Wednesday, August 31, 2011

What are tell-tale signs from Nebraska's season opener?

Well, we know that Saturday's season-opening game aainst Tennessee-Chatanooga will say very little as to how good the 2011 Nebraska Cornhuskers are. However, that would stating the obvious. The No. 10 ranked Huskers hope saturday's game is the first step to wiping the slate clean from last season's disappointing finish that saw them finish 10-4 but lose three of their last four games.


There will, however, be a few tell-tale signs from this contest. If the Huskers dominate on both sides of the ball, it doesn't meann much but if they don't, it meas a lot. Granted, Nebraska will likely run run a vanilla playbook and will play a lot of backups if the score dictates, but if this team is going where we want it to, it won't matter and the Huskers will blow them out. If that doesnt happen, its a major concern for the upcoming year.
It also bears watching how the newcomers look, especially a running back. While Rex Burkhead is definitely ready to be the featured back, the fact remains that the days of running backs carrying 30-plus times a game are a thing of the past. Are true freshmen running backs Ahmeer Abdullah, Aaron Green and Braylon Heard as good as advertised? Same with wide receiver Jamal Turner? That question becomes significant because remember the hype surrounding Cody Green in 2009? Some fans were saying he was a potential Vince Young. Granted, Green did not always get a fair shake from coaches but Vince Young he was not. Even though the competition is down, we should be able to get a feel for how good these guys can be.
Another thing that bears watching is what is different about this year's offense other than the fact that the coordinator is different? We will not learn everything as they will likely try getting back with a vanilla approach but we should be able to get a feel for the tempo, some of the playcalling and how well it flows.
And how well will quarterback Taylor Martinez mesh with the wide receivers? Again, we may see vanilla plays and Martinez won't see a defense this easy, but if receivers are getting open and Martinez is hitting them in stride, it means this years air attack has a chance. If Martinez is missing wide open guys and playmakers aren't getting open, look out for trouble as its going to get harder. I don't see rust playing much of a role. These guys should be ready.
I'd like to say that penalties and fumbles are something we can tell, but the fact is that it's the first game and we've got a lot of young guys playing, if there are penalties and turnovers, I'm not going to get totally bent out of shape as long as they are not by the bundle.

Monday, August 29, 2011

Season opener won't tell us much but important nonetheless

The nation is not going to have its eyes glued on No. 11 ranked Nebraska's Saturday matchup against Tennessee-Chatanooga like, say, No. 3 Oregon against No. 4 LSU or to a lesser degree No. 7 Boise State travelling to No. 22 Georgia.


However since Nebraska has to play the game anyhow, the question becomes what will the game tell us? Keep in mind, the Huskers are looking for a fresh start after finishing last season with a 10-4 record that concluded with three losses in its last four games.
Considering that it is a game that the Huskers should win fairly easily by the second half at the latest (given the Mocs total lack of depth on the lines, thin even by FCS standards), the game is a no-win situation for Nebraska. Let's face it, if you win big, it's to be expected. If you struggle like say the 2005 season-opening 25-7 win over D-IAA Maine, the question becomes, what's wrong with the Huskers? On the other hand, you don't want to see a process like the 2004 season-opening 56-17 win over Western Illinois. In that game, the Huskers turned the ball over six times and it proved to be a season long problem on the way to a 5-6 campaign.

That said, from Nebraska's standpoint, being in a position where second and third-stringers getting lots of reps should be expected if for no other reason than to develop your bench players.
Since the Huskers are breaking in a new offensive coordinator (Tim Beck), the objectiives should be getting lined up in order, getting off the snap, avoiding stupid penalties, getting plays off in time, avoid wasting time outs, finishing drives, very few dropped passes, and no turnovers. All of those things plaqued the Husker offense a year ago even wen quarterback Taylor Martinez was healthy I seriously do not think we will learn entirely of Beck's new philosophy because executing base plays will be much more important.

