Big Red Network

Could New Recruiting Rule Hurt Texas?

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 03:04:28 -0600

The Texas Longhorns are well known for their success in recruiting. It's not uncommon for them to be essentially finished recruiting before their season even begins (even though signing day doesn't come until February). But a new rule could put a chink in the armor.

The rule states that a publicly designated head coach in waiting is bound by the same recruiting rules as the current head coach. That's to prevent teams with designated successors from gaining a recruiting advantage. The NCAA has sought to curb off-campus recruiting by head coaches but the new rule effectively limits assistants in waiting as well. Texas and Maryland were given a one-year reprieve, but not an indefinite one.

Given how easily it seems that the 'Horns gobble up talent, perhaps they'd laugh at any such rule. Do they really need their entire staff of assistants out recruiting? But without knowing what the mechanics of the Longhorn recruiting machine are, it could make life more difficult for them. And if it did, Texas would have an interesting decision to make. Do they push Mack Brown toward retirement sooner? Do they remove the "next head coach" label from Muschamp? Neither one, necessarily sounds good for their program

On the other hand, does a public succession plan help anyone but Muschamp? Within a coaching staff, it can create as much uncertainty as it eliminates. If this is the next head coach, should I be listening to him more than the head man? If I don't like the next guy, should I be looking for another job? In the locker room it's the same case, particularly for underclassmen. Do I seek to impress the head man or the NEXT head man? It certainly hasn't seemed to help Maryland at all. What about the fans? If the defense is playing really well but the offense is struggling (as you could imagine heading into 2010), do the fans start screaming for Brown to retire?

Texas has managed to deal with any distraction Muschamp's title causes extremely well up until now. They did just play in the national championship game more than a year after Muschamp was the announced successor. But now there's one more reason not to like it. Will it become an important one? If so, things could get real interesting down in Austin.

The Weekly Buzz

Sat, 13 Mar 2010 12:08:30 -0600

Huskers are dreaming big. There seems to be anticipation for this next season that hasn't been felt in Lincoln and around the country since the 90's. All of the Big 12 is in a state of flux this year, but NU is poised to make a move to the top. With the Huskers getting such wide reaching exposure because of their defensive efforts and the adventures of Ndamukong Suh last year, the coaches are trying to take advantage of having Nebraska in the forefront of people's minds right now. Let's hope this momentum keeps up.

Now is the time » SI writer Stewart Mandel looks at the state that the Big 12 is in and wonders if Nebraska is ready to make the leap back to "normal" for us. There are plenty of questions surrounding Big 12 teams this year, most of them with negative connotations, but Nebraska looks in good shape. Since it has been over a decade since we have come away with a Big 12 title, it seems only fitting that the questions surrounding our program are all positive, such as Can we Restore the Aura?

Non-Big 12 Texas Teams 1, Texas 0 » According to Dan Beebe, the Big 12 Championship Game won't be permanently anchored to the Cowboys stadium behemoth just yet. Decisions will be made about the next few years in this year's off-season. I'm all for a rotation of sites in football and basketball, and will be willing to boycott some of my favorite brands to ensure that happens if it comes to that.

Free Press » With all the free publicity that the University has been getting because of Suh and the great defensive season, the team's recruiting is expanding to include top players from all over the country. Ted Gilmore is believing that an aggressive push can get talented players to Nebraska because of the buzz and exposure the program is having. The defensive resurgence brought on by Bo Pelini's leadership has put our name in a national spotlight.

Restoring the Aura

Fri, 12 Mar 2010 03:27:05 -0600

NU season ticket holders no doubt recall the tremendous run the team had from 1991-1998 of 47 straight home games without a loss. It's no coincidence that that was also the time frame where Nebraska won three national championships. While fans would love to see NU win one more national championship, the truth is their insatiable appetite for gridiron success practically demands another dynasty. The interesting thing about college football dynasties, they tend to require this kind of streak.

From 1985 to 1994 Miami won a record 58 straight home games. They won three national titles in that time. From 1963 to 1982, Alabama put together a streak of 57 home wins. They won four national titles in that span. Florida State won two national titles during their home stand between 1992 and 2001. USC seemed like the program everyone admired this past decade, and they ran off 35 consecutive home wins between 2001 and 2007 and won two national titles.

There's no mystery to it. At least half of your biggest games in the regular season come at home. Think about Nebraska's win over Colorado in 1994. That Buffalo team ranked higher than any team Nebraska faced that year. In 1995, the Huskers had to beat two top ten teams on the road, but it helped that they beat eighth-ranked Kansas State on homecoming weekend. But the other thing to notice is that these home winning streaks all began before these teams won their titles. First, a team shows they can't be beaten at home, then they show they can't be beaten at all.

