The Red-White Spring game is coming up this Saturday, expected attendance of nearly 60,000. Here's some of the storylines of spring practice thus far...

- No one's been able to touch Zac Taylor at QB, he's the unanimous starter this year as most would have predicted.

- The race for the starting running back is very close right now between sophomores Cody Glenn and Marlon Lucky. Both will be rushing for the red team (first string) while Leon Jackson will for the white team. Brandon Jackson has been out all spring with a shoulder injury and will return in the fall along with 4-star JUCO transfer Kenny Wilson. My best guess now will be split carries between Glenn, Lucky and Wilson in 06.

- Matt Herian is close to 100% and will take part in the scrimmage on Saturday for the red squad. He was held back by a hamstring injury early in the spring but has bounced back and apparently had a great last week of practice.

- The starting OL looks to be junior Chris Patrick (LT), sophomore Andy Christensen (LG), senior Kurt Mann ( C), sophomore Mike Huff (RG), and sophomore Matt Slauson (RT). Mann will be out for the spring game, causing Christensen to move to center and senior returning starter Greg Austin to get the start at guard. Lyndon Murtha, a 6'7 sophomore tackle that a lot of people are very high on, is trying to break into the starting lineup by fall, but has a lot of competition at the tackle positions to do so.

- Junior OLB Steve Octavien has been by far the most impressive player on the field this spring. He's coming back from an ACL injury he suffered in the second quarter of the season opener last year and has been granted a medical redshirt.

- Speaking of Octavien, the linebacker corps are by far the most loaded position on the team. Senior Stewart Bradley (unable to play in the spring game) will get the start at SAM this fall, and junior Corey McKeon will start at MIKE. Bo Ruud and Lance Brandenburgh both have starting experience at WILL and SAM respectively, and Phillip Dillard saw a lot of playing time last year at MIKE, which is expected to increase even more. Not to mention JUCO OLB Steve Allen will enter in the fall.

- Sophomore QB Harrison Beck has suffered a somewhat minor injury to his shoulder this spring, and may not be able to QB the white squad on Saturday. Sophomore Joe Ganz is expected to get the start.

- The defensive backfield is somewhat depleted this year. Corner is fine, with senior Zack Bowman, a potential first rounder, and junior Cortney Grixby holding down the starting spots with 5-star JUCO transfer Andre Jones entering the mix this fall. However, the safety positions are thin for the spring, as senior Andrew Shanle gets the start at FS and junior Tierre Green at SS. This will be helped in the fall by the addition of a handful of high school safety prospects coming in.

- Senior DE Adam Carriker is poised for another big season as he tries to work his way to the top half of the first round. He's been a major force in spring ball thus far and says he hopes to get 3 or 4 sacks in the spring game. Joining him on the starting line is senior DE Jay Moore, senior DT Ola Dagunduro, and freshman DT Ndamukong Suh. Senior DT Barry Cryer and uber-talented sophomore DE Barry Turner are expected to push for major playing time.

- The receivers are progressing along nicely, as junior Terrence Nunn and sophomore Nate Swift continue to be the go-to guys. A newcomer, junior Tyrell Spain has made a big impact the past 15 practices and is expected to be a threat this fall. 6'4 JUCO transfer Maurice Purify is getting a lot of hype and should push for a starting spot in the fall.

I'll post the breakdown of the spring game when it goes down. I really expect this team to be much improved in 06 and to challenge for the Big XII title this year.

yeah, woot

Never got around to re-capping the spring game, but I'm bored and have nothing better to do (like sleep), so here it is.

- Red squad (starters) won 35-7. I would hope so. The only touchdown for the White came on a 100 yard kickoff return by Titus Brothers.

- Zac Taylor had a very solid day, as most expect, completing 14-of-21 passes for 184 yards and 3 touchdowns, no turnovers. The thing that worries me is the backups. As posted earlier, Beck didn't play, so we didn't get a grasp of what he can do if Taylor goes down, but sophomore Joe Ganz completed just 5-of-19 passes for 25 yards, no turnovers, in his time playing for both the White and Red squads. Junior Beau Davis, who is best known as the man who gave up 35 of the 70 points Texas Tech put up on us in '04, was 0-of-6 with 1 interception.

- The question of a starter at RB definitely wasn't answered, as both Cody Glenn and Marlon Lucky had great days rushing for the Red squad. Glenn led the attack with 16 carries for 98 yards, while Lucky put up an impressive 84 yards on 15 carries and also added 2 touchdowns. Lucky also caught 2 passes for 18 yards. The White team totalled -10 yards rushing.

- Terrence Nunn led the receivers with 4 catches for 60 yards. Dane Todd, a senior fullback, had 3 catches for 30 yards and a touchdown. Nate Swift caught 2 passes for 41 yards, and sophomore Todd Peterson had 2 catches for 34 yards and a touchdown. Tight end Josh Mueller added the other touchdown on a 7 yard catch, the only reception by a tight end for the Red squad (Herian was limited).

- Corey McKeon led the Red squad in tackles with 7, including 2 for a loss and a sack. Steve Octavien had 2 tackles, a pass breakup and recorded the only interception of the game. Barry Cryer and Ola Dagunduro, the starting DTs, each had 2 sacks. Adam Carriker didn't do much of anything. Phillip Dillard was probably the most impressive for the White squad, with 8 tackles and 1 for loss. The Red defense held the White offense to just 4 total yards, but they're second stringers, so it's not all that impressive. Maybe if it was USC's second string.

All-in-all, you couldn't really ask for a much more solid spring game. The defense did what they had to do, the starting offense was clicking on all cylinders. Over the past few years though, I've learned not to take these games seriously, because if they were Joe Dailey would be a Heisman contender by now, not fighting for the starting QB job at UNC.

Some stuff that's happened this off-season...

- Cody Glenn was in a car accident on his way home to Texas this summer, apparently fell asleep at the wheel. His car was totalled, but he walked away without a scratch, thank God.

- Leon Jackson transferred...then came back.