On defense, I want to see defensive ends getting pressure on the quarterback to go along with the good push we have seen from the defensive tackles the last several years. I am also curious to see the ends keep better outside containment. I am also interested to see how much does the secondary miss DeJon Gomes and his tackling along with getting better linebacker play from the likes of Will Compton, Alonzo Whaley and Sean Fisher.

On special teams, I would like to see a solid kicking game which includes pinning the opponent deep on punts. Lastly, I would like to see someone returning kicks, and punts, someone with some decent vision and breakaway speed.


Regardless of the score, I am looking for a 38-10 type game with a lot of room for improvement going into game 2, and as most coaches will tell you most teams improve the most between game 1 and game 2. So let's hope for an injury free game and a glimpse of the talent the team has for 2011.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Replacing Henery no easy task

So called football purists would scoff at any mention of a kicker. Think about it, every time a tea loses a game as a result of a kicker missng a makeable field goal you hear someone bristle, "The game should never come down to a kicker."


True, you want to get touchdowns instead of field goals but such a statement also misses the point because a kicker is on the roster just like everyone else so why should he be exempt from doing his job? Why is it that we have no problem criticizing a running back for fumbling or a quarterback for throwing an interception? Yet we want to give a kicker a free pass.

Anyhow, the last three seasons, Nebraska football fans did not have to worry about that situation from 2008-2010 primarily because more often than not Alex Henery was te Huskers biggest offensive weapon. That statement is as much an indictment on the Husker offense as it is a compliment to Henery's incredible talent. He set an NCAA record by converting on 89.5% of his field goal attempts in his college football career.

Henery was first-team All-American in 2010 and was the winner of the Guy Chamerlin Trophy as well. Henery was taken in the fifth round of the NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles.

Brett Maher and Mauro Bondi will somehow split up the jobs of punting, place-kicking, and kickoffs between them. At this point it appears as though Maher will punt and Bondi will place-kick but the competition is officially still open for all of the jobs.

No matter who ends up trying to fill Henery's famous shoes, their success or failure will have a large impact on how well Nebraska does this season. If the offense improves, it will take some of the pressure off of the new guys and that may be the best thing Nebraska can do to help offset the loss of Henery.

However, at some point a clutch field goal will be needed.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Burkhead ready but Huskers need a running mate


Much of the discussion of any potential improvement from Nebraska's offense has centered around the return to health and form of sophomore quarterback Taylor Martinez along with the ability of new offensive coordinator Tim Beck to establish a true identity that the unit has lacked for the past decade.

However, another important factor will be junior running ack Rex Burkhead's ability to handle to role of featured runner and the Huskers finding a complimentary backfield mate. Burkhead filled that role for Roy Helu, who has since graduate. Burkhead filled role pretty well as he amassed 346 yards on 81 carries and three touchdowns as a true freshman in 2009. Burkhead's role expanded a year ago as he tallied 951 yards on 172 carries and seven touchdowns. The question now is that with Helu gone, can Burkhead handle the role of being the bellcow?

That statement is not necessarily a negative against Burkhead but more of an appreciation for Helu, who was a stable prescence for an offense that couldn't find an identity to save its life. Burkhead possesses outstanding talent and I believe has the ability to enjoy a breakout season. Keep in mind the junior from Plano, Texas, nearly surpassed the 1,000 yard mark despite splitting carries with Helu.


Burkhead, however, is an unproven commodity as the true featured back and, let's face it, at every level of football the number of runners that carry the ball 30 times per game is a thing of the past.


The question is not necessarily can Burkhead handle taking the majority of the carries? Say 15-20. The question is, who can Nebraska rely on to spell Burkhead for say 10 carries?


The candidates are Aaron Green, Ameer Abdullah, and Braylon Heard. Green and Abdullah are both members of this year's recruiting class, a class in which Green was considered one of the best running back prospects available. Abdullah has been impressive in workouts, and many people believe the coaching staff is going to have to find a way to get him on the field.