Think back to October, it wasn't just that Nebraska lost to underdog teams in Texas Tech and Iowa State that was so painful for Husker fans to watch. It was that they lost at home to those teams. Unfortunately, home losses have been a far too common occurrence this past decade. You have to go back to the Eric Crouch era to find an NU team that didn't lose at home. You also have to go back that far to find a team that finished in the top ten or played for a national championship.

If Nebraska wants to regain respect nationally, it will start with taking care of business at home. Texas, Missouri, Kansas, and Colorado. Those are the home games on the conference slate and wins over all four would not only set up NU to remain Big 12 North champions, but could set up runs at national championships.

Big 12 Championship Game Site Not Permanent - Yet

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 07:46:04 -0600

As a Kansas City Area resident, and someone who works two miles away from the Sprint Center and the Big 12 basketball tournament, the excitement in town is picking up this week. Sports talk radio has been all over basketball, and this city contains fans of three great basketball teams all in one place. Coupled with Big 12 Commissioner Dan Beebe's comments this week that the Big 12 will not be choosing permanent Championship sites for football and basketball in June, and it got me thinking about the Championship Games status. The June spring meeting (in Kansas City), will determine sites for basketball, football, and baseball starting in the 2011-2012 seasons, and they may decide on sites anywhere from the three to five years after that.

I like the idea of having a rotation of sites in basketball, where it's been in Dallas, Oklahoma City, and Kansas City. As for football, I can live with a Dallas/Kansas City rotation, but the Big 12 Championship game has also been played in Houston, San Antonio, and St. Louis. What I can't live with is a permanent home for these events.

The contingent of fans at the Big 12 Championship game in football this year in Dallas was acceptable to me, as the well-traveled Husker fans showed up like they always do to away events. But there is something to be said for having a game closer to home, like within driving distance, instead of having to take a flight. I'm sure basketball fans are thinking that right now, as most of the Big 12 North schools are taking the opportunity to come check out their teams and make it feel like a home game this week in downtown Kansas City. And I feel like Kansas City will continue to be in the mix for football, since Arrowhead Stadium has just undergone $475 million in expansion and upgrades.

Fans of all Big 12 North teams should be rooting for a Championship site in the North states in order to maintain the balance that seems to be shifting towards south schools in football. Basketball this year has fortunately had a strong showing in the North, but a rotation will ensure that there is parity in that sport too.

But there's only one sure way to get the attention of big organizations as a collective: vote with your wallet. The fact is, we have no say in what happens in that spring meeting without doing something to garner the attention of the Big 12 Conference. Unless people stop supporting the Big 12 corporate sponsors: Chick-fil-A, Dr. Pepper, Gatorade, Geico, Motel 6, O'Reilly Auto Parts, Phillip 66, Sunkist, and Sirius/XM, no way their voice gets heard. And you can't just stop buying these products without telling anyone why, so if you plan to do something like this, you need to contact the Big 12 and let them know what you're doing and why.

I'm not sure if I'm to the point of boycotting brands yet. But as of right now, the fate of future Championship sites is not determined, and control rests solely behind closed doors.

Are Juco Offensive Lineman the Way to Go?

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:29:11 -0600

Nebraska goes into the 2010 season with a real possibility of starting two junior college offensive lineman. Ricky Henry will likely continue to start on the interior at either guard or center. Newcomer and early arrival Jermarcus Hardrick appears likely to be in immediate competition for a starting position at tackle. But does the fact that they went to junior college mean anything for their prospects?

Look back at the recruits that Nebraska has brought in from the junior college ranks, you'll find players that worked their way into the starting lineup, but not All-Americans. Carl Nicks might be the biggest success. He earned second-team All-Big 12 honors in 2005 as NU's starting left tackle and was part of the New Orleans Saints Super Bowl team. Cornealius Fuamatu-Thomas started seven games in 2005 at left tackle but missed the last four games with an injury.

Then there were some complete washouts. Darren DeLone was part of Frank Solich's last full recruiting class. Brock Pasteur and Jordan Picou arrived as part of the highly touted class of 2005. Victory Haines arrived with the class of 2006. None became meaningful contributors in games. It's difficult to find an offensive linemen that played at Nebraska that came out of the junior college ranks under Tom Osborne.

So if you include Henry in the mix, then Nebraska is under .500 in finding junior college linemen that can start only one for seven in finding real standouts in the past decade. But then how meaningful is that history when Pelini's batting 1.000 so far with his junior college o-linemen? Even the best recruiting programs (in terms of how they get ranked) have found useful junior college players for the line. Deuce Lutui was an All-American at USC after playing for the same juco that Victory Haines did. Of course, he was also the largest player in Trojan history.

