Wake Forest Preview

This week was a great one for Bill Callahan and company. After coming off a dominating win over WAC foe Nevada, Callahan had his contract extended and the Huskers moved up to #16 in the Associated Press Writers Poll.

This weekend will figure to be a step up in terms of a challenging opponent. The Huskers will take the show on the road today to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to play defending ACC Champion Wake Forest tomorrow at 11 AM central time. Tomorrow’s game will be tougher in terms of the quality of their opponent, however it will not be quite the same tall task that Nebraska will face at home next weekend against consensus #1 USC. One of the elements that is a cause for worry would be the staff and players looking past this game just a little bit to next week’s showdown in Lincoln.

The game against the Demon Deacons tomorrow will be Nebraska’s only non-conference road game this year. The Husker’s were 3-and-3 while away from the fan-friendly confines of Memorial Stadium in 2006, however this iteration of the Wake Forest team that won their first ACC title in longer than I’d care to research looks like a far cry from the 2006 version.

First things first, their starting quarterback that took them to BCS glory in the Orange Bowl last year Riley Skinner, is listed as doubtful with a separated shoulder. The injury was sustained in last week’s conference opening loss to Boston College 38-28. Skinner ended the game with 236 yards passing with one touchdown and three interceptions. If you followed Wake, you’ll remember that last season Skinner emerged as the go-to QB after he started the year as the backup to a backup. So I wouldn’t be quick to dismiss their depth at the position.

The Deac’s will also be playing (maybe) without standout defensive end Matt Robinson. With Robinson out it may be an exploitable weakness to run directly at that side of the field with the country’s leading rusher Marlon Lucky, true freshman upstart Quentin Castile and the myriad of other I-back options that Nebraska has.

The Wake Forrest defense limited the Golden Eagles of Boston College to 54 yards total rushing last Saturday. This may be a skewed statistic considering the lack of ability for BC to pound the ball, relying more on the passing attack led by senior standout quarterback Matt Ryan. Ryan threw for 408 yards with five touchdowns and two interceptions. Could this be a chink in the mighty Wake Forest defense from last season? Might this be Keller’s breakout game? We’ll have to wait and see tomorrow. Either way, the coaching staff at Nebraska was able to adapt the gameplan when they saw just how much of mismatch they had running against Nevada last Saturday. If they can prove to be just as versatile in adapting tomorrow and attack the defenses drawbacks, it could be a long day for the Demon Deacon's.

What does Nebraska have to do? They need to set the pace of the game early and more than once. One drive will not do it. Wake Forest Stadium or BB&T Field or whatever they are calling it is not that imposing of an atmosphere. No more than say, Kyle Field the site where the Husker’s wrapped up their Big 12 North title last season against Texas A&M. With a couple of early offensive strikes into the endzone and/or big defensive stops they can take the crowd right out of the contest early. This being said, do not underestimate this Wake Forest team team. I think Wake will challenge the Huskers every step of the way and play "home opener ball" for the duration of the 60 minutes of play. This is a team that came out of nowhere last year and beat a decent Florida State team 31-0 in Tallahassee. I don’t care which team Bobby Bowden brings to the table, it’s still an accomplishment that should stick out to Callahan, his staff and his players.

If Callahan prepared his team properly and made them focus primarily on this game the Husker’s should come out on top. It may be a close, low scoring affair too that could be controlled by special teams play. I'm looking for some offensive production from Nebraska, however. With a solid punter in Dan Tichener, who may be one of the Big 12’s best, and if Adi Kunalic’s performance and leg strength was no flash in the pan last week, Nebraska has a good shot at winning on that front. The interesting factor will be Nebraska’s rushing attack versus Wake Forest’s rushing defense. We’ll see if the offensive linemen will be up to the task for the season tomorrow. The defensive line is not quite as undersized as Nevada’s and should be a better barometer for the O-line.

As I said, I’m guessing this will be a lower scoring affair than last week and I’m predicting a Husker non-conference road victory. Then again, what else would you expect? Look for the score to settle at 28-17 when it’s all said and done. I was a little under on Nebraska’s score for last week’s contest against the Wolf Pack, but was spot on for Nevada’s score giving them only four more points than what they earned. Hopefully I’m just as close for tomorrow’s game.