Heard originally committed to the Huskers as a member of the 2010 class, but was unable to qualify academically. After finally achieving the requisite scores, Heard is ready to finally see the field for Nebraska.


It would appear as though Green is the runaway favorite to be Burkhead's running mate but Heard was nearly as highly touted as Green coming out of high school and was one of the best running backs in his class.


Heard also has the advantage of being a year older and more mature from everything he had to go through just to be allowed to play for Nebraska. His perseverance to become a Husker shows a desire for football and for the program that cannot be overlooked. Any rust Heard might have from the year away from football should be quickly shed.


The odds would appear to be in Heard's favor to emerge from the pack as Burkhead's running mate. Whoever emerges from that pack will essentially play the same role Burkhead has played the last two years.

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Huskers need to let Dennard heal

While the Nebraska football team cannot do anything about senior cornerback Alfonzo Dennard being out indefinitely with a pulled muscle injury, the team would be wise to learn from its handling of quarterback Taylor Martinez’s injuries from last season.


The timetable on when Dennard can back on the field after the right leg injury isn’t clear, Husker head coach Bo Pelini said Wednesday to members of the Nebraska media that covers the team. Pelini added that he did not know if Dennard would miss any game action. The Huskers open their season on Sept. 3 at home against Tennessee-Chattanooga.

Sophomore Andrew Green would appear to be the likely candidate as Dennard’s replacement. The injury to Dennard is significant because he is considered one of, if not the best, at his position in the nation. While Prince Amukamara, who was a first-round draft choice of the New York Giants, grabbed much of the attention for the Husker secondary, some believe that Dennard is actually a more complete player.

To refresh your memory on Martinez, the current sophomore was dynamite in the first ten games of 2010. Martinez was a big play waiting to happen who was drawing comparisons to former Husker great Eric Crouch (the 2001 Heisman Trophy winner). Martinez rushed 887 yards on 112 carries and 12 touchdowns. In the passing department, he completed 63 of 119 for 1,161 yards, ten touchdowns and three interceptions.

After sustaining an ankle injury, however, in a 31-17 win over Missouri, Martinez became pretty ordinary as he carried 50 times for 79 yards. In the passing department, he completed 44 of 76 for 470 yards, no touchdowns and four interceptions.



Martinez sat out wins over Iowa State (31-30) and Colorado (45-17) but also left losses against Texas A&M and Washington, giving way to since transferred Cody Green in relief each time. However, part of the problem could also be attributed to the fact that the coaching staff tried to rush him back too quickly when it would have been much more prudent to rest him until he was at or near full-strength. Green led Nebraska to the aforementioned wins. Martinez led the Huskers to a 20-3 win at home against Kansas but clearly was not himself. True, he ran 11 times for 71 yards but lacked the blazing speed he displayed when healthy. In that game, Martinez completed 14-of-26 passes for 167 yards with one interception.

Though injuries during fall camp, let alone anytime, are not fun, they are to be expected. The term “out indefinitely” can mean any number of things. It can mean next week or next year.

The truth of the matter is, Nebraska wins the UT-Chatanooga game whether Dennard plays or not. The main thing is that he gets as much time as he needs to get back to full strength.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Husker offensive line needs to walk in tall Cotton

While former offensive coordinator Shawn Watson took the brunt of the criticism for Nebraska’s offensive struggles in 2009, and to a lesser degree in 2010, offensive line coach Barney Cotton was a close second.

Running backs coach Tim Beck has since replaced the departed Watson, who is now the quarterbacks coach at Louisville. Cotton remains the offensive line coach and associate head coach. John Garrison is the associate offensive line coach as well as tight ends coach.

Cotton took his share of lumps from Husker fans and while some of it was warranted, the amount of venom was pretty brutal. What one fails to take into account was that a huge reason for the offense’s struggles was the effort to marry too many different philosophies. The disparity in philosophies between Cotton and Watson really accelerated the waffling between power football and influence blocking, resulting in the total ineffectiveness that was witnessed last year up front. Cotton also had no control over the injuries that made a bad situation really ugly. I am in no way excusing his role but a segment of Nebraska fans lay it all of the blame at his feet. Was he part of the reason for the line’s problems? Yes. Entirely? No.

