speaker, talking up togetherness and the respectful coach Bo Pelini. Nebraska saint Tom Osborne was introduced by former All-American and Super Bowl champion Grant Wistrom and Pelini himself was introduced by one of his prodigies and current Tampa Bay Buccaneer linebacker Barrett Ruud.

Pelini talked about the value of being a good citizen and representing the University in a positive manner. He spoke about how a solid foundation was being built by the young student athletes. He referred to how he wanted to mold the young men to exude confidence and a good clean lifestyle not only on the field, but off “from the moment they wake up in the morning until they go to bed at night.” I couldn’t help but thing as the members of my booster club in attendance ate this up thinking that Incognito, and his father, had been at practice no more than 24 hours previous to this speech. I wondered how many people were actually aware of this fact, or how many people would even care if they did.

I’m all for redemption. I stuck by Osborne’s decision (and still do) to not kick Lawrence Phillips on the team. I always maintain that kicking him off the team wouldn’t have helped him. However, I saw Osborne’s intentions, as good as they were, fail amid a national spotlight that would help drive him out of the game two years later. However, Phillips has been persona non grata since he was drafted in 1995 by the same Rams team that picked up Incognito. Welcoming Richie back would be easier had he issued some sort of apology for his actions, embarrassing the University or his lack of respect for any order on and off the field while in Lincoln. This has not happened. Not even a simple acknowledgement. Just a return by a player who is mediocre when compared to other great linemen with ten times the heart, integrity and ability to represent the Cornhusker program better than Incognito.

Out of all the Adam Treu’s, Zach Weigert's and Aaron Taylor’s of the world, why bring back Incognito to stump for Pelini’s new regime? Is there something more there? Is our new coach that has Nebraska fans feeling on cloud nine about our program hiding an agenda that includes undoing the rights that were done by Callahan? As much of a pariah as Callahan is, deservedly so to a certain extent, I believe that the rose colored glasses may be so thick that people will be unable to recognize the picture I posted for what it’s worth.

Here is another thing to munch on. Josh Williams (pictured on the left) who was the 2008 signee I wrote about a few weeks ago who’s legal issues are still to be resolved, was in attendance for the Spring Game. Now, this may just be my opinion, but I believe he should be somewhat shunned until the truth of his situation is revealed. He shouldn’t be kicked off the team and have his scholarship pulled either, however I don’t think he should have been able to attend the game.

Are these first few months pointing towards what could be swirling around Lincoln in the next few years? I certainly hope not. Could it just be some amazing coincidences? Could be. All I know is that dunking your head in the Kool-Aid tank for an extended period of time may help you to take your eye off the ball if something is coming.

Kansas City Update

2008-04-11T08:55:00.010-05:00

Alright, so I’ll be the first to admit yesterday that I may have jumped the gun with the Josh Williams thing. Let’s just say that we’ll have to wait and let things unfold before I (we) jump to any conclusions. Right now, it appears that a third party intervened in an argument between Williams and the alleged victim and was the one who threw the punch. Was Williams in the wrong or just guilty by association? Those possibilities are yet to be played out, so I’ll do my best to keep things updated on here this weekend with me moving.

One thing I’d like to take a few moments out of the Nebraska news to do is report on other area colleges and some of the news falling out of the local programs. Since I live in the near immediate area of about three Big XII North teams, I think it is more that pertinent to report on schools like Missouri, Kansas and Kansas State. So here we go, a little something new.

There was no bigger news this week in the conference than the Kansas Jayhawks (below). KU won their third national championship in men’s basketball and their first in 20 years since ‘Danny and the Miracles' that were led by Danny Manning and coach Larry Brown. Current coach Bill Self and company had endure a tough matchup from the Davidson Wildcats in the Elite Eight, and former KU headmaster Roy Williams and his current team, the North Carolina Tar Heels, in the Final Four. The Jayhawks went on to defeat the Memphis Tigers in overtime Monday night, as most of you know.

The big news regarding this story (as if there could be something bigger than winning a national title) was that of coach Self himself. The week before the Final Four, Oklahoma State forced coach Sean Sutton out the door. For those that don’t know, Oklahoma State is the alma mater of Self, and where he spent 11 years of his playing and coaching career. Despite Athletic Director Mike Holder’s sincerest efforts, it will appear that Self will be staying at Kansas.

Details of the new contract are yet to be ironed out, but it isn’t a big secret that Self (left) will become one of the (if not the) highest paid coaches in college basketball. The term should be lengthy as well, at least five years in my opinion, as Self has stated that he wants long term security. Also, Kansas AD Lew Perkins persuaded Self to stay by the possibility of a new team practice facility and student athlete housing.

This is great news for Kansas, as well as the Big XII. Since the conference has been formed, we as a conference were yet to win a national title in men's basketball. Kansas reached the title game in 2003 but fell to Syracuse, and teams like Oklahoma State and Texas reached the Final Four, but no one brought home the hardware. Until this year. Self not only brought Kansas and the Big XII a national title and some well deserved respect, he exercised some demons for Rock Chalk Nation by beating Roy Williams in the national semifinal last Saturday. The last week has stamped Bill Self’s reign in Lawrence, Kansas and has undoubtedly gave him carte blanche for at least the next several years. This of course will depend on if Oklahoma State and super-booster T. Boone Pickens (above right) come calling in the not so distant future. The type of money rumored to be offered to Self might be too sweet to pass up twice. Kansas fans should rest easy for now though.

Lincoln Forecast: Officially Pouring

2008-04-10T15:51:00.004-05:00

Real quick, if you have not yet familiarized yourself with the signing class from 2008 and didn't see Josh Williams, look now because it might be the last time you see him.

Arguably one of our best defensive recruits from this class, Williams was arrested for assaulting and robbing a Denton, Texas man of $900. Williams reportedly approached the man last Friday while he was in his truck counting his payroll check. The two talked briefly before Williams reached into the truck, stole the money, and then punched the man in the face making off with the money.

Williams flop flopped his commitment from Nebraska to Colorado in December of 2007, then switched back to Nebraska after an unofficial visit in January. Williams was regarded as one of the Top 100 Texas Football Players by the Dallas Morning News while recording 75 tackles, 25 of them for a loss, and 12 sacks his senior season.

Sadly, this looks like another player/recruit that will be removed from the team or heavily reprimanded by the coaching staff. Either way, this is yet another bruise on a program that is just taking off in another direction.

Way to give up a free education worth around $45,000, playing for one of the greatest college football programs in history and a shot at the NFL. Then again, we'll have to wait and see what happens as this story fully develops.

Trying To Catch Up

2008-04-08T14:16:00.009-05:00

Wouldn't you know that while the most newsworthy items that are coming from Lincoln in the past couple months are happening at the same time I'm moving into a new house? It's sort of messing with my ability to post as much as I would like to. So much is happening as we are halfway through spring practice and less than two weeks away from the Spring Game, which is looking like a sellout if the weather cooperates.

No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you. The first picture posted is really showing former running back Cody Glenn (#34, above left) lining up in the WILL linebacker position. Word is that Glenn is adapting very well to his new spot during practice scrimmages. Time will tell if he has a big impact in game day settings. Some positive things are occurring however, on Friday Glenn intercepted his first ball and has been disrupting the offense and causing more turnovers since.

JUCO tight end transfer Tyson Hetzer sustained a knee injury the first week in practice and will not be seeing the field for the duration of spring practice. It's unfortunate as the size that Hetzer brings to the table could have been an asset for the offense. And I sort of wanted to see how he actually played in the Spring Game. Film on him was pretty limited during the recruiting process.

One name that I've been waiting to hear from the coaches and media out of practice this spring is Roy Helu (right). I've been excited about the potential of this running back since he was picked up in 2007. Bo has reportedly been very impressed with his cutback ability and change direction. Also, little known speedster receiver Curenski Gilleylen has been spotlighted as a player that offensive coaches have been excited to inject into their gameplan this spring. Hopefully he can be used in a similar fashion to that of border state rival Missouri's All-American Jeremy Maclin. Time will tell as we all know Maclin is the real deal and Gilleylen is to this point untested.

The next practice session for the Huskers is Wednesday, April 9th at 3:30pm.

Spring Practice Video

2008-03-28T07:54:00.004-05:00

To supplement the pictures I posted yesterday, the good folks over at the Lincoln Journal Star have a video on their website from the first day of practice as well. I tried to get it embedded, however for some reason it's not letting me post it. So please click on the link below to get to the video.

LJS Practice Video

Spring Practice Photos

2008-03-27T08:21:00.028-05:00

As you know, yesterday was Nebraska's first day of spring practice. Here are some images from Huskers Illustrated as photographed by Bill Sitzmann. Enjoy. (Click on them if you want the bigger version).

Who's who? Left to Right, Top to Bottom...

Offensive Starters, Armando Murillo, Running Backs, Bo Pelini and Shaun Watson, Carl Pelini "Gettin' Down," Kody Spano, Larry Asante, Nate Swift not keeping his eyes open (right), Niles Paul, Offensive Line Drills, Phillip Dillard, Quentin Castille, The Return of Ron Brown, Marlon Lucky

Details from Monday's Press Conference

2008-03-26T12:56:00.006-05:00

Two days ago head coach Bo Pelini addressed the media regarding elements of spring practice in Lincoln. He had a lot of interesting things to say in terms of how he and his staff will guide the team in their approach to practice and hopefully the season schedule in the fall.

When asked what his goals were for the spring, he replied that building a solid foundation would be key in obtaining measurable success on and off the football field. "Build a foundation, he said. “Just keep building a foundation, which we have been doing down in the weight room and in the conditioning program. (We’ve been) developing the athleticism and that type of thing, and now we just get to put in some X’s and O’s.” Quite the change from the last staff. The X's and O's were paramount to the success of the team on the field under the philosophy of the old regime. Building on the gameplan was the key, which is fine in my opinion, however Callahan and company had obvious issues converting their generally good schemes into sensible information in the players minds and most importantly results on the field. Bad in game adjustments didn't help either. But anyway, I'm digressing.

Spring practice will not be open to any media until the Spring Game on April 19th. This shouldn't be that big of an issue to tackle, considering that most major college programs abide by the same theory on the media and practice. Pelini also stated his opinions on the matter in his usual no-nonsense type of answering questions. “I don’t want some guy making his determination of where our football team is and what we’re doing or not doing, and who’s playing well and who’s not playing well, based on his perception of what a guy might or might not be being asked to do. I just want to make sure the information getting out is correct.”

There are some players, as I've mentioned in the previous weeks, that will not be participating in spring drills. Unfortunately, both players are on course to be rather instrumental in the upcoming 2008 campaign. Defensive Back Anthony Blue, who tore his ACL and underwent recent surgery, and Defensive Tackle Ndamukong Suh will sit out for the entirety of the spring. On the running back front, Kenny Wilson who missed the entire year last year do to a broken leg will see limited action and Cody Glenn who has been hampered with foot problems will be "full go" according to Pelini.

If you attend the Spring Game, be prepared to see a bit more physicality and to see the possibility of the offensive and defensive starters squaring off against each other April 19th. Callahan's approach was to avoid this by having first stringers play their own back ups, but the possibility of the game featuring starters versus starters is very real according to Bo. “It depends on where we are at that point. I’m sure there will be some aspect of 1s versus 1s,” Pelini said. “But it’s hard to commit to that yet until you know where things are and how the spring goes and where we are at that point injury-wise.”

Another big question that was brought up and addressed by Pelini was the possible fragile state of any confidence that may be left over from 2007. “If they start feeling the success and believing in the system, believing in their coaches, believing in each other, then that mental psyche will take care of itself over time,” Pelini said. “Me sitting up there in front of them and trying to read a bunch of psychological books to try to talk to these guys, that isn’t what it’s all about. It’s about developing their confidence in the belief of what's going on.”

Hopefully what he is saying and starting with this team will get things turned around. What I am afraid of is will the Husker faithful give Bo the time he needs to undo the past few years and make the program into his own? How long is the leash that the school has on the athletic department? Specifically, Tom Osborne and Pelini? If you think the school administration is willing to sit back and be overly patient when it comes to progress, you might be kidding yourself. Osborne is a legend not only in Nebraska and across the world of college football and Pelini has achieved a certain level of folk hero status with only three months or so on the job, however my guess is that once the season is underway this fall the clock will be ticking.

Spring Practice Eve

2008-03-25T18:22:00.006-05:00

Here we sit, on the start of a year that will hopefully mark the return of Nebraska football out of the Twilight Zone it was stuck in last year. After listening to Bo Pelini's press conference yesterday, it seems as if the no-nonsense coach is ready to get things rolling in the right direction. At this point, players and fans should expect a more physical team when you get your first viewing of them come August. Of course talk is cheap, but I like what he's saying. That withstanding, I'm reserving judgment on Pelini until we get some results on the field where it counts. Most fans are ready to anoint him as the second coming, I'm not there yet.

The status of Andy Christensen is still status quo, suspended indefinitely. Rumor is that the girl he assaulted was a current Nebraska baseball player's wife. Yikes. Hope that it's just a rumor, but it still doesn't take away from the weight of what he did, and the fact that it took nine cops to finally subdue him and get him down to the station. Hopefully players stop f-ing up after that weekend and focus on why they are in Lincoln in the first place. In my opinion, Christensen needs to be removed from the team. It sets a precedent and makes an example, which sometimes needs to be made.

Back to the fun stuff. Pelini said that winter strength and conditioning went great. Players that packed on the pounds after the season, like offensive lineman Matt Slauson, has shed his winter blubber and is now lean, trim and hopefully fully recovered from his shoulder issues he had last season. There has been some words from players labeling the previous staff as not having their poop in a group which caused some massive confusion on and off the field with this team. It wouldn't surprise me if this were true, considering what we all were witness to last season. What I question is some level personal accountability that is not present in the statements that are being given. Besides, it's best to let the past be the past and move forward. New year, new coach, new attitude. Right?

So here is how the spring schedule breaks down.

March 26 Wed. Practice 3:30 - 5:30 p.m.
March 28 Fri. Practice 3:30 - 5:30 p.m.
March 29 Sat. Practice 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
March 31 Mon. Practice 3:30 - 5:30 p.m.
April 2 Wed. Practice 3:30 - 5:30 p.m.
April 4 Fri. Practice 2:30-4:30 p.m.
April 5 Sat. Practice 12:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
April 7 Mon. Practice 3:30 - 5:30 p.m.
April 9 Wed. Practice 3:30 - 5:30 p.m.
April 11 Fri. Practice 3:30 - 5:30 p.m.
April 12 Sat. Practice 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
April 14 Mon. Practice 3:30 - 5:30 p.m.
April 16 Wed. Practice 3:30 - 5:30 p.m.
April 17 Thurs. Practice
April 19 Red-White Spring Game 1:00 p.m.

I was hoping to make it to the Saturday practice on April 12th that is open to Touchdown Club members, however that is the weekend I will be moving in to my new house. Sorry, even Husker football takes a back seat to some things. Not much though, of course. So fear not.

Ready To Roll

2008-03-19T22:34:00.008-05:00

As we speak, the Nebraska Cornhuskers are preparing for spring practice, and not a moment too soon. In light of last weeks post(s) I'm excited to say that something will be getting done on a football field to help prepare for the 2008 season. We'll also be able to get our first look to see how Bo Pelini's strength and conditioning along with getting a glimpse of his staff's gameplan in it's infancy. Depending on the media access to spring ball will dictate how much I'll be able to disclose on this site, along with some other "sources" obviously.

I was hoping to make it up to the Touchdown Club's practice viewing on April 12th one week before the Spring Game, unfortunately (for my Husker fanhood) my wife and I will be moving that weekend and my request to travel from Kansas City to Lincoln, Nebraska two weeks in a row were met with an immediate "no" from the love of my life. So, no inside look at practice, training facilities, players or coaches from me this year. Not that they'd be willing to give anything up to me anyway, I just like feeling important. Fortunately I won't miss out on the luncheon before the game with Tom Osborne and Pelini which should be a great experience. Yes, this is me shamelessly schilling for the Touchdown Club in order to recruit any potential members that may read this blog. Sue me, it's a fun thing to belong to if you're a big Husker fan.

Getting back on track, there will be a ton of questions coming out of Lincoln now that the basketball season is basically over. Not that it had an impact, Nebraska is a football school. Always has been, always will be. But the buzz around town with the job Doc Sadler is doing with hoops in Lincoln is causing a stir and some much needed support and attention. Tonight the Huskers defeated the University of North Carolina at Charlotte 49ers in the first round of the NIT. Nebraska will now travel to play Ole Miss in the second round. Now with Doc and company out of town and spring practice starting in five days roughly, all eyes will turn to Lincoln in the state of Nebraska.