- Nebraska's top 3 high school QB targets have elected to play elsewhere (Ryan Mallet - Michigan; John Brantley - Texas; Jarrett Lee - LSU). However, they have offered the top JUCO QB this year, Lyle Moevao. If he commits, which it's very likely he will, he'd enroll this fall (yes, '06 - he qualified out of high school) and have 4 years to play 3. They'll also probably keep looking for a high school QB, as with the Freeman situation last year we'll likely take 2.

- 2006 safety commit Major Culbert was charged with burglary and sexual assault on a recruiting trip to Oregon (The Pac-10 recruits dirty????!?!?!?!?!/sarcasm) Callahan has suspended his scholarship until the verdict is in. He pleaded no guilty this past weekend, but it doesn't look good.

- JUCO OLB transfer and Andre Jones' teammate Steve Allen won't make it to Lincoln. Apparently there's some retarded NCAA rule about how many JUCOs you can play for. Ricky Henry didn't qualify either, but everyone saw that coming. He'll go JUCO.

- Ricky Williams and Eric Crouch are playing in the CFL together. Canada can keep them both.

- Oh yeah, Huskers drafted and picked up...

DRAFTED
S Daniel Bullocks, 2nd round - 40th pick, Detroit Lions (strangely the same exact pick as Josh last year)
P Sam Koch, 6th round - 203rd pick, Baltimore Ravens (pronounced 'Cook'...and where the hell did this pick come from?)
DT LeKevin Smith, 6th round - 206th pick, New England Patriots (in my honest opinion...steal)
DT Titus Adams, 7th round - 220th pick, New York Jets (Patrick Kabongo anyone? He can join Trevor Johnson on the practice squad)

FREE AGENT SIGNINGS
OT Seppo Evwaraye, Carolina Panters (helps the Panthers in being the leading contender for my new favorite team, but there's no way in hell he'll make the roster, he couldn't even hold his starting spot here)
RB Cory Ross, Baltimore Ravens (he'll finish the job Jamal Lewis started)

What has happened to Lydon Murtha? I thought he was put on a strict baby eating diet?

Injuries have held him back, but he's healthy now and should contend for a starting spot at left tackle. Started a few games last year, he'll probably crack the lineup eventually this season.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseacti...d=601893887&n=2

The recruiting is looking pretty solid for next year so far i think. We got a commitment from a Texas QB, his name escapes me at the moment, fairly decent though........

I remember the unbelieveable amount of hype Kabongo got pre-draft. You would think he had a 14 inch dong from the way people used to talk about him. Plus he had a great name.

Yeah, Patrick Witt, he was QB on Caleb King's team last year so they didn't really pass a lot, but his video is very impressive. He went to some Texas school this year and should really light it up. 8 kids committed so far, 4 from Texas.

Major Culbert sentenced to 5 years of probation and 25 days in jail for criminal trespassing and harassment that happened during his recruiting trip to Eugene. Callahan is letting him join the team though.

Same thing that happened to the kid going to Oregon, they let him in too. I have no problem with Callahan letting him in, sounded like things were blown out of proportion, but Major's on a zero tolerance policy and the microscope is on him now. I'm rooting for the kid.

In other news, some turmoil for the team early in camp. Harrison Beck was pissed at the fact he wasn't named the outright #2 quarterback yet, and left Lincoln before practice on Saturday. No one could get a hold of him or find him, he ended up driving back home to Clearwater, Florida. Callahan's trying to set up a meeting in person with him to talk about what he's upset with, but I personally don't think he'll be back, nor do I really care. He's shown his immaturity since he got here, very few of his teammates respect him, and I just don't see him taking control of this team after Zac graduates. He's got all the tools and I hope he turns it all around, but he's got a lot to learn. His mother was interviewed by the AP. Here's some quotes she had to share...

Beck-Bothwell told the Journal Star that her son would beat out Taylor for the starting quarterback's job if the coaches devoted more time to him. She said Taylor is "just OK."

"It'd be different if he was sitting behind Matt Leinart or Brady Quinn," Beck-Bothwell said.

Link to story

All I have to say is look at the stats. Taylor set the single season school passing record with over 2600 yards, Beck completed 1 of 10 for 21 yards and an INT. Don't think he's quite ready to unseat our starter. It'll hurt if he decides to leave the program, especially after the Freeman decommitment last year, but Patrick Witt is a mid-term graduate and we'll probably go after a JUCO. I'm pulling for Beck, but he's got a ways to go to earn a lot of Husker fans' respect.

Much worse news, starting corner Zack Bowman tore his ACL in one-on-ones during Saturday's practice and will be out for the entire season. He was a potential first rounder, and it'll be hard to replace him. Andre Jones is reportedly more ready as an incoming JUCO than Bowman was last season (Jones played his freshman year at Kentucky) but it leaves the defensive backfield very thin. Titus Brothers will be the nickel now, and safety Brian Wilson will move back to corner and battle with the incoming Anthony West and Ricky Thenarse (if he gets the nod from the clearinghouse) for PT this fall. Bowman's physical presence (at 6'2) will be missed, especially in the USC game where he would have been up against Dwayne Jarrett. With Grixby at 5'9 and Jones at 6' it'll be tough to match up against some of the taller receivers throughout the year in the Big XII conference like Todd Blythe and Limas Sweed. All of a sudden a season that looked promising for Big XII title hopes is going to be tested with this loss.

Well Beck has been officially released from the team. According to his high school coach, his mother's comments really finalized the whole thing. He figured it'd be tough to come back to Lincoln after all that. I wish him the best wherever he goes, it's just a shame he ruined such a good opportunity by being immature and selfish.

Nothing wrong with him being selfish, definitely something wrong with him being immature about it and not sticking it out.

I guess you guys lost out on Lyle Moeavo.

Nevermind checking Scout or Rivals, look at his myspace page (Which was the first thing that popped up whenever I googled him). It's official.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea...riendid=6699376

Yeah Lyle committed to Oregon State back in June after they offered him the same deal as we did (to come in this fall). Definitely hurts more now than it did then with the fact that Joe Ganz is next in line if Taylor goes down (knock on wood).

