2008 Nebraska Cornhuskers Preview: Pelini looks to lead Huskers back to prominence
Two things that aren’t going to be tolerated for very long at Nebraska are 1) bad defense, and 2) losing. Last season, a Nebraska team that was expected to have a huge season slumped to a 5-7 finish due to a defense that allowed 76 points in a humiliation at Kansas and 65 in a similarly appalling loss in the season finale at rival Colorado.
That capitulation (and that’s being nice) in Boulder proved to be the end for Bill Callahan, who brought offensive success to Lincoln, but alas, the amount of victories are the only numbers that matter, and he didn‘t deliver nearly enough of those to stay employed.
Taking over for Callahan is former LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pelini, who held the same position on Frank Solich’s staff in 2003 when Solich was fired. Pelini actually earned his lone head coaching victory as the interim head coach for the 2003 Alamo Bowl (a 17-3 win over Michigan State), and was in the running for the permanent job, but lost out to Callahan.
A return to national prominence seems a few seasons away for this storied program, but will Nebraska at least make a return to the postseason in Pelini’s first season
Nebraska Cornhuskers
Coach: Bo Pelini (1st year at Nebraska, 1-0 record)
2007 Record: 5-7, 2-6 Big 12
Starters Returning: 14 (6 offense, 6 defense, kicker, punter)
Key Returnees: RB Marlon Lucky, QB Joe Ganz, WR Nate Swift, LT Lydon Murtha, LG Mike Huff, RG Matt Slauson, C Jacob Hickman, DE Barry Turner, DE Zach Potter, DT Ndamukong Suh, DT Ty Steinkuhler, CB Armando Murillo, SS Larry Asante, K Alex Henery, P Dan Titchener
Key Losses: QB Sam Keller, WR Maurice Purify, WR Terrence Nunn, RT Carl Nicks, TE Sean Hill, TE J.B. Phillips, LB Steve Octavien, LB Bo Ruud, LB Corey McKeon, CB Cortney Grixby, CB Zack Bowman, FS Tierre Green
2008 Schedule
8/30 vs. Western Michigan - Double-Digit Win
9/6 vs. San Jose State - Blowout Win
9/13 vs. New Mexico State - Blowout Win
9/27 vs. Virginia Tech - Close Win
10/4 vs. Missouri - Close Loss
10/11 at Texas Tech - Double-Digit Loss
10/18 at Iowa State - Close Win
10/25 vs. Baylor - Double-Digit Win
11/1 at Oklahoma - Double-Digit Loss
11/8 vs. Kansas - Close Win
11/15 at Kansas State - Close Loss
11/28 vs. Colorado - Close Win
Projected Record: 8-4, 4-4 Big 12 - A little more optimistic than most? Maybe, but I don’t see both Kansas and Missouri coming into Lincoln and leaving with victories.
Best-Case Record: 9-3, 5-3 Big 12 - This could mean a trip to the Holiday, Sun, or Gator Bowl, with an outside shot at the Cotton.
Worst-Case Record: 5-7, 2-6 Big 12 - In this scenario, their only Big 12 wins would come against Baylor and Colorado. Not a step in the wrong direction, but not quite one in the right direction either.
Swing Games: 9/27 vs. Virginia Tech, 10/4 vs. Missouri, 10/18 at Iowa State, 11/8 vs. Kansas, 11/15 at Kansas State
Upset Alert: Oct. 18 at Iowa State - The Cyclones are expected to be much improved this season, but this is really one that the Huskers should win. However, they can’t afford to take Western Michigan lightly, much less Iowa State in their own backyard.
Key Game: Sept. 27 vs. Virginia Tech - Nebraska should be 3-0 heading into this matchup against the ACC Coastal Division favorite Hokies, who should be ranked somewhere in the top 20 or 25 when they come to Lincoln. A big win in this one could not only put the Huskers in the top 25, but it’d also give them a ton of confidence for their Big 12 opener against Missouri the next week.