Pelini is having a great impact on his players and in the short amount of time he has been there, players like Larry Asante are already buying into his way of doing things. Check out the linked story on the Lincoln Journal Star for more information.

Asante Sold

Pelini Discusses Team Issues

2008-03-11T14:48:00.001-05:00

Presented without any interruption from the Lincoln Journal Star...

Post details: Pelini meets with team about weekend troubles

03/11/08

02:19:00 pm, Categories: -Football by Brian Christopherson

Pelini meets with team about weekend troubles

Just got back from chatting with Bo Pelini.

Following some off-the-field incidents over the weekend, Pelini had a meeting with his team Monday night.

Among other things, former Husker offensive lineman Carl Nicks is banned from participating in Wednesday's Pro Day in front of NFL scouts at Memorial Stadium.

Pelini said he's banned from being around the program because he has set a bad example with past behavior. Nicks and former Husker receiver Maurice Purify were involved in a party over the weekend with some current Huskers that resulted in several tickets being handed out.

Pelini said Purify has about a 50-50 chance of participating Wednesday. He's looking further into that situation.

The coach said one player has even been dismissed from the team -- don't know who that is yet. Pelini said Andy Christensen's status of being indefinitely suspended hasn't changed.

About the weekend troubles of his team, Pelini issued a statement:

"Every young man involved in an incident over the weekend is being dealt with on an individual basis. A few players have been indefinitely suspended from the team, while others have been disciplined internally.

"I talked with the entire team (Monday) night and clearly explained to them that from this point forward we will have a zero tolerance policy regarding alcohol and social responsibility. Our players understand the intent of this rule and what we are trying to accomplish. Therefore, any violation will be handled individually as it pertains to the specific circumstance.

"Our players also understand that certain establishments are off limitis, and that the policy also pertains to their behavior in other social settings. I made it clear to them that our policy will be strictly enforced.

"Coach Osborne, myself, and our staff are all in agreement that the culture of this program will be one centered on respect, ingretiy and discipline. We all agree that culture must extend well beyond the football field."

Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne also offered a statement.

"Alcohol abuse and binge drinking continues to be the number one problem affecting college students today. Educating our student athletes regarding these issues is a priority for our athletic department. Last week we had a mandatory student-athlete meeting where alcohol abuse was the primary topic. We expect our student athletes to go beyond the education process and to be good role models acting appropriately at all times. We do not take these recent violations of alcohol abuse lightly."

Bad News Bears

2008-03-11T09:50:00.013-05:00

Just when I was complaining that there wasn’t anything to write about last week, this last weekend happened. It was a rough one for the Nebraska Cornhuskers football team, and a shocking introduction to the world of college football head coaching for Bo Pelini.

Last Saturday night offensive lineman Andy Christensen found himself in jail after sexually assaulting a 23-year-old woman at the Brass Rail in Lincoln. When the police were called to the scene Christensen made his case worse by resisting arrest and picking up a third charge by failing to comply.

The next day Pelini announced that Christensen was suspended from the team indefinitely. As the offensive lineman cooled his heels in jail, Pelini told the press that his actions “would not be tolerated.” Depending on what happens with the law at this point will determine if Pelini even gets a chance to reinstate Christensen or kick him off the team himself. The most likely of scenarios is that Christensen will find himself serving time this fall while the football team kicks off the 2008 season.

Yesterday, a bond hearing was held and was set at $500,000. Yes, you read that right. $500,000. Half a million dollars. Due to the nature of what he did, described as lifting up the woman’s skirt and penetrating forcibly with his finger(s). This is what brought the charge of the first-degree sexual assault. Right now Christensen is in very hot water. It is a very unfortunate incident with exactly two weeks to go until spring practice starts. However, now is the time for Pelini to make an example of him and remove him from the team if the law doesn’t do it for him.

As if this incident were not enough, three current players and two former players also had run ins with the law over the weekend. Obviously these violations I’m about to describe pale in comparison to Christensen’s woes, but are problems that Pelini needs to address with his team as soon as humanly possible if he hasn’t already. Just before Saturday night at a house party in Lincoln NFL hopefuls Carl Nicks and Maurice Purify were ticketed in relation to a noise complaint and arrested after they refused to vacate the house. Nicks was arrested on suspicion of being an inmate of a disorderly house and failure to disperse. Purify, who is on probation for his incident last summer, was accused of being an inmate of disorderly house. Included with this, Purify adds to his previous issues that include an assault, disturbing the peace, interrupting an arrest and a DUI.

Current player Nick Covey, who was cited with a minor in possession at a separate party the night before, was ticketed for the same thing on Saturday. Ben Martin and Mike V. Smith were also ticketed with a minor in possession violation. Smith was also ticketed in addition with maintaining a disorderly house.

Wow, how about that. It seems like players can’t help but get themselves into trouble, right? Well, I’m inclined to say that these few don’t ruin the reputation of the entire bunch, however this should in no way diminish the gravity of the situation at hand. There is definitely a problem with a certain sect of players and it needs to be address immediately. This probably isn’t the way that Pelini envisioned his first few months at Nebraska. My question is, and you’re not going to like it, is how can Pelini maintain sobriety and orderly conduct on his team when he’s been somewhat guilty of portraying a less than squeaky clean image? I know some Husker fans are ready to anoint him and his staff as the second coming, but I’ll just say that I’m reserving judgement until he A) produces results on the field and B) runs an orderly ship, so to speak.

Added to the fact that defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh will be out for spring ball with knee surgery along with corner back Anthony Blue, the past week has been filled with a lot of bad news. Apart from the arrests, couple the injuries with a portion the student section being moved to make way for 2,000 seats for non-student fans, it would seem to some like the world is out to get “Husker Nation.” Not just externally, but from within as well. Fans across the internets and some I've spoken to personally seem as split as the Red Sea that was parted by Moses, not just Dr. Tom Osborne, on the student section issue.

Hopefully once spring practice starts we’ll have some better news regarding the team. Until then in the next two weeks, I’m content with no news being good news.

Quarterback Competition

2008-02-17T21:20:00.008-06:00

Spring practice is still over a month away from getting started, but it's never too early to spark a debate on who will be taking the snaps come August 30th. Last season it was mostly a two horse race between Arizona State transfer Sam Keller and junior Joe Ganz. It's up in the air as to how close the race actually was. I for one tend to believe that Ganz was actually closer to Keller than you think.

My theory is that when you look back at the '07 season you can't help but notice that the offense responded positively to Ganz and reacted so poorly to Keller as the season drug on. Player support doesn't count for much when the head coach is feeling the pressure of staring a quarterback who transferred to play for one year and seemingly had the tools to help us contend for the Big 12. Ganz may not have had the NFL-type physical tools as Keller, but as you saw in the last few games in '07 he does possess a better than average understanding of offensive coordinator Shawn Watson's offense.

This year may be a tad more complicated when coming to naming a starter. The popular choice from the fans will no doubt be the incumbent Ganz, however he will be facing strong competition from players that will hopefully be able to step up and give him a healthy run for his money.

Leading the charge will be Zac Lee. Lee is a junior college (JUCO) transfer from San Francisco City College and was the top rated JUCO QB player on 2007's signing day. Lee has three years of eligibility after sitting last year with an injury and picking up a red shirt. Lee is a bit more of your prototypical quarterback. He stands 6'2" and at 210 pounds he has a cannon for an arm but it is tempered with accuracy. He also has the ability to go mobile if it is needed or even called for by Watson. If he can't wrestle the starting job away from Ganz, I personally expect him to be the starter for the 2009 squad.

Next in line would be sophomore (next year) Patrick Witt. Witt played his high school football under the bright lights of Wylie (Texas) High School. Witt is also your typical QB in stature standing 6'4" and weighing in at 220 pounds. Witt was signed by the Callahan staff as their first true attempt at having a four year quarterback in their mold of what a player at that position should be. Well, other than players like Harrison Beck who flamed out and transferred to North Carolina State. But I digress. He has a big arm but last season did show great all-around ability to distribute the ball and make quick decisions. He's probably still a little raw, but keep an eye out for him in the next year or two.

Two names you can't rule out is Beau Davis and incoming freshmen Kody Spano who is already on campus and will be practicing with the team come springtime. Spano may red shirt which would prevent him from seeing any playing time in '08, but his presence will add to the amount of competition among would be signal callers.

Falling Into Spring

2008-02-15T13:27:00.011-06:00

Hopefully by now you’ve taken a little bit of time to get to know some of the players that have signed with Nebraska nearly ten days ago. Winter conditioning is in full swing and the word out of Lincoln is fairly nil on what exactly is going on. In the past several years the old coaching staff was more than willing to post stats and measurable improvements from the participating players.

Pelini and staff are content to keep things under wraps for the most part as the returning players run through their conditioning. The one thing I can say is that some players are still adjusting to the early morning workouts as mandated by the staff and new strength and conditioning Coach James Dobson. At this point, there will be only a few nuggets of information coming out of the Nebraska training facility until spring practice beings on March 26^th.

Speaking of spring practice, the team under the Pelini coaching staff has chosen to concentrate their schedule as opposed to spreading their practices out like most of the other teams in the Big 12. For example, Oklahoma starts their spring practice on March 5^th and ends on April 12^th with their spring game. The NCAA only allows a certain amount of practices and it’s just all a matter of how the respective staffs decide how to set up their plan for the spring.

For those that are curious the Nebraska Red – White Spring Game is on pace to break the previous record for attendance. As of right now I’ve heard anywhere between 55,000 and 68,000 tickets have been sold already. Reserved seating was sold out by the end of the first day of ticket sales. Hopefully with a strong group of gameday walk-ups it can be the biggest spring game in Nebraska history. I’m sure there will be much anticipation to see if the Blackshirts are on their way back along with various other question marks. Pelini has also stated that to start the game the first string offense and defense will square off against one another. This is an obvious contrast to the Callahan way of running the spring game where the first team would play the second team and so on. The game is at 1pm on April 19^th.

I’m going to cover this a little more in depth and maybe even list the names of players that are grey shirting (having to pay for college and obtaining a scholarship in the near future), preferred walk-ons or just plain walking-on. The walk-on program itself, for you long-time Husker fans, will remember it as sort of a state and program identity. It was a way for kids from the state and surrounding areas to come to Lincoln and prove themselves worthy on a team that they grew up loving and respecting. The return of the program is a bit of misnomer as it was still under operation while Callahan was in Lincoln. However, the emphasis on the program itself and the general scope of players acquired through it is decidedly different.

The philosophy behind it was, in my opinion, to create a passion throughout the locker room and on the field from the All-American players to the practice squad regarding the Nebraska Cornhuskers. All players will be treated the same, just like under Osborne and not “second class citizens” as it was reported to be under Callahan. How will the coaching staff and the two graduate assistants be able to facilitate practices with a roster of over 120 kids? It’s hard to say at the moment, but Osborne was able to do it, and if Pelini can find a way to duplicate that success, the Huskers may find themselves with not only a motivating force and groundswell of player support, but some hidden talent that otherwise would have left the state to another Division I-A school or Division II.

These kids are giving up money, and a lot of it, to go to school and play in places like my alma mater Northwest Missouri State which is a perennial D-II football power. These guys wouldn't have just played, they most likely would have started. But they are giving up playing time and success on a lower level for just the chance to strap on the pads and that iconic red 'N' helmet. You can't do anything but respect that.

Just a little note to add to this… Remember the Makovicka brothers? Of course you do. Well, their youngest brother Jordan, has decided to walk-on for coach Pelini. Will this signal as a prophetic and symbolic return to form on the back of a name that embodied and represented the hard working attitude that once was in every corner of Memorial Stadium? One can only hope.

Go Big Red!!

Dust Settled

2008-02-06T15:50:00.000-06:00

Baring any last minute surprises, the 2008 Nebraska Cornhusker Football signing class is now in the books. I put up a list in the sidebar and each name is linked to the players profile on Huskers.com (similar to last year). There weren't a lot of earth shattering commits or de-commits today which is a good thing considering how Nebraska has been burned in the past with last minute defections. I'm looking at you, Josh Freeman. According to several recruiting service websites the Huskers finished in the range of top 25 to top 30. A bit of a drop from the previous years, but still solid considering the circumstances.

There are some holes on the team due to graduation from last years team, most notably at linebacker, so there is a good chance that you could see some true freshmen or redshirt freshmen out on the field in 2008. In today's press conference, head coach Bo Pelini stated that no one on the team or coming in has been promised anything. Reading between the lines, it looks like it's all up in the air and each and every player has to earn their spot.

Speaking of the press conference, Pelini was reluctant to mention any player who signed this morning by name, which is different than the previous staff. He also referred to his players as "gentlemen" rather than "kids." You had to read between the lines a little bit with Bo today, but you can tell the climate in Lincoln is going to be considerably different than the previous four years under Callahan. For most fans, it will be a welcome change.

Just to get you to come back and check any updates. There is a player out of Alabama that some fans have been clamoring for that will soon officially be a Husker.

Signing Day Countdown

2008-02-04T18:14:00.000-06:00

Okay, okay so I didn't deliver on recruits. What I'm going to do after signing day (Thursday) and for the rest of the month is do a run down of every kid that signs with Nebraska and give you a little background, some stats and some performance numbers along with my take on them. I'll even try to give you what I know on winter conditioning. For now, I'm going to start a video series by posting part one in a series of videos known as "Project Husker." They are put on by a fan within the Rivals.com community (I believe, their YouTube handle is DTsker) and they are fantastic. Enjoy.

Winter Conditioning Ramping Up, Recruiting Winding Down

2008-01-24T19:39:00.000-06:00

With the first month of 2008 coming to an end that means only one thing, signing day for college football programs across the country. It's the time of year where all the calling, in home visits, late nights assessing talent and official and unofficial visits pay off for the schools that young players sign with.

For the Huskers, the class of 2008 started off very promising through last spring up until the nightmare that was the season of 2007. The class hit even more uncertainty when it appeared that former head coach Bill Callahan was going to be fired at the end his second losing season in four years. As soon as the news came out of Lincoln that newly named interim athletic director and Nebraska legend Tom Osborne threw down a sizable gauntlet on the embattled coach, young players reopened their calendar to accommodate other schools.

At this site, I attempted to keep up with recruits that had solid commitments to Nebraska. Some flamed out (Blaine Gabbert, Simi Kuli) and some stuck like glue (Baker Steinkuhler). Live and learn I suppose. Have I mentioned that the day I found out Gabbert decommitted and then committed to Missouri that I left work early?

What I plan to do in the short future here is put up profiles on kids that look as solid as solid gets up until signing day. After February 6th I'll be sure to let you know who is in and who is out and where they went. Thanks for sticking with me during the slow period! If recruiting isn't your thing, that is.

Short 'n Sweet

2008-01-14T15:41:00.000-06:00

Word is out of Omaha, Nebraska that heavily sought after recruit Collins Okafor has just decided in a press conference at 3:30pm this afternoon that he is going to be a Husker. Okafor received offers from Kansas, Iowa and Stanford and after this past weekend's official visit things are looking more solid for him. Collins jokingly picked up the Stanford hat off the table before picking up the Nebraska one and putting it on.

Collins is a 6'1" 210 pound running back out of Westside High School in Omaha, Nebraska. Keeping Okafor inside state lines was a major priority for Bo Pelini and his new staff. Word is that amid this season's best crop of kids to come out of the state in a long time, and with many of them jumping state lines, Nebraska brass was none too pleased. This may help to ease some worried minds.

Okafor is an athletic pickup and will bolster the already solid core of running backs in the Husker stable. He runs a 4.54 40 yard dash and has a 33 inch vertical. He is expected to join the team after spring ball. I'm not trying to toot my own horn, but hopefully I'll be able to get up to Lincoln on February 7th for the Touchdown Club's (a booster club which I'm a member of) dinner and recruit presentation at the Cornhusker Hotel ( Stop laughing, it's a Marriott) to see a presentation on all the signees and future Huskers.

End 'O Year Spectacular

2008-01-09T10:23:00.000-06:00

Sit down, relax, and prepare for my longest entry yet. Hope you’re ready…It's like six entries rolled into one! It's a New Year's steal!

So, the 2007 college football season is now history. Finally, for some like me. The season was a blessing and curse at the same time, Nebraska fans had to endure embarrassment in order to get what they wanted but didn’t even know it at the beginning of the season.

You’re going to hear about the crazy season that was college football for a few years, maybe less, until it happens again. Schools that are not traditional powers will become more competitive and the will catch the Oklahoma’s, the Michigan’s and yes, even the USC’s of the world. It will become more like the NFL, not exactly, but similar.

Look at USC, for example, they have a couple of injuries to key players and end up dropping games to Oregon and (gulp!) Stanford. It’s hard to call yourself a juggernaut if you lose to Stanford. At home. I’m also just about sick hearing the media talking heads say “well, if USC has all their players healthy…” Well, come on now. If any team has all their key players healthy of course they have a better shot to win. They got injured, they lost, better luck next year.