After all the bad news at the QB position the past two years (Freeman decommitting, losing out on Mallett, Lee, Moevao and Gray, Beck leaving) there's finally some good news. Brian Hildebrand is coming in from JUCO this fall at the QB position. He's a RS Sophomore so he'll have 3 to play 3. He was part of the Elite 11 QB Camp in high school in 2004 and went to Oregon State. Didn't think he was gonna see time there, so he transferred to JUCO and was planning on going to Colorado this year until they lost all their coaching staff. So now he's been brought in not only to push for (and probably win) the starting job next season, but also to provide depth this season, depending on how quick he can pick the offense up. Some good news though, reports say he's got above-average arm strength, excellent accuracy and underrated athleticism. He's 6'2, 205 and runs a 4.65. Watched some of his film, and he definitely looks the part, so finally we have some good news at the QB position.

In other news, both WRs Isaiah Fluellen and Tyrell Spain have been moved to corner the past 2 days. Being so thin at corner and deep at WR it made sense to move a few guys over. Spain could be that physical presence that we'll be missing from Bowman, as he stands at 6'3. Teammates also said he looks very natural out there at corner, so I could see him hitting the field early and often, and maybe guarding a Patrick Turner in the SC game.

Leon Jackson's decided to transfer again via the Lincoln Journal Star. Wherever he lands is getting a hell of a running back. He didn't want to play any other position (we had him at RB, then moved him to S, then to WR, then back to RB by his request) and we're just too deep for him to get any quality snaps at that position. I'll wish him good luck wherever he goes, kid's got great talent and character.

Just 2 days away until the beating of La. Tech. After the downers at the start of fall camp (Beck, Jackson's departure, Bowman's season-ending injury) it ended up playing out pretty damn good. Sam Keller transferred and should be ready to take the throne next year, and there's been some great surprises in fall camp, notably JUCO RB Kenny Wilson (see ridiculous run: here) The depth chart for game #1 has been released. Hopefully the backups will be in by the 3rd quarter so it won't matter much. Callahan noted that the RBs are more-so all #1 right now, and they're gonna all get carries. Here 'tis...

Offense
QB: Zac Taylor, SR
Joe Ganz, SO
Beau Davis, SO
IB: Marlon Lucky, SO
Cody Glenn, SO
Brandon Jackson, JR
Kenny Wilson, JR
FB: Dane Todd, SR
Matt Senske, JR
WR (X): Nate Swift, SO
Frantz Hardy, JR
Maurice Purify, JR
Menelik Holt, FR (True)
WR (Z): Terrence Nunn, JR
Todd Peterson, SO
TE (Y): Matt Herian, SR
J.B. Phillips, JR
Josh Mueller, JR
LT: Chris Patrick, JR
Lyndon Murtha, SO
LG: Greg Austin, SR
Andy Christensen, SO
C: Kurt Mann, SR
Brett Byford, JR
RG: Mike Huff, SO
Jacob Hickman, FR (True)
RT: Matt Slauson, SO
Carl Nicks, JR

Defense
O DE: Jay Moore, SR
Barry Turner, SO
DT: Barry Cryer, SR
Ty Steinkuhler, SO
NT: Ola Dagunduro, SR
Ndamukong Suh, SO
B DE: Adam Carriker, SR
Zach Potter, SO
SAM: Stewart Bradley, SR
Lance Brandenburgh, JR
MIKE: Corey McKeon, JR
Phillip Dillard, SO
WILL: Bo Ruud, JR
Steve Octavien, JR
S CB: Andre Jones, JR
Isaiah Fluellen, SR
W CB: Cortney Grixby, JR
Tyrell Spain, JR
Titus Brothers, JR
SS: Tierre Green, JR
Major Culbert, FR (True)
Ben Eisenhart, JR
FS: Andrew Shanle, SR
Rickey Thenarse, FR (True)
Bryan Wilson, JR

Special Teams
PK: Jordan Congdon, SO
Alex Henery, FR (True)
P: Dan Titchener, SO
Michael Such, FR (True)
KO: Jordan Congdon, SO
Jake Wesch, SO
LS: Lane Kelly, SR
T.J. O'Leary, SO
HOL: Jake Wesch, SO
Nate Swift, SO
KOR: Kenny Wilson, JR
Tierre Green, JR
Marlon Lucky, SO
Brandon Jackson, JR
PR: Terrence Nunn, JR
Cortney Grixby, JR
Andre Jones, JR

Biggest surprise by far to me was Ruud listed over Octavien. I personally think Ruud is garbage, he's not physical, minimally fast and athletic...maybe not garbage, but definitely not in Octo's league. Could be partly because Steve had surgery to get his appendix taken out just over a week ago, but they say he's 100% already, so I dunno. Marlon Lucky not a #1 kick returner is also bugging me, as he shined in those duties last year. I also expect Maurice Purify to jump up to at least the #3 receiver by the SC game.

Tightest battles of fall camp were probably Ruud vs. Octavien for WILL, Titchener vs. Such for P, Patrick vs. Murtha for LT, the RBs (still not over) and Huff vs. Christensen vs. Austin for the 2 guard spots.

I expect all the guys listed here, besides the specialists, to get PT.

