• Nebraska vs Western Michigan preview
• No blackshirts says Bo Pelini
• Nebraska Football Week 1 Depth Chart Released
• Brent Qvale the newest commit for the Huskers
• New coaching staff doesn’t want to play “cupcakes”
• First day of practice has come and gone for the Huskers
• Nebraska’s first three games will be on Pay Per View
• Huskers get another verbal committment from Texas - This time Nick Ash
• Huskers get another committment from the state of Texas
• Ronnell Grixby won’t be playing in 2008
• Jesse Coffey says yes to Nebraska Football scholarship
• Husker talk at Big 12 Media Day
• Internet hoax about two Oklahoma players backfires on Husker fan
• Cody Green chooses Nebraska over Texas A&M
• Marlon Lucky and Joe Ganz appear on award watch lists

The much anticipated depth chart has been released for the game against Western Michigan this Saturday. There are a couple of suprises on there that is for sure. Also, it shows how thin the defense is at key positions when you have so many freshman/sophomore’s in the twp deep. Did we not have a junior class on the d-line?

Anyways here it is and let us know what you think and what really suprised you about it.

OFFENSE:

Quarterback: Joe Ganz, Patrick Witt, Zack Lee
Running Back: Marlon Lucky or Roy Helu or Quentin Castille
Fullback: Thomas Lawson, Justin Makovicka
Tight End: Mike McNeill, Dreu Young, Ryan Hill, Ben Cotton
Wide Receiver: Nate Swift, Menelik Holt, Will Henry, Chris Brooks
Wide Receiver: Todd Peterson, Niles Paul or Curenski Gilleylen
Left Tackle: Mike Smith, Jaivario Burkes
Right Tackle: Lydon Murtha, Marcel Jones
Left Guard: Mike Huff, Keith Williams
Right Guard: Matt Slauson, D.J. Jones
Center: Jacob Hickman, Mike Caputo

DEFENSE:

Open End: Barry Turner, Pierre Allen
Base End: Zach Potter, Clayton Sievers
Nose Tackle: Ndamukong Suh, Shukree Barfield, Terrence Moore
Tackle: Ty Steinkuhler, Jared Crick
WILL Linebacker: Cody Glenn, Blake Lawrence
MIKE Linebacker: Phillip Dillard, Will Compton, Colton Koehler
BUCK Linebacker: Tyler Wortman, Sean Fisher
Right Corner: Anthony West, Prince Amukamara
Left Corner: Armando Murillo, Eric Hagg
Strong Safety: Larry Asante, Major Culbert
Free Safety: Ricky Thenarse, Matt O’Hanlon

SPECIAL TEAMS:

Place Kicker: Alex Henery or Adi Kunalic
Punter: Dan Titchener, Jake Wesch
Long Snapper: T.J. O’Leary, Justin Baumgartner

The punt and kick returners have not been announced but word is that Nate Swift and Niles Paul will be returning punts.

So what does everyone think? I think the defense looks very thin with a lot of young players going to see action. I think the lines are going to have to play very good for the team to have success. Hopefully players can step up and make the plays they are capable of making.

We will have our writeup about the Western Michigan game later today or on Wednesday so stay tuned for that! GO HUSKERS!

There is talk in Lincoln that Cody Glenn is moving to the linebacker position for his senior season.  There is a logjam at the running back position, and Glenn says he just wants to help out the team anyway he can.

The Lincoln Journal Star is saying that Glenn approached the coaching staff about the change and also talked to his former high school coach about it.  It appears Glenn wants the best for the team, and he thinks he can really help out on the defensive side of the ball.

What do you think Husker fans?  Do you think Glenn can play the linebacker position?  He will have the rest of spring ball and over the summer to learn the playbook.

The Nebraska Football team had their first spring practice on Wednesday and so far reports are saying the defense was flying around and the entire group of guys practiced with a lot of energy.  The practice wasn’t as structured as the past practices with Coach Callahan and his staff players said.  They were allowed to get out there, and go balls to the wall and show what they could do.

Phillip Dillard said “The defense is very fast paced and physical defense and that the player really enjoyed it”.  You gotta like that when your linebacker comes out and says the first day of pracice was fast and physical!

