Husker Sportsblog

2004-09-07T16:51:00.000-05:00

New Recruit

As you've probably heard by now, we picked up a new recruit after our win on Saturday. Jacob Hickman, an offensive lineman out of Bakersfield, CA. That gives us 3 OL recruits so far this season, and all of them look solid. Wouldn't be surprised to see a couple more of the recruits who attended the game move us up their list of favorites.

Heisman Hopeful?

Call me crazy, but putting Joe Dailey on a list of Heisman Hopefuls already seems a little premature. Although he was impressive, it's tough to overlook his 4 picks and his numbers may be skewed by a mediocre Western Illinois defense. On the other hand, it is nice to see his name on a Heisman list. Despite his poor play in the second half, he still managed to put together 6 total TDs, and he looked comfortable running the West Coast Offense. Don't get me wrong...I'm happy to see him there, but I wouldn't get too excited about his Heisman chances quite yet.

Another note that I found interesting is that a Texas Tech quarterback, yet again, has another huge game. Sonny Cumbie threw 66 times, completing 40 of them, for 470 yards and 4 TDs against Southern Methodist. Is it just me, or could anyone short of Jammal Lord throw for 500 yards for Texas Tech? I'm looking forward to our game against them, with our stellar secondary. Should be entertaining.

2004-09-04T22:30:00.000-05:00

Nebraska 56, Western Illinois 17

Well, the first game of the Callahan Era is over. At times, we looked like a number one team. Then, I came to a realization that we were playing Western Illinois. At other times, we looked terrible. Namely on special teams. At first, I thought it was just some growing pains. Then, I came to the realization that we didn't adopt some sort of "West Coast Special Teams." Unless I was misinformed, our special teams didn't experience some drastic overhaul that would give our them some room for error. As I understand, the special teams we ran this year is the exact same we ran last year, and for any year for that matter. Special teams isn't too different from team to team or year to year. But if I hadn't watched football or followed Nebraska, I would have thought we had adopted some sort of new special teams schemes from the way we were playing them.

As you can tell, I'm not sure what to think about this game. Since I've said all I needed to say about our special teams (did I need to say anything?), let's talk about offense. The one word that comes to mind is 'wow.' We looked sharp. Dailey couldn't miss. Our receivers ran great routes. Ross, Green, and even Jackson bounced off one tackler after another. Then the second half came. We looked like we had never even seen a West Coast playbook in the secon half. How can Dailey go from being so good (4 TD's passing and a rushing TD in the first 20 minutes), to so bad (no TDs and 4 INTs the rest of the game)?

Our D on the other hand looked great as always. But then again, we were playing Western Illinois. But the numbers do speak for themselves, even if we were playing a cupcake team. 7 sacks and 4 picks. I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I know that they didn't give up too many yards.

Well, it's over. We have a lot to be happy about, but also some concern, as expected. I wasn't expecting perfection. I expected that there would be some errors. But I figured that those errors would come on offense, not special teams. Our offense did better than expected. I'm not going to focus on the second half. Dailey showed what he could do in the first half, and that's all I care about. Special teams, on the other hand, needs some serious work. Something tells me that Kade Pittman will be moving down the depth chart this week.

Here are my pros and cons for the game...

Pro...Herian looked great. Didn't drop a pass.
Pro...Dailey in the first 20 minutes.
Pro...Ross broke some ankles. He looked better than ever.
Pro...Tierre Green. 112 yards on 7 carries and 2 TDs. Smooth.
Pro...Our secondary. Fabian and Daniel Bullocks get a pick.
Pro...Our defense as a whole. Great tackling, great pursuit. Doesn't look much different that last year.
Con...Special teams. Need I say more?
Con...Dailey in the last 40 minutes
Con...Second half in general
Con...6 turnovers
Con...Special teams.

Overall grade....B-

I would have given us a B+ or even an A-, I really think we looked that good, but I don't need to cite why our grade went down. Overall, I'm impressed and I'm pleased. I think we showed the nation that yes, we can run the WCO, even if it was agains a Division II opponent. I was especially impressed by the receivers, most notably Willie Amos. Our receivers as a whole didn't drop a single pass to my recollection, and it looked like the WCO fit like a glove for our personnel.

Our program is definitely headed in the right direction.

2004-09-04T11:30:00.000-05:00

Huskers in Lead for Top Recruit

I was just reading over at the BigHuskerFan message boards and saw this post about how Reggie Smith, one of the top DB recruits in the nation from Edmond, OK, says that Huskers are in the lead to get his signature on signing day. I know it's all speculation right now, and you can't say anything's for certain in the recruiting world, but if Smith does sign with Nebraska, it would be huge. Not only would we get a much needed cornerback (Who do we have other than Grixby for when Fabian and Co. leave?), but we would pull yet another top recruit from Bob Stoops front porch, joining Craig Roark and Phillip Dillard.