Wow, that was a sick run by Wilson

FINAL SCORE: Nebraska 49 - Louisiana Tech 10

STATS:
Passing
Zac Taylor: 22-34, 287 yards, 3 TDs, INT
Joe Ganz: 2-2, 45 yards, TD
(O-Line: no sacks allowed)

Rushing
Cody Glenn: 13 carries, 88 yards, TD
Marlon Lucky: 13 carries, 79 yards, TD
Kenny Wilson: 15 carries, 47 yards
Brandon Jackson: 3 carries, 36 yards, TD
Zac Taylor: 2 carries, 9 yards

Receiving
Matt Herian: 3 catches, 61 yards, TD
Terrence Nunn: 5 catches, 54 yards
Nate Swift: 3 catches, 46 yards
Marlon Lucky: 3 catches, 42 yards
Todd Peterson: 2 catches, 30 yards
Hunter Teafatiller: 1 catch, 29 yards, TD
Maurice Purify: 1 catch, 28 yards
Frantz Hardy: 2 catches, 24 yards
Josh Mueller: 2 catches, 10 yards, TD
J.B. Phillips: 2 catches, 8 yards, TD

Turnovers
Bo Ruud: Interception
Barry Turner: Fumble Recovery
Cortney Grixby: Fumble Recovery

Sacks
Adam Carriker: 1.5
Jay Moore: 0.5

Nebraska Offense: 584 yards (332 passing, 252 rushing)
La. Tech Offense: 305 yards (238 passing, 67 rushing)

Overall I'm very happy with how this played out. The offense looks very good. Taylor was putting the ball wherever he pleased to, and the RBs all looked great, namely Marlon Lucky and Brandon Jackson. I must say I like the committee decision. Keep em fresh, keep em healthy. Lucky got a nasty hit in the 3rd quarter to the back of the head, was slow to the sidelines. Should be alright though. I'm a little worried about our front seven. Tech had some good runs on us and we couldn't set up a consistent pass rush. Carriker at DT on third downs is a great idea though. Our corners are the main concern, with Bowman and now Fluellen out, Grixby got banged up a bit and they picked on Andre Jones all game. Are we ready to take on SC yet? Nah, unless we plan on just outscoring them. Our DBs need to make a lot of progress. All-in-all though, it was a good win. And how 'bout them Buffs, huh? Heh...

Our front line just looked tired. Hopefully with some conditioning they will do better.

But yeah, our secondary is scaring me right now.

Well so far we have 4 players already out for the season with ACL injuries (Zack Bowman, Phillip Dillard, Isaiah Fluellen and Nick Covey). Hopefully we can get one of our freshmen CBs to step up and play some this year (probably Anthony West) and get some experience. The more I look at the game, the defensive calls were extremely vanilla, in that they called maybe 2-3 blitzes all game. Last season blitzes are what made us the best pass rushing team in the country. We won't really see much of any sacks next week (Nicholls State passed the ball 5 times I believe last week) but we'll get plenty of work on the run. I really think that by SC, we'll be able to shut down their running game. It'll be all about the pass rush and third downs that decides the outcome in that game. Hopefully Tyrell Spain will be able to get on the field by SC.

FINAL SCORE: Nebraska 56 - Nicholls State 7

STATS:
Passing
Zac Taylor: 19-23, 202 yards, 4 TDs
Joe Ganz: 2-3, 35 yards

Rushing
Marlon Lucky: 18 carries, 103 yards, TD
Kenny Wilson: 9 carries, 86 yards, TD
Cody Glenn: 11 carries, 47 yards, 2 TD
Brandon Jackson: 7 carries, 29 yards
Joe Ganz: 1 carry, 10 yards
Zac Taylor: 3 carries, -3 yards

Receiving
Maurice Purify: 2 catches, 61 yards, TD
Matt Herian: 4 catches, 37 yards, TD
Todd Peterson: 1 catch, 31 yards
Brandon Jackson: 3 catches, 25 yards
Terrence Nunn: 3 catches, 23 yards
J.B. Phillips: 3 catches, 17 yards
Frantz Hardy: 1 catch, 14 yards, TD
Marlon Lucky: 1 catch, 13 yards
Dane Todd: 2 catches, 9 yards, TD
Dan Erickson: 1 catch, 7 yards

Turnovers
Stewart Bradley: 2 Fumble Recoveries
Corey McKeon: Fumble Recovery

Nebraska Offense: 504 yards (232 passing, 272 rushing)
Nicholls State Offense: 193 yards (0 passing, 193 rushing)

Didn't watch the game, just listened to it. Marlon Lucky, once again, looked like our best RB by far. He gets the job done when the defense is fresh. He's got 182 yards on 31 carries (5.9 yard avg.) and 55 yards on 4 catches (13.75 yard avg.) this season. It'll be fun to see what he does when he goes home to play in L.A. next week. Taylor is 41 of 56 for 489, 7 TDs and only one INT so far this year. I'm still very skeptical about next week. I don't think this was a good tune-up game for SC at all, as Nicholls passed the ball a total of 3 times (0 completions) all day. We gave up one big run, but that's bound to happen as we had our 2nd teamers in by midway through the 2nd quarter. Overall I couldn't be much more pleased with today, but I'm still not too sure about how we'll fare against USC.

FINAL SCORE: Southern Cal 28 - Nebraska 10

STATS:
Passing
Zac Taylor: 8-16, 115 yards
Dan Titchener (punter): 1-1, 28 yards

Rushing
Kenny Wilson: 19 carries, 46 yards
Marlon Lucky: 10 carries, 27 yards
Brandon Jackson: 2 carries, 1 yard
Zac Taylor: 5 carries, -6 yards, TD

Receiving
Brandon Jackson: 4 catches, 36 yards
Matt Herian: 1 catch, 36 yards
Terrence Nunn: 2 catches, 31 yards
Todd Peterson: 1 catch, 28 yards
Marlon Lucky: 1 catch, 12 yards

Kicking
Jordan Congdon: 1/1, 38 yards

Sacks
Ndamukong Suh: 1, -7 yards
Stewart Bradley: 1, -1 yards (FF)

Nebraska Offense: 211 yards (143 passing, 68 rushing)
Southern Cal Offense: 399 yards (257 passing, 142 rushing)

This game wasn't near as ugly as I thought it could've been, but I'm not too thrilled to say the least. One thing that comforts me is to think if we would've played SC at the beginning of last year, and how bad we would've been destroyed. But none-the-less, we went into the Coliseum and held an extremely explosive offense to 28 points. At first glance I was pissed at the conservative playcalling of Callahan, but after watching the game again, I see what he was going for. SC feeds off of 3rd and long situations, throwing all kinds of different things at you and forcing turnovers. They also have, in my opinion, the best offense in the nation. Keeping them off the field (especially with the WR/DB matchups) was a must. If a couple things would've went different (the holding call on the first half drive, the countless dropped interceptions, Lucky's fumble), then who knows? I don't like to make excuses, but I think we could've took it down to the wire. Our front seven played extremely well. They weren't having much of any success running between the tackles. But the WRs, as I had worried about, were just too good for our thin, inexperienced secondary. Oh, and I wasn't very happy with our defensive playcalling on 2nd and 3rd and long situations. Why bring up the safeties and then don't blitz them, leaving a 5'9 Cortney Grixby on a 6'5 Dwayne Jarrett? It makes no sense. Anyways, the loss was disappointing, but it's told me a hell of a lot about this football team. Here we go...