Putting junior college offensive linemen on the field isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it isn't necessarily great either. You can add depth in a hurry, but then it means a shorter learning curve for the player, usually with just two years of playing eligibility. Henry has shown he can start and his reputation makes you think he could rise to an all-conference level this season (after an honorable mention in 2009). Hardrick could find himself playing but would likely really make his mark in his second year.

The three high school commitments Nebraska has at this early stage of recruiting for 2011 from offensive linemen makes you think there may not be another junior college offensive line recruit for a while. But if Hardrick and Henry live up to expectations, there will inevitably be more.

Can Pelini cure October woes?

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 03:15:57 -0600

I know it's only March, but I want to talk about October.

As spring football approaches you can already feel the excitement building around this 2010 team. Most people consider Nebraska a strong Big 12 championship contender which, in most years, makes you a strong national championship contender as well.

Personally, I think Nebraska is there in terms of returning talent and momentum. But this is a different set of expectations than what Pelini was operating under in his first two seasons. No room for a midseason swoon here.

I find this breakdown fascinating: Since taking over Pelini is 6-2 in the month of September, 4-4 in October and 7-1 in November. All in all, this seems like a fairly above average breakdown for a coach.

I look at it like this. Any coach worth his salt at a school like Nebraska better win 75% of his games in the first month of the season. These are your cupcakes, the wins you purchased, and you get the added boost of the excitement for a new season. The middle of the season is trickier. Now you're in conference play, injuries pile up a little bit, the weather changes and some of that early season excitement has started to fade. What happens in that middle portion, largely determines your approach for the last portion.

In Pelini's case, with a .500 record in October, Nebraska's has had the advantage of a rally the troops/achieve the goals mentality in each of the past two seasons. The fact that Pelini has, in fact, done that effectively is testament to his ability but when it comes to motivation that's sort of the low hanging fruit, isn't it? Is it more difficult to keep a team motivated and executing for an entire season or to re-motivate them once they've been humbled?

We know Pelini can do the latter but what 2010 becomes about is finding out if he can do the former. Nebraska has had two bad losses (TT '09, Mizzou '08), one fluky one (ISU '09) and one good loss (TT '08) in October over the past two seasons. But for a team with championship aspirations, a loss in 2010 at any time of year sets Nebraska back more than it did in either 2008 or 2009.

And for all the talk of Nebraska's cushy schedule, October doesn't provide many easy outs. Kansas State on the road will be a physical game, then there's the Texas game with the very real possibility for a "too many eggs in the basket" scenario. After that you have a road trip to what should be a slightly weakened Oklahoma State team and then you round out the month with your primary competition in the North in Missouri. I wouldn't call any of them a gimme.

Based on what he had when he got here and where Nebraska is at now, I'd say without too many reservations that Bo Pelini has done a perfect job in his first two years as coach. He's put Nebraska in a position where thinking they could actually be perfect isn't out of the question.

Now we just have to see it.

Arrivals, Departures and Position Switches Underscore Spring's Importance

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 03:59:58 -0600

Believe it or not, Husker fans, football is just a few weeks away. Well, spring football, anyway. Nebraska's spring practices start on March 24th. While most of the attention thus far has been placed on the opportunity for a budding competition at quarterback, there are other little items that might prove to be more important (if not quite as interesting) as that battle. Spring is a vital time for the team's development. So, it is worth paying attention to all of the comings, goings and position switches that are made among the NU roster.

Arrivals
When players arrive on campus in time to participate in spring football with the rest of the squad, it can be a real help to their development. It allows them to get a feel for the speed of the college game as well as begin learning the schemes and techniques the coaches teach. So, keep an eye on early arrivals Jermarcus Hardrick, Chase Rome and Jay Guy.

Hardrick stands to gain the most. He is widely considered a candidate for playing time this fall along the offensive line. And, as a junior college player, could be a bit more ready to adapt to the top level of college. Coming right out of high school, defensive linemen Guy and Rome don't appear to be in line for playing time in 2010. But, still, getting more acclimated earlier could pay dividends later on in the season and their careers.

Departures
It's a hard truth, but things don't always work out for players. It could be for any number of reasons but there is the inevitable truth that some players leave the team or can't play any more. So, every spring and fall, there is some roster turnover. This spring is no exception. When the new roster was released last week, Quentin Toailoa's name was not on it. Toailoa was a part of the 2008 class and has not participated the last two years. So, his not being on the team does not deal an immediate blow, but it does cut in to the team's depth.

Also, a few other players are rumored to be leaving the team due to medical issues. Offensive lineman Cruz Barrett and defensive tackle Ben Martin are both still listed on the roster. But, I am hearing more and more that their careers as Huskers may be over. While both players would be seniors this season, neither constitutes a major loss on the field. Barrett has not played a meaningful snap for NU. Martin contributed some early in his career but has since all but disappeared. Still, the loss of all three players represents a lot of big bodies. Maybe the three early arrivals cancel that out in some way.