Big 12 North Emerges

Ok, so you’re bummed about the second losing season at Nebraska in 45 years. We all are and we have been, but we’ve had some time to heal and get over it. It’s time to be optimistic and look towards the future. We all saw on Monday night that Bo Pelini can coach, no worries there. Now we’ll get to see if he can run a program. Having Osborne as the final word until 2010 won’t hurt, but I’m sure he’ll give Bo some room to breath and run the program his way.

Pelini will have a challenge in front of him with the emergence of teams like Missouri and Kansas. To top it off, a familiar rival is starting to come back around with Dan Hawkins running the show in Boulder, Colorado. I’m not sure what Kansas State is trying to accomplish in Manhattan, but with the talent they get each year you still have to be mindful of their team as well. Dare I say that the Big 12 North is starting to become as competitive as the South? We’re not there quite yet, give me a few years of both Missouri and Kansas repeating what they did this year and maybe I’ll be willing to proclaim the greatness of the North.

Still, you can’t discount what transpired this year. Kansas won the Orange Bowl, Missouri embarrassed an SEC opponent in the Cotton Bowl and Oklahoma won another Big 12 title and looked unmotivated and uninspired while losing the Fiesta Bowl yet again. Negative for the Big 12, fun and awesome for me.

Bo Looks Solid

Now Tom Osborne looks like a genius. People on a national level always doubt him, from going for two to letting the new head coach finish what he started in Baton Rouge. Somehow Osborne always comes through and makes himself and his decisions look wise and calculated. Having Pelini winning a national championship on the sideline on Monday was excellent PR for Nebraska.

You could tell his team loves him, they rallied around him and didn’t waiver when Ohio State came out swinging in the first quarter. He kept his confidence in the defensive backs to pin down Buckeye receivers and allowed his physical front seven to tee off against OSU QB Todd Boeckman.

Monday night's game was also a great statement for coaches that honor agreements and stay loyal to their players in college football with the likes of Nick Saban and Bobby Petrino dominating the coaching headlines as of late. It shows not only great character in Pelini but in both schools as well. As far as recruiting goes, if we can get the talent expect to see the same brand of defense in Lincoln in the next couple years. Repeat, that’s if we can get the talent.

Bo will be back in Lincoln on Thursday to resume his duties as head coach now that the recruiting dead period is over. With classes resuming at Nebraska on the 14^th, he’ll address the team regarding winter conditioning and get back on the recruiting trail Sunday. Just to let you know, it’s 101 days until the Red-White Spring Game.

Tim Beck Named Running Backs Coach

This is couple days old, so if you’ve heard it you skip this section. Pelini announced that the final piece of the coaching staff was put in place with the hiring of Tim Beck. Beck is coming over from the Kansas Jayhawks after spending this year helping shape one the nation’s most prolific offenses as receivers coach. At the beginning of the year he was also named pass game coordinator. Beck is recognized as one of the minds that helped the Jayhawk attack form over his three year run for head coach Mark Mangino.

With the addition of Beck to the staff this makes the combination of offensive coordinator and quarterbacks Coach Shawn Watson and receivers coach Ted Gilmore even more potent. The Huskers improved radically at the end of the year while shifting focus from West Coast to Spread/Option Read offensive schemes. With Beck now on board he should be able to bolster the already potentially potent core of Husker running backs while contributing to the offense overall.

Before his past three seasons with the Jayhawks, Beck was a highly decorated high school coach in Texas. He won 2003 District Coach of the Year while leading the Summit High Jaguars to their first playoff appearance and district championship after only opening the school’s doors in the fall of 2002. He was also head coach at R.L. Turner High School in Carrollton, Texas from 1999 to 2001.

A bit of interesting Husker trivia you can wow your friends with the next time you’re at the bar. Ask them if they know who coached Nebraska All-American safety Mike Brown in high school. You can tell them the Husker’s new running backs coach of course, Tim Beck. You’re friends will be in awe of your Husker knowledge. It’s also a great way to pick up chicks.

Just an added note for trivia lovers, Beck attended the same high school (Cardinal Mooney) in Youngstown, Ohio as the Pelini brothers.

R.I.P Bill Callahan

With the end of the season comes the final word on the Callahan era. Not so much the era, but more the man and how it that translated to and affected his reign in Lincoln. Maybe you’ve heard some of the darker comments from Callahan, maybe you haven’t. My favorite was when the local media was criticizing him and he was quoted as saying, “I don’t read the local papers, in fact I’m going to get me a real newspaper, I’m going to read the New York Times.” Maybe he was checking the classifieds for a new career, who knows.

This was not even as close to as bad as his alleged comments he made about Osborne which I picked up from my new issue of Sports Illustrated this past week. During this season after a phone conversation not long after Osborne replaced Steve Pederson, an unidentified trainer alleged that Callahan referred to Osborne as a “crusty, old f*ck.

Callahan was also one delusional crackpot from the sound of this next quote. Despite hacking and wheezing to a 5-and-7 record Callahan was still claiming that the program was headed in the right direction saying “I have done an excellent job in every area.” This was quoted the week of his final game when he lost 65-51 at Colorado.

This week the Tampa Bay Buccaneers relieved their offensive coordinator of his position after a dismal performance in their Wild Card game against the New York Football Giants. Callahan is one of the candidates to replace him as offensive coordinator in 2008 rejoining head coach Jon Gruden from their Raider days. Full circle indeed.

Wrapping It Up

A lot of talk is surfacing who is the dominate conference in the country. I’m not a huge fan of this but I’m willing to rate the “BCS Six” for now to close out the season. Below this are the final AP and USA Today/Coaches Polls. Here we go in order from top to bottom.

1. Southeastern Conference (SEC)

Why? – LSU wins National Title, Georgia shellacs Hawaii in Sugar Bowl, Tebow wins greatest citizen of the world award along with Heisman. Kentucky starting to look good, Darren McFadden is the best college football player (sorry Gator Nation).

Why not? – LSU did lose two games to conference opponents and needed miracles to win others, Georgia didn’t even play for the conference championship, Tennessee’s stunning road loss to a bad Cal team, Vanderbilt and Ole Miss.

2. Big 12

Why? – The rise of the Big 12 North with Mizzou and KU leading the way. Oklahoma and Texas could still rule the world when properly motivated and programs like Colorado and Oklahoma State on the rise.

Why not? – Baylor, Iowa State and even Nebraska this year even with a 3-1 non conference record. Oklahoma loses four BCS games in a row and Texas wound up in the Holiday Bowl again after a few years of BCS glory. Mark Mangino’s ticker. Sorry, couldn’t help it.

3. Pacific 10 (Pac-10)

Why? – USC. Period. It’s the only reason this conference is on the map at all. Arizona State was clearly overrated. So was Cal. And Oregon without Dennis Dixon.

Why not? – When injured they’re awful. No JD Booty, lose to Stanford; No Dennis Dixon, choke at Arizona. UCLA is a debacle, Washington is underachieving. Where is Washington State?

4. Big 10

Why? – The constant BCS Title Game meddling of Ohio State, at least they get there. However I'm starting an online petition to ban them from the title game for at least three seasons. Michigan still potential sleeping giant and cross-state rival Spartans looking better. Penn State always a player and Wisconsin looking like they’re coming back. Indiana improving.

Why not? – Northwestern, Minnesota (North Dakota State and Florida Atlantic? At home??) and underachieving Iowa. What is Kirk Ferentz doing?? Inability to win BCS games (or even match up, Illinois) or have consistent winning record in bowl games. Stop playing so many softies in pre-conference play!

5. Big East

Why? – West Virginia, when they aren’t losing to Pitt. South Florida and Rutgers on the rise. Cincinnati too. UConn coming out of nowhere.

Why not? – Syracuse and Pitt, Dave Wannstedt can recruit but can’t coach himself out of a wet paper bag. Sound familiar? Louisville underachieving with one of the best quarterbacks in the country.

6.Atlantic Coast Conference

Why? – Boston College looked like a team that was emerging this season, Virginia as well. Clemson looked good and so did Virginia Tech winning the conference. Georgia Tech and North Carolina State on the rise with new coaches?

Why not? – No FSU, no Miami, no national appeal. Without the Florida schools in the top 10 (or 25 for that matter) no one will care about this conference. North Carolina with Butch Davis is a bust (give him more time?)

Final Coaches/USA Today Poll

1. LSU

2. USC

3. Georgia

4. Ohio State

5. Missouri

6. West Virginia

7. Kansas

8. Oklahoma

9. Virginia Tech

10. Texas

11. Boston College

12. Tennessee

13. Arizona State

14. Auburn

15. BYU

16. Florida

17. Hawaii

18. Illinois

19. Michigan

20. Cincinnati

21. Wisconsin

22. Clemson

23. Texas Tech

24. Oregon

25. Penn State

Final AP Poll

1. LSU

2. Georgia

3. USC

4. Missouri

5. Ohio State

6. West Virginia

7. Kansas

8. Oklahoma

9. Virginia Tech

10. Texas (tie)

10. Boston College (tie)

12. Tennessee

13. Florida

14. BYU

15. Auburn

16. Arizona State

17. Cincinnati

18. Michigan

19. Hawaii

20. Illinois

21. Clemson

22. Texas Tech

23. Oregon

24. Wisconsin

25. Oregon State

Solid News...Finally

2008-01-06T22:20:00.001-06:00

Hopefully you're looking at the new quarterback of the future at Nebraska. This young gentleman's name is Kody Spano, and after his official visit to Nebraska this weekend and weeks after his de-commit from Oklahoma State, Spano is moving up to Lincoln next weekend.

My first post for my "Recruiting Roundup" section went down in historic flames with the firing of Bill Callahan. Blaine Gabbert, a highly touted pro style passer (third in the entire country as a matter of fact) who originally committed to the Huskers, defected to Missouri when wind of Callahan's firing was in the works after athletic director Tom Osborne replaced the fired Steve Pederson halfway through the season. This is the most famous of recruits following Callahan and companies advice to "keep their options open." More on some disturbing Callahan news in the coming week.

Losing Gabbert was huge, especially with him jumping state lines to the rival and annual North division opponent Tigers. If Gabbert flourishes in Gary Pinkel's system it could spell trouble for the rest of the North and possibly the entire Big 12. We'll have to wait and see how a 6'5" hurler can do in a system that was put on the map by overachieving 6'0" Chase Daniel this past season.

The Huskers will counter the coup with Spano who is more Joey Ganz than Sam Keller. In an option read and spread style offense, the one new Husker coach Bo Pelini and retained offensive coordinator Shaun Watson will institute, he should be able to develop and succeed if given the proper tools to do so.

Spano was most amazed by the facilities, the sight of Memorial Stadium, the trophies and awards that lined the halls, and the "one of a kind weight room." This will no doubt ruffle the feathers of Boone Pickens, a major player in the money being pumped in to Oklahoma State to entice players like Spano to come to Stillwater and stay away from South rivals Oklahoma and Texas.

Now for some of Spano's vitals. In his final two years at Stephenville, Texas he accounted for nearly 6,000 total yards, threw for 54 touchdowns and ran for 898 yards with an additional 21 trips to the endzone. Spano stands 6'2" and is 202 pounds and runs a 4.7 forty yard dash. Spano passed up offers from not only Oklahoma State but also from TCU, Tulsa and Ole Miss. The young Texan also attracted attention from Oklahoma, Arkansas and Georgia Tech. According to Rivals.com he is ranked seventh in the country for duel threat quarterbacks.

While this isn't a home run (yet) it's definitely some welcome news after members from what was to be a historic recruiting class defected to other teams in the Big 12 and all over the rest of the country. He'll have a year to watch from the sidelines and study under Ganz while he runs the show his senior season. Hopefully in the next two to three years you'll be singing Kody Spano praises while he scores touchdown after touchdown on Saturday.

Still A Black Eye?

2008-01-04T10:18:00.000-06:00

There is no doubt that you remember who is the the picture to the right. That's Lawrence Phillips. I know talking about him is a like standing up and swearing in the middle of church to Husker fans, but I believe it is a subject that deserves to be revisited.

Phillips was at the epicenter of controversy as a member of the 1995 Husker team that went on to dominate the college football landscape as they won their second national title in two years. Many sportswriters and fans alike have continually voted this team as the greatest college football team of the modern era. Better than any Florida State Seminole team from the 90's, better than the 2005 USC Trojans and better than the 2001 Miami Hurricanes. More dominant than the Notre Dame's, Michigan's, Penn State's, Oklahoma's and Ohio State's of the 70's and 80's.

Yet this program's best season in school history is saddled with an asterisk by some. The off the field issues that would be sign of things to come for Phillips hung around Osborne's neck like an albatross. He probably still can't shake giving his troubled I-back a second chance. Even after becoming a United States Congressman and Nebraska living legend.

For those that need a refresher course on the subject, after rushing for 204 yards and 4 touchdowns on 22 carries against Michigan State in East Lansing, Michigan in 1995 Phillips decided to go looking for his ex-girlfriend, Kate McEwen who also played on the women's basketball team at Nebraska. He found her in the same room as transfer quarterback Scott Frost. Phillips then proceeded to drag her by her hair down a staircase and choked her to unconsciousness. Frost was able to intervene after all this took place.

We all know what happened for the most part, but it's something to chew on and describing the situation is probably the best way to recall the gravity of the ordeal. Osborne suspended Phillips for six games, crushing any hopes of a Heisman Trophy and more than likely millions of dollars by affecting his draft status. Many feel that he should have been kicked off the team, many feel that Osborne did the right thing by keeping him in a structured environment.

Phillips, after his suspension, looked overweight and lethargic. Freshman Ahman Green was making a name for himself while Phillips was out and took a lot of his playing time from Phillips the rest of the year. Then at the end of the year Phillips came around, especially in the Oklahoma game which would mark the end of the era with the Huskers playing the Sooners on the day after Thanksgiving.

I was at that game and I remember his direct snap touchdown and I remember telling my Grandfather that he was back to playing like his old self. I remember him looking at me like he wanted to tell me about how he shouldn't even be playing, but I'm sure he decided against it because what does a 15-year old boy know about issues like which he was involved in?

When the Huskers were set to play the Florida Gators in the Fiesta Bowl for the national title, Osborne made an announcement that would make his earlier decision to even let Phillips back on the team pale in comparison. He stated that Phillips would start. 'Gulp,' went Nebraska fans. It didn't take long for national sports writers to pile on Osborne for letting Phillips start the game. It was a black eye on the program, his legacy and the sport itself. According to some, Osborne's compassion for his player and desire to win rather than do the right thing tainted his era as coach of one of the most successful programs in college football history.

Phillips you should remember, was in a foster home in California when he was recruited by Osborne and Nebraska. It was his 11th home he had been in during his short life up to that point I believe. I know it's the same old sob story about an African-American male who is troubled and angry because of a destructive upbringing and couldn't handle the adulation and national spotlight, but if that's your thought process then you may need to examine your ability to forgive and your capacity for compassion. At that time, it was better to help than to cast out. Better to keep Phillips in the program than to let him disintegrate on his own. What we know now is that if Osborne did cut him some other team would have either picked him up or his descent would have accelerated. So criticizing Osborne is almost irrelevant at this point. We all know that in sports, if you have talent someone will give you a second or third or forth chance. Just look at Ricky Williams.

You can't blame Osborne for trying to help him out. The public wants to crucify him for allowing him to be rewarded for being a female beating jerk, but then they love to push their stories of redemption and second chances. Taking the high road doesn't always mean doing what popular opinion tells you to do. Osborne ran one of the cleanest programs by NCAA standards and the team has never been placed on any sort of probation for any violations. Meanwhile, teams like Oklahoma, Miami, Auburn, Tennessee and Alabama have been placed under sanctions more than a few times.

This of course doesn't absolve Osborne from what he did, but he couldn't predict the future and what level Phillips would degenerate into. Why don't we blame the Rams, Dolphins or the 49ers for taking chances on him after his time at Nebraska and more incidents involving his misdeeds? Oh, that's right, we can't talk bad about our precious NFL. I forgot you can't insult our country's new national pastime. Let's just vilify the man who gave Phillips his first second chance.

All Osborne did was try to help a young man who had no real father figure in his life, as I'm sure he did with other players. You can't avoid collegiate athletes being overly cocky and thinking they can do what they want because of their status. Athletes that make it to that level have heard all their life how great they are. Some buy into it and when it's blended with a self-destructive tendency you have a Lawrence Phillips.

