Suh-per Huskers

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

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

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

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)

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.