Switches
Finally, position changes are often good to get done in the spring. It gives players more time to adjust and adapt to a new role, without the pressure of game preparation and competition. Spring is primarily about learning.

Reviewing the Husker roster and comparing to last year's tells me that the coaches feel pretty solid about where they have people positioned. Maybe my memory is failing, but it appears that only redshirt freshman Cole Pensick has made a move, going from defensive line to offense. Pensick now appears to be slotted to play center for NU.

I suppose that is an important switch, when you think about it. Nebraska loses 36-game starter Jacob Hickman at center and replaces him with Mike Caputo. There wasn't anyone listed behind Caputo before that I could tell. Enter Pensick. And, despite the fact that the book and movie "The Blind Side" characterize the importance of a left tackle (Sandra Bullock won an Academy Award? What?), center is arguably the most important spot on the line.

Hello! He touches the ball on every single play. But seriously, the center makes the most line calls and is responsible for almost as much as the quarterback. It is a vital role. And, if Caputo gets nicked up the way Hickman did last season, the development of young Cole Pensick merits a close watch.

No doubt, there will be some interesting story lines that develop for Nebraska this spring. But, mostly it starts with who is on the roster, who is off of it, and where they are positioned on the team.

Rise of the Big Red Roundtable - Spring Football Edition

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 09:07:32 -0600

Our friends at Husker Hype have breathed new life into the ole Big Red Blogger Roundtable (pictured).

In this edition we predict winners of the competition for starting quarterback and running back and a quick look at Huskers in the NFL draft.

Who do you think will come out of Spring Practice as the Offensive and Defensive MVP?

Steve Hanway: The Offensive MVP would be Cody Green. You might choose a running back, but you'd think they're not going to give Helu 20 carries or even Burkhead for that matter. You'd love to see what Dontrayevous Robinson will do, but Green's sure to get a good number of snaps and they might turn him loose in the option game. You'd expect the ball to be shared around, which is why I wouldn't choose a receiver.

The Defensive MVP will be Prince Amukamara. Crick would seem an obvious choice but without Suh next to him (or you'd guess even Suh's replacement, given how these Red-White teams are selected) he could be a force without standing out as a playmaker. Amukamara was a close second in solo tackles to Crick among returning players but also makes plays in other ways (interceptions, breakups, sacks, fumbles forced and recovered).

Nebraska appears to be switching to a spread-option style offense. How do you think this will effect quarterback and running back rotation and play?

Steve Hanway: In the fall the starter will play until the game is not in doubt. You'll continue to see at least 2-3 running backs in every game. The option switch would improve the likelihood that someone other than Zac Lee could start, but these contests generally go to the incumbent.

Who do you think the starting QB will be coming out of Spring Practice and do you feel that his spot is safe until Western Kentucky week?

Steve Hanway: With Lee not participating, anyone named as a starter post-spring will only be the starter until practices begin in August. So the best quarterback this spring will not be safe. Lee may not be a fan favorite, but it's still likely his job to lose, no matter what happens this spring.

Who will be the #1 Running Back coming out of Spring Practice? Some have questioned Roy Helu, Jr.'s durability and Rex Burkhead busted out on the scene showing he can do impressive amounts of damage himself.

Steve Hanway: A similar answer here. They may give Helu a lighter workload (particularly in scrimmages), but he's still the best back on the roster unless the injuries are more persistent than we've heard.

Which defensive unit will look best coming out of spring ball and why?

Steve Hanway: It may not be evident in the box scores, because your secondary is so dependent on the front seven to get some pressure, but the almost gaudy depth in the secondary is clearly the strength of the defense. The linebackers could impress, but there are too many good defensive backs not to pick the secondary.

Ndamukong Suh, Phil Dillard and Larry Asante all are likely to be chosen during the draft. Does Matt O'Hanlon get picked up in one of the later rounds, go undrafted and sign as a free agent or another route not mentioned?

Steve Hanway: Undrafted free agency seems likeliest for O'Hanlon. It could go like it did for Joe Ganz where he essentially gets only a matter of weeks or months to make an impression, but it seems unlikely that a team would need to spend a draft pick to get him.

Now for the obvious question on everyone's mind: What does St. Louis do with the #1 pick?

Steve Hanway: I'll say Bradford. Unfortunately, the economics of the NFL (even in an uncapped year) make teams inclined to reach on quarterbacks even with other players that are better at other positions available. Now if some of those rumors come true about a quarterback trade, you'd say it will be Suh or McCoy (in that order). But where we stand today, Bradford seems like the guy.

Around the Horn

Read responses from other round table members: Corn Nation | Husker Hype | Double Extra Point

Our fancy round table is open to all. Leave your responses in the comments below and grab a party favor on your way out.