Phillips was convicted on seven counts of assault with a deadly weapon back in 2006. He could face up to 20 years in a state prison. He almost ran over a bunch of teenagers with a car after a pickup football game. He hocked his Big 8 Championship ring for $20 at a Las Vegas pawn shop. He's made a lot of poor decisions, and maybe so did Osborne by letting him stay on, but at least he gave him another chance which is what life is all about. It was up to Phillips to do what he could with those chances and he did nothing. Now he is paying for it. The sport of college football and the NFL still go on. If Phillips had never played college ball he would have just been another troubled youth with extensive police blotter. At least someone gave him a chance, and when you are in a position to do that for another person it's all you can do. The rest is up to them.

Stand Corrected

2008-01-03T08:31:00.000-06:00

Boy oh boy, was I wrong when it came to the Fiesta Bowl last night. Oklahoma looked flat while the West Virginia Mountaineers played inspired football under interim coach Bill Stewart, who will be announced head coach at 10am central time.

If Oklahoma wins the Big 12 next year and is left out of the national championship game they may want to consider asking the BCS if they can play somewhere other than Phoenix. When you get nearly doubled up by a team that lost their coach and season ender to their rival it's bad. Really bad.

The Sooners have been a tale of two teams this season, with quaterback Sam Bradford being injured or not. Some games they looked dominate against Missouri in the Big 12 Championship Game and against Texas in the Red River Shootout, but then they looked like dogs against Colorado, Texas Tech and a close win over the Cyclones of Iowa State in Ames.

As I said yesterday, I want the conference represented well but Oklahoma taking one on the chin always makes me smile. Here is a quick fact for you that you may not have realized yet. Bob Stoops and his Sooners have zero wins in their last four BCS games. They lost two national title games to LSU and then USC, and of course the past two years in the Fiesta Bowl. Their only bowl victory in the last five years was a 17-14 squeaker against Oregon in the Holiday Bowl in 2005.

The Big 12's final hope for a bowl victory will come tonight when the Kansas Jayhawks take their 45 point per game offense against a solid Virginia Tech defense. KU is a three point dog in this game which is maybe more than they deserve. Their only game against a team that finished in the top 25 in the regular season they were drilled. The final was close, but the game wasn't. The Big 12 is now 3-3 in their bowl games this season.

I'm not expecting much because it is Kansas and it's not in Allen Fieldhouse. However, last night told me that sometimes you have to leave your expectations at the door. Everyone thought West Virginia would rollover and play dead if Oklahoma got up early and look how well that worked out.

Happy New Year and Whatnot

2008-01-02T10:55:00.000-06:00

Welcome to 2008, the year that I've been waiting for since about the beginning of October. Bo Pelini will take over as the coach of the Huskers and will hopefully be able to turn around a defense that was abysmal and continue along with the offense that looked good by the end of the year.

As you may or may not have noticed, I was going to try and do a preview for each and every bowl game. When I figured out that it was a dumb idea, I decided to take some time off from writing about college football until the beginning of the year.

The bowl season has been fairly boring for the most part because I'm a playoff guy. Even though it will probably not happen until I'm very old, I still talk about it like the reality of having a college football postseason that makes sense is right around the corner.

Yesterday the BCS failed. If you watched either trainwreck of a game you'd know what I'm referring to. Pac-10 champ USC showed that, when healthy, they are probably the best team in the country. They gutted the second place in the Big 10 Illinois Fighting Illini 49-17 in a game that was not even close to pretty.

Illinois hung with the Trojans into the second half until SC blew the doors off of the younger, physically inferior and inexperienced Illini. How many times do I have to watch a Rose Bowl that showcases year after year where USC makes 'fill in the blank Big 10' team their personal punching bag? Hopefully the Big 10 and Pac-10 wake up soon.

Yikes, the Sugar Bowl. This game could have been 78-10 if Georgia wanted it that way. No Cinderella/Boise State-type victory this season. I think the Bulldogs are tied for the second best team in the country with Oklahoma. Colt Brennen looked positively awful last night and the Warriors looked overmatched and outclassed, similar to the way that Illinois looked against USC. The Sugar Bowl also featured my favorite name so far of the BCS games in Georgia running back Knowshon Moreno. Get used to saying it over the next two or three seasons.

The teams that lost the BCS games looked helpless. What would have been better? Besides a playoff? USC vs. Ohio State or Georgia in the Rose Bowl and anyone else but Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl. If you could break all the dumb BCS rules Missouri and Georgia would have been a great matchup, especially after the 38-7 dismantling of the Arkansas Razorbacks in the Cotton Bowl.

Tonight we're looking at a similar outcome I'm thinking. A down on their luck, coachless, directionless West Virginia team squaring off against a tuned up and physically dominating Oklahoma team. I'm guessing OU wins by at least 25. But I'm not going to give the Sooners too much credit and while I want the Big 12 represented well, this still is a Huskers blog so I'm obligated to include this.

Pioneer Las Vegas Bowl

2007-12-20T11:50:00.003-06:00

Hey look, teams that I've heard of and have actually watched play a game or two this season. Saturday night's prime time match up will have that UCLA Bruins (6-6) in one corner and the BYU Cougars (10-2) in the other. What better environment to have a bowl game where the sponsor could be providing the television you're watch the game on. The college football postseason is full of excitement!!

The Bruins are coming off a disappointing season and have since fired coach Carl Dorrell. UCLA came in with a lot of expectation with returning quarterback Ben Olson and after defeating rival USC at home the previous season. The Bruins endured a roller coaster type year with such highs as defeating conference opponents Oregon (without Dennis Dixon) and Cal. However, the lows outweighed them with stunningly poor performances at Utah and being the first team to allow Notre Dame to win while playing them at home.

The Cougars on the other hand, managed to win their conference and came away with a non conference win against Pac 10 Arizona. BYU is solid all around and will have a better shot at defeating the Bruins on a neutral site. They'll have a better shot than they did when they played the Bruins in the Rose Bowl back on September 8th and lost 27-17. Expect a better performance this time around.

Pick: BYU 24 - UCLA 21

New Mexico Bowl

2007-12-20T11:50:00.001-06:00

In a historic turn of events, the college football powers that be have decided to give a team their very own bowl game. The Lobos of New Mexico (8-4) will be enjoying home field advantage over WAC opponent Nevada (6-6) come Saturday afternoon.

The Wolf Pack lost their first game of the year to Nebraska 52-10. Remember that? Anyway, I won't expect a blowout of epic proportion that Nevada suffered in Lincoln. Nevada has a great running attack and it should make for an interesting match up because of New Mexico's defense which was near the top in the Mountain West Conference.

The difference will come with the absence of the Lobo's star running back Rodney Ferguson. Ferguson rushed for over 1100 yards and crossed the goal line 14 times this season. Ferguson will be missed on his suspension and it will cost his team the game.

Pick: Nevada 25 - New Mexico 17

Papajohns.com Bowl

2007-12-20T11:49:00.001-06:00

This games sponsor makes me hungry this close to lunchtime. It's my favorite national pizza chain actually. Their garlic sauce turned me from a person who would throw away the crust to someone who looks forward to the garlic drenched goodness of the butt end of a slice.

The first Saturday in the 2007 bowl smack down will pit the Southern Miss (7-5) Golden Eagles against the Bearcats of Cincinnati (9-3). The Eagles are fresh off firing long-time coach Jeff Bower who won 119 wins in 17 seasons. He would have coached Brett Favre when he was there, but the Packer star quarterback hasn't played college ball since Wrangler Jeans were cool.

Cincinnati, on the other hand, still has their coach Brian Kelly. I remember Kelly mostly from his days as head coach of Division II powerhouse Grand Valley State, a rival of my Northwest Missouri State Bearcats. Get it, both teams have...the Bearcat...as their...anyway. Kelly is putting together a good, solid program at Cincinnati and received a lot of attention from various universities shopping for coaches.

The Bearcats of Cincinnati are a damn tough team. They have held their last 11 opponents under 100 yards rushing, and considering the talent level in the Big East as far as running backs go, this stat cannot be overlooked in this game. I'm looking for the Cats to win decidedly against the Eagles in a game where I would like to be enjoying a hot, fresh, Papa John's pizza as I watch.

Pick: Cincinnati 37 - Southern Miss 10

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl

2007-12-20T11:48:00.000-06:00

The R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl will display a team who's school is thinking more about the Final Four than bowl season and a team who's coach has the most fantastic mustache in college football history.

In all seriousness however, the Tigers of Memphis (7-5) will bring some sizable receivers into the December 21st contest against the Florida Atlantic (7-5) Burrowing Owls. Florida Atlantic is coached by none other than former Miami Hurricane coach Howard Schnellenberger, who as you may remember coached the 'Canes in the 1984 Orange Bowl where Nebraska coach Tom Osborne famously went for a win on a two point conversion and ended up losing the national title 31-30.

The Owls make their way in by way of winning the Sun Belt Conference Championship which is not to be overlooked considering the short history of the FAU football program. However, with some of the worst defensive stats in the country (107th in sacks) will not bode will for the Owls against the Tiger receivers. Ball control will also be a problem for FAU. They rank 91st in the nation in rushing offense.

Pick: Memphis 28 - Florida Atlantic 16

Bowl Season Rundown

2007-12-20T11:04:00.000-06:00

This weekend there will be bowl games. Oh yes, there will be bowl games. Most will be meaningless contests that shouldn't be played in the first place, but will be played none the less. I remember when bowl games were only played on New Years Day and if you played on a day that wasn't on New Year's it didn't really count anyway.

Tonight the 2007 bowl season will kick off with the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl. Wow, what a mouthful. And for the seven of us that will watch the game from beginning to end, we'll all receive a free blender with the opening of a new SDCCU cash back rewards checking account. Awesome.

The game itself will showcase WAC representative Utah against Navy. If you're a Nebraska fan and tune into this game you may see something vaguely familiar in the way the Midshipmen run their offense. For if you do watch the game tonight you'll be treated to the triple option. Something not seen in Lincoln since former coach Bill Callahan shocked our culture.

With former Navy coach Paul Johnson in Atlanta now after being hired by Georgia Tech, the Midshipmen won't necessarily play worse but I wouldn't expect them to play better or win either. Even after the highs of beating Notre Dame in South Bend for the first time since Roger Staubach was under center to defeating Army in the Armed Forces Game, they probably won't beat the Utes.

Utah has been playing great defense all season and has basically flown under the radar. Maybe you caught their shellacking of UCLA earlier in the year. Maybe you didn't, it was on Versus. Navy doesn't have much of a defense to speak of and it won't help them much against Utah stud running back Darrell Mack. Utah defends well against the pass, however it won't be that big of a factor considering that Navy will only pass the ball four times the entire game. Utah will make enough big plays on offense and their defense is good enough to stop the dreaded triple option.

Pick: Utah 32 - Navy 17

Staying the Course

2007-12-19T14:50:00.000-06:00

Today it was announced that the word "interim" would be dropped from Tom Osborne's title and will be revised to read as "Athletic Director Tom Osborne. "

The legendary coach who took the Huskers to the peak of success in the mid-nineties will stay on as AD until June 30th, 2010.

This no doubt is to keep tabs on a program that, while not on life support, is far from the powerhouse that it once was. Osborne will oversee the operation of a sports program with 23 athletic organizations that has a budget of over $66 million.

This is basically putting faith in Osborne's hiring of Bo Pelini because he will only be AD over the program for the next two seasons. Two seasons may be just enough time to rebuild and how much time I'm personally expecting it will take to get back on par with the Texas's and Oklahoma's (and now even upstart Missouri and Kansas) of the world.

The search for Osborne's successor will begin in early 2010 and it has been reported that he will contribute with the transition.

Bo Announces Coaching Staff

2007-12-18T11:05:00.000-06:00

Yesterday newly hired Nebraska Cornhusker football coach Bo Pelini revealed his coaching staff. It's taken a little longer than what I initially expected, but it's done and in place before he goes back to LSU to finish up his work as defensive coordinator during the recruiting "dead period," or, when coaches have to get back to coaching for bowl games.

Pelini was asked what he was looking for in an assistant coaches and was quoted as saying he would like teachers, great communicators and high-energy individuals to shape the program and lead the young men that play for Nebraska.

Pelini's staff has two holdovers from the Bill Callahan Era, and in my opinion the two best coaches from his staff, in offensive coordinator Shawn Watson and receivers coach/recruiting coordinator Ted Gilmore. So, so far so good for Pelini keeping the two key components of the offense that ended up being the 8th rated passing offense and 11th rated offense overall in the nation. Now if they can just fix that defense...

Let's have a look at who will be coaching the Huskers in the spring. You'll notice, or you should notice, that there is a lack of a running back coach.

Barney Cotton - Associate Head Coach/Offensive Line Coach
Cotton will make his second trip to Lincoln now under Pelini, previously he was the offensive coordinator under Frank Solich in the 2003 season. Cotton has spend the last three years at Iowa State as offensive coordinator and offensive line coach.

Before his tenure with Nebraska in '03 Cotton was offensive coordinator for six years at New Mexico State, coached at St. Cloud State and was head coach at Hastings College in 1995 and 1996.

Cotton played both sides of the ball for the Huskers on the defensive and offensive line from 1975-78. He also played four seasons in the NFL for the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Bengals.

Shawn Watson - Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks Coach
Watson will enter into his third year as a coach on staff at Nebraska this next season. As I mentioned before, the 2007 Huskers threw for more than 3,800 yards and piled up offensive stats not seen since 1997 under Watson. In 2006 Watson was hired as tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator before being elevated to his current position almost a year ago.

Watson came from Colorado where he was offensive coordinator under Gary Barnett where they won four Big 12 North division titles and won the Conference in 2001. Watson also brings some head coaching experience to the table leading Southern Illinois from 1994 to 1996.

Hopefully Watson can continue to reproduce what he has over the past two seasons. With Joe Ganz coming back next season, I'm hoping for some more give offensive output.

Ted Gilmore - Assistant Head Coach/Receivers Coach/Recruiting Coordinator
Gilmore is the second and last holdover from the Callahan staff. He's a savvy recruiter and along with Watson, have landed some big names in the last two to three seasons. With a solid staff in place 2009 should be a great year for signing if the Huskers can produce on field results in 2008.

Most of this year may be a lost cause due to some Callahan assistants telling potential prospects to keep their options open because of the shaky future of the coaches. Nice and professional, huh?

The receiver core under Gilmore's direction finished 8th in the nation this year in terms of total receiving production. Outgoing players Terrence Nunn and Maurice Purify finished second and fifth all-time in Nebraska history. Nate Swift will enter his final year next year as fourth all-time as a receiver for the Huskers.

Gilmore has been an assistant at Kansas, Wyoming, Purdue, Colorado and Houston.

Ron Brown - Tight Ends Coach
Another second comer to the Husker coaching staff is a man that should not be a stranger to you. He was tight ends coach at Nebraska for 17 years between 1987 and 2003 and coached 12 players to the NFL Draft and 14 others sign pro contracts.

This should be enticing to big-time tight end recruiting, something that had been lacking since the downfall of Matt Herron a couple seasons ago. Brown has been serving as Nebraska Director of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

Carl Pelini - Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Line Coach
The elder Pelini will come over from Solich's staff at Ohio University. Pelini served in 2003 as a graduate assistant on defense to his brother. While at Ohio, he was apart of staff with Solich that returned the Bobcats around to mid-major respectability. In 2006 they won the eastern division of the Midwestern Athletic Conference and played Southern Miss in the championship game fore the conference. The Cats also made their first bowl appearance since 1968 that year.

Pelini hasn't had too much experience in the big time, if at all. Previous to his work with Ohio and Nebraska Pelini severed as head coach at Fitch High School as head coach for three seasons. He was also head coach and athletic director for Winnetonka High School in Kansas City, Missouri. He was also a graduate assistant under Bill Snyder at Kansas State in 1989 and 1990.

Pelini played two seasons at Columbia University.

Mike Ekeler - Linebackers Coach
Ekeler will follow Pelini from LSU where he was a graduate assistant in 2005 and 2006. He served as a coaching intern in the 2007 season. Before LSU he was also a graduate assistant under Bob Stoops at Oklahoma in 2003 and 2004.

What Ekeler brings to the table that will be most beneficial is the fact that he is a native Nebraskan and before his stint at Oklahoma he was a coach at Omaha Skutt High School and even coached in Manhattan, Kansas.

Ekeler played high school football at Blair High School and played for Kansas State for four years under Bill Snyder.

John Papuchis - Defensive Ends Coach
The next coach to follow Pelini from LSU is Papuchis who served the past four years coaching an outstanding LSU defense. Papuchis got his start under former LSU head coach Nick Saban and contributed greatly to the overall defensive scheme that LSU has been running for the better part of the past four or five years.

Papuchis has coached such players as All-American standouts Glenn Dorsey and Craig Steltz. Papuchis, before his tenure with the Tigers, was the secondary coach at Kansas and was linebackers coach in 2003 when KU reached the Tangerine Bowl.