The problem is, too people have the IQ of a pea plant and think, “Well, the O-Line stinks, so Cotton stinks too.” True, the offensive line play has left something to be desired but if you have even a shade of football knowledge, poor line play can also be because of injuries, offensive coordinator, philosophy, bad talent or bad depth. The injuries Nebraska has had up front are a factor along with the lack of recruits present when head coach Bo Pelini and his staff arrived in 2008 along with Watson’s complex West Coast Offense that lent itself to players thinking more so than playing.

Since Watson is a West Coast Offense advocate while Cotton espouses a power running back, it’s fair to say that Cotton was trying to figure out what Watson wanted, and that he actually was like a player, studying the play book, trying to figure out what Watson wanted. Let’s face it, Cotton had a hard time teaching the Watson/Bill Callahan system.


Callahan has been a reputable offensive line coach in both college and the NFL but Cotton was a bad match for the system the Huskers were trying to run 2008-2010 with Watson and without Callahan and Dennis Wagner. It made sense to keep Watson after Callahan was dismissed at the end of the 2007 season and not go through another radical change the way they did in 2004. Bringing in Barney in Year No. 1 was probably one of the few mismatches (short term issues) for Pelini and he is still dealing with it.


So where are we at today? The line definitely needs more consistency considering the Huskers are looking at potentially starting a true freshman, a redshirt freshman, a true sophomore and a redshirt sophomore if Marcel Jones cannot go which is a distinct possibility. And maybe another true freshman will see playing time for Mike Caputo if Nebraska plays 3-4 defenses with a nose tackle that can take advantage of Caputo like Texas A&M did.


The offensive line will need to find its consistency especially in hostile Big 10 road environments like Wisconsin, Michigan and Penn State.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Gauging Nebraska's Big 10 rivalry radar

The term “dog days of summer” is normally associated with Major League Baseball pennant races but it can apply to college football too.



Sure teams around the country are in full swing with official fall practice schedules but let’s face it, the real fun starts with the opening kickoff of the first game. In Nebraska’s case that would be Sept. 3 against Tennessee-Chattanooga.


However, just to kill some time, the question begs, which Big 10 team has the greatest potential to be Nebraska’s rival? Keep in mind, the Huskers enter their first Big 10 season but rivalries don’t just happen, they develop over time.


When I think of rivalry, I mostly think of a few things: a) There is definite polarization as in there’s no way in hell you could root for the other team, b) The game usually means something when the two teams play, c) Fans will watch the game even if they don’t care about either team and d) The game carries equal meaning for BOTH teams.


Michigan-Ohio State, Alabama-Auburn, Texas-Oklahoma and others fit that description. OK, sure, you can say Harvard-Yale but how many people are going to drop whatever they are doing to watch that game?


For years, Nebraska was rivals with Oklahoma. The interesting thing is that OU has generally considered Texas its biggest rival but Nebraska-Oklahoma was the traditional game that took place the day after Thanksgiving. Plus, both teams were good at the same time for many years, combining for 12 National Championship (OU has seven, NU has five) and dominated the Big Eight conference, which later expanded to the Big 12.


With that expansion, both teams played each other two years out of every four since Nebraska is in the Big 12 North and Oklahoma is in the Big 12 South. Since 1993, the two clubs have only share three good seasons (2001, 2010 and to a lesser extent 2006). The two teams met in the Big 12 title game in 2006 and 2010. OU suffered some fallow years from 1994-1998 before Bob Stoops arrived to resurrect the program. Nebraska suffered mostly subpar years from 2002-2007 but appears to be on its way back to prominence under Bo Pelini.