How 2010 Resembles 1994

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 03:34:47 -0600

When making predictions about the future, it's often helpful to look to the past for guidance. When circumstances were similar, how did things play out? Interestingly, when looking for a season in which Nebraska returned an all-conference defensive tackle and an all-conference cornerback, you have to go back to the 1994 season. And that's hardly the only parallel between the 2010 Cornhuskers and the 1994 squad.

Terry Connealy was an All-Big Eight defensive tackle in 1993, playing alongside a star pass-rusher in Trev Alberts. Connealy wasn't a household name (even in Nebraska) though. Rather, there was some thought about how much the defense might suffer without Alberts. Not a far cry from the relationship between Jared Crick and Ndamukong Suh, though arguably Crick has been more acclaimed than Connealy. In the secondary, Barron Miles was beginning to make a name for himself as an All-Big Eight cornerback in 1993. Ditto that for Prince Amukamara this past season. The only other returning All-Big Eight player from the 1993 team was offensive tackle Zach Wiegert. Having a player like Wiegert returning certainly would be an asset for the 2010 squad. Then again, NU fans might have traded Wiegert in 1993 to get a kicker like Alex Henery to make the fateful field goal to win the naitonal championship that Byron Bennett missed.

The memories of that near miss are another thing that the 2010 team has in common with the 1994 version. Nebraska was in position to win the national championship when they took the lead with just over a minute remaining. But then Florida State drove the length of the field (assisted by a penalty) to kick a field goal with 21 seconds remaining to win the Orange Bowl. That disappointment fueled an offseason where the team worked themselves into national championship form. With a minute and change remaining against Texas in the Big 12 championship game, Nebraska took the lead only to see Texas drive down the field (assisted by penalties) to kick a game winning field goal. Will the disappointment from that contest again fuel a championship run for the Big Red?

By season's end, the 1994 season had seen a number of other playmakers emerge on the roster. Ed Stewart, Brendan Stai, Lawrence Phillips, Troy Dumas, Aaron Graham, Donta Jones, and Tyrone Williams were all honored as All-Big Eight players in addition to the returning standouts. Only Ed Stewart had received even second team All-Big Eight honors in 1993. So the key for the national championship team wasn't just riding the returning stars but developing a whole crop of new ones. Roy Helu could be poised to rise to the All-Big 12 level. The same could be said for Mike McNeil and Niles Paul. But NU may go even deeper to players that hadn't yet fully reached their potential in Dejon Gomes, Eric Hagg, Ricky Henry, and Keith Williams.

That's not saying Nebraska will make up 10 of the 22 first team all-conference roster spots, but then making all-conference in a 12-team league is a bigger task than doing it in an 8-team league. The point is that even with the departed Suh, Phillip Dillard, and Larry Asante, Nebraska still has the raw material to do something special provided the offseason work gets done and things break right for the team. What more can you ask for in year three of the Bo Pelini era?

Husker Women Achieve Regular Season Perfection

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 08:56:50 -0600

With an 82-72 win over Kansas State yesterday, the Nebraska women's basketball team did something that no other Big 12 women's team has ever done. They finished the regular season undefeated. Having already clinched the Big 12 regular season title the week before, finishing the season unblemished was the the next historic milestone for the lady Huskers. It is unknown whether they will achieve success in the Big 12 and NCAA tournaments. And, at this point, it really doesn't matter. This team is one of the greats in the history of Nebraska and the Big 12 conference. They are a team worth celebrating.

Celebrate the Now
I hope Husker fans across the country are taking a few minutes or hours or days to soak up just how good the Husker women are, and exactly what they have accomplished. Stop for a second. Don't day dream about the Big 12 or the NCAA tournament. Tournament's are fickle things where one loss ends it. Instead celebrate the now.

They won the Big 12 in a year when the conference was especially tough. The regular season title means more than a conference tournament title, because it is earned over a long haul. And, they achieved perfection. Do you know how hard it is to go undefeated in anything? And, this isn't 12-0 or 18-0. They are 29-0 and 16-0 in the conference. Savor that for a second, please.

No matter where the women on this team go or what they do in life, they will always be Big 12 champions and the team that went undefeated.

To say Connie Yori's team is making history for NU would be an understatement. Beyond the school-and-conference best record of 29-0, this is the women's basketball team's first conference title since 1988. And these young ladies have a bit of underdog in them, too. In the preseason, they were picked to finish in the middle of the back in the Big 12. So much for that.