Marvin Sanders - Secondary Coach
Sanders comes back to the Husker staff after coaching the same squad under Solich and Pelini in 2003. When Sanders led the defensive backs all they did was earn a school-record 32 interceptions on a defense that forced 47 takeaways. In that same season, safety Josh Bullocks grabbed a school record 10 interceptions and became just the second sophomore in school history to win All-American honors.

The last three years Sanders has served as the defensive coordinator at North Carolina. Previous to his time at Nebraska he had coaching stints at Nebraska Wesleyan, Minnesota-Morris, Nebraska-Omaha, New Mexico State and Colorado State.

As a former player for the Huskers under defensive coordinator Charlie McBride and head coach Tom Osborne, Sanders was a three time letter winner and earned Big 8 honorable mention in the 1989 season.

There you have it, the coaching staff the Pelini has put together. Not a whole lot of big names, but people that will hopefully be able to turn the culture back to what it should be in Lincoln. Hopefully we can get our team back under Pelini.

I Did It My Way - Part II

2007-12-11T14:05:00.000-06:00

Ah yes, championship week is over and bowl season is on. The next couple of weeks will be a snoozer when it comes to the schedule, but that last week of December, after Christmas specifically, is when I watch just about every game on TV.

This year was a wacky one to say the least. Remember my playoff system? I said I’d line up the teams and do the matchups as I see fit once the conference champs had been crowned. So, here we are with nothing to talk about until the important bowls start, so it’s time to take an in depth (mildly) look at what I’d like a playoff system to look like.

Forgot what I’m talking about? Go back and read my previous entry or we’ll just cover the finer points. That should bring you up to speed.

The first six teams are chosen by each major conference’s champion. Seeding among these teams is determined by place in the polls. The final two spots are given to two at-large teams.
First round games will be played at the higher seeded team’s home field on the weekend of December 22^nd. Second round games will be held at three of the four major bowls. The fourth major bowl will rotate each season and host two other at-large teams in a consolation game. More on this next week.
The national title game will be held January 7^th at a neutral site just as it is now. Sounds pretty simple right? Well, let's get into the games. I even included times and channels just to give you a palpable feeling on what this would be like and how awesome it would be.

#1 vs. #8 – in Columbus, Ohio

11am Central Time on ABC

Ohio State’s annual layoff would be shortened dramatically because of the new playoff system. Also, I’m sure Ohio Stadium is seeing it’s first December game or first game in quite some time. Under my playoff system this game would take place on Saturday, December 22^nd as stated above.

Hawaii had a great season and looked great against some decent teams, but not great teams. Their first real challenge against a big time opponent in their house in the dead of December doesn’t bode well for the spread offense under Warrior coach June Jones. Hawaii will put up points, just not that many.

Pick: Ohio State 35 – Hawaii 14

#3 vs. #6 – in Norman, Oklahoma

2:30 pm Central Time on ABC

One team is coming off winning their conference championship against what was the number one team in the nation and defeated their rival handily the previous week. The other is coming off a loss to their rival at home and missed out on a chance to play for the national title. One team has one of the fastest most physical defenses that shut down one of the most prolific offenses this season. The other team’s maestro is playing hurt and running an option that was slowed by an inferior defense.

So, does this game spell disaster for the team in question? You better believe it. This will be the biggest first round blowout on the slate of games I have in this mock tournament. An added bonus, we get to see how this game plays out for real in the Fiesta Bowl in less than a month.

Pick: Oklahoma 41 – West Virginia 14

#2 vs. #7 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

5:30 pm Central Time on CBS

I bet you think this game is in the bag for one of the year’s best defenses? Think again. LSU is banged up and in turmoil. Sure they beat Tennessee in the SEC Championship game, but that team was playing like world beaters. The Volunteers did what LSU couldn’t do in Lexington, but that doesn’t mean that it gets LSU back to where they were by defeating the Vols.

A run down Glen Dorsey, who will be saving himself for the NFL combine and the draft, and a banged up Matt Flynn are pieces of a puzzle that will be missing and hinder the Tigers chances at moving on in the tournament. Georgia is playing too well and the Bulldogs are too good on run defense, stopping a key component in the LSU offense that most people don’t know about. Here’s your upset special, but it’s a squeaker.

Pick: Georgia 24 – LSU 21

#4 vs. #5 – in Los Angeles, California

9pm Central Time on ESPN

The media proclaimed “hottest team in the country” will take on the Hokies of Virginia Tech in the Coliseum. I just think that the Trojans are finally playing up to their potential. Every team has problems with injuries, USC had their fair share and it hurt them. Still, you don’t lose to Stanford at home, that’s why the once mighty Trojan’s find themselves in the middle of the pack.

Will “Beamer Ball” be enough to slow the Trojan offense, with a Heisman-like quarterback, deep running back squad and a young, up and coming receiver core? Doubtful. The Hokies came into this game with plenty of momentum, just not enough talent to match up evenly. Special teams play and a solid defense are a bit of a factor during some key plays in keeping it closer than most would think for Beamer’s boys.

Pick: USC 28 – Virginia Tech 16

I’m going to turn this into a semi-long, drawn out thing. I really have nothing better to do and it’s going to be slow until recruiting really picks up in January and prospects sign in February. Check back next week and we’ll look at the second round matchups. I know you’re on the edge of your seat.

Getting Back on Track, Osborne To Be Honored

2007-12-08T09:44:00.001-06:00

It seems as if it’s full steam ahead for the Nebraska football program. Sure, there are a lot of questions about recruiting, but there are every year at this time.

How about newly christened head coach Bo Pelini going back to LSU for the BCS title game? Not too big of a deal if you ask me, I think it says a lot about the integrity of not only Pelini, but of interim athletic director Tom Osborne. He understands Pelini made a commitment and he’s letting him follow through on it. How well do you think it would do for recruiting if Pelini comes off as a national champion coach? Plus, by the time the game rolls around pre-signing duties for recruiting will be complete along with the winter program for existing players.

Yesterday I learned that Osborne will win ESPN’s Greatest College Coach of All-Time during the Rose Bowl on January 1^st. It’s just a fan poll that is basically a sort of meaningless award in the parlance of meaningful awards, but it’s still awesome to see the coach win 55% of the vote. Paul "Bear" Bryant was second place with 35% of the vote. The rest of the candidates won 5% or less.

It also looks like Pelini’s staff is starting to come together. Not only that, the offense looks like it is going to change a little bit as well. Remember the Kansas State and Colorado games being run mostly out of the spread and zone-read type formations? Get used to it. It seems Pelini is fairly sold on the theory of a wide-open offense. So the days of quarterbacks like Zac Taylor and Sam Keller will be short lived in favor of the style of a Joe Ganz. It probably won’t surprise you, but the junior Ganz is the favorite to start in his final season at Nebraska next season.

Back to Pelini’s staff, Barney Cotton will return as a coach at Nebraska, Shawn Watson will stay on as offensive coordinator and Ron Brown, who was a coach in Lincoln for 17 years until he left after the 2003 season, was rehired by Pelini on Tuesday. Cotton’s son, Ben Cotton, is one of the nations top prospects at tight end and when his father signed on with the Huskers, the junior Cotton followed his lead.

The recruits seem to be falling in line after Pelini and or Osborne has had the opportunity to meet with them. A lot of questions started swirling amid the five game losing streak and eventual firing of Bill Callahan, but it seems Pelini and Osborne are answering all the questions and are out pounding the pavement rounding up players for the school’s future.

Speaking of what’s in store for the school’s future, yours truly is in the Husker’s future. It’s official, I’m now throwing money into the machine and officially a booster. Hopefully I can get my tickets for next year. I won’t talk about how much my partner in crime and I are donating, but according to a helpful fellow in the athletic department, the prognosis for 2008 season tickets are better than good. At least I know I’ll truck up to Lincoln in April for the Spring Game to see the team under Pelini.

Recruiting Roundup - Simi Kuli

2007-12-04T20:48:00.001-06:00

It’s that time of year. For programs not fortunate or mediocre enough to find their way into college football’s expansive post-season, the focus shifts to recruiting.

Of the two posts of recruits I have written about, one of them has defected to the Missouri Tigers. This unfortunately was one of the most promising quarterback recruits in Nebraska history. Next to maybe Turner Gil. Blaine Gabbert of Baldwin, Missouri has changed his tune after the seasons of Missouri and Nebraska went in opposite directions and with the uncertainty of former coach Bill Callahan’s job at the time of his decision.

Gabbert was primarily coming to Nebraska because of Callahan’s history of grooming NFL style quarterbacks. After Callahan was on his way to being deported, or more accurately, when former athletic director Steve Pederson was fired, Gabbert decided it would be in his best interest to stay in-state with the pass-happy Tigers.

But we’re not here to focus on Gabbert, we’re here to focus on what is the surprise of the recruiting world in the past couple of months. Simi Kuli, the 6-foot-4, 270 pound defensive end from El Camino Community College decided it would be a good idea to call Nebraska and give a solid verbal. Out of the blue. Stuff like this happens between 'not that often' and 'never,' especially when this caliber of player is being courted by the likes of Oklahoma, LSU and Tennessee.

The five-star athlete put up some impressive numbers in 2006 as a freshman with 56 tackles, 15 of them coming for a loss. He racked up five sacks as well as 20 quarterback hurries and one forced fumble recovery in 10 games.

Rivals.com publishes a Top 50 Junior College Recruits and Kuli is on top of that list. After a visit to LSU on October 6^th, it seemed to the rest of the world that Kuli was on a one way trip to Baton Rouge. However, on October 23^rd Kuli retracted his previous statement regarding LSU and gave his word to Nebraska. Hopefully now that sort of former LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pelini will be the Husker head coach next year, it should solidify what seems to be set in stone.

The soon-to-be-transfer said he has a lot of respect for the Cornhusker program and has been quoted as saying that the coaching change isn’t a concern. He said that now it is up to interim athletic director Tom Osborne if he’s worthy enough to come to Lincoln. My guess is Osborne has made his decision that Kuli is worthy.

I’m not going to say anything, considering the major burn put on by Gabbert, but this is a direct quote when interviewed by Duane ‘Roz’ Rossiter of HuskersIllustraited.com

"I'm not going to take anymore visits. I am done. I have no concerns, sir. The decision is up to Coach Osborne whether he makes the decision or not. I know he would not have anyone that would not get the job done at coaching."

100 percent sure?

"Yes sir."

Let’s hope.

Putting Money Where My Mouth Is

2007-12-04T18:30:00.001-06:00

This weekend I got the crazy idea that it would be a sound investment to donate money to the University of Nebraska Athletic Department so I could someday get season tickets. I looked into all the ins and ous' and realized that this is something I would love to do. I maintain a blog on the football team, should be a no brainer right?

What could be better than season tickets and donating to a program that I love? Well, getting my Mom in on it as well to double up our money and accelerate the process of course! We have a ton of family that has gone to Nebraska, my uncle played for them in the 70’s under Tom Osborne and my cousin married former Husker receiver Bobby Newcome. I never wanted to name drop on here, but I was huge fan before that last point took place anyway.

So my good Mom agreed and we will now be giving some of our hard earned money to get some season tickets someday. I’m sending in our waiting list application tomorrow. It should be interesting to see exactly how far down the list we’ll be before we get our shot. But until that time, I’m sure we’ll be able to get tickets at a reasonable price through the couple of contacts that we do have.

So, wish us luck. Hopefully we’ll get our tickets before my Mom and I are too old. Not that Husker tickets are like being on the waiting list for Packer tickets, thank God.

10 Things You Should Like About Bo Pelini

2007-12-03T11:42:00.001-06:00

I try not to copy and paste, but this story was on HuskersIllustrated which is part of Rivals.com. You need to pay sort of a hefty fee to subscribe to it each year (about $100) but it's worth it for info on recruiting if you're into that sort of thing. But here are two stories about why this is the best hire Nebraska could have made. I would have liked to have seen Turner Gill get a shot, but I'm not sure if Osborne thought now was the time. Either way, this seems to be a hire that will satisfy a lot of people.

Eight days after Nebraska interim Athletic Director Tom Osborne fired Bill Callahan, it was announced on Sunday that NU's new head football coach is LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pelini.


John Talman/HuskersIllustrated.com

Bo Pelini is 55-10 as a college defensive coordinator.

In five seasons as a college defensive coordinator, Pelini's teams are 55-10, including a 10-3 record while he was at Nebraska in 2003. Here are "10 reasons why this a great hire."

Pelini's brings emotion

When you looked at this football team, the two biggest things that were missing in 2007 seemed to be emotion and an overall belief in the system on defense. Pelini is a fiery coach and everyone who has played for him has consistently said they'd run through a brick wall for him.

He's a defensive minded head coach

It's no secret that defense was the biggest issue with this football team, and this is hopefully an area Pelini will shore up right away. In 2003, Pelini helped turned NU's defense from one of the worst in the nation to one of the best. It's going to have to do it again in 2008.

Getting back to the old school

If there's another thing Pelini will bring on board, it is an old school Nebraska flavor. Some expected names that Pelini could bring back are former NU coaches Barney Cotton, Marvin Sanders, Ron Brown and his brother Carl Pelini. It is also speculated that Pelini plans to retain NU offensive coordinator Shawn Watson, which I think is definitely the right move. Watson knows the Big 12 Conference and he can also help Pelini make a smoother transition on offense with his knowledge of NU's personnel.

Understanding Nebraska

One of the biggest knocks towards Callahan and his staff was they didn't have any previous ties to Nebraska, which made their transition that much tougher. Pelini was only at NU for one year, but in that one year he won over the state. I'll never forget the "we want Bo" chants in the Alamo Dome following NU's 17-3 victory over Michigan State. Pelini will also have a staff of coaches that understand Nebraska and what football means to this state.

The "it" factor

Tampa Bay Buccaneer linebacker Barrett Ruud may have said it best when describing Pelini. Ruud said Pelini has the "it factor" and he just gets it as a coach. Not only is Pelini a motivator, but he's also a sound X's and O's guy.

Blue collar attitude



	Pelini will bring back a blue-collar attitude to Nebraska football.

Nebraska is a blue collar state and this football program was built because of that same attitude. Pelini is a blue-collar hardnosed guy from Ohio and he should bring a Bob Stoops type mentality to Lincoln.

The players don't lie

Every player that Pelini has coached in five years at the college level will all say the same thing – they love Bo Pelini. This is such an important characteristic a head football coach must have.

Pelini fits the college game

Yes, Bo Pelini spent several years in the NFL, but ultimately when you break down his style as a football coach he's a college guy. Callahan was obviously a pro guy with his mentality of running a football program, so it should be a complete 180 when you compare their styles.

Winning now

When you look at his football team, Pelini is realistically the best guy Nebraska could've hired to win now. There is talent on this football team and Pelini should be able to shore up the issues on defense and the offense has enough coming back where this team can be competitive in 2008.

The guy is a winner

No matter where Pelini has been, he's won. Now yes, he was at places like Oklahoma, LSU and Nebraska, but a 55-10 record as a defensive coordinator and a 3-0 record in conference championship games is about as good as you are going to see from any coach in the country.

Quotes on Bo

On Sunday, LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pelini was named as the new head coach at the University of Nebraska.


John Talman/HuskersIllustrated.com

Before returning to Nebraska, Bo Pelini was a coordinator at both Oklahoma and LSU.

Pelini, the defensive coordinator for the Huskers in 2003, also made stops at Oklahoma along with LSU, before returning to Lincoln as of this weekend as the successor to Bill Callahan.

Here are some memorable statements, from people who have been around Pelini over the last several years, have said about the new head coach for NU.

"When I take the field, I feel like I'm out there with an army and he's our leader. He's always wired up, always intense. He's not a big cusser or anything, but he knows how to get you fired up."

-- LSU defensive tackle Glen Dorsey, (Yahoo! Sports, Oct. 11, 2007)

"Guys were ready to run through a wall for him. He was such a great motivator. He'd print out cards with different quotes and leave them in our locker to fire us up before games, and when it came to X's and O's, he definitely had the 'it' factor. He was the total package"

-- Tampa Bay Buccaneers and former Nebraska linebacker Barrett Ruud (Yahoo! Sports, Oct. 11, 2007)

"I'll tell you this, he would deserve a head job. He's an excellent, excellent coach."

-- LSU athletic director Skip Bertman (The Advocate, Dec. 1, 2007)

"I loved the day before a game, going into defensive meetings just to hear his words. He always had a way of motivating the defense. It was something I've never seen before or heard. He was just so intense."

-- Former Husker punter Sam Koch (Lincoln Journal Star, Nov. 21, 2007)

"You know how some people have it and some don't? He has it."