*Be sure to come back to the game reviews for all home contest’s this year a few days after I’ve put the post up. For Nevada’s wrap up I added the Husker’s new entrance and tunnel walk at the bottom of the post. Enjoy it, it looks pretty intense. I'll see it in person this year in the Husker's final home game November 12th against the Kansas State Wildcats.

Recruiting Roundup - Blaine Gabbert

Welcome to the world of competitive recruiting. This is the realm of college football that most fans do not pay attention to. It provides a glimpse into what could be in store for their team in the upcoming seasons. This obviously makes it an important element while following your favorite program, or for avid college football fans in general. It's exciting to watch and keep tabs on, however it can be a double edge sword. Prospects don't pan out, get injured and never come back or just transfer because they aren't getting what they were promised when they first signed. Obviously, I'll be focusing primarily on the Nebraska recruiting trail.

Top quarterback recruit Blaine Gabbert is who I’ll profile first and probably deserves all the pub he is currently receiving. Gabbert is easily one of the best recruits landed (at least verbally) by a Nebraska coaching staff in school history. With a sturdy 6’4” and 226 pound frame he is also probably the best pro-style quarterback to potentially play in Lincoln in the next few years and arguably the nation.

Just last week Gabbert was named MVP of the EA Sports “Elite 11” camp which brings in the top 11 high school quarterback recruits in the nation. Gabbert won the recognition over such touted “regional” prospects as Landry Jones who has given a strong verbal to Oklahoma and Dayne Crist who has verbally committed to Charlie Weiss and Notre Dame. Finally, it seems that Nebraska is recruiting with the big boys when it comes to skill positions. Whether elite prospects translates into an elite program remains to be seen, and probably why Nebraska brass felt it necessary to extend Coach Bill Callahan’s contract to 2011. Extending a coaches contract makes this process easier from the standpoint of answering questions regarding a program's future. For the record, the extension Callahan signed is also laced with incentives to do what Nebraska fans expect, and that’s win conference and compete for national titles.

Blaine Gabbert will enter this season as a senior at Parkway West High School in Ballwin, Missouri. Gabbert has the tools to be a four year system quarterback. Meaning, he won't be a transfer job like Zac Taylor or Sam Keller. He'll be used to the system and more polished as he reaches his years as an upper-classman. What are some of his strongest attributes? Well, he possesses one of, if not the strongest arm of any QB that will sign in 2008. He runs a 4.65 40-yard-dash which will make him mobile in and out of the pocket. His high school track record not only shows him as a smart player on the field but off as well with a 3.6 cumulative GPA. This will more than likely translate into Gabbert digesting the bloated Nebraska offensive playbook in enough time to be a regular starter for two or maybe even three seasons. Gabbert was unable to enroll early because of missing home economic requirements to graduate early and be ready for spring ball at Nebraska. I’m not kidding. Rather than studying the playbook he’ll live by for the next four or five years of his life, he’ll be baking cakes because of this oversight. Gabbert was brought to Lincoln by offensive coordinator Shawn Watson and defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove.

Coming up when I will profile more verbal commits I’ll post more than one at a time, with a couple of exceptions. Just keep in mind that recruiting is not an exact science and sometimes the best players are the ones that fly under the radar. You remember Harrison Beck? Don’t be sorry if you don’t, he wasn’t at Nebraska for that long. He was a highly sought after player and one of Nebraska’s best QB recruits of all time. This weekend he’ll make his first start for North Carolina State.

Watching recruiting just gives you an idea of potential for the next couple years and it’s a year round practice. Here is an interesting fact, when the Huskers dominated the mid to late 90's they were never on anyone's recruiting watch list. It’s nice to get excited over, but until players step on campus and onto the practice field no one can be sure of how they’ll all shake out. On the other hand, there can be a lot of positives. Look how well Marlon Lucky is turning out, and the Husker coaching staff stole him out from under Pete Carroll and USC. More often than not in this day in age of college football good recruiting is more important. The teams that are always in the top 10 in the polls are generally in the top 25 in recruiting. It's no mistake.

A Little More Than Luck

The 2007 football season kicked off on Saturday for the Nebraska Cornhuskers against Western Athletic Conference foe the Nevada Wolf Pack.