Great Players
Whenever there is a great team, there is undoubtedly a great player or two. If you watch NU forward Kelsey Griffin play for about one minute, you will see that she is a great player. The multi-skilled Griffin leads the Huskers in many ways. She's practically a lock to win the Big 12 player of the year honors. She deserves to be a part of the national conversation. Yes, she can fill it up (she put up a career high 36 versus Kansas State). But her defensive energy also drives NU. And, when you see her grab a rebound, put it on the floor, go end to end and deliver an assist-worth bounce pass on the move, you kind of just sit there in slack-jawed wonder. She's truly great.

She also has a great mix of teammates surrounding her. This Husker team has all of the elements. Cory Montgomery provides a stable and consistent inside scoring threat. Freshman point guard Lindsey Moore dishes assists. And, Nebraska natives Yvonne (Vonnie) Turner and Dominique Kelley provide both perimeter scoring and defense. Turner is one of Big 12's most feared defenders. Kelley has a penchant for making the clutch plays going to the basket, and both of them can shoot it. Collectively these five and a few key substitutes give Nebraska all the elements of a great basketball team.

Women's Sports
Big Red Network primarily covers Husker football. It is what we like and what or readers say they primarily want to read about. But, the women's basketball team's great success is one of the great stories where we make the obvious exception. These gals are absolutely worth talking about and celebrating.

I also have a bit of a personal stake and investment in this team. We are big fans at our house. My wife is undoubtedly a better natural athlete than I am. Athletics were formative to her growth as a person. We have a 4-year old daughter. Her first sporting event seen in person was an NU women's basketball game. She cheers harder for the basketball girls than her daddy's beloved football team. Because, frankly, she can relate. The 2010 NU women's basketball team have become her first sports role models.

Nebraska's great and proud tradition in volleyball has made women's sports a big part of the landscape in Nebraska. It's something everyone is proud of and has spawned a state that produces an exceptional amount of high school volleyball talent. This basketball team is something different. The volleyball team has their own sort of gender neutrality, since men don't play the sport at NU. Frankly, it is just like how women don't play football. The sport gets defined on their own merit and results. But, basketball lends itself to cross-gender comparison.

With Nebraska's men's team mired in a very bad season and the press harking back to NU's habitual mediocrity in the men's game, is it fair to say that the women have finally turned the tables? Most everyone I talk to would rather watch the Husker ladies play. Then again, I associate with self-professed fans. Still, it begs the question and that may be all that is required. As the Devaney center filled with young women seeking to watch their suddenly popular sports role models this season, it makes you wonder if this is the start of something even bigger.

And, even if it isn't, this year's team is truly great, historic, and worth celebrating.

The Weekly Buzz

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 07:31:14 -0600

Continuing your education beyond college is a very important topic to me. If you're not learning something new in this day and age, you're going backwards. Plenty of learning experiences have been happening this week, from coaches trying to find out just how others do what they do, to media trying to keep the lesson simple. Let's also not forget about people learning the odds, as they've found out just what Vegas thinks of the college football landscape next season.

Monte Kiffin and Bo learn a thing or two? » Ex-Husker football player and coach Monte Kiffin spent some time with Bo Pelini this week in an exchange of ideas. The USC defensive coordinator was in town to help he son, Chris, pack up and join the Trojans coaching staff lead by head coach Lane Kiffin, brother of Chris and son of Monte, thus completing the family reunion. Chris was previously an offensive assistant intern with the Nebraska staff.

Lesson number one: Suh is the best » CBSSport's Gregg Doyel clearly states that someone would be stupid to think that anyone, let alone Gerald McCoy, is a better choice than Ndamukong Suh in the NFL draft this year, especially at DT. I broke down some of the numbers this week comparing the two from 2009 season stats to NFL combine results. There's no comparison.

Who loves ya? Vegas Baby! » Nebraska is an odds on front runner for the National Championship race next year. Seems there are five teams with better odds to win it all next year, including Texas. So we could be seeing a match up in October have national implications.

Joe Schad's top players to watch » Jared Crick made number 30 on ESPN's list of top 100 players to watch in 2010. I wrote here last week that the combination of Baker Steinkuhler and Crick will be the one-two punch needed to keep the defensive pipeline going. It always seems that the best tandems at Nebraska are dynamic duos on the front line.

The Next All-American?

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 03:48:57 -0600

Nebraska football used to churn out All-Americans like Land O' Lakes churns out butter, but that stopped abruptly after the departure of Frank Solich. Ndamukong Suh was the first All-American since 2003 and the first consensus All-American since Eric Crouch and Toniu Fonoti in 2001. But the question isn't who was last, but rather who will be next?

The two names that might come to mind first are Prince Amukamara and Jared Crick. Each were honorable mention All-American and first-team All-Big 12 in 2009. Add to that group placekicker Alex Henery who was also All-Big 12, and you have three good candidates. Add in some longer shots that received some All-Conference attention in Roy Helu, Mike McNeil, and Niles Paul (not to mention freshman All-American Baker Steinkuhler), and you realize it may not be another six years before Nebraska has another player named to an All-American team.