-- Former Nebraska defensive tackle Titus Adams (Omaha World Herald, Nov. 11, 2007)

"From the moment we met him…you saw this could be a guy you could follow and go to with."

-- Former Nebraska defensive tackle Jason Lohr (Omaha World Herald, Nov. 11, 2007)

"Nobody's willing to cross him. He's got those people skills to come to you like a man and talk to you. That's his biggest philosophy, that everybody on this team is a man. He doesn't talk behind your back. There's no babying. You just get the job done."

-- Former Nebraska defensive lineman Le Kevin Smith (Omaha World Herald, Dec. 28, 2003)

"He has a love of the game and wants you to get after it. It's about loving the game and getting after it. The main thing he's focused on his effort. One of the big things is just his style and how he presents things to us. What we have to do is learn it, so we better learn it now."

-- Former LSU defensive tackle Kyle Williams (TigerBait.com, April 7, 2005)

"He knows what he wants to get out of a defense. People say he's serious, but he has a lighter side to him and stays serious as well. I think that's good. But don't be mistaken, he can joke with you, but he'll mix it up with the best of them when he wants to. He has a goal in mind, an end result, and he wants to make sure he stays focused on that."

-- Former Nebraska secondary coach Marvin Sanders following Pelini's first day as defensive coordinator at Nebraska. (HuskersIllustrated.com, March 26, 2003)

"There was a fight, then something happened after the fight. He (Pelini) got hit in the nose, then he grabbed somebody's facemask, and it was over from there."

"Bo Pelini — that is the man. He is the man, whatever he says, I'll do. I'll run through a brick wall on fire. I'll run through flames for that man, and there is a bunch on that defense that will do that.

-- Former Nebraska defensive lineman Bernard Thomas on Pelini breaking up a fight in practice (HuskersIllustrated.com – March 2003)

Press Conference

2007-12-03T10:55:00.000-06:00

Here, in four parts, is the press conference announcing Bo Pelini as head coach of the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Mr. Inspirational

2007-12-02T20:30:00.001-06:00

Well, it's official. Bo Pelini will become the fifth head football coach for the Nebraska Cornhuskers since 1962. In a players only meeting before he was officially announced, the players could already tell the difference. Junior quarterback Joe Ganz was reportedly impressed with his ability to inspire the players and that his fiery demeanor was already apparent.

Pelini was quoted at the press conference as saying that he would not be overwhelmed by the tradition and expectation that comes along with being the Cornhusker head coach, he instead said that he would embrace it and saw the program as "one big family" in the state. You could probably hear the collective sigh of relief across the state.

Since his departure from Nebraska in 2003, Pelini helped the Oklahoma Sooners to the national title game as co-defensive coordinator in 2004 and was hired by Les Miles as defensive coordinator at Louisiana State. Pelini helped build one of the fiercest defenses in one of the nation's best conferences.

In his tenure at Baton Rouge, the Tigers ranked number three in total defense in the country all three seasons. This season they only gave up 284 yards per game and forced 33 turn overs which is fourth in the nation. However, this year was uncharacteristically bad. At least compared to last season with the Tigers were unquestionably the best defense in the Southeastern Conference by leading the conference in six different categories. The team had two separate streaks of 16 and 10 quarters without allowing a touchdown.

Remember what it was like to have a solid defense? The year Pelini was coordinator for Nebraska the Blackshirts (remember them) led the nation in pass efficiency defense at 88.6, ranked number two in scoring defense holding teams to 14.5 points per game, ranked 11th in passing yards only giving up 177.8 yards per game and was 11th in total defense. Pelini's unit also tied a Husker record with 47 takeaways that ranked number two in the country. The Huskers lead in turnover margin over every team in college football at plus 1.77 per game.

So what else? We've all heard stories about how he's got a short fuse. Will it cause him to lose favor in the eyes of the fans, Osborne, the press or more importantly his players? We'll have to wait and see. Up until this point the players that were coached under him had nothing but admiration for their coach. He has a personal touch and ability to speak to players. He has that "it" factor that makes his guys his guys.

Pelini is yet to pick a staff and was quoted as saying he may retain some assistants from Callahan's staff. More to come in the next few days I'm sure.

Hot Mess

2007-12-01T22:53:00.000-06:00

You'd think this morning while reading all the previews for today's games, that there was no way that both number one and number two would lose and would open the door for a cluster to the national title. Well, if you thought that you're wrong and you haven't been paying attention this season.

The trail of 1's and 2's that have lost are lengthy. Four times number ones have lost this season, which is the most I can remember since I've been watching college football. Missouri, Ohio State and LSU (twice!) went down while at the top. And it's not just chaos in the number one spot either.

More number twos have lost than I can count. Kansas, USC, South Florida, Boston College, West Virginia and Oklahoma. Doesn't anyone want to win a national title? Maybe because teams are now forced to hand out the same number of scholarships (85), parody is finally creeping into college football.

So the all important question is who will play for the BCS National Championship? I'm going to go out on a limb and project every BCS Bowl game. This is provided that Hawaii takes care of business tonight against Washington. Right now, the Warriors trail the Huskies 14-0 with only 6:30 minutes off the clock in the first quarter.

Sugar Bowl
Hawaii vs. Arizona State
Like I said, this is provided that Hawaii wins. You may be able to flip flop Kansas and Arizona State if Fiesta Bowl brass doesn't want to see an all Big 12 match-up. However, that is unlikely considering the Fiesta Bowl is the Big 12's automatic bid bowl.

Fiesta Bowl
Kansas vs. Oklahoma
Looks like it will be Big 12 North number two versus the Big 12 Champion. I'd expect OU to tear KU an new one in this game. This one will almost be a bigger snooze fest than the Sugar Bowl.

Rose Bowl
USC vs. Georgia
It will be a bowl of the two hottest teams in college football, allegedly. I watched USC against UCLA today and USC didn't look that impressive. I'd expect this bowl to be a huge letdown given Georgia's ability to put me to sleep.

Orange Bowl
Virginia Tech vs. West Virginia
This game was the easiest to pick because it's already been decided. At least I'll get one right.

BCS National Championship Game
LSU vs. Ohio State
Thanks a bunch Missouri and West Virginia. Now we'll all get to watch the 2006 BCS title game redux. Awesome.

As you can see because of all the upheaval I'm none too pleased about how the season played out. Despite that, I'm hoping this is how it works out every year so we can get a playoff system in place before I die. It doesn't seem likely and the most we can hope for will probably be a +1 format. At least according to Kirk Herbstreit. And after his "Les Miles going to Michigan, for sure" debacle on ESPN Game Day this morning, I guess I wouldn't believe in former Buckeye back-up quarterbacks.

Oh yeah, looks like the curse of Sports Illustrated is still in effect. And unlike former Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch, Chase Daniel will not win the Heisman.

PS - Washington 21 Hawaii zip. Good God.

Hot Off The Press

2007-11-30T19:31:00.000-06:00

You are probably looking at the next head coach.

I was just on my way back from the grocery store and ESPN's Pat Forde released a report that soon-to-be-former LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pelini will be named Nebraska's next head coach sometime early next week.

It's not up under anything that I check on a regular basis. Not on HuskersIllustrated, ESPN or on the Lincoln Journal-Star. Keep it here or any of those sites to see if this report has any substance what so ever.

Former athletic director Steve Pederson has returned to AD of Pittsburgh University. So, if Pelini is hired it would seem that we have just been in a vacuum for the past four years and things should return to normal now. One can hope, right?

Bringin' It Into the Weekend

2007-11-30T09:55:00.000-06:00

As we move forward into what I hope will be the most exciting Saturday of college football this season, here are some things to look for in regard to the Nebraska coaching job and what I’ll be watching on the tube this weekend.

First things first, we’ve been over this to death this week so I’m not going to bore you with retread thoughts. Reportedly, Nebraska interim athletic director/coach Tom Osborne said he hoped that a new coach would be revealed by this weekend. That means today is the day, but go back and read that last sentence. He hoped a new coach would be named, doesn’t mean that a new coach would be named by the weekend.

From what I’ve read and heard this is how I see things breaking down.

Frontrunner: Bo Pelini – he’s undefeated as a Nebraska head coach, and he’s got a better winning percentage than Tom Osborne. Alright, alright, I know it’s just one game that he’s won, but he was a part of the old regime, as brief as it was. He’s got more big time, big program experience and he’ll supply a lot of intensity and hopefully can get the Huskers to play up to their abilities. Remember, he’s sort of a hothead and his defense down in Baton Rouge is underachieving. He’s never been a head coach really, either.

Down But Not Out: Turner Gill – he turned around a horrible program in Buffalo and has years upon years of experience and know how under the tutelage of one Tom Osborne. Gill has been a head coach, he knows what it’s like to run a full season or two as the guy. But he hasn’t had the big time spotlight type of coaching experience. Maybe that’s for the best, maybe he won’t think like a head coach would and he won’t over think everything like Callahan. You have to outplay to win in college, not out plan.

The Brian Thorson Situation - I have to make this bold and attach it to Gill for this reason. He's a Buffalo offensive line commit from Omaha (Millard North, specifically) and Osborne visited him yesterday about coming to Nebraska. Why the sudden interest? Why would Osborne go after a two star recruit going to Gill's current school next fall? Especially with four and five star targets starting to waiver in their support for going to Nebraska?

My gut is really telling me that Gill will be the next coach, even though my brain is going with Pelini. Could he be a focus because Gill is coming back to Lincoln? Is he just a package deal to grab the real prize in Sean Fisher, a three star linebacker and teammate/friend from Millard North? I'm guessing they are using Osborne in the small window they have him on the recruiting trail in this way. Simply said, having a state icon in your living room should be enough to secure every player from Omaha to Scottsbluff.

Dark horse: Jim Grobe – Jim who? Come on, you should know this man’s name. He coaches Wake Forrest. We played and defeated the Demon Deacons earlier this season, remember that? Doesn’t it seem about three seasons ago? He almost seems like the perfect fit on the surface, but many fans will say, well, “Jim who?”

I think all three of these guys would be a solid choice. Grobe could be unbelievable with Nebraska money, facilities and mystique. But you know as well as I do it’s going to come down to Gill and Pelini. Just remember, the outcry is for Bo, and if he fails by Nebraska standards Husker fans will only have to look to themselves and the legacy of Tom Osborne. Time to wait and see now. My vote is on the side of Gill for now. When do tickets for the spring game go on sale??

What To Watch

12:00PM ESPN – Boston College vs. Virginia Tech

A little bit of revenge, perhaps? Boston College and senior quarterback Matt Ryan slapped the Hokie faithful in the face when BC came from behind after being flat out dominated by the Tech defense for 58 minutes in Blacksburg in October. Should be a great game to kick the day off right.

Pick: Virginia Tech 20-16

3:30PM ABC – USC vs. UCLA

Another game that has a team bent on avenging a loss. This one comes via last year’s upset in the Rose Bowl (not the official Rose Bowl mind you) when the Bruins derailed the Trojan’s national title hopes by defeating them 13-9. USC is the hottest team in the country next to Missouri. USC is -20 according to Vegas and I’m picking the Trojan’s to cover at home in the Coliseum.

Pick: USC 45-21

7:00PM ABC – Oklahoma vs. Missouri

Watching this game is a no-brainer. Especially since my wife and friends that are coming over are Mizzou fans. Would it be wrong to cheer for the Sooners? Yes, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to be wearing black and gold tomorrow night. I’ll probably defiantly be wearing a Nebraska shirt, just like I did last week when the Tigers played Kansas. It’s hard to bet for or against either team. OU took the regular season game, but Missouri was in it until some dumb turnovers occurred in the last quarter of the game, giving it to the Sooners 41-31. Will Pinkel pull some more boneheaded moves and will the Tigers be tamed? I want to see an MU versus West Virginia national title game, I think I’d boycott if Mizzou lost and it was Ohio State versus West Virginia, blah.

Pick: Missouri 28-24

10:30PM ESPN 2 - Hawaii vs.Washington

Playing in the "If I Can Stay Up Late Enough Bowl." I watched the Warriors beat the Broncos of Boise State last Saturday night and they looked pretty damn impressive doing so. The Huskies completely dismantled the Broncos earlier in the year, so I'm not sure how to call this one. Just know there could be a lot of points. But hold on. You know what else looked good in that game last week? Hawaii's defense. That's right, their defense. Expect Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl against LSU if both teams win tomorrow.

Pick: Hawaii 35-28

I may flip back and forth between USC/UCLA and Tennessee/LSU if either or both games get out of hand. Keep your radar up to see if Pitt can upset West Virginia in the Backyard Brawl. Hey, stranger things have happened this season.

Who’s The Heisman?

If I had a vote, it would be Tim Tebow. I don’t care if he’s a sophomore or if his team is 9-3 and not playing for a conference championship. Brad Smith was not the best player in college football last year, but Ohio State was undefeated and played for a national title and was supposed to win. Tebow is simply a cut above every other player in the pool of Heisman hopefuls. He’s second in the country as far as pass efficiency, and he’s the only player to pass and rush for 20 touchdowns and that’s against teams in the best conference in the country. You don’t have to say much else. If I had to pick a top three, this is how it would look.

Tim Tebow – Florida
Darren McFadden – Arkansas
Chase Daniel – Missouri

Too bad McFadden didn’t play for a better team, because if he played for a team that didn’t lose five games this year he’d probably be the guy. Sorry to Mizzou fans and Chase Daniel, I know he’s been unstoppable and I’ve seen him make some ridiculous plays, I just think Tebow is better.

Anyway, championship week last year for me was a dud. I went to Arrowhead and froze by butt off while watching the Huskers lose to Oklahoma. Too bad we didn't have this weather last year. I hope this "Championship Saturday" lives up to the hype. Sunday I get to watch the Chiefs suck it up against the Chargers this weekend when my wife's parents come over for it, so I'm going to need a good last full slate of college football games tomorrow.

Osborne Back as Head Coach

2007-11-29T12:29:00.000-06:00

Don't get too excited, it will probably only be until the end of the week. As I may or may not have mentioned earlier in this crazy week, Osborne passed the NCAA head coach test Wednesday in order to go out on the road and recruit and keep prospective players committed to Nebraska after the Callahan firing.

Hopefully, Osborne's status (although probably fading among kids 17-18 years old) will cement some prospect's decision making process in playing for the Huskers. Some of Callahan's assistants have been out in the trenches this week in living rooms talking to recruits and trying to hold the ship together.

Down To Two

This should come as a shock to no one who reads this, ESPN reported yesterday from an undisclosed source close to Lincoln saying that the final two candidates are Bo Pelini and Turner Gill. The announcement on which one, if either, would ascend to the head coaching role at Nebraska should come down soon. It seems like the whirlwind around Lincoln may finally be slowing down a bit with Osborne on the road and the hiring being left up to him and school administration.

Hopefully we have an answer by the end of the week. Reports said it could be as early as today. Keep refreshing ESPN or any other source you're using to track this story the rest of the afternoon.

Here's a quote. How much of a polar opposite would this guy be from Callahan?

"We're not going to overload them with checks and 9,000 different things. We don't want our guys ever out there memorizing what to do." -Bo Pelini

Road to Redemption-Jason Peter

2007-11-28T11:39:00.000-06:00

I read this story about two years ago, but I doubt anyone outside of the Lincoln or Omaha area may have had a chance to read this. He was on HBO's Real Sports last year sometime. I think the video of it is on YouTube or Google Video somewhere. If I find it I'll add it to this post. It was a shock. I remember Jason Peter being larger than life alongside Grant Wistrom when I was in high school. These guys were absolute monsters in stature when I would go to Lincoln to watch a game and see them walking into the stadium. It was just flat out shocking to see his appearance. Below is a story from early 2006 that I think you should read as a Husker fan.

Jason Peter travels the road to recovery

BY KEN HAMBLETON | Lincoln Journal Star

Sunday, Jan 08, 2006 - 12:03:53 am CST

Five years after the start of his pro career, ex-Cornhusker Jason Peter was down to about 225 pounds, alone and paranoid in his Manhattan apartment, waiting for dealers to bring the next high. Today, he's sober and ready to live again.

They called their book on Nebraska’s 1997 national championship football season “Heart and Soul.”

Teammates, roommates, brothers in almost every sense of the word, Jason Peter and Grant Wistrom are as close as any two people can be despite the distance from Seattle to Los Angeles.

They were the keys to winning 49 of 51 games over four seasons at Nebraska.

Nebraska defensive coordinator Charlie McBride said Wistrom was the best defensive end he ever coached and that includes Trev Alberts, Broderick Thomas and Jared Tomich. He said Peter was among the best defensive tackles he ever coached and that list included Neil Smith and John Parrella.

They were such hot draft prospects many scouts were talking about them turning pro after their junior season.