There wasn’t too much news on the offensive side of the ball besides that Cody Glenn is 100% healthy heading into spring ball.  He says “It’s my senior season, I just want to get that ring!” If Glenn can stay healthy it would help out the running game a lot.  Glenn did get asked a question abour former running backs coach Randy Jordan, and Glenn repied to it by saying he didn’t fully trust Coach Gordon after being told he would play in some games, and then he just say on the bench never getting into the game.  Sounds like a lot of players felt that way towards the entire last coaching staff.

We will try to have an update after practice today.  GO BIG RED!

The Nebraska Cornhuskers and the Missouri Tigers are set to battle it out for the lead in the Big 12 North Saturday night in Columbus, Missouri.  What Nebraska team will show up for this prime time game that will be televised on ESPN is the big question.

Will we see the defense stand up and play like they are capable of and shut down Chase Daniel, Martin Rucker, and Chase Coffman?  I have heard that Phillip Dilliard will start over McKeon so that will help get some more speed in the linebacker corps to keep up with Rucker and Coffman.  I have also heard we could see some Steve Octavien down on the defense line trying to get pressure on Daniel.  If we can get pressure I like our chances alot.

Also, look for Major Culbert to get time at linebacker where he will spy Daniel.  This worked well last year with Culbert since he has the speed and quickness to keep up with Daniel if he decides to take off running.

On the offensive side of the ball, will the Nebraska rushing attack of Marlon Lucky, Cody Glenn, Quentin Castille, and Roy Helu be able to run the ball?  The offensive line is going to have to play better and protect Sam Keller for that to happen.  I look for Keller to have a big game and put some some good numbers and lead the Huskers to at 4 point victory on the road.

What do you all think?  Will the Huskers pull this one out and move closer towards a Big 12 North Title?

Coach Callahan fresh off signing a new contract extension, released the depth chart for the Wake Forest game this Saturday.  Most notably is Maurice Purify back in the rotation.  Purify is listed behind Nate Swift and Callahan said that Purify has to earn his starting position back as nothing will be handed to him.  I still expect to see Purify get plenty of reps so I wouldn’t worry about it.

Cody Glenn has also moved up to #3 at running back behind Marlon Lucky and Quentin Castille.

Was this the old Nebraska offense or the new Nebraska West Coast offense?  I’m sure that is what most Husker fans were asking after seeing Nebraska run wild over the smaller Nevada Wolfpack team.

Marlon Lucky ran wild in the opener for the 2007 season.  Lucky finished with a career high 233 yards rushing, 33 yards receiving and four touchdowns. Lucky’s backup, freshman Quentin Castille, pounded out 78 yards on 18 touches. Junior Cody Glenn and sophomore Major Culbert also turned in strong performances, combining for 71 yards on 11 carries. 

When you turn out 413 team rushing yards, you know that the offensive line was doing a great job all day.  They opened up huge holes for the runningbacks, and also did very good in their pass blocking.

The Nebraska quartersbacks had an alright day even though most of the plays were going to the runningbacks.  Sam Keller and Joe Ganz finished with a combined 15-26 passes for 212 yards and one touchdown.  That wideouts could have helped out the quarterbacks as they did drop the ball when they should have made the catch but it is the first game so hopefully they will start to haul in those passes.

What a performance by the Nebraska “Blackshirt” defense in the opener as well.  Coach Cozgrove was blitzing quite a bit against the younger and smaller Nevada team and it worked very well.  It was awesome to see Steve Octavien running around the field and making plays.  Stay healthy Steve and you are going to have a huge year!

The defensive line played well at times.  I would have liked to see more pressure up the middle, but the Huskers had outside blitzes coming most of the time.  I really thought Suh would bust through the line more then he did.  Zach Potter and Barry Turner turned in very good games from the defensive end positions.  Big Kevin Dixon picked off a pass that be batted down which was awesome to see. Great hands for a big guy!

The secondary was very good.  Nevada only completed 8 of 24 passes on the game.  When they did catch the ball, there was usually someone there to tackle them right after they caught the ball.  I figured the secondary would have picked off a pass, and Larry Asante had his chance but wasn’t able to hold onto it.  Zack Bowman played around 25-30 plays and looked ok.  He needs more gametime to get back into things and expects to play 30-35 plays against Wake Forest next week.

