Solid win for openers but bigger goals lie ahead

The opening game is always a very special time filled with much uncertainty and nervous anticipation. This year the biggest questions were surrounding third year starting quarterback Taylor Martinez.

Without a Spring Game to gauge progress, we were left with rumors that Martinez had worked on and shown some improvement in his footwork and throwing motion. After game one, there appears to be some basis to those rumors. Granted, this Southern Miss defense returned only four starters from last year and will never be confused with Alabama, let alone Michigan State but a 49-20 season opening win that saw Martinez complete 26 of 34 passes for 354 yards with five touchdowns and no interceptions is a tremendous way to open the season.

Even more than his improved footwork, Martinez had more zip and accuracy on his passes as he distributed the ball to ten different receivers. I know Husker fans love seeing their team pound teams into submission with the run but the pass can set up the run just as well if not better than the run setting up the pass. Martinez also seemed to have a much better presence in the pocket going through his progressions and reading his receivers better than ever before. It also helped that his receivers cooperated by catching about anything thrown close to them.

The biggest downside is the knee injury to running back Rex Burkhead, who left the game with a sprained MCL, which at its worst can sideline a player for eight weeks, at its lightest, only a few days. Husker head coach Bo Pelini said the sprain is the lowest grade, meaning, that Burkhead could be available for Saturday’s game at UCLA.

Burkhead’s injury came on his third carry of the game, a 9-yard run, when the Nebraska I-back was tackled by Southern Mississippi defensive end Jamie Collins. The good news was that sophomore Ameer Abdullah carried 15 times for 81 yards and caught four more passes for 39 yards including a touchdown.

Losing Burkhead is really a tough blow, but his being out may have been fortuitous in that it allowed other backs the opportunity to get needed game experience. Abdullah seemed to run stronger the longer he played. Braylon Heard also improved as he played and as the Southern Miss defense began to really tire. Imani Cross is a man-child. This kid will only get better. Mike Marrow is a load and it’s nice to see the fullback get some touches. Seven touchdowns distributed to seven players and very nice play by both the wide receivers and tight ends. Kenny Bell continues to improve, Quincy Enunwa is a stud, and Jamal Turner is exciting every time he touches the ball. Catch of the game, though, goes to Steven Osborne for his touchdown grab falling out of the end zone. Finally, the big boys up front who gave Martinez time to throw and opened holes to generate 632 yards of total offense deserve huge props. Most importantly, there were no false starts and only one offensive penalty to go along with no turnovers.

The defense showed why the Blackshirts have yet to be distributed. The good news is that the defense only gave up 13 points to a reasonably talented offensive unit. With Southern Miss having a new coach and new personnel, Pelini and defensive coordinator John Papuchis had to prepare for a little of everything. The defense, however, continues to be extremely vulnerable to mobile quarterbacks and giving up big chunks on third down. I don’t remember a three and out all day. Defensive end Cameron Meredith seemed slow trying to track down their QB. Cornerback Ciante Evans looks much improved over last year, and in general the secondary looked solid. When Southern Miss had to pass, the defense shut them down. I’ll take 7 for 19 for 75 yards from the opponents all year long. Linebacker Alonzo Whaley looked good and bad at times. Fellow linebacker Will Compton was generally solid, but the linebackers and defense in general were whiffing and trying to arm tackle way too much. We have a lot to clean up before we play a very capable UCLA offense with a very mobile quarterback next week in Pasadena.

We all know that the worst part of the game for the Huskers were the special teams which were anything but special. The 100 yard kickoff return was inexcusable and as everybody seemed out of position, it makes one wonder if they practiced at all during fall camp. Preseason All-American Brett Maher doesn’t need to worry about his press clippings in the near future. He left six points on the field with misses of two very makeable field goals and the shanked punt and kickoff out of bounds made me wonder what happened to disrupt his pregame preparation. He is much better than he showed and I am looking forward to him getting out of his two field goal misses in a row slump and performing like the star he can be. One highlight on special teams was reasonably decent punt and kickoff returns setting up good field position.

There are many things to be excited about with this year’s version of the Huskers. There are talented players on both sides of the ball and special team potential. We won handily on a day when many other Big Ten teams struggled (including Wisconsin). Every week we will learn a little more about how special this team can be. I’m also looking forward to the offense building on their sterling performance in the opener and the defense and special teams cleaning up the miscues.

2012 Spring Game checklist

The Nebraska football team takes the field against itself on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium. Translation, the Red-White spring game will take place. The game can also be seen on the Big Ten Network.