“Jason said he’d kill me if I went to the pros early,” Wistrom said. “I told him the same thing.”

Wistrom and Peter were first-round NFL Draft picks in spring 1998, and they both became starters, Wistrom with the St. Louis Rams, Peter, a 6-foot-5, 285-pound defensive tackle with the Carolina Panthers.

Five years into Wistrom’s career, he signed with Seattle for $14 million and has helped the Seahawks to the playoffs the past two seasons.

Five years after the start of his pro career, Peter was down to about 225 pounds, alone and paranoid in his Manhattan apartment, waiting for dealers to bring the next high.

Prescripton for disaster

Three national championship rings, the adulation of Husker Nation, a $7.4 million signing bonus and friendships forged during five years at Nebraska were not enough.

“Nothing made me feel as good as when I was high,” Peter said. “Nothing mattered but getting that feeling that Vicodin could give me. I was married to the drugs.”

He started with a couple of pain pills for chronic back pain when he was at Nebraska. When he got to the NFL, he had more injuries, more pain, more surgeries, more drugs.

By the time team doctors called an end to his career at the end of the 2001 season because of spinal injuries, Peter was working his way up to 80 Vicodin a day.

Within two years, he had graduated to crack cocaine, then heroin.

“I had nothing to do and I had a bank account,” he said. “I was still dealing with a lot of physical pain and I could still get all the drugs I wanted.”

The combination was a prescription for disaster.

“I’d get up and take 20 Vicodin, wait a little bit and take some more, then some more and by the end of the day I had put down about 80 of the pills,” Peter said. “I liked the way they made me feel.”

Eventually, the Vicodin wasn’t enough.

“I was in a fog but I couldn’t get that feeling that pills gave me any more. I started getting pains where I never had pain before. I’d hit my finger on something and it hurt like I broke it. I was creating pain so I’d take more pain pills.”

With crack cocaine, he would stay up four and five days, then sleep for 24 hours or more.

“That started to wear off, so I switched to heroin. I’d get up and get high. I never did anything. I was such a good customer, the dealers were glad to deliver the drugs right to me.”

Wistrom tried to connect with his best friend.

“He was going through a hard time and I knew he was struggling with some things, but I didn’t know the extent that he was hurting himself. I kept trying to reach out but I knew that when he was ready to join in society, I wanted to be there to welcome him back.”

Peter cut himself off from family, too. Just 40 minutes from his parents’ home in New Jersey, even closer to his two brothers in suburban New York City, he couldn’t find the time or the desire to visit.

“I was pathetic but I didn’t care because I was high all the time.”

He was also afraid.

“I knew more dealers than friends. I had used my athletic ability more than once to run away from the cops. I’m talking about spending a couple of days on the run in the streets in New York City. I’m tough, but I’m not prison tough.”

Pain became too much

When he was at Nebraska, Jason Peter was a leader who stayed out of trouble.

Then came the injuries in the NFL — the tingling from his neck to his fingers that lasted all week, the burning in his shoulders and the steady throb in his back.

At parties with Carolina fans, he said, he’d trade local doctors and dentists autographed jerseys or helmets for prescriptions for Vicodin.

“I knew more dentists in the Charlotte area, and my teeth weren’t all that clean,” he said.

The NFL tested for marijuana, steroids and street drugs, but not Vicodin and such related drugs as OxyContin, Lorcet and Percodan.

“The NFL gets all over the alcohol arrests,” said Peter, who was charged with drunken driving in 1999. “They test you six times a month and make you go to counseling. But the teams wanted you on the field and if Vicodin could get you off the bench, then they didn’t mind.”

In 2001, Peter joked with a writer from The Herald in Rock Hill, S.C., that he didn’t know he had torn ligaments in the arch of his left foot until he stopped taking pain medication for his neck.

In the NFL, Peter said he didn’t hang out with former Huskers and fellow Panthers teammates Mike Rucker and Mike Minter.

“The NFL isn’t like that. They did their thing after practice and I did my thing. We’d get together now and then, but they had their families.

“The NFL was our job, our business and we didn’t mix much after work. It was nothing at all like college.”

Then he faced the universal challenge of life after football.

“All the guys I’ve talked to miss it and there is no substitute for the hitting, the absolute physical nature of football in college and in the pros,” said Brenden Stai, who played for the Huskers before a nine-year pro career. “You can build a family, watch your children grow, learn a business, but there is nothing like playing the game.”

Christian always there

Christian and Jason Peter were roommates in college and played side-by-side on the greatest defense in Nebraska history in 1995.

When Christian finished his career at Nebraska, Jason took his No. 55 jersey as a tribute.

They were always close, and after Jason’s career ended Christian knew his brother was in trouble.

“He had to make the decision to get control, to live a real life,” said Christian, who now sells insurance in New Jersey. “We never left him. We all were always there. Nobody gave up. We all tried talking and never stopped.

“But you tell me, how many drug addicts listen to anybody about anything. The lies. The stories. The excuses. He finally made the choice to live a life.”

Making a choice

Jason Peter fell so far into depression and despair that 18 months ago, he was ready to kill himself.

“I was staying at my folks’ house in Jersey while they were in Europe,” he said. “I was getting high and I was on my knees, ready to put a bullet in my head. Drugs didn’t matter anymore. I was done with everything.

“My Aunt Lee pulled into the driveway and I tried to straighten up. She could see I was a mess.”

Lee Peter would spend the next four days with her nephew.

“We all knew Jason was in trouble with drugs,” she said. “His brothers were convinced that if he continued on the path he was on, he would not be around much longer. I went inside and started talking. I didn’t stop talking and praying for four days.

“I talked about all the gifts he had — a passion for football that he could redirect, a compassion for other people, a family that loved him and needed him, all the talents that made him special. If he could use that strength and passion to help himself, he could overcome this.”

Her nephew checked into the Wiseman Clinic rehab center in the Los Angeles area.

“(They) put me on morphine to get me off the heroin. Then, you try to wean off the morphine. It didn’t work. I went through all the withdrawal systems even though I was unconscious and I was in more pain than ever.”

When he asked for help for the pain, he recalled, a doctor said, “He’s an NFL player, he can suck it up.”

He stayed in the clinic for less than two weeks, and, 30 minutes after checking out, he was high again.

“I had money, I had a passport and I thought, just take off somewhere. I’d get high and die and nobody would bother me.

“But I had run into a woman who worked at a rehabilitation place and said they could do better for me.”

He chose to try again and checked into the Beau Monde Program in Newport Beach, Calif.

“I went through the detox and basically I slept for more than a week,” Peter said. “When the detox was completed, they said it was time to get to work.

“It was tougher than any football training camp I ever went through,” he said. “I did want a life. I did want to stay clear.”

Three months passed, then six, then nine.

“I was getting along and I was closing in on a year without getting high,” he said. “It’s not all that simple. I still go day to day. I know I could get high any time I wanted. I would make excuses about pain. But I thought I had a chance to live a life and that drives me even today.”

Today, he has a life coach to plan out his physical therapy and drug rehab. He knows he can’t do it alone.

“I know that it’s not that far from getting back into drugs and doing myself in. I know if I go back to drugs I’ll die.”

Two months into the Beau Monde program, Peter stunned old friends and fans during an interview with “Real Sports” on HBO.

“I needed drugs more than anything else,” he said during the show. “I tried to kill myself one time with 60 or 70 Vicodin and 20 Ambien. I wrote a letter, saying goodbye. I couldn’t stop and I thought that was the only way out. But the pills didn’t kill me. I just slept for a long time.”

The once-husky defensive lineman looked scared and confused during the show.

“He was so much smaller,” said Mike Rucker. “I knew he was going through a lot. But I was surprised.”

Peter explained the weight loss.

“You don’t worry much about food when you’re high.”

Day-by-day struggle

During a recent visit to the Rumson, N.J., home of his parents, Hubert and Mary, Jason Peter spent time with nieces Olivia and Juliette.

“Daddy can’t compete with Uncle Jason,” Christian Peter said with a chuckle. “This is a life he couldn’t live 17 months ago. Jason was talking about getting out on the ice. We always loved to play hockey. We were actually pretty good, but it’s been so long.”

These days, Jason Peter’s recovery is a full-time job — physical therapy on his neck and back seven days a week and rehabilitation for the drug addiction.

“I get through today. Tomorrow, I’ll get through that day. I feel like if I put one quarter of the effort into rehab that I put into getting drugs and getting high, I can make it.”

As part of his return to life, as he calls it, Peter worked as a volunteer coach with the Edison High Chargers football team in Huntington Beach, Calif., this fall.

“I was trying to teach the things coaches taught me. I was trying to teach the things I learned from playing. I tried to coach the fundamentals.”

He helped lead the Chargers to a 10-2 season and into the state playoffs.

“It was great but I don’t know how much longer I can afford to be a volunteer coach. I went through so much money so fast when I was on the drugs. I’ll have to get a job some day.”

Coaching could be in the future.

“The kids really bought into Jason,” said Dave White, Edison football coach. “He was great with the kids and taught them a lot of things you can only know from experience.

“He was also up front with his past with drugs and I have always been a believer in second chances. Jason was so intense, so fiery and so interesting, we’d love to have him back any time. I know the kids do.”

His Husker teammates already have taken him back.

In July, Jason and Christian Peter and more than 30 other former teammates met for Wistrom’s annual charity golf tournament at Quarry Oaks Golf Course near Ashland.

“It was like nothing had happened and we were back together talking about anything we wanted and playing some really bad golf,” Jason Peter said. “Nobody looked down or looked away from me. That’s Nebraska. Nobody was going to judge me or anybody else.”

Quick Shout Out to My Town

2007-11-27T16:04:00.000-06:00

I guess senior ESPN college football writer Pat Forde loves himself some Kansas City barbeque. Who wouldn't? If you've ever been to my fair city to sample the local fair, you'd know what he's talking about. We even served Jack Stack Barbeque at the rehearsal dinner at my wedding. People are still talking about it. From his Forde-Yard Dash column today...

Point After

When hungry and thirsty in Kansas City, The Dash highly recommends the deluxe barbecue cuisine. Last Friday night The Dash had an obscenely piled meat plate at Arthur Bryant's (38), where they will smash white bread, ribs and fries together in rolled-up paper for to-go orders. That was good -- until The Dash lit into ribs and chicken wings from Gates BBQ (39) on Saturday night after the Missouri-Kansas game. My lord. Dreamland officially has competition for Best Barbecue Ever. Wash it down with a KC microbrew Boulevard Pale Ale (40) and you will be one happy human.

(The Dash's Humanitarian of the Year award goes to Kansas City Star columnist Jason "Big Sexy" Whitlock for personally catering a massive Gates spread in the Arrowhead Stadium for all the visiting media at the biggest college game in KC history. Inhaling ribs at midnight surely violates every tenet of healthy eating -- and nobody cared. Happiest press box ever.)

I Did It My Way

2007-11-27T09:53:00.000-06:00

So you’ve heard it all before, what would college football look like if we had a playoff system? A lot of theories have been established since before the current BCS system was put in place back in 1998. The current system was installed because of the split national title between the Michigan Wolverines and the Nebraska Cornhuskers in 1997.

Personally, I think a playoff system would be exciting. You want blueprints on how to do it? Just look to the junior FCS, or the division formally known as Division I-AA. Even Division II and III have been holding playoffs for decades. Why is the FBS so far behind? Well, money. I don’t think that will come as a shock to anyone.

Here is what I would like to see with the current teams on top in a playoff picture. This is presupposing the fact that Missouri wins the Big 12, USC wins the Pac-10, Virginia Tech wins the ACC and LSU wins the SEC.

This is the way I would draw it up if I had a say. Make it more like the other divisions in college football and more like the NFL. The first thing I would do is take all the conference champions from the top six conferences (Big 12, Big 10, SEC, ACC, Pac-10 and the Big East) and decide your top six seeds based on placement in the polls. For the final two spots I would pick the highest ranked team from a “non-BCS” conference. Or an independent. This year’s representative would of course be the undefeated Hawaii Warriors from the WAC (Western Athletic Conference). To round out the top eight headed to the playoffs I would take an at-large team from one of the “BCS” conferences.

This of course is not all set in stone. Consider the fact that Notre Dame could get it's stuff together in the next couple years and they could potentially be in the playoffs every year. You could exclude the second BCS school should this happen. Then you could take a Hawaii and Notre Dame and everyone would be happy.

You want it? Well, I'm going to give it to you. This is how my playoff system would look this year in order of seeding.

#1 -

The Missouri Tigers after defeating the Oklahoma Sooners in the Big 12 Championship game will cement their place as the number one team in the land and secure a number one seed for the playoffs.

#2 -

The West Virginia Mountaineers don’t play a championship game against a top 10 team from a tougher conference, so the Mountaineers come in at number two.

#3 -

The Bucks may have lost at home to Illinois, but wins over ranked opponents on the road against Penn State and rival Michigan and over Wisconsin at home put the Scarlet and Grey at the number three spot.

#4 -

After losing to Stanford at home and Oregon on the road, the Trojans are looking like the team they were at the beginning of the year before losing former Heisman candidate John David Booty to injury. USC wins the Pac-10 by defeating UCLA at home and earns a spot in the postseason.

#5 -

Nothing hurts more than a late season loss at home to a conference opponent in triple overtime. Being removed from the #1 spot in the country may hurt a little more, but after beating the Tennessee Volunteers in the SEC Championship the Tigers find themselves in position to still win the national title.

#6 -

VT takes care of business in the ACC by getting revenge over the Golden Eagles of Boston College and advance themselves as the third two loss team in the playoffs.

#7 -

The Dawgs earn the first spot as one of the at-large teams. Why is a two loss team who didn't win their conference or division in front of an undefeated team who will come in at number eight? Quite simply because Georgia is playing great football in one of the toughest conferences around. Georgia nudges out the Jayhawks of Kansas because of this fact.

#8 -

The Warriors of Hawaii round out the playoff picture as the at-large team from a non-BCS school. Just as an example, last year’s team would have been Boise State. And who else besides me would have loved to see the Broncos take on LSU or USC in the second round of the playoffs after taking out Goliath Oklahoma? I know I would have.

Breakdown

How will all of this play out? I’m not sure and maybe I’ll do a follow-up post on the match-ups themselves, provided this is how the conference champions shake out. Maybe if the teams swap a bit, I’ll plug in the teams that won their respective conferences.

This makes things simple in my mind. Win your division. I don’t believe that any team that does not win their division should have a shot at earning a national title. Well, almost. How does Georgia work out then? You have to have some team in there from another major conference I guess, if there is one flaw in this system. Who wants to see BYU play West Virginia? Not I, sir.

What do we do about all the teams that did not make it into the playoffs? Sorry, better luck next season. Maybe you can keep the bowls around to make for a bowl/playoff hybrid. It's probably about the only way you can get away with it. You'd just play normal bowl games around the teams that are in the playoffs. Give the playoff games the prime spots on Saturday and play the other games during the week or earlier on Saturday or on Versus or something.

So what about the major bowls, IE Rose, Fiesta, Orange and Sugar? This is what I would do. The BCS Championship game that started last year (right? no bowl affiliation), I would 86 it and rotate the bowls each year. One of the big four, the Sugar let’s say, would host a non-playoff game with maybe the next two teams after the two at-large teams in the playoffs. The next two (Rose, Orange) would host the semi-finals of the playoffs and then one (Fiesta) would host the final championship game. Let’s break it down.

Here We Go

The first round would be played at the higher seeds home field. This is how it would look to me in Week One of the “bowl season” that would take place the week of December 17^th.

1 Missouri Tigers vs. 8 Hawaii Warriors in Columbia, Missouri

2 West Virginia Mountaineers vs. 7 Georgia Bulldogs in Morgantown, West Virginia

3 Ohio State Buckeyes vs. 6 Virginia Tech Hokies in Columbus, Ohio

4 USC Trojans vs. LSU Tigers in Los Angeles, California

Ok, next we’ll look at where each winning team would play. These wouldn’t be my real picks, like I said earlier, I’ll do a breakdown when the conference championships are settled. So, I’m just going to take the higher seeds for now.

Week Two of “bowl season” during the week of December 31^st. Hey, you have to have an off week for Christmas.

1 Missouri Tigers vs. 4 USC Trojans in Pasadena, California in the Rose Bowl. I know, I know, this is going to piss a lot of people off but hear me out. You can still have it on New Year’s Day and have your little “Parade of Roses” business. Sometimes tradition for the sake of tradition is silly. You can even still have all your New Year’s Day bowls.

2 West Virginia Mountaineers vs. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes in Miami, Florida in the Orange Bowl

Remember the consolation game between the two other at-large schools? How about Kansas versus Florida? Let’s test KU to see how good they really are, or aren’t, this season. Mark this one on the calendar for January 1^st at 8pm for New Orleans, Louisiana in the Sugar Bowl.