Colorado, Kansas State and Missouri had elements of the notion “rivalry” with Nebraska the last 15 or so years as the meetings have been testy at times. Bill McCartney was known for “red lettering” Nebraska on the schedule but a large segment of Husker fans even to this day did not consider it a rivalry. Colorado is now a member of the Pac 12.


So now that Nebraska has vacated the Big 12, which team will become its biggest rival? On paper most would say that Ohio State because of their recent conference dominance and the fact that Pelini played there in the 1980s. However, the two programs have very little history against each other, having played head-to-head just twice and those meetings came in 1955 and 1956.


You could make an argument for Michigan because of the recent history involving Nebraska’s 2005 Alamo Bowl 32-28 win tha represented the height of the Bill Callahan era and split 1997 national championship. The Wolverines have been in a downslide in going 15-22 the last three years after the ill-fated move of firing head coach Lloyd Carr and replacing him with Rich Rodriguez. Brady Hoke was hired to replace the since fired Rodriguez. However, Michigan is ot going to stay irrelevant forever.


Penn State has possibilities for the Huskers being rivals with because the two teams share some nonconference history. Remember 1982 in Happy Valley when Nebraska fought back from a 21-7 deficit and finally pulled into the lead on an 80 yard drive with 1:18 remaining? Yet, the Nittany Lions drove right back and handed the Cornhuskers their first and only loss of the season when Penn State completed a controversial pass deep into Nebraska’s end zone with just four seconds left on the clock. Penn State tight end Mike McCloskey, who was the receiver of the game winning catch, admitted he was out of bounds on the play and should have been ruled ineligible 16 years later. If the catch had been flagged properly, Nebraska’s position for National championship consideration would have been much stronger.


Then there was 1994 when both teams were unbeaten but Nebraska was voted National Champion in both the AP and coaches poll. Keep in mind, Penn State’s move to the Big 10 prevent both teams from playing each other because at the time the Big 10 and Pac 10 champion was automatically tied to the Rose Bowl. However, it should also be noted that Nebraska beat two top five teams (Colorado and Miami) while Penn State did not. The two teams also played a home-and-home series in 2002 and 2003.


Wisconsin and Nebraska have the geographic proximity and similar color scheme (red) to be rivals. The Badgers were the most aggressive, at least publicly, as head coach Bret Bielema contacted the Big Ten office about scheduling an end-of-year series with Nebraska just hours after the Huskers were voted into the league. ESPN.com quoted Bielema as saying: “With Coach (Tom) Osborne’s and Coach (Barry) Alvarez’s history, maybe we can start a little trophy game. Call it the Alvaborn Cup or something like that. We don’t have a season-ending finale game, so maybe we can start a tradition here.”


Osborne and Alvarez are both former head coaches turned athletic directors at Nebraska and Wisconsin respectively. Alvarez also played linebacker for Nebraska in 1960s. Wisconsin could use a regular rival on the final Saturday of the season, now that the Minnesota game has been moved earlier as opposed to the day after Thanksgiving.


Speaking of which, Nebraska will play Iowa the day after Thanksgiving in what will be called the Heroes Game. The two teams have played each other 40 times, however, all but five came in the pre-Bob Devaney era (1960).


The two states are neighboring and there is a genuine dislike between the two fans bases but this series, to me, is more of Iowa being the new Colorado in that the Hawkeye fans view as a rivalry more so than Nebraska.


Former Colorado football coach Bill McCartney made Nebraska the Buffaloes’ “red-letter game,” thus from Colorado’s perspective, igniting the rivalry. The Huskers, who routinely throttled Colorado home and away, considered Oklahoma its rival. The Huskers and Sooners, after all, usually settled the Big Eight championship with their game at the end of November.