By definition, the spring game is nothing more than a glorified exhibition that says very little how a team will perform from August to January. The spring game means different things to different people. So what really determines a successful spring game? Is it where the starting offense plays against the starting defense? Is it more about wanting to see what the new kids can bring to the table? Since we’re being televised this year, what do you want to show the Big 10?

The Spring Game has to be taken as nothing more than a fun time in the sun with something resembling football as the entertainment. It’s not ever going to be a real game – it’s just an excuse to get out and enjoy spring after a (usually) crappy winter, get a tailgate in, and alleviate some of the boredom in the off-season.

As far as the “game” goes, the first units going against each other with both units making some good plays is always intriguing. Most of all, I want to see signs of progress in the areas that were problems a year ago.

The defense was not as good as what Husker fans grew accustomed to in the Bo Pelini era for large chunks of last year. We need to see development there. Maybe I am just too optimistic but I think we may not have the star power we had last year but I think we could be a better team overall this coming year on the defensive side of the ball. Having a healthy defensive line and development of depth to get people to fill in and elevate their game in the back seven but could be pretty good.

I personally think the Huskers have the potential of being a pretty special offense this year. They have about as good of offensive skill position players as they have had in a while, if the offensive line can come together Nebraska could be pretty tough to stop.

That said here is a checklist on what would be considered a successful spring game:

1-No injuries. While there is never a good time to lose players to crippling injuries, this game would be the worst to suffer that fate.  

2-Progression of the offense/Taylor Martinez’s mechanics. The fact that Tim Beck is in his second season as offensive coordinator means the Huskers can fine-tune what they do instead of learning the basics.

3-No stupid plays/penalties/mental mistakes. All three plagued the Huskers at one point or another last season.

4-Creative, but we won't see it because it's the spring game. Fans may love creative plays but doing this in a spring game makes as much sense as teaching a little league pitcher how to throw a curveball when he can’t throw a fastball for a strike.

5-Aggressive and improved defensive line play. Husker D-Line looked pretty good at times, quite vulnerable at others.

6-Offensive line blowing guys off the line. This is one position that should benefit from not having to learn a new offense.

7-Minimal drops. Two things are equally true: a) Martinez needs to be more accurate. b) Husker receivers dropped far too any catchable passes.

8-Special teams perfection. Besides Brett Maher’s consistency, special teams was a hit/miss proposition.

9-How the kickoff rules will affect the philosophy on special teams. Next fall, teams will kick off at the 35-yard line instead of the 30. Also, players on the kicking team can’t line up for the play behind the 30-yard line, which is intended to limit the running start kicking teams used to have during the play.

Also, touchbacks on free kicks will be moved to the 25-yard line instead of the 20 to encourage more touchbacks. Touchbacks on other plays (for example, punts that go into the end zone, or fumbles that go out of the end zone) will remain at the 20-yard line.

Wildcats will be a different kind of challenge for the Big Red

The No. 9 rated Nebraska Cornhuskers came up large in a pivotal 24-3 win over No. 13 Michigan State to make the Big Ten Legends Division race much more compelling.


The win forced a three-way tie between Nebraska, Michigan state and Michigan. Had the Spartans beaten Nebraska, they would have had a big leg up on the rest of the division. For the Huskers, the key becomes sustaining that momentum as the calendar turns to November. Since Bo Pelini took over as the head coach in 2008, November has been a month to remember. The Huskers have gone 11-1 under Pelini in November.

The Huskers host a Northwestern (3-5 overall, 1-4 Big Ten) team that is decidedly different than Michigan State. The Spartans entered the contest with defensive numbers not terribly far behind Alabama and LSU but also had a pedestrian offense. The Wildcats, however, are averaging 31.6 points per game but in their five defeats have yielded an average of 35.2 points per contest.

With the exception of the first half of its 34-27 win over Ohio State, Nebraska has been playing well ever since its 48-17 loss to Wisconsin.

When the Huskers parted ways with offensive coordinator Shawn Watson and replaced him with Tom Beck, the biggest question was “what will be the offense’s identity?” It’s pretty obvious now. The Huskers are a run first team with running back Rex Burkhead carrying the load. He did just that against Michigan State as he carried 35 times for 130 yards and two touchdowns.

The question becomes, does Nebraska reduce Burkhead’s carries this week and mix in carries for Ameer Abdullah or Aaron Green. Keep in mind the Huskers follow this game with key road tests at Penn State and Michigan.