Quarterback
There's not really much I need to say here. Zac Taylor is a leader and a very cerebral QB. Striking resemblance to Major Applewhite of Texas a few years back. He's got a very accurate arm, and when given time, can pick any defense apart. However, we also have to keep him healthy for the whole season, because if he goes down, we're down to Joe Ganz. I thought he did a wonderful job when he got his chances last night, the offensive line just wasn't giving him much help. There were about 3 or 4 passes deflected, and he was scrambling for his life most of the time. All-in-all though, and you can flame me all you want, but I would rather have him running this offense than any quarterback in the nation.

Running Backs
We have a stable of very good, young running backs. If you put any of them behind a line like USC's, especially Marlon Lucky, they're all 1000+ yard rushers. Problem is, our offensive line is not SC's. All-in-all, I'm thrilled with our running backs. I'm worried that maybe the coaches are falling for this Kenny Wilson too much, when I personally think he's our fourth best. Marlon Lucky is the most complete, he's got the best hands, the best vision, the best speed, everything. Cody Glenn is the most powerful, and I'm shocked to hell he didn't play last night (only play I saw him in on was the Taylor bootleg TD). Brandon Jackson has shown that he's not be forgotten, and he's a very explosive runner and the best pass protector of the bunch. Wilson, it just seems to me, is too patient. It doesn't look like he knows when to make his move. I see potential; he's big, fast, and powerful, but he's not quite there yet. Besides, if we're going to compete for a Big XII championship, Lucky is the guy we need to get the most touches.

Offensive Line
We definitely need help here. It's without a doubt improved from last year, and still collectively young, but the SC defensive line was beating up on us all game. Taylor was having to roll out or check down to a running back (5 of 8 completions to RBs) way too much when he actually got to pass the ball. Every once in a while there were holes opening up in the running game, especially on that drive in the first half that was killed by the Mueller holding penalty. They'll improve, but we definitely need to recruit much harder here.

Tight Ends/Receivers
Matt Herian's lost two or more steps since his injury, it's no secret. The speed that once made him arguably the best tight end in the nation isn't there anymore. He still gets open, he still has good hands, and he still can make moves after the catch, but he runs as if he's made of soft glass. Mueller's a decent receiver who could improve, and Phillips is a great blocking tight end, but we need that speedy guy to step up. Could it be Justin Tomerlin? Mike McNeil? Clayton Sievers? Don't know, but we need someone to. I've come to the conclusion that Terrence Nunn is head-and-shoulders our best receiver. Nate Swift, Maurice Purify, they're both good. Purify's got the size and potential to develop into a first day pick. But as far as understanding the offense, creating mismatches and getting open, Nunn is the best we have right now. I hope Frantz Hardy steps up as the season moves along, kid's got great speed and we need big play guy. And I want to see more of Menelik Holt, I think that kid's gonna be a stud.

Defensive Line
Without a doubt our strongest position on the team. Adam Carriker is just a freak. Jay Moore is overshadowed by Carriker, but he may be just as good. Barry Turner, mark my words, is a future first rounder. Kid's Dwight Freeney part 2. Ola Dagunduro is a force in the middle, and Barry Cryer really stepped up last night and made some big plays. It was nice to see Ndamukong Suh disrupting their offense as well. Our D-Line, for the most part, dominated one of the best offensive lines in the nation. Despite us not racking up the sacks, we were getting constant pressure on Booty. Notice how many big plays they had? The reason they kept nickel and diming us down the field is because we give receivers 8 yards of cushion. If we had Bowman, our corners could've played bump and run and our D-Line would've racked up about 5 sacks instead of 2 (they didn't even count the Stew Bradley forced fumble one in the official stats, but I did). I don't think we'll lead the country in sacks again because we won't be playing much bump and run if our corners don't drastically improve, but that shouldn't take away anything from this D-Line. Without a doubt top 5 in the country, if not the best.

Linebackers
Our linebackers have looked suspect so far this year. Corey McKeon and Stewart Bradley are still playing very good, nothing has changed with them. The problem is at WILL, and it won't be fixed until we take Bo Ruud and sit his ass on the bench. Yeah, the fans like him. Yeah, they'll do their "RUUUUUUUUUUUU..." chants every time he reaches down to tie his freaking shoe. But what people need to realize is he's not his brother. In fact, he's the polar opposite of his brother. He may be a little more athletic. He may be faster. But there's one thing he lacks: balls. The kid has no stones. He never wants to man up and hit. He doesn't shed blocks, he rolls off of them. When he meets a running back or tight end straight up, he goes for an arm tackle. So much is being made of the fact that Steve Octavien isn't playing because he doesn't stick to assignment or whatever. Well fine then, put Lance Brandenburgh in. Brandenburgh may not be fleet footed, but he plays to enforce pain. He's a true linebacker. I have no idea why the coaches are leaving Ruud in, and if he stays in all season, he could very well lose us a game or two. At first I was excited when Phillip Dillard went down, for the mere fact that he'd have two seasons as a starter when McKeon graduates, but now I'm not so sure. There were rumors of moving McKeon to WILL and putting Dillard at MIKE. That would've been sick, but it's all just a dream now. Teams have also managed to abuse our outside linebackers with tosses and sweeps. Bradley doesn't have that extra gear to catch a running back, and Ruud's too much of a kitty kat to put his helmet on one. We have great depth at linebacker...find someone to replace Ruud and we've got a helluva front seven.