The much anticipated debut of one Samuel Michael Keller had to take a back seat to the outstanding rushing performance. Yes, you read this correctly, the rushing performance. In case you missed it the Huskers racked up 413 yards on the ground, 233 of which junior running back Marlon Lucky was responsible for. Lucky made it look like 1997 rather than 2007 on a career-high day in rushing, and I don’t think anyone in or around Memorial Stadium in Lincoln, Nebraska complained. Lucky also rushed for three touchdowns and caught another out of the backfield for Keller’s one and only touchdown pass of the day. Lucky also won the Walter Camp Foundation's National Offensive Player of the Week award. He also picked up Big 12 honors for his performance as well.

Keller looked sharp most of the day with the exception of looking at some receivers for a few too many seconds before unloading. Watching Keller on Saturday shows that he has tools that no other quarterback in Nebraska history has possessed. At the end of the first half while at their own 40-yard line with less than a minute to go, Callahan decided to show Husker Nation exactly what they had in the senior transfer. On the last play Keller uncorked a pass for nearly 65 yards to senior Wide Receiver Dan Erickson with ease. Erickson dropped the pass but the “oooos” and “aaahhhs” were apparent as he launched that attempt. Keller connected on 14 of 25 passes for 193 yards, the aforementioned TD and the interception that was returned by Wolf Pack safety Jonathan Amaya for a touchdown.

When you look at the box score you can clearly see that Nebraska handed out a good old fashion, run it down your throat Tom Osborne era-type butt whoopin’ performance. That much is obvious. What may not be obvious were the struggles the Husker offense had out of the gate in the first quarter. The offense was unimpressive and mostly frustrating to watch while the coaching staff tried to give Keller scripted plays from the sidelines and Keller regurgitating them in the huddle only to get to the line, move through motions and the call only to have a five-yard penalty for delay of game. The coaching staff and Keller need to work on this during the week leading up to playing in Winston-Salem, North Carolina against the ACC Champion Wake Forrest Demon Deacons. One of the strongest assets the Huskers possessed on offense last year was their ability to be efficient on their first drive of the game. In their 14 games last year Nebraska scored on eight of their first possessions.

That being said, the one thing I was impressed with was something last year’s team did not attain, and no other Husker team has really had since the 90's. That would be a killer instinct. Last season with Zac Taylor at the helm it was all about sizing up the defense and taking what they would give you and being extremely efficient. This year it almost seems (based on one game, mind you) that the idea is to find a defense’s weakness and not only exploit it, but to take advantage of and step on the throat of said defense. It shows something else that has been lacking since the "glory days" and that is confidence. The ability to have confidence and call plays that are built to win could be (once again, it's only been one game) the deciding factor in separating the Taylor years from the Keller era of one season. For example, once the jig was up and the Wolf Pack defensive line was exposed by a 40-pound differential when stacked in favor of Nebraska’s front five, it was game over. Not only did they take what the defense gave them on the ground, they wound up racking up the most yards a Nebraska team has since the Eric Crouch era.

They amassed 625 yards. 625! That was nearly tops in the nation, and only second behind their Big 12 rival Oklahoma Sooners. Let’s also get this out of the way, the Nevada team that came in was missing their quarterback from last year, their star linebacker and a standout offensive lineman. Despite all of that this team is not chicken feed. They will compete in the WAC this year and will probably make their third straight bowl game. This is also the same team that took the Miami Hurricane’s to the wire in postseason play 10 months ago. Not that it’s saying much, but it’s still Miami. This wasn’t a team like Central Michigan that the Kansas Jayhawks played this weekend either. This team is better.

I’m not saying Nevada was a great measuring stick, because they aren't. The Huskers will get plenty of that the next two weekends playing an ACC team and conference champion this weekend and the much anticipated rematch against National Champion pick and number on overall USC. I’m just saying that it’s not a I-AA (or FCS, which stands for Football Championship Subdivision, now the proper nomenclature) team or one of the worst teams in I-A ball (now known as FBS which stands for Football Bowl Subdivision, get it?).

The Huskers also unveiled some incoming players in Quintin Castille, who rushed for almost 100 yards and two scores, and true freshman receiver Niles Paul.