I'm not penciling him in quite yet, but I have a feeling that Smith is ours, especially with John Blake recruiting him.

2004-09-03T13:38:00.000-05:00

Preview: Western Illinois at Nebraska

Now would usually be the time that I would give you guys a little bit of a preview, including position by position breakdowns and who has the advantage in each. This week though, taking into consideration that we are playing Western Illinois, the fact that I don't know anything about them, I'm not going to go into any depth. That being said, we shouldn't take the Leathernecks too lightly. They gave LSU all they could handle up until the fourth quarter last year. However, I think that the Huskers will be ready to show the nation that the WCO really can work in Lincoln.

Here are my predictions for tomorrow's game...

First play: Deep Post for Terrence Nunn, but it falls incomplete.
Dailey will have over 250 yards passing, but won't break the school record.
Ross will have over 100 yards combined rushing and receiving.
Tierre Green will get some playing time and rush for over 50 yards.
Fabian will get a pick, as will McPherson and Josh Bullocks.
Our D will hold them under 200 total yards.

Final Score:

Nebraska 41

Western Illinois 10

Let's hear your predictions.

2004-09-03T11:17:00.000-05:00

Around The Nation

I don't know if anyone watched the Texas A&M / Utah game last night. In case you missed it, A&M got smacked 41-21. I don't know if Utah is really that good, or if A&M is still that bad. I don't believe I've ever seen a worse secondary than the boys from College Station. Now, I'm not taking anything away from Alex Smith, since he seems to be an excellent quarterback, but giving up 370 yards passing and 3 TD's, with no picks and only 8 incompletions on 29 attempts is just sad. They looked lost. They can't tackle, can't cover. It looked like they were nailed to the field. Franchione is in trouble.

In other notes, the Miami / Florida State has been postponed, ironically due to Hurricane Frances. One thing we all do know is that Kellen Winslow would have played through the hurricane, because as he once said, he's a friggn' soldier. Good thing he doesn't have that choice.

And finally, the Northwestern / TCU game was very entertaining last night. TCU won 48-45 in overtime, thanks to the Northwestern kicker making only 1 of 6 field goals, including a 37 yard game tying attempt in double OT, that didn't even have a chance. I bet that guy feels real good right now.

2004-09-02T17:34:00.000-05:00

Incognito

It's dissapointing that one of the first posts I have to make deals with one of our best players getting suspended. Frankly, I can't believe Richie Incognito would risk his college career on what is a reported locker room scuffle before Tuesday's practice. Apparently, that's not the first time he's gotten into trouble with his teammates.

I understand that sometimes certain people on teams don't get along. I can understand that there would be an occasional confrontation. What I don't understand is what Incognito did to deserve his suspension. It must have been pretty severe. There's a fine line between having fire for the game and being out of control, and it appears that Incognito has crossed that line a few more times that he should have. That's without mentioning his arrest this summer.

Don't get me wrong, I'm one of Incognito's biggest fans. But if he isn't allowed back on the team anytime soon, if ever, then I am not going to feel very sorry for him.

Receivers

Where the heck are Isaiah Fluellen and Mark LeFlore on the receiver depth charts? Not only are either of them not starting, but neither of them are on the three deeps on any of the three wide receiver positions we have. I have trouble believing that both of them are being slowed down by minor injuries, as the papers have been reporting. There's got to be something more there. There's no way that both receivers, who at one point last season started, were simply overtaken by guys like Grant Mulkey, Matt Schroeder, and Willy Amos.

Terrence Nunn, on the other hand, after following him during recruting season and seeing highlights of him both in practice and in high school, is legit at the Z starter. He is the perfect complement to Ross Pilkington. Pilkington is great for short routes and going across the middle. He's strictly a possession receiver and doesn't have blazing speed, at least not enough to burn any Big 12 corners. Nunn will be great for stretching the defense, and our best homerun threat. Think of Fluellen, but with better hands.

Keep an eye on Fluellen and LeFlore. I wouldn't be surprised to hear news of even bigger injuries than what we are told now.

2004-09-01T23:24:00.000-05:00

The Callahan Era

Alright, I know you've heard and read a thousand of these, but one more can't hurt. Here is my view on the William Callahan Era. As of right now, I'm excited for the future, but I'm worried about the present. Here's why.

Take Notre Dame. They had a somewhat successful dynasty under Bob Davie, until he was fired in favor of Tyrone Willingham in 2002. Take a look at some of the differences between 2000-2003. The West Coast Offense was adopted in 2002.




