Looking to 2007

Linebacker Corey McKeon is one of two linebackers, along with Bo Ruud, tagged for the Bednarik Award watch list. The Bednarik Award is presented each season to the top defensive player in the nation.

June down, only July and August to go. Baseball is in full swing and keeping up with the Red Sox takes up a lot of my time. Despite that sentiment, as the calendar flips closer to September 1^st, I can’t help but feel my college football fever starting to rise.

The anticipation for a new college football season is far greater than any feeling I get for any other sport to start. This season has a few question marks with Nebraska, but there are a lot of things to look forward to. I’m hoping and dreaming that QB Sam Keller goes off for the season of his career. I hope that WR Maurice Purify gets his act together and makes it back to the team for the full season. I hope that RB Marlon Lucky stays healthy and lives up to his potential. I hope the secondary isn’t a liability like it was last year, and Kevin Cosgrove actually has a plan if DB Zack Bowman can’t make it back for the USC game on September 15^th. Hell, even the game in Winston-Salem against Wake Forest the week before.

Speaking of which, that game is the game I have circled on my calendar for September. How can I say that with the Trojans coming to Lincoln the next week? Because if the Huskers look beyond last years ACC champions, they’ll come back to Lincoln a likely 1-1.

Conference games on the road against Kansas, Texas and Missouri will be a huge test for this Huskers team as well. Did I mention that the offensive line has been shuffled around too? This season has the potential to be great or be awful. You look at the schedule and think the Huskers can realistically go 10-2, then you look again and you can see them going 6-6. All I’m looking for is another Big 12 North championship and shot at the Big 12 title. My only question is, is how long is Husker Nation going to put up with just winning the North?