Time for a prediction. Nebraska has a solid team that will compete for the Big 12 North and at the most make it to the conference championship and compete with Oklahoma or Texas in December in San Antonio, Texas. I think that the team’s speed has dramatically increased in comparison to the past, well, six or seven years. You can't teach or coach speed, and that natural talent is what you need to be a successful program in college football. Coach Bill Callahan and staff are bringing in the right kids for their system and it’s starting to become visible and will ultimately pay off. So much so, that the school’s chancellor and Athletic Director Steve Pederson decided to extend Callahan’s contract through 2011. So, I hope you like Bill.

I’ll close on this. The mark of a good team is the ability to be multi-dimensional. The Nebraska of a few years ago would have had to have stayed with the pass first plan because they didn’t have the personnel to shove the opponent’s defense around. On Saturday the passing game wasn’t working out so great out of the gate, so they switched to running the ball straight down Nevada’s throats. They seem to have enough talent to be even more versatile than they have been in the past. Having a solid passing and running game will pay dividends as the season wears on. Also, having an offensive line that averages 320 pounds a player isn't going to hurt either.

Sorta Nevada Preview

This is not an in depth preview for tomorrow’s game, just to make you aware. Those will start next week, hopefully.

So, are you read for some football? I know I am. Tomorrow is the kickoff of the 2007 college football season for the Nebraska Cornhuskers against the Nevada Wolfpack. The opener, if won by the Huskers, will be their 23^rd straight. The team is taking the game very seriously, as they know that the Wolfpack is not your father’s opening game in Lincoln. Gone are the days of playing a I-AA team or even a I-A team that is on the bottom rung of the spectrum.

Nevada is a legitimate threat out of the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) playing in two consecutive bowl games and taking the University of Miami Hurricanes to the wire in the MPC Computers bowl eventually losing 21-20.

The Wolfpack finished the season very respectably compared to their 0-2 record early last season. Their defense looked impressive at times limiting several teams to fewer than 10 points and earning shutouts against Utah State and Louisiana Tech. However, their D was a little more than lost against top tier WAC schools Hawaii and Boise State. Nevada will also be playing without suspended star linebacker Ezra Butler. They’ll also be working without their star center Dominic Green and former standout quarterback Jeff Rowe who was a firth-round draft pick by the Cincinnati Bengals in April of this year.

Tomorrow will be the first start for another quarterback on the field, at least for his respective team. After reading a truckload of stories on senior Sam Keller this month, he’s probably about as tired as I am of hearing the “coming full circle” type questions and is ready to get on with the business of the season at hand. If Keller has done his homework and is as good as advertised, expect the Huskers to put up a lot of points tomorrow. I’m not talking about any scores in the sixties or seventies, that’s a little unrealistic for this team. I’m calling the game at 38-14 for a final score. Look for it to be around there, give or take a touchdown.

Earlier in the week, former Husker and Kansas City Chief great Will Shields visited the team on Thursday after practice. Shields enjoyed a successful 14 year career at the NFL level playing in 12 straight Pro-Bowls and was the recipient of the 1992 Outland Trophy while at Nebraska. Hopefully this made an impact on the team. He’s not a fiery type of speaker which fits well into Callahan’s method of coaching and what the players are used to. His speech is exactly what you would expect. His message was to prepare, study, do what’s right and be a great guy. A consummate professional, Shields was also the 2003 winner of the Walter Payton Man of the Year award, given to an NFL player that has gone above and beyond in the realm of charity and community work. Prior to 1999 it was simply called “NFL Man of the Year.”

The starting roster and depth chart for tomorrow's game were made up earlier in the week. I’m sure Callahan will be looking to answer a few question marks before taking the show on the road to Winston-Salem, North Carolina next weekend. The game tomorrow, while important, is more or less a way to measure if the team is in order. Saying that, I’m hoping that Callahan and his staff have the team prepared for the Wolf Pack and are not looking past them to their next two games against Wake Forest and Southern Cal.

All the questions that have been asked about the quarterback position, replacing Brandon Jackson, replacing the defensive line and questions regarding the secondary will not be answered tomorrow afternoon in Lincoln. However, it will show how far this team has come after spring and fall camps. Beyond all of that, there is nothing like watching your team take the field for the first time during a brand new season.