Now onto the kicking game, WOW!  Adi Kunalic received standing ovations after his touchbacks and could be seen on the sideline with smilies after each one.  He was probably wondering, “Wow a standing ovation for a kickoff?”  Kunalic also booted a 46 yard field goal that would have been good from 50 yards +.

That’s how you want to start a season with a victory, and it was dominating.  The Huskers will face Wake Forest next Saturday with a kickoff set for 11 A.M. central time.  Wake up early and get your Bloody Mary’s and beer flowing!

Nebraska 52 Nevada 10!

Rushing Stats
Lucky, Marlon      30 rushes for 235 yards, 2 touchdowns
Castille, Quentin  18 rushes for 78 yards, 2 touchdowns
Culbert, Major     5 rushes for 35 yards
Glenn, Cody        8 rushes for 36 yards
Helu, Roy          6 rushes for 26 yards
Ganz, Joe          2 rushes for 15 yards
TEAM TOTALS        70 rushes for 425 yards, 6 touchdowns

Passing Stats
Keller, Sam        14 for 25, 193 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 INT
Ganz, Joe          1 for 1, 19 yards
TEAM TOTALS        15 for 26, 212 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 INT

Receiving Stats
Lucky, Marlon      3 catches, 33 yards, 1 touchdown
Nunn, Terrence     2 catches, 26 yards
Swift, Nate        2 catches, 28 yards
McNeill, Mike      1 catch, 25 yards
Hardy, Frantz      1 catch, 24 yards
Erickson, Dan      1 catch, 19 yards
Sand, Andy         1 catch, 15 yards
Young, Dreu        1 catch, 14 yards
Peterson, Todd     1 catch, 8 yards
Paul, Niles        1 catch, 6 yards
Brooks, Chris      1 catch, 4 yards
TEAM TOTALS        15 catches, 212 yards, 1 touchdown

Punting Stats
Titchener, Dan     2 punts, 44.5 average

Field goal attempts
Kunalic, Adi       1 for 1 46 yards

Kickoff Stats
Kunalic, Adi       9 kickoffs, 6 touchbacks

Defensive Stats
Octavien, Steve     3 solo, 2 assist, 5 total tackles .5 sack
McKeon, Corey       3 solo, 1 assist, 4 total tackles
Murillo, Armando    1 solo, 3 assist, 4 total tackles
Asante, Larry       4 assist, 4 total tackles
Grixby, Cortney     2 solo, 1 assist, 3 total tackles
Wilson, Bryan       2 solo, 2 total tackles
Suh, Ndamukong      2 solo, 2 total tackles
Potter, Zach        2 solo, 2 total tackles
Dillard, Phillip    2 solo, 2 total tackles
Turner, Barry       1 solo, 1 assist, 2 total tackles, .5 sack
Brandenburgh, Lance 1 solo, 1 assist, 2 total tackles
Dixon, Kevin        1 solo, 1 total tackle
Bowman, Zackary     1 solo, 1 total tackle
Eisenhart, Ben      1 solo, 1 total tackle
Ruud, Bo            1 solo, 1 total tackle
Barfield, Shukree   1 solo, 1 total tackle
O’Hanlon, Matt      1 solo, 1 total tackle
Paul, Niles         1 assist, 1 total tackle
Wortman, Tyler      1 assist, 1 total tackle
Green, Tierre       1 assist, 1 total tackle
Sullivan, Tony      1 assist, 1 total tackle
Sievers, Clayton    1 assist, 1 total tackle
Allen, Pierre       1 assist, 1 total tackle
Blue, Anthony       1 assist, 1 total tackle

The 2007 season is almost here and we can hardly wait the last 48 hours to see the Nebraska Cornhuskers take the field against the Nevada Wolfpack.  Husker fans have been waiting a long time for the season to start and well here it is!  Get your tailgating stuff ready, make sure your beer is cold, and lets start off the season with a win over Nevada!

First off I’ll start out with what I expect out of the Nebraka offense against the WolfPack.  I look for Marlon Lucky and Quentin