Cornerbacks
No doubt the weakness of our team. Andre Jones is still inexperienced. He got picked on last night, and rightfully so. But it took Bowman about 7 games last year to become the full starter, and Jones has two quality starts under his belt now (Nicholls State doesn't count). He should improve. People hate on Cortney Grixby, and it's all because of his size. At 5'9, there's just some things he can't do, such as cover Dwayne Jarrett. He held his own when he was on Steve Smith last night, just as I thought he would (besides that sick double move, but dumbass playcalling shared the blame on that). Against 6'2 and shorter receivers, Grixby has the talent to contain the best of them. Prime example: Mario Manningham in the Alamo Bowl. But when you leave him one-on-one with arguably the best receiver in the nation, he's gonna look like a fool. My real concern, however, is behind the two. Besides Jones and Grixby, there's nothing. Bowman's out, and with him on Jarrett who knows how last night could've turned out. Fluellen, who had earned the nickel spot in just 3 weeks of playing corner is out (we'll never see him again at Nebraska unfortunately). Basically, all we have left is Titus Brothers, Tyrell Spain, Anthony West and Corey Young. Two of those are true freshmen. Brothers, who's gotten playing time for two years now, just hasn't improved. Spain, while he's got that size at 6'3, hasn't gotten the hang of corner since he was moved from receiver. Right now, as far as I know, Corey Young, the in-state true freshman, is our nickel back. Apparently he played great against Nicholls State. I didn't see it but I hear good things. But still, a true freshman from Nebraska having to cover the Billy Pittmans of the Big XII? I just don't like it.

Safeties
This is the hardest position to get a feel on if you're watching on TV. You don't really have the chance to see much of them unless Cosgrove calls a dumbass play like pulling your safeties up for no blitz on 3rd and 21 (spot em 4 points I guess). Right now, I don't know what to think. We have elite speed back there. Tierre Green and Andrew Shanle were both in the top 5 if I remember correctly for winter conditioning forty times. From what I've seen, Green isn't afraid to hit either, and I think he may have finally found his home (about damn time) as a safety. Scary to think we may need to move him back to corner if we don't show improvement there. Shanle, well, I dunno. He dropped the easiest pick he'll ever have in his life last night. He was beat out for the starting FS job last year by Blake Tiedke for God's sake. A bright spot is the young guns we have behind the two. Major Culbert at SS and Rickey Thenarse at FS have both established themselves on the two-deep as true freshmen. I can't wait to see how they progress.

OVERALL
This team is certainly capable of winning the Big XII North. In fact, if we're not hit by the injury bug, there's a huge problem if we don't with the North. I even believe that we could compete for a Big XII title. The defensive playcalling needs to get better. The offensive line needs to get better. The receivers need to step up. Ruud needs only play on passing downs. The secondary will have to improve. But really, this SC team is the best team we'll play this year. Texas will give us fits, but it's at home, and I'll be there, so I have confidence in that one. Todd Blythe will cause a mismatch, but Iowa State's D is as soft as they come. A&M at Kyle Field will be a test, but they just don't match up with us well. A few breaks here and there, and we could be a 2 loss regular season team. Hell, maybe even run the table. Looking back at the beginning of last year when we struggled against Maine, to the end, we had improved 300%. No reason to think that this team won't improve just as much in a short year. And in 2007? I'm hopeful that's our year to make a run for it all.

Yeah, I couldnt believe Glenn didnt get any carries. Everybody i was watching the game with was yelling for him, especially on short-yardage situations.

Grixby should not be starting. But since we dont have anybody to replace him, there's nothing we can do about it.

Adam Carriker has disappointed me so far this season. I need to watch the game again, so i can pay more attention to him. But often i seen him being pushed back. I think his conditioning is something that he needs to work on. Jay Moore has been more impressive this season.

The first time we ran play action was in like the 3rd quarter. And it worked. I dont see why the Huskers didnt run that most of the game.

I quit watching the Troy game after it was 35-0 in the third quarter and the backups were in.

Marlon Lucky, wow. He reached 100 yards on only 7 carries, and then broke out on a 50 yard TD run, and ended up with 156 yards and 3 scores.

It's seems like Dane Todd has been around forever. He scored a TD in the Miami National Title game if i remember right. But he was clearing the way for the halfbacks tonight. He made some unbelievable blocks.

Last week I said i was a little disappointed in Adam Carriker. Not this week. He was a complete monster in this game. I think he ended up with 2 sacks, but he was knocking down the QB almost every single play. Troy's quarterback has to be hurting this morning. He took a beating last night.

Taylor was pretty accurate last night, and the receivers were catching alot of the passes, which is a little different from the first couple games when they were dropping four out of five passes.

FINAL SCORE: Nebraska 56 - Troy 0

STATS:
Passing
Zac Taylor: 14-17, 268 yards, TD, INT
Joe Ganz: 2-6, 13 yards, TD

Rushing
Marlon Lucky: 10 carries, 156 yards, 3 TD (of 34, 45 and 52 yards)
Kenny Wilson: 19 carries, 106 yards, 2 TD
Brandon Jackson: 11 carries, 63 yards, TD
Zac Taylor: 3 carries, 8 yards

Receiving
Terrence Nunn: 4 catches, 102 yards
Nate Swift: 3 catches, 79 yards
Maurice Purify: 2 catches, 45 yards
J.B. Phillips: 2 catches, 16 yards, TD
Matt Senske: 2 catches, 13 yards, TD
Frantz Hardy: 1 catch, 16 yards
Josh Mueller: 1 catch, 8 yards
Marlon Lucky: 1 catch, 2 yards

Turnovers
Andrew Shanle: Interception
Brandon Rigoni: Fumble Recovery
Bryan Wilson: Fumble Recovery
Ty Steinkuhler: Forced Fumble

Sacks
Ndamukong Suh: 1.5
Jay Moore: 1
Ola Dagunduro: 1
Barry Cryer: 0.5
(Carriker wasn't credited with a sack in the official stats but he was in the backfield every play)