The Huskers should be able to run the ball at will on Northwestern’s defense. Well, the numbers would certainly indicate as much as Nebraska is ninth in rushing offense (averaging 253 yards per game) and the Wildcats are 95th in defending the run (allowing 194 yards per contest). As long as Nebraska is not careless with the ball, it should be fine.

On defense, injuries have forced Pelini to try finding the right mixture of players. Nebraska did just that last week in shutting down a good but not great Spartan offense. This week, however, will be a much better barometer to determine whether the Blackshrts are back into form.

While this is not the Ndamukong Suh led defense of 2009, I did not see anything in that game that makes me think the Blackshirts are not back. The younger Blackshirts who were thrust into key roles as a result of injuries now appear to understand the system.

That trend needs to continue this week because though the Wildcats win-loss record is not good, quarterback Dan Persa gives them a punchers chance. Keep in mind, Persa was the first team all-Big Ten quarterback last season. To illustrate even further how good Persa is, he received that nod over Michigan’s Denard Robinson and Ohio State’s Terrelle Pryor.

Persa will also present a much different matchup than MSU’s Kirk Cousins did. Cousins is more of a classic, dropback passer who was a minimal threat to run. Persa, however, will take off and run so the Huskers must be much more disciplined in its pass rush.

Northwestern may get its yards and/or points but with the way the Blackshirts are rounding into form defensively, the Wildcats will have a harder time scoring. The key for Nebraska is to not let Northwestern get an early lead to subdue the home crowd.

On special teams, Abdullah has also provided another weapon as a kick and punt returner. The Huskers are ranked No. 2 in the country in kick returns and No. 44 in the country in punt returns. However, opponents have negated that advantage lately by kicking away from him.

However, another huge plus to Nebraska’s kicking game has how placekicker/punter Brett Maher has replaced Alex Henery so well. Maher has made 14-17 field goals and is averaging 45 yards per punt.

Northwestern might be 3-5 but it’s a deceptive 3-5. That thinking would go against Bill Parcells’ motto of “your record is exactly what it is.” However, Northwestern has had a lead in the second half of every one of its five defeats. That statement could mean one of two things: a) The Wildcats are dangerous enough to beat you on a given day or b) They will make enough mistakes to get beat.

As long as the Huskers don’t commit penalties and turnovers, they should win this game and go to 8-1.

2009 Nebraska position outlook: kicker & punter

One story in a Wine Country Husker series, looking at position breakdowns for the Nebraska Cornhuskers for the 2009 season. Today, we look at kickers and punters:

Looking back: The Huskers rarely seemed to trust the kicking game in a dire situation under former head coach Bill Callahan. Did that ever change under Bo Pelini?

Flash back to the post Thanksgiving Day against Colorado with the Big Red trailing the hated Colorado Buffaloes 31-30 with under two minutes left. Nebraska faced fourth-and-25 at the Colorado 40. What do you do? Go for the first down or kick a 57-yard field goal? Both are low percentage plays.

Leave it to Alex Henery to tell Pelini, “I can make it.” Keep in mind Adi Kunalic was the kickoff specialist meant to handle long field goals, yet Henery volunteered and deftly nailed the 57-yarder through the uprights to put the Huskers in front 33-31.

In 2007, Husker kickers actually went 9-for-9 on field goal attempts with nary a try going beyond 50 yards and only one outside the 40-yard plateau. Kunalic accounted for 28 touchbacks on 66 kickoffs that season. Punter Dan Titchner averaged a solid 41.3 yards per punt with 16 of 49 punts going inside the 20. Problem is the defense that year was useless when it came to stopping opponents.

Henerey handled all of the placekicking chores while Kunalic handled the kickoff duties. Henerey went 18-of-21 while Kunalic kicked off 81 times for 29 touchbacks. Titchner’s game suffered just a bit with his average dropping to 39.3 yards per boot but 13 of his 42 punts went inside the 20.

Looking ahead: With Kunalic and Henery both being juniors, the Husker placekicking game is the least of their worries.

The biggest concern is replacing Titchner even though his numbers slipped. Could Henery pull double duty as a punter and kicker? He did such at Omaha Burke High. Henery brings the intangibles that Nebraska walk-ons have, which Pelini covets. Or will Nebraska turn to redshirt freshman Brett Maher?

The Huskers have had good luck finding players to plug in at punter. With inexperience at quarterback, the Huskers will need to find a viable option at punter when the offense sputters and will also need Henery to continue developing into the clutch weapon he has become.