2008 Outlook
Offense wasn’t the problem for Nebraska last season, for the most part, which must be why offensive coordinator Shawn Watson was retained from Callahan’s staff.
The Huskers put up 468.2 yards per game and averaged 33.4 points, totals that put them near the top of the Big 12 charts. A good amount of that production came via the air, where Nebraska averaged 323.8 yards per game and accounted for 31 of their 53 touchdowns, thanks to quarterbacks Sam Keller and Joe Ganz, the latter of whom will be the starter under center come the 30th.
Ganz took over for Sam Keller late in the Texas game when Keller went down with a broken collarbone, and in starting the final three games, he threw for 1,397 yards and 15 touchdowns, numbers that past Husker quarterbacks might have taken an entire season to rack up. Those three starts included a school-record performance against Kansas State, in which he set school records with 510 yards and seven touchdowns in a 73-31 win.
Now, no one wants to see Ganz throw it 40-50 times every game, and he does need to avoid the interception bug (four against Kansas, three against Colorado), but the passing game should have no problems being productive, with receivers Nate Swift (36 catches, 520 yards, 4 TD) and Todd Peterson (18-359-5) should be two of Ganz’s favorite targets.
However, the focal point of the offense, and potentially Ganz’s top target, will be senior running back Marlon Lucky. Lucky had a terrific year in 2007, which was a benefit for anyone’s fantasy football team, but it was overshadowed with how bad things went for the Huskers overall.
Last season, Lucky did his best Brian Westbrook impression by running for 1,019 yards and nine touchdowns, and catching 75 passes (led the team) for 705 yards (2nd) and three more scores. Having a guy who’s as big of a weapon through the air as he is on the ground is a good thing, because it means another way to get the ball in his hands, which they tried to do even when the running game wasn’t a big factor.
However, I’m sure Nebraska fans would like to see a little more running, because more than being a piece of the past, it’s also a good sign that you’re in the game for four quarters and not just playing from behind over and over again.
The offensive line is certainly sturdy enough to allow Lucky to have all the lanes to run that he wants, as four starters return, minus star right tackle Carl Nicks, who looks to be replaced by sophomore Jaivorio Burkes.
Okay, I know that the Nebraska fans reading this really don’t want to spend a lot of time reading about how bad the defense was last season, but I have to do it, and I apologize in advance. If you want to scroll down a few paragraphs, feel free, because I don’t want to ruin anyone’s day.
In 2006, Nebraska’s defense was actually pretty solid, and through two games last season, had allowed only 27 points. Then, USC happened, and things weren’t the same after that.
USC ran for 313 yards and five touchdowns in a 49-31 win in Lincoln on September 15, and that, for all intents and purposes, was the beginning of a defensive implosion that would only get uglier.
In Nebraska’s last ten games, every opponent racked up more than 400 yards, and only one time in the last 10 games did they allow less than 28 points. Considering that even Iowa State put up 415 yards in a 35-17 loss, that effort wasn’t something to be wholly proud of.
It’s hard to pick out what the lowest of the low points was, because there were several. Letting Jamaal Charles run for 216 yards and three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to lead Texas to a 28-25 comeback win in Austin? Allowing 76 points to former whipping boy Kansas? Ending the season with Colorado hanging 65 (one score was defensive) on them?
Hopefully, for the sleeping (and drinking) habits of the most diehard of Husker fans, those nightmares are a thing of the past, and given Pelini’s pedigree as a defensive coach, one would have to feel confident about that. In that one season that he was the defensive coordinator at Nebraska, the defense was stellar, allowing only 14.5 points and 297.2 yards per game, and forcing 47 turnovers (15 fumbles, 32 interceptions, +23 turnover margin).
Those numbers might be unrealistic this season, considering that defense featured the likes of Barrett Ruud, Demorrio Williams, Josh Bullocks, and Fabian Washington, but improvement is the key word for this year.