Essentially, I view Iowa as the new Colorado. However, it will be different in this way, while CU would only occassionaly win the game and was thus not a real rival, Iowa’s rivalry will be tied to how close Nebraska is to them. Yes, Nebraska boarders Colorado but Boulder seemed light years away from Lincoln. Nebraska shares the Missouri River with Iowa and there are major metro areas on each side and more natural competition for fan support. So, Iowa seems much more natural then CU ever was as a rival.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Turner could be key to Nebraska offense

Even though Niles Paul was a very talented athlete, the name mostly evokes memories of disappointment for Nebraska football fans.



In a nutshell, Paul did some good things during his Husker career but more often than not left most people the impression that he should have done more.


Paul was a fifth-round draft choice of the Washington Redskins in April. He was Nebraska’s leading receiver in 2009 and 2010. In the past decade, the only receiver who has had a better season stastically than Paul was Nate Swift in 2008.


Much of the anguish toward Paul and adulation toward Swift among the Husker fan base stems from the fact that Paul was a five-star recruit while Swift was not touted even remotely as high. Personally, I think recruiting rankings are a lot of conjecture but that’s another story for another time. Point being, at times Paul was a difference maker and at other times he was a flake and when you are supposed to be a difference maker, righty or wrongly, people remember the flake.


Most people equate the key to Nebraska’s offense being quarterback Taylor Martinez. When Martinez was healthy, the Husker offense was at times lethal. On the other hand, when he was saddled with an ankle injury the offense was ordinary.


However, it would be foolish for the Huskers to put all of their eggs Martinez’s basket. Even if the good Taylor Martinez shows up this season, quarterbacks that run as much as he does tend to get hurt or at the very least banged up. No one plays an entire football season at 100 percent, and if Martinez gets banged up enough that he has to beat teams with his arm then he is going to need help.


At running back, Rex Burkhead is very good and should have a breakout season stepping out from Roy Helu’s shadow, but I do not know anyone who would classify him as explosive. It is possible that the trio of freshmen backs behind Burkhead (Aaron Green, Ameer Abdullah and Braylon Heard) possesses some big-play ability among them, but they will have a difficult time getting enough carries between the three of them to show if off consistently.


The player that figures to be the key to Nebraska becoming an explosive offense is quarterback-turner-wide receiver Jamal Turner. Turner was moved to wide receiver despite the lack of depth at quarterback but Turner appears destined to stay at wide receiver after his performance in the spring game.


Turner had four receptions for 93 yards (an average of more than 20 yards per catch) and two returns of more than 50 yards (one punt, one kickoff) in the spring game. Granted, spring games can be misleading, but for a guy that should have still been in high school instead of in Memorial Stadium, it was an impressive performance, to say the least.

Obviously it is too early to tell how things are going to turn out for Turner. He may show flashes of brilliance before settling in to being an above-average yet unspectacular receiver. He may flame out completely and the spring game will serve as his best moment in college football.


The truth of the matter is that if a team has a playmaking wide receiver, it can make an average offense into a dynamic one, which I believe is a fair statement. Just ask Rod Rutherford. Who is that? Larry Fitzgerald’s quarterback at Pittsburgh who was in the conversation for the Heisman in 2003 almost exclusively due to Fitzgerald’s efforts. The impact of explosive wide receivers can be very large to an offense.


While Turner carries a lot of promise, expectations for his first season needed to be exercised with caution. Much like we needed to for Martinez last season. Watching the spring game, though, it wasn’t just his stats that were impressive. He’s just an incredible athlete and looked to be naturally suited for receiver and returner. So unless Bo Pelini’s defense suddenly got soft, Turner showed a lot of potential against some good defenders. He’s definitely a sleeper for 2011.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Huskers likely to keep the 3-4 defense as part of the equation

In a recent Omaha World Herald story http://www.omaha.com/article/20110730/BIGRED/707309858, Nebraska defensive tackle Jared Crick talked about how he would welcome more opportunities to play defensive end, as he did at various times in Nebraska’s 31-17 win over Missouri last season. Even though the Huskers were a team that predominantly played with four down linemen they occasionally played a 3-4 defense in 2011 and will likely keep that alignment as part of the equation in 2011.