Crick might be the most plausible candidate, given that all he really needs to do is repeat his production from 2009. Crick didn't necessarily get full credit for what he did this last season, because it was widely believed that he was the beneficiary of playing next to Ndaumukong Suh. Undoubtedly, it will be harder to put up the same kind of numbers without such an unstoppable force next to him. But he has done it once already and Baker Steinkuhler isn't a bad running mate.

Amukamara is quite simply a playmaker. His 41 solo tackles were fourth behind Suh, Phillip Dillard, and Larry Asante all of whom are headed to the NFL. He managed 2 sacks. He had five interceptions. He led the team with 11 pass breakups. He forced a fumble and recovered one. He also had the durability to start all 14 games last season. He could have headed to the NFL already, but his return could pay off for him like it did for Suh.

If you've watched Alex Henery, you wouldn't be surprised to see him become an All-American. He was the entire NU scoring offense against Virginia Tech and Texas. He was perfect inside 40 yards and had only one miss (in eight tries) between 40 and 49 yards. His punting is pretty good too. The main threat to him might be the kickoffs of Adi Kunalic which might make him seem less important than kickers on other teams that also handle kickoffs.

Helu has some great ability. But he'd need to raise his game a bit to where he had at least 6 yards per carry and 250 carries for the season. The former seems possible but the latter would be a tall order. Even if Helu stays healthy enough to handle the workload, the coaches won't be force-feeding him in blowouts like Wisconsin did with Ron Dayne or Texas did with Ricky Williams. He'll definitely be capable of some highlights to get the attention of All-American voters.

Mike McNeil might have the talent, but the offensive system may not be built to really show how productive he can be. You might think of a west coast offense as being one that boosts a tight end's totals. But a closer look at a team like the 1980's San Francisco 49ers shows that the tight end will get his looks, but he won't be seeing six passes a game. Likewise, McNeil will have his moments, but he probably won't be a guy they look to twice a quarter. And if Nebraska is a "multiple" offense rather than a west coast offense? That's all the more reason he wouldn't catch 70 balls.

Niles Paul on the other hand could do some real damage. He's already the top receiving threat, but with an improved offense around him, he could really shine in 2010. He's also an excellent return man. The main barrier for him might be the number of other great receivers (and quarterbacks) there are out there. Paul may have All-American talent, but so might two dozen other receivers. It's going to be the ones paired with a good quarterback that looks for them often that will stand out. That may not be Paul.

Suh and McCoy Battling for Top Spot

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:14:12 -0600

If you're one of those guys who is not quite ready to let Ndamukong Suh go, you're following his every step as he gets closer and closer to the NFL. When the season first ended and Alabama hoisted the big trophy, it seemed like a simpler time. There was little doubt that Suh was probably headed for the first pick in the draft. He still looks like the best player coming out of college football this year, but over the past few weeks the mock drafts show some variety in who is going to go as the top pick. There are analysts out there placing Gerald McCoy of Oklahoma ahead of Suh for the number one pick. And that's just wrong.

Let's take a step back for a minute and think about some of the non-football related reasons that this could be happening. So some guy who sits at a desk with a laptop and a white board has an opinion. Isn't that what we're doing here? Yes, but I'm not stupid. One of the reasons some people make controversial statements is for "ratings" or "hits". The more people interested in what happens in the draft, the more likely you get people watching your shows and viewing your articles. And there's another reason that has nothing to do with the football field: disinformation.

There were some rumors going around that Suh didn't have the explosiveness needed, or that the talent was better around McCoy so he didn't get the same numbers. We'll take a look at the latter statement in a moment, but as for rumors disparaging Suh or building up McCoy, some of that can come from the NFL teams themselves. Teams may be putting statements out there so that making a different pick doesn't seem like such a bad idea. Or maybe they're thinking of trading a high pick and don't want to lose any leverage by telescoping who they'd actually take. That stuff has nothing to do with the better player, athlete, or who had more accomplishments on the field.

One of the excuses you'll hear for the discrepancy is that Suh had more huge stats and numbers because the talent around him was not as good as at Oklahoma. Never mind the insult to the rest of the team and the absurdity of that argument, if that were the case, that would make Suh even better. If Nebraska's talent on defense were not as good as Oklahoma's that makes an even stronger case for Suh to be number one, as he would have been the sole reason NU had the top defense (in points allowed) in the country.

Oh and in case you're wondering if it's just a Big Red bias about Suh being better, here are all the numbers comparing the two:

McCoy is a personable guy. A lot of people consider him to be charming. Suh doesn't necessarily come across as charming. He's focused. He's already stated that his goal is to be the best at everything that he does. That can be off-putting to some people. He's a goal-setter, and his goal usually involves smashing the opposing quarterback or stuffing the man with the football. Combine that attitude with his athletic ability and defensive know-how and isn't that everything you'd want in a defensive linemen?