Improvement starts with being a little more fearsome up front, which was an area of weakness last season. Nebraska had all of 18 sacks last season, with no player recording more than three, and as for the run defense, well, the USC and Texas games weren’t their only bad performances, as they gave up an average of 232.2 yards per game on the ground. That number needs to be in the ‘for’ category, not the ‘against.’
So, it remains to be seen until they actually hit the field whether the fact that all four primary starters from last year’s line are back, all of them being upperclassmen. At the end positions, Barry Turner and Zach Potter started 11 of 12 games last season, and there were bright spots for each, as Turner led the team in sacks with three and Potter had 11.5 tackles for loss. But, suffice it to say, both need to have a more regular presence in the backfield, namely when it comes to making opposing quarterbacks taste grass.
Production from the tackle spots is a definite must, where starters Ty Steinkuhler and Ndamukong Suh return. Steinkuhler had to deal with injuries last season, which limited him to only 13 tackles in eight games, but he’s going to be a key part of being much better against the run, as well junior Suh, who had 34 tackles (6 for loss) last season.
The defensive line could also get an immediate boost from a couple of highly-rated freshmen. Ty’s brother Baker was a five-star offensive line recruit, but the future, or at least the present, for the 6’6, 290 pounder could be on the defensive line, where he could make a bigger impact quicker than he would on the other side of the ball. Along with the younger Steinkuhler, highly-rated end Josh Williams, who had 47 tackles for loss and 18 sacks in his last two high school seasons, could be a difference-maker early on.
Just as important to that cause is a revamped linebacker unit, which lost all three main starters from last year. The linebacker with the most experience is junior Phillip Dillard, who started two games last season and recorded 37 tackles. He’ll be counted on to be a defensive leader, along with converted running back Cody Glenn, who spent the last three seasons in Nebraska’s backfield, but emerged from spring practice as the starter on the weak side.
While Pelini would love to have Bullocks and Washington in his secondary this time around, he does have returning starters at cornerback in Armando Murillo and at strong safety in Larry Asante, who were two of the team’s leaders in tackles last season with 71 and 78, respectively. While the pass defense could’ve been worse last season (244.7 yards per game, 20 touchdown passes allowed), there weren’t nearly enough game-changing plays (eight interceptions total).
What can we expect from Pelini’s first Nebraska team? Undoing someone else’s mess isn’t an easy job to do, but the Huskers should - and they really, really need to - be tougher on defense, and being tougher goes a long way towards being better, because if you go after that ball carrier harder, put a little more sting into your tackle, rattle that receiver’s cage a little and make him think twice about waving for the ball over the middle, it’s going to rub off on everyone else…well, at least the people that want it to rub off.
The schedule definitely offers up the chance to snatch back some of the respect that they lost in some of last season’s disasters. The opener against Western Michigan could be a little tougher than it might appear, as the Broncos have a ton of returning talent and could hang with the Huskers for at least a little while, but the opening three-game stretch should see Nebraska pick up three wins and see what doesn’t need fixing and what does heading into the meat of their slate.
Signature wins are the best way to get yourself back on the map, and their non-conference finale against Virginia Tech offers up chance #1 to do that, and their Big 12 opener against Missouri offers up chance #2 and a chance to prove that they can’t necessarily be written off as a contender in a North division where Missouri and Kansas are expected to tussle for the title.
Better yet, the two teams that inflicted the most pain, Kansas and Colorado, are coming to Lincoln this time around, and as if there wasn’t already enough incentive to whip those two, reversing last year’s misery is even more.
The offense is going to be very good, provided there isn’t a rash of injuries (knock on wood). But, just how far Nebraska goes this season will depend solely on the defense. If they’re at least a little better, the Huskers should at least go bowling. If they’re significantly better, then they could surprise some people. It may take a little while for Nebraska to return to the glory of old, but they should at least reclaim a little respect this season.
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