That alignment would be good for Crick (6-6, 285) and fellow 4-3 defensive tackle Baker Steinkuhler (6-6, 290) because their body frame is closer to being a 3-4 end than 4-3 tackle. Keep in mind, the fourth linebacker in the 3-4 is often a bigger guy, sometimes an undersized defensive end and Nebraska have some players at that position with speed who could play in that role such as Eric Martin and Cameron Meredith (both slated for duty as 4-3 ends). Martin would be an obvious option, especially if his main role was rushing.


Still leaves a question of who plays nose tackle, which is a is a key position if you’re running a 3-4 because you want a very large, very strong guy who pretty much cannot be moved with one player. Usually that guy can carry an enormous amount of weight and still move effectively. I have no idea who that player is on Nebraska’s roster. Maybe senior Terrance Moore (6-3, 290)? However, it would be better to have someone in the 310 and above range. Freshman Todd Peat Jr. (6-3, 305) could be that guy but not now.


Linebacker wouldn’t be a problem in a 3-4. Martin and Sean Fisher on the outside and LaVonte David and Will Compton inside. David (6-1, 225) shined at 4-3 outside linebacker last year and is a Butkus Award candidate this year.


However, I think the 3-4 alignment is more likely to happen in third-and-long situations that are obvious passing downs the Huskers still have good run support in a 3-4 but can also put six into coverage without a big mismatch, thus blitzing one or two linebackers either side or both.


Against teams that have the ability to run a lot of power sets like Wisconsin, a 4-3 is the way to go because without the mammoth nose tackle, it’s really hard to run a 3-4 that can stop an inside running game.


Against a team that runs more spread, like Northwestern, or a Michigan State that runs a lot of multiple receiver sets, why not have the 3-4 package? Yes, there is more power running in the Big Ten, but it’s not like that's all they do.


I like the zone blitz option, too. At the snap, Meredith or Martin can pull back to a linebacker and then you can even rush someone like David, and you still have four rushing and three lineackers but it can really mess up the offense if they don’t know where the rush is coming from. However, if they happen to have a rush going right at the spot a DE is vacating, that could be bad.


Either way, whether it’s a 3-4 or 4-3, it still adds up to seven.

Monday, August 1, 2011

What is the State of the Program?

“State of the program.” You hear the term so many times when evaluating anything. Ask any Nebraska football fan “what is the state of the program?” and most will give a forthright answer to such an open-ended question.



After posting a 44-32 record from 2002-2007 (which spanned the last two years of the Frank Solich tenure and the entire Bill Callahan regime), the Huskers have gone 29-12 in Bo Pelini’s three years at the helm. Nebraska has definitely made progress under Pelini, just not BCS Bowl game material progress. The reasonble thinking fans knew it would take time for Pelini to get Nebraska to the prominence it enjoyed from 1961-2001. However, “patience” and “Nebraska football fans” go together like oil and water.


This is also a much different era of college football. Everyone has their theories such as scholarship limitations creating more parity. That angle can be overstated but it has some truth.


That said, the Nebraska football program appears poised for big things. In this day and age of college football, there are plenty of good teams with plenty of talent who can trip you up over the course of the season. Over the past three years the Huskers definitely shown a propensity to let those teams stick around and, in some cases (Iowa State’s 9-7 win in 2009) SU at home) those teams have beaten Nebraska.


That set of circumstances has to change but I think it’s fair to predict that as Pelini grows as a coach and the staff develops together, that there will be improvements on that front. What I do see as a huge positive is that even though Pelini’s win-loss success is similar to Solich’s 58-19 mark from 1998-2003. The reason that Frank got fired )rightly or wrongly) was that in his last three years, the team looked completely outclassed at least twice a year.