NEBRASKA OFFENSE: 597 yards (281 passing, 316 rushing)
TROY OFFENSE: 140 yards (92 passing, 48 rushing)

Great way to come back after the loss to the first Trojans last week. Troy gave Florida State and Georgia Tech both huge scares. Whether they ran out of gas or not, I don't know, but their coach said Nebraska was the best football team they had faced in a long time. Everything was clicking today. 408 yards in the first half was astounding. Marlon Lucky looked every bit of his 5 star rating coming out of high school. Once he gets in the open field, there's no stopping him. It looked like his high school film all over again. Taylor was very efficient as well, and really only had one mistake all ballgame. The main thing is that Nebraska dominated the game in the trenches. They punched Troy in the mouth early and never looked back. It was the Huskers' first shutout since October 25, 2003, when they beat Iowa State 28-0. It was probably the most dominant performance I've seen from them since the 1999 season, or maybe even since 97. I am now of firm belief that Nebraska would have a great chance of beating anyone at Memorial Stadium. SC and Ohio State are exceptions, but who knows? Next week is Kansas, a revenge game. I'd expect another blowout. Then we get to see how this team performs on the road against Iowa State and Kansas State in back-to-back away games. Big XII Conference play...woot!

Carriker wasn't credited with a sack? I thought he had at least one, it was in the 1st quarter. From the LE spot, the qb rolled to the right and Carriker got him. Oh well.

Yeah I remember hearing his name in on one too. Even he said after the game that he was mad he only got one sack. Those are the stats from Huskers.com though so I dunno.

Ovie, students at the University are trying to get everybody who is going to be in the student section for the Texas game to wear black, in support of the blackshirts. They got a facebook group called "Black Out". They tried it last year versus Texas Tech, but they only thought of the idea a week before. If this works, it should look awesome.

I dunno, never was a big fan of the whole "peppered" look in the ISU and TT games last season. I dunno if you can ever turn the Sea of Red black. I'll be there for the game though, can't wait.

Through the non-conference season (1/3rd of the way done with the regular season schedule) here are the statistics...

Passing
Zac Taylor: 63-89 (71%), 872 yards, 8 TD, 2 INT
Joe Ganz: 6-12 (50%), 93 yards, 2 TD

Rushing
Marlon Lucky: 51 carries, 365 yards (7.2 ypc), 5 TD
Kenny Wilson: 62 carries, 278 yards (4.5 ypc), 3 TD
Cody Glenn: 24 carries, 135 yards (5.6 ypc), 3 TD
Brandon Jackson: 23 carries, 126 yards (5.5 ypc), 2 TD
Zac Taylor: 13 carries, 8 yards (0.6 ypc), TD

Receiving
Terrence Nunn: 14 catches, 209 yards (14.9 ypr)
Matt Herian: 8 catches, 135 yards (16.9 ypr), 2 TD
Maurice Purify: 5 catches, 134 yards (26.8 ypr), TD
Nate Swift: 6 catches, 125 yards (20.8 ypr)
Todd Peterson: 4 catches, 89 yards (22.2 ypr)
Marlon Lucky: 6 catches, 69 yards (11.5 ypr)
Brandon Jackson: 7 catches, 61 yards (8.7 ypr)
Frantz Hardy: 4 catches, 54 yards (13.5 ypr), TD
J.B. Phillips: 7 catches, 41 yards (5.9 ypr), 2 TD
Hunter Teafatiller: 1 catch, 29 yards (29.0 ypr), TD
Josh Mueller: 3 catches, 18 yards (6.0 ypr), TD
Matt Senske: 2 catches, 13 yards (6.5 ypr), TD
Dane Todd: 2 catches, 9 yards (4.5 ypr), TD
Dan Erickson: 1 catch, 7 yards (7.0 ypr)

Turnovers
Stewart Bradley: 2 FR, FF
Cortney Grixby: FR, FF
Bo Ruud: INT, FF
Andrew Shanle: INT
Corey McKeon: FR
Barry Turner: FR
Brandon Rigoni: FR
Bryan Wilson: FR
Ndamukong Suh: FF
Ty Steinkuhler: FF

Sacks
Ndamukong Suh: 2.5
Jay Moore: 2
Adam Carriker: 1
Ola Dagunduro: 1
Barry Cryer: 0.5

Leading Tacklers
Corey McKeon: 21 (10 solo), TFL
Tierre Green: 21 (10 solo)
Stewart Bradley: 21 (8 solo), 2 TFL
Bo Ruud: 18 (7 solo)
Cortney Grixby: 17 (13 solo)
Adam Carriker: 14 (5 solo), 4 TFL

Nebraska Offense: 1890 yards (897 rushing, 993 passing), 171 points
Opponent Offense: 1031 yards (444 rushing, 587 passing), 45 points

National Rankings
Total Offense: 6th (10th rushing, 26th passing)
Total Defense: 21st (49th rushing, 47th pass efficiency, 15th scoring D)
Scoring: 2nd (42.75 ppg)
Individual Rushing: Marlon Lucky 33rd (91.25 rush ypg)
Individual Passing Efficiency: Zac Taylor 3rd (178.3)

Ovie how has Suh played? Stats look decent, but I want to know if it's a consistent thing.

Didn't really get to see a whole lot of Suh through the first two games, but he has been very impressive the last two. Leads the team in sacks (2.5) and tackles for loss (5). He's still not starting, and I don't really expect him to replace Ola Dagunduro this year, but he's definitely looked dominant when he's in there. Held his own against Kalil of USC and got a sack on him, so I'm excited about how he's progressing.

Well, it's only the student section, and they have near 4,000 people on the facebook group, so i think they can do it.