Week Three of “bowl season” on Monday, January 7^th 2008.

1 Missouri Tigers vs. 2 West Virginia Mountaineers in Tempe (or is it Phoenix now?), Arizona in the Championship Game in the Fiesta Bowl.

I don’t see how as a fan you can have any arguments with this type of a system. It's time to grow up and start crowning real champions. I’m sure I missed some issues, but as far as just a skeleton system in where the top teams would have a playoff, I don’t see too many faults.

Comments? Suggestions? Make sure to leave 'em for this entry.

Falling Down

2007-11-26T17:51:00.001-06:00

From ESPN's Gene Wojciechowski. As you'll read, we need a solid coach now, or it could spell disaster for years to come.

Nebraska is an elite coaching job

It used to be. But now-former athletic director Steve Pederson made a critical mistake and imposed his will on a program that needed a facial, not reconstructive cosmetic surgery. Pederson hired Bill Callahan, who fit like Tabasco sauce on chocolate pudding. Callahan might be a good coach, but he wasn't the right coach for Nebraska. Now Pederson and Callahan are gone, and so is Nebraska's one longtime advantage: an identity.

Lincoln was once I-Back U. It was Walk-On Heaven. It was a national recruiting pipeline, stretching as far as Jersey, Florida and California. Now it's a seven-tractor pileup. Tradition is nice, but elite high school recruits from outside of Nebraska's state lines (and there aren't many of them on an annual basis) don't remember much, if anything, about Mike Rozier. They want to win. They want to be on TV. They want to play for someone who can get them a job in the NFL.

If interim AD Tom Osborne is going to seal the gaping holes in this program, he had better find someone who understands and appreciates Nebraska's past, but more important, someone who understands the realities of its future. Nebraska needs its football identity back.

There are other overrated coaching jobs, beginning with UCLA (everything done on the relative cheap), Arkansas (limited in-state recruiting base, psycho fan expectations), Michigan State (program sounds good on paper, until you realize Michigan and Ohio State are in your conference). But Nebraska was never in the same paragraph with those type of programs ... until now. Nebraska football can be fixed. Probably. Not too much is at stake. Only the difference between relevancy and has-been status.

Let the Games Begin

2007-11-26T16:10:00.000-06:00

So where do we go from here? Below are a list of candidates that will be considered or will just turn out to be rumors on the cutting room floor when the smoke clears and a new coach is hired.

I have my vote for who I would like to see coach the Huskers, and it may or may not come as a shock, because I’ve changed my mind several times. I’m going to profile, in detail, the two I like (and most people like too) most. That being said, I like a lot of names in the hat. I like guys that are on the rise as opposed to coaches that have been fired or are tired retreads, for example, Bill Callahan.

One final thing about Bill before I let him ride off into the sunset. Callahan just didn’t get it. He didn’t understand how a rabid fanbase can be so behind a team that success and the standard measuring that success was so high, especially in Lincoln. This surprised me, coming from coaching the Oakland Raiders, who have some of the craziest, out on parole-type fans in the NFL that the love for the Cornhuskers by their fans was somehow missed. It’s a shame, because I think Callahan is a great offensive mind. He’ll be a great coordinator somewhere, and the next team that picks him up as such will benefit greatly.

So here we go…the shortish list of coaches that are either confirmed as being talked to, or just rumors to this point.

Turner Gill

Most people outside of Husker Nation and Buffalo, New York are probably not very familiar with this name and what he means to Nebraska football. Gill was a Heisman runner up 1983 and led the Huskers to a 28-2 record as a starting quarterback. His coaching career started with Nebraska back in 1989 as a graduate assistant after a few years in the CFL (Canadian Football League). After a season at North Texas and Southern Methodist University (SMU) he returned to coach the quarterbacks at Nebraska. The quarterbacks during his tenure flourished with such names in Husker lore as Tommie Frazier, Brook Berringer, Scott Frost and Heisman winner Eric Crouch. Gill was present for Tom Osborne’s most successful run while at the helm of the Nebraska program, so that winning attitude, drive and expectation Osborne spoke of in his press conference on Saturday morning, Gill is well aware.

Gill has spent his last two years turning around one of the worst college football programs in the last decade. In only his second season his Bulls are tied for first in the Eastern Division of the Mid-American Conference (MAC). I think he’s ready to come back. He’ll be embraced, the fans will be more patient with one of their own, and I believe he’ll be able to restore what has been lacking the past few seasons at Nebraska.

Positives: Knows the state of Nebraska and will be able to reopen doors to high school coaches in the area to reinvigorate the walk-on program.

Coached under Osborne for six seasons and Osborne’s successor Frank Solich for another six seasons.

Would have been a logical successor to Solich, moved up to a coordinator position or a head coaching job at a more viable school had Solich not been fired for his "mediocre" 10-3 season in 2003.

Negatives: Has never coached at a high level program beyond being a position coach.

Not a proven recruiter.

Overall: Gill seems on the surface like a perfect fit. The time is always right to hire a black coach to a program with national implications also. He’s turned around a historically bad program, but will he be able to do the same at Nebraska with an unbelievable amount of pressure not seen while in his tenure at Buffalo?

Bo Pelini (Yes, he's wearing an OU polo)

Not unlike Gill, Bo Pelini is no stranger to Nebraska football. He served as the Husker’s defensive coordinator in Frank Solich’s final season in 2003. He brought back a little respectability to the Blackshirts after they had declined a bit after former defensive coordinator Charlie McBride retired in 1999. He was also Nebraska’s interim coach in the 2003 Alamo Bowl against Michigan State, even earning a victory, but was dismissed after Callahan was hired.

Pelini made a name for himself as co-defensive coordinator at Oklahoma under Bob Stoops and more recently at Louisiana State University under Les Miles. Pelini is a hot name for a head coaching job in college football, and there will be a lot of takers in the offseason. Pelini comes from Youngstown, Ohio and the area has bred a ton of young coaching talent. Ohio State's Jim Tressel (not exactly young I guess), Florida's Urban Meyer and Oklahoma's Bob Stoops come to mind. He’s also a former Buckeye (a program I respect greatly) player, and I hate Michigan (a program I can’t stand), so that’s cool with me.

Pelini has earned a bit of a reputation as a hothead though. He’s never been a head coach on the collegiate level and it’s unknown how his short fuse will affect his perception in Lincoln or how it could affect the team or program itself.

Osborne and Nebraska Chancellor Harvey Perlman don’t seem too concerned, as they interviewed Pelini today. LSU would like to keep him as their ace up their sleeve depending on what current head coach Les Miles decides in regards to the recently vacated Michigan head coaching job. Last Saturday’s loss to unranked Arkansas may have expedited this process and LSU may try to hang on to Pelini. Nebraska still has an advantage with him as an assistant and not a head coach, Pelini doesn’t need permission from anyone to speak to another university.

Positives: Nebraska fans seem to have this guy as the number one choice, so hiring him would make a lot of people very happy. Fans chanted “We want Bo” as the closing minutes ticked off the scoreboard in San Antonio during the ’03 Alamo Bowl.

He has coached two talented and highly regarded defenses at OU and LSU. Pelini could bring back physicality to Husker football and the Blackshirt defense that hasn’t really been seen since Pelini last coached them.

Pelini will have access to coaches in Oklahoma and Louisiana from recent previous coaching positions.

Negatives: In short, his temper and lack of judgement on the football field because of it. Also, his defensive scheming is heavily dependent on over powering and over matching opposing offenses, something he won’t be able to have until after at least two to three years of recruiting.

Not a proven recruiter, but has done well with other coaches talent.

Overall: Pelini comes from good stock and has a great background as an assistant at many high profile programs. He also has several years of NFL defensive coaching experience. He seems like he would understand what is at stake in Lincoln after spending time in Norman and Baton Rouge. And he would bring a fire and intensity that was severely lacking under Callahan.

Ok, so those are my two frontrunners and I would be happy with either one. Here is the list of other possible and rumored candidates.

- Chris Peterson, Boise State University

- Jim Leavitt, South Florida University

- Greg Schiano, Rutgers University

- Brian Kelly, Cincinnati University

- Paul Johnson, Navy

Here are two more that are very interesting...

- Huston Nutt, formerly of Arkansas

-Jim Grobe, Wake Forest University

With the hire at Texas A&M coming today of former Green Bay Packer coach Mike Sherman, the standard is set and Nebraska should be able to hire someone that will fit with what Osborne and company feel comfortable with. Should they follow A&M’s lead and hire a former assistant that is familiar with success at their program? Did you think I was just referring to Pelini? If you’re smart, I think you can catch my drift on who I would personally like to see installed as the next coach.

Coaching at the University Nebraska is a scary prospect and anyone who is being considered will have to have nerves of steel, so to speak, to not only coach here, but be successful. The bar has also been set by Osborne. You're either successful, or you're not. You're either winning on the field, or losing. You're either employed, or you're not.

Callahan Era Ends

2007-11-24T23:05:00.000-06:00

In the amount of time that it takes for the weather to change across the prairie of Nebraska, Bill Callahan and staff were summoned to interim Athletic Director Tom Osborne's office and fired faster than you can say 27-and-22.

The pink slips were handed out efficiently and without emotion by Osborne, much like the Husker living legend handed out losses to the rest of the Big 8/12 while he wast still roaming the sidelines, hat awkwardly cocked to the side of his head, arms neatly folded behind his back or his hand under his chin, never breaking a sweat.

By 9:30am Osborne had already cleaned house, called a press conference, and removed any evidence of the previous regime that had erased most of what Osborne built in 25 years as head coach. The team and program had ostensibly been taken away from the state of Nebraska and it's fans that would flood Lincoln on Saturday's to watch their team, only to see it and the it's status transform before their eyes.

The people in this region may be too trusting, too willing to give someone a chance. Just look and Nebraska fans' reputation as being the class of major college football. We were taken advantage of and duped into believing Bill Callahan and former A.D. Steve Pederson would take us back to the promised land of another national title.

Sure, Callahan has a mind of a top class offensive coordinator. But I warned people when he was hired, look at his head coaching resume. It's true that Callahan took the Oakland Raiders to a Super Bowl, but that was mainly on the momentum that outgoing coach Jon Gruden had created. Callahan took a Super Bowl caliber team and drove them into the toilet and ended up getting fired the very next season with mass mutiny on his hands. Where are the Raiders now? Did I mention that Callahan was the 5th choice to coach the 4th winningest college football program of all time?

What's left is that I along with other Nebraska faithful are forced to sit back and watch Kansas and Missouri play for the Big 12 North and a shot at a National Title. Kansas and Missouri? No less than seven or eight years ago these two teams couldn't carry our equipment. Now we're sitting at home with a losing record. We deserve better than this.

Apparently, I am not the only one who has higher standards. Osborne reportedly told Callahan when he entered the picture after Pederson was fired (the Huskers were 4-4) that if he finished 8-4 there would be no coaching change. Anything less would be hard to accept. That's what has been missing from the Husker program. Standards. You set the bar high and don't accept just making the postseason, or just playing hard. Winning is all that matters.

The Huskers this season were little more than a doormat for the rest of the conference. Nebraska used to be a team that other teams feared, mainly because they played so physical that two or three weeks after being dismantled by Nebraska, you still felt it as you prepared for the rest of your season. That's what needs to be brought back.

All we can do now is sit back and trust in a man that had one of the most legendary coaching careers in college football history. As you may or may not remember, Osborne's record stands at a staggering 255-49-3. That's a winning percentage of .838%. That's an average of 10.2 wins per year and less than two per year. At Callahan's rate, he was on pace to lose 137 games in 25 years.

You can look at Callahan's record and try to dig out some positives. He did win more than he lost, but since when has that been acceptable? The next numbers are fairly mind numbing. Go grab a trash can, because this may make you nauseous.

Callahan was 15-18 against Big 12 opponents, 0-7 against top ten opponents and 3-10 against the top 25. He was also 0-17 when the Husker's trailed at the half. Red flag? What else do you need? Look at the 2007 season, especially the defense. Nebraska finished near the bottom of 119 FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision, previously known as Division I-A) teams in most major defensive categories including yards per game and scoring defense.

You can't regress, and that's exactly what Callahan did. This season was every fan's worst nightmare. Something had to be done and Osborne thankfully pulled the trigger. Bo Pelini and Turner Gil remain the top prospects to succeed Callahan. With Huston Nutt leaving Fayetteville, Arkansas he is also on the list. He was actually almost lured out of Arkansas in 2003 by Pederson, but at the last minute Nutt told Pederson he couldn't leave the program.

The next few weeks will be the most important stretch of time in Husker history in terms in a coaching change. Osborne has one last chance to pick a lasting successor to return this program to national prominence. All we can do is hope that he is as talented and successful in the athletic director's chair as he was guiding this team to so many conference and national titles.

ESPN Story on Callahan's Firing

ESPN's Ivan Maisel's Column on Callahan Firing

Huskers.com Story and Transcript of Press Conference

Watch the Press Conference

Here are some videos to help supplement my rant.

It's 'Friday'

2007-11-21T13:12:00.000-06:00

So I though I would post something that may be of mild interest to Nebraska fans. A Forbes report listing the Top 20 Most Valuable College Football Programs was recently published. Notre Dame is, of course, at the top of the list as the most profitable. The Irish are listed at a total value of $101 million and netting a profit of $45.8 million. Plenty to buy Charlie Weiss out of his contract.

Our team is ranked 18th overall between the Washington Huskies and Michigan State Spartans. The team is valued at $49 million and it's profitability is listed at $12.4 million. I like how the caption just says that Bill Callahan "refused to step down at Nebraska despite being asked to do so by university officials." Pretty neat.

Three other Big 12 schools were ranked ahead of Nebraska. The schools are listed as Texas(#2), Oklahoma (#11) and Texas A&M (#16) in that order.

Above It All

2007-11-20T18:22:00.001-06:00

This weekend will mark the biggest meeting between the Kansas Jayhawks and the Missouri Tigers since 1960. It’s been over 40 years since this game has had any real meaning or carried any semblance of gravity. This rivalry goes back 116 years on the football field, but it goes back even further in the history books.

As you may or may not remember from your 8^th grade history class, Missouri and Kansas were entrenched in many a bloody battle back before and during the American Civil War. Missouri was a Confederate state and Kansas was a Union State. Most that were determined to abolish slavery settled in Kansas to oppose the pro-slavery state of Missouri.

You might say that since you’re not a redneck flying a Confederate Flag outside your home that you’d side with Kansas, being anti-slavery and all. It’s not that simple. Do you know where Kansas gets their mascot name from? A band of guerillas that led attacks on Missouri towns and cities went by the moniker the “Jayhawkers.” The Jayhawkers were notorious for the raping, pillaging and the slaughter of innocent women and children. On the other hand, the Tiger's home of Columbia is still known as "Little Dixie" and most are still proud of their Confederate roots.

How do I know all this crap? Well, because after living here for a little over a year now and going to college down in Missouri teaches you a lot about the history of each state. And I’ve done a lot of reading about this matchup this weekend. I wanted to see exactly why these two schools and their fans hate (and I really mean hate) each other.

What’s my point with this being a Nebraska Cornhuskers blog? I’m glad to be fan of a team that is above it all. Sure my team stinks this year and is danger of being tied for last place in the Big 12 North, but as you probably know, Nebraska fans are some of the classiest in college football. Of course we have our fair share of idiots, but if you’ve been to a game in Lincoln you are aware that for the most part, fans of the opposing team are treated with nothing but respect and are hardly harassed. Don’t believe me? I went to see Nebraska play Troy last fall and a gentleman was walking though one of the mezzanines and was wearing an Oklahoma jacket. Not one comment, not one menacing remark. That was in 2006 and we don't play the Sooners again until 2008.

The game is set for 7pm at Arrowhead Stadium in my home of Kansas City, Missouri. The gates open at 9am. Do the math. Probably over 100,000 people (20,000 of which don’t have tickets, they’ll just tailgate) drinking for over 9 hours piling into a stadium that probably won’t have the benefit of being split down the middle like the Red River Shootout.

Click to enlarge the above picture to see what I'm referring to.

While my team sits at the bottom and struggles to get into a December bowl when they play Colorado the day before, these two teams will slug it out for Big 12 North supremacy, a shot a the Big 12 title and a chance to play for the BCS National Title. No doubt certain fans will slug it out to show themselves who’s state is better while their respective teams do the same on the field.

When it gets down to it, this is just a game after all. When you’re 45 years old and getting into a fistfight over a bunch of 18 to 23 year old kids, it’s not cool. And fighting over which state did what to whom over 150 years ago is even less cool. Like I said, just happy to be above it all.