An Open Letter

Before we start, yes, I made this collage with my rudimentary art skills.

I’ve been perusing sports websites today reading up on the start of college football for this season. I’m astonished at the lack of press Nebraska is receiving. Not that I didn’t expect it, I just don’t like not reading about them as much as I used to. It’s cool to have your team talked about.

I’m frustrated when I watch and read polls regarding the elements of college football. When you don’t list Lincoln, Nebraska in the top 10 of college gameday environments, it’s like a slap in the face to the self-proclaimed “best fans in college football.” I’m biased, of course I’m biased. This is a fan blog about the Nebraska Cornhuskers, however if were I not a fan I would honestly have to say Nebraska is one of the best environments based on this. I’ve been to South Bend, Indiana to see a football game at Notre Dame. To me, there is virtually no difference in the pre-game fervor leading up to kickoff and the excitement during the game. Notre Dame will always make a top 10 or five list of best places to be on Saturday afternoons in the fall. It’s just how it is, they are America’s Team when it comes to college football. They say the Huskers haven’t done anything in the past decade or so. Talk about a team that hasn’t done anything in as much time or a longer amount of time. Notre Dame right now is the most overrated college football program in the country. I’ve been to Iowa City, Iowa. It’s not the same. Of course they love their team, however the winning tradition is not there. Sorry, it’s just not.

Just because a team has not played on the level they have in the past does not automatically diminish the merits of said past success. These fans are some of the most loyal in the country. This team does not represent just one state, it represents an entire region of the country. It’s fan base even reaches beyond the world of the upper Midwest. The lack of respect for the program sucks. I’m sorry, it just flat out does. Could the team do more to establish this? Have they had opportunities to put their own team back on the map? Of course they have. However, when I don’t see the Huskers even considered for even the most irrelevant of polls on ESPN or wherever, I don’t like it. When I see people picking Missouri to win the Big 12 North, or Kansas State as a sleeper? Come on, I don’t even want it to be a question. I’m not sure what Bill Callahan is waiting for, but the time to take this team and this program over the edge back into national prominence is now. I sat through the decline of the Osborne Huskers during Frank Slouch’s tenure (just a note, Osborne probably should still have been coaching and or should be still, he basically stepped down to hand the reigns to Solich so he wouldn’t leave and he basically just messed it up anyway), the lowest of the lows most people still alive have ever seen in 2004 and up until now with the rebuilding of a national contender. This will be Callahan’s fourth year at the helm. He has some of “his guys” in the program now, probably more than guys that aren’t. On the other hand, there aren’t a majority of players that were recruited out of high school and are cultivated in the system. The tide should be turning fairly soon though. How will this team fair this time around in 2007? Will it be another step forward, another step back or just a stagnant season where virtually no progress is made?

In my opinion Nebraska should be the Oklahoma and Texas of the North. It’s as simple as that. If this sounds like a sense of entitlement then I think you’re wrong. This is Nebraska, not Kansas State, Missouri or Kansas. We are Nebraska. We have won five national championships in the past 40 years. We are in the top five of all time winningest college football programs. We graduate more academic All-American’s than any other school in Division I-A. We’ve won a truckload of conference championships. We have had three Heisman winners. We’ve sold out our home stadium more than any other school in the country. We aren’t Kansas State, Kansas or Iowa State. We are Nebraska. All the players, the students, the fans, the residents are included and when you step on and question our capacity to create on of the best atmospheres and fan bases in all of college football you are not only insulting a school , you are insulting an entire region of the country. People give me all sorts of crap because when I refer to this team I say “we.” I say “we” not because I attended Nebraska or because I played there, because I didn’t really want to attend for my own personal reasons. That’s not the issue however. I say “we” because my parents were born there, my family is rooted deep into the state and I even had an uncle play there. I have that right because of these things, also because I care enough to spend my own free time maintaining a blog about this team for nothing. I live and die on every Saturday afternoon or night, with every signee and recruit that comes to play in Lincoln. That gives me the right to say “we.” This gives you the right to say “we.” Be proud, you’re a part of something special.