FINAL SCORE: Nebraska 39 - Kansas 32 (OT)

STATS:
Passing
Zac Taylor: 15-33, 395 yards, 4 TD

Rushing
Marlon Lucky: 13 carries, 40 yards
Cody Glenn: 7 carries, 33 yards, TD
Kenny Wilson: 4 carries, 33 yards
Brandon Jackson: 4 carries, 28 yards

Receiving
Frantz Hardy: 3 catches, 159 yards, 2 TD (78, 75 yards)
Terrence Nunn: 3 catches, 98 yards, TD (75 yards)
Maurice Purify: 4 catches, 91 yards
Nate Swift: 2 catches, 25 yards (+ 2 pt. conversion)
Marlon Lucky: 2 catches, 16 yards
Todd Peterson, 1 catch, 6 yards, TD

Turnovers
Andrew Shanle: 2 interceptions
Andre Jones: Interception
Tierre Green: Fumble Recovery
Corey McKeon: Forced Fumble

Nebraska Offense: 511 yards (395 passing, 116 rushing)
Kansas Offense: 574 yards (405 passing, 169 rushing)

I about had a heart-attack during this game. I was coming home from Gainesville for the Florida vs. Bama game during the second half, and I'm trying to get the play-by-play on my cell phone. Damn thing died right before they went into OT. I watched most of the first half. Nebraska was killing them in the first quarter, then it's just like the D took a sh*t and stopped playing. The running game couldn't do much, as Kansas is always good against the run, but the passing game really took a hit through most of the second half. Thank God we're a quick strike offense. The receivers won the game for us. Hardy, Purify, Nunn and Swift all played huge roles. It sounds like the front four couldn't get much of any pressure, and we weren't blitzing a lot, so we ended with only four QB hurries and no sacks. I could understand if we were on the road, but squandering a 17 point lead at home? I'm scared about what's ahead the next three weeks. Two road games against Iowa State (who only beat 1-AA Northern Iowa by one, but still have a good offense) and K-State (who's offense blows, but their D is tough). We definitely have the talent to blow these guys out, and we should. It's just a matter of what team shows up. Texas in three weeks is scaring me a lot more than it did a week ago. Fact of the matter is we can lose two Big XII games tops this year if we want to win the North. This team has the potential to run the table to the Big XII championship game, but after seeing how our D played last night against a sub-par offense, I'm pretty damn scared. Our defensive coaches need to work out some new game plans, as we're gonna have to get pressure on QBs if we want to stop the pass. Bright points are Andre Jones and Andrew Shanle have become pretty good players. I'm falling more and more into the opinion that Grixby is a liability out there. He has tons of athletic talent, and has done great against high profile guys like Mario Manningham and Steve Smith, but apparently last night they just picked him apart. We need to develop Rickey Thenarse into a solid #3 guy and keep him on the field. A win's a win though. Hopefully we'll be able to bounce back to our normal selves on D next week.

Shanle made a couple good plays on the interceptions, but after his second one it looked as if he was afraid to go after the ball again. Which hurt Nebraska, b/c Grixby blows.

The run defense in the 2nd half was horrible. It actually looked like Carriker's penetration would hurt the defense. He wouldn't always lineup on the outside of the line, but pushed the lineman trying to block him at least 4 or 5 yards into the backfield each play. B/c of him getting into the backfield, the running back had to cut back, in which there was a hole there b/c the linebackers had already read the flow of the lineman and moved into position to make the play. If that makes any sense. But then again, maybe the linebackers were just that slow.

The offensive line absolutely dominated tonight. Gave the running backs nice holes to run through, and protected Taylor well.

Corey McKeon was everywhere tonight it seemed like.

If Iowa State would've kept goin to Blythe, they might have actually won.

FINAL SCORE: Nebraska 28 - Iowa State 14

STATS:
Passing
Zac Taylor: 17-21, 131 yards, TD

Rushing
Cody Glenn: 19 carries, 148 yards, 2 TD
Brandon Jackson: 22 carries, 116 yards, TD

Receiving
Maurice Purify: 2 catches, 35 yards, TD
Marlon Lucky: 3 catches, 28 yards
Todd Peterson: 2 catches, 25 yards
J.B. Phillips: 2 catches, 14 yards
Terrence Nunn: 2 catches, 11 yards
Frantz Hardy: 2 catches, 8 yards
Matt Herian: 2 catches, 6 yards
Nate Swift: 1 catch, 5 yards
Brandon Jackson: 1 catch, 0 yards

Turnovers
Cortney Grixby: Interception

Sacks
Barry Cryer: 1

Nebraska Offense: 382 yards (131 passing, 251 rushing)
Iowa State Offense: 315 yards (262 passing, 53 rushing)

Great win for this team. Really dominated in every facet of the game except pass defense, but that's not surprising. Todd Blythe tore us up all not on those 10-15 yard outs. Good thing is I believe he's the best receiver in the Big XII, and now that's out of the way. This was a much better offense than Kansas', and a week after letting them roll on us, we held this one in check. Turning point in the game goes to the defensive stand when Taylor lost a fumble at the Nebraska 14 and we didn't let them score a point. People can argue about that TD called back, but I've slowed it down about 5 times and it's very close. When he gets complete control of the ball his left foot is on the way up. It was definitely worth a review, but I'm not so sure it would've been overturned like everyone says. None-the-less, we proved that we could start early and finish strong, and we protected the lead in the middle. Our offensive line completely dominated in the running game, like BG said. Very proud of Slauson and the boys. Early reports on Austin's knee look better than I thought. He may only miss a couple weeks. Plus, Kurt Mann should finally be back next week after missing every game since the opener. Purify's TD catch with 3 seconds left in the half was huge, and a great catch as well. The DB had his hands in Mo's face but he still came down with it. I think he's gonna be a crucial part of this offense as the year progresses. This game was hyped pre-season to be the one that would decide the Big XII North. While ISU has struggled and it appears Mizzou will actually be that game, it's still huge to get a conference road win against a very good offensive team that had a record attendance at the game. Kansas State is next, I'm hoping we blow them out and make Josh Freeman sorry about the way he handled the de-commitment. Could prove to be tougher than we think though, as Nebraska hasn't won in Manhattan since I believe 1996, the first year of the Big XII. However, I can say with confidence that this Nebraska team is better than 98, 02 and 04, and possibly even better than the 2000 team that finished ranked 7th. I'm just hoping we dominate them. Their offense blows, so I feel good about our chances.

800 wins.