So let these draftniks put McCoy ahead of Suh if they want. Heck, some team might actually grab McCoy before Suh is off the board. But three years from now when we look back at this draft it will be apparent why Suh was the player that should have gone first.

The Global Warming of College Football

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 03:14:49 -0600

You've heard the argument before: The power in college football has shifted to schools in warmer climates. They have a built in recruiting advantage in the weather and, outside the football realm, more desirable locations that attract more residents which then result in bigger recruiting bases and more players to choose from.

As a Nebraska fan this is a familiar and potentially frightening theory, but is it true? I finally heard it one too many times the other day to simply take at face value so I decided to at least take a cursory look.

The idea was simple: 1) Take all the NCAA recognized national champions since 1940 (AP Poll started in '36) from this list, 2) Look up the average yearly temperature for the school's respective cities using Weatherbase, and 3) Average the "temperature of champions" by decade to see if it was trending one way or the other.

I'll be the first to admit that it's a brutish approach that in no way represents all the vagaries inherent to the question but at least it's a start.

So what does the data say? Over the past seven decades the average temperature of a national champion has gotten warmer, from a low average of 50.37 degrees in the '40s to the high of 66.06 degrees for the decade just completed. The spreadsheet is here if you want to look at the data, but here's how it looks in graph form:

You'll notice that the average temperature has risen pretty steadily with one exception: the '90s. Nebraska had something to do with that. Simply beating Miami in the 1995 Orange Bowl was enough to make this decade slightly "colder" than the previous one. If the 'Canes win, it too is slightly "warmer."

Since 1997, where Nebraska and Michigan--both sub 52 degree schools--split the national title, only Ohio State has won a national title in what you would generally refer to as a cold weather climate. Based on this data, there is at least some basis for the "college football power is shifting south" argument.

But is it a trend that will continue? That's the $1,000 question. The problem with using a decade as the time frame is that the numbers are easily influenced by dynasties. Army won three straight titles in the '40s and Notre Dame won three more. That cools things off. Miami heated up the '80s.

In the 2000's, only one team with an average yearly temperature below 60 degrees won a title. Was that because traditional cold weather powers like Nebraska, Michigan, and Notre Dame all struggled at various points or did they struggle because college football is warming up?

There isn't a good answer to that chicken-egg conundrum, but at least we now know this: The average college football champion has come from warmer and warmer places each of the past four decades except for one. The good news is that that one decade was Nebraska's best so I'm not quite ready to say the Huskers are being literally left out in the cold just yet.

The bad news is I'm a lot more willing to entertain the idea than I was two days ago.

Huskerpedia Down then Frozen

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 18:05:35 -0600

Thousands of Husker fans had a rude awakening today as they found Huskerpedia down. We don't have to tell most of our readers what Huskerpedia is, since a survey we did a few years back told us that most of you visit the site daily. The word is that an ownership issue put the future of the site in question. The main site has been restored, but it appears that the content on the main page may be frozen.

Plans are to lure fans to a new web address, but when you visit the new site you realize that it has new content not present on the old one. That would seem trivial except for the fact that the main Huskerpedia page doesn't (and likely won't) tell people about the newer site.

There are other ways to figure it out. For example, a visit to the bulletin board at the old site reveals how to find the alternate site. Still, you wonder how many of their daily visitors ever explored the ancillary pages. In effect, this could really change the habits of a bunch of Husker fans that hunger for their daily fix of what's new with NU football.

And habits mean a lot when it comes to web sites. We've pretty much built the Big Red Network on that premise. Provide new content daily and people will come back out of habit. And Huskerpedia was really the first of its kind in the 1990's. One of the first aggregators of links and one of the first bulletin boards. You wouldn't think just posting links, archiving history, and providing a forum (which became a paid one) would necessarily cause people to come back day after day, but that's exactly what happened. To where 300,000 unique visitors came to the site monthly.

But in some sense they'll have to rebuild. It's probably not unlike NBC's task of rebuilding the Tonight Show after a lot of habits were changed by the changing hosts and time slots. Can they remain what they'd been or will it mean their best days are behind them?

They can be thankful that the Huskers have a lot of buzz right now. We can see our visitor numbers rise and fall with the fortunes of the Big Red. You can only imagine it's the same over at the 'Pedia.

But enough about us and them. Tomorrow we go back to providing you original content about your favorite team and links to what's new in Nebraska football. And of course, you can leave comments to converse with other Husker fans.

****Update - New content's been added at the old site and the new one, but the two sites don't match each other. So now Huskerpedia is essentially in competition with itself!