Year        Pts/G         Rush/G         Pass/G         Total/G       Record

2000         31.3          213.5          132.2           345.7          9-3

2001         19.5          188.2          101.5           289.7          5-6

2002         22.3          139.4          174.2           313.5         10-3

2003         20.2          157.2          179.1           336.3          5-7

After a successful 2000 campaign, where they even reached the Fiesta Bowl, they fell apart in 2001. It was obvious that a change was needed, and soon. Well, change did happen. Out was Bob Davie, and in come Tyrone Willingham and his West Coast Offense.

The numbers speak for themselves. Rushing was way down, and passing was way up. In 2002, Notre Dame's first year under the WCO, they were surprisingly successful, but their record may be deceiving. They didn't record an offensive TD until their third game, a 1 yard run. Their offense eventually got into gear and they posted a moderately successful season.

2003 was a different story. Notre Dame's personnel was finally exposed and people realized that the players that they had were definitely not the right players for their offense, most notably Carlyle Holiday, a quarterback heavily recruited by Nebraska. Ironically, their offensive totals actually went up from the previous year in both rushing and passing, but their record didn't reflect those improvements. It turned out to be a distastrous year, forcing Willingham to replace Holiday with true freshman Brady Quinn.

Nebraska has an eerily similar situation. We had been doing fine with our option offense, which was much like Notre Dame's offense pre-WCO. But, after a couple off years, a change was needed. In comes Callahan, and, like Willingham, along with im comes the WCO.

It remains to be seen how Nebraska will fare during the first couple years of the WCO. But, if it's anything like Notre Dame, don't expect much. We simply don't have the personnel yet to succesfully run this offense. Here's the 'definition' of the West Coast Offense.

DEFINITION:
The term 'West Coast Offense' has a two-fold meaning:

1. it describes an ball control offensive system that uses the timed, short passing game AND
2. it also describes the entire offensive structure from play schematics, preparation, installation, implementation, game planning, execution, and attention to every detail of this offensive system.

This is a complete contrast of what we have seen at Nebraska. We have never had any passing game, let alone a timed, short passing game. Bill Walsh, the pioneer of the WCO, also had this to say:

Bill Walsh has stated the following, The term 'West Coast Offense' "... is an umbrella term for precision-timed passing, variable formations, and the exploitation of each player's skills."

Never before has Nebraska seen anything near 'precision-timed passing, variable formations, and the exploitation of each player's skills.' If this is what is expected of our players now, we are in trouble. We, like Notre Dame before us, simply don't have they type of players to run this offense yet. This could lead to some trouble in the near future.

On the other hand, our offense couldn't really get any worse than last year under Jammal Lord. Not only was it one of the most boring offenses to watch, it also didn't accomplish anything. Unlike the 90's, when it too was most of the time boring to watch, but at least we gained yards and put points on the board. I'm not going to blame it on Jammal either. He couldn't throw to save his life, but he could run, and it's not his fault he was the starting quarterback. In my opinion, it was Frank's, and I was glad to see him get fired. But I didn't like to see the likes of Pelini, Sanders, and Brown leave. Those were quality coaches. Anyways.

The kid that got the worst of the new offense is Joe Dailey. He came here as an option quarterback, which was all he really ever has known. Now, he gets thrown into the thick of the new playbook, and is expected to learn an entirely new offense and entirely new schemes all the while doing things he might not be as comfortable with, more specifcally, passing. Dailey is a good passer, as we saw last season in his mop-up roles, but I'm not sure he's good enough to run the WCO with success. Unfortunately for him, I can't see him being the starter for much longer after this season, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him taken out of the starting role during the season. There has been a lot of talk around Jordan Adams, a JUCO transfer who, in my opinion, has no business to start here if he can't even start at his JUCO college. But then again, I've never actually seen him play, and I don't know any better than the so-called experts.

Okay, I've expressed why I'm worried about now. But the future looks bright. We are looking to pull in some top recruits this coming year, and many experts have said that we are 'a couple of years from consistenly reeling in a top 10 class.' This is exciting news, but a top 10 recruiting class doesn't always mean success. Just ask Texas. And, from what I've heard, Callahan and his new staff can recruit with the best of 'em. We'll just have to wait and see.

Expect the Huskers to slow down for a few years, and have a couple more 'down years.' But I, like many other optimists, expect us to do well in the future. It remains to be seen what will happen, and we can speculate all we want, but all we can really do is wait for the season to start and start evaluating then.

2004-09-01T17:21:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my Blog

Hey, Husker Fans, and welcome to my 'blog.' I was browsing around some great sports blogs and realized that there are very little college sports blogs, let alone Nebraska ones. So, I decided to give it a shot. As for frequency of posting, well, it depends. During football season I should have a lot to talk about (whether it be good or bad is yet to be seen), but it all depends on the season, and to some extent, my schedule. I will try to make my posts as entertaining as possible, and maybe bring up a few facts and figures you may not be aware of or may make you think. I don't know if I will succeed, but I will try nonetheless. Have fun and go Skers!