In the past two years, Pelini’s teams have shown that they can compete with anyone on a given day. The only losses in the last two years that couldn’t have been a win if one play had gone differently was the Texas Tech game (31-10 loss) in 2009 and the 19-7 Holiday Bowl loss to Washington last December. During that stretch, Nebraska took the No. 2 team (Texa) in the country to the last second before losing 13-12. The Huskers also led Oklahoma 17-0 in last year’s Big XII title game before losing 23-20. The Huskers also lost 18-15 in 2009 a eventual ACC champ Virginia Tech.


In this day and age in college football, the first thing a top program needs to do is be in every game. Clearly Nebraska needs to win those games and its track record in those situations has not been good but we only have a sample of two years to examine considering how bad the 2007 team Pelini succeeded happened to be.


The reason the Huskers haven’t been far more successful the last two years has been the offense, which has been absolutely putrid at very important points of the season. The posters who have pointed out the fact that the biggest contributors to that failure are still around have a great point. The offensive line has not been able to pass block for two years and has been supremely undisciplined, false starting way more than is acceptable. For an offense which is so weak that it needs down and distances to be favorable, this is not promising. Additionally, for the naysayers, it’s not like we revamped our offensive staff and brought in a proven coordinator with a track record of success. So, overall, I understand arguments against our improvement on offense.


However, I have more hope than the antagonists. I think that the Huskers performance over the last few years has been as bad as it can possibly get. Sometimes a situation can evolve where otherwise capable individuals fall into a trap of stagnation. More than anything I thought that former offensive coordinator Shawn Watson got too caught up in his own head and became a terrible playcaller. I hope that a fresh face will improve things and that the addition of John Garrison will result in more eyes on the offensive linemen watching their bad habits and identifying the things that confuse them so that those things can be rectified. If Nebraska’s offense progresses to middle of the pack Big 10, which there is no reason not to expect, its fortunes will change significantly.


As for our defense, I think that Pelini has assembled a staff of great defensive minds capable of game planning for any opponent. As long as the loss of defensive backs coach Marvin Sanders does not prove disastrous (and it could considering how amazing our secondary has been), the Huskers should be able to count on that unit to keep us in every game.


So overall, I think Nebraska’s prospects are bright. I think that the Huskers will be competitive against everyone and should be able to win their division more often than not. I think that their biggest competition will be Michigan and they will have a slight advantage there because Michigan’s cross-division rival, Ohio State, is slightly stronger than Nebraska. The years to be concerned will be when Iowa is (Nebraska’s main rival), plays Purdue while Nebraska plays Penn State. At least the Huskers will have the opportunity to play Iowa in the last game of the year, though, so they’d have to build a two game lead to eliminate Iowa’s chances of a division title before the end of the season. Once you win your division the conference becomes a one game crapshoot.


There are, obviously, points of concern. The Husker offense may not progress as hoped. The defense may not be as rock solid every year. Northwestern is scrappier than they have any right to be. Minnesota has no business being as bad as they are considering their large population base and excellent facilities. Overall I think that the Huskers are poised to be very successful in the new conference. Again, success in my mind is measured by winning the Division at least five out of every ten years (if not more) and winning the whole thing at least two or three times every ten years. That can be done. The State of the Program is probably better than we could reasonably expect it to be.


The dismal collapse at the end of last season along with the attendant negative publicity generated when Pelini went ballistic on the sideline in the 9-6 loss to Texas A&M, followed by the mail-in at the bowl game led to an extremely negative offseason both locally and nationally. Imagine trying to look forward to another season in which the offensiive coordinator attempts to prove his cleverness at the expense of winning games, while everyone else tries to figure out what happened to the electrifying Taylor Martinez that disappeared after Missouri.


Instead, Nebraska is in a new conference better suited to to it in a myriad of ways who actually seemed to embrace what the Huskers bring. Nebraska has new blood to help offensve line coach Barney Cotton, a new offensive coordinator (Tim Beck), fresh energy in the form of new coaches, vastly improved national exposure and respect and a badgered conference badly in need of positive press into which the Huskers fortuitously slipped.


Oh, and by the way, Nebraska has a defense and speed. I’d say the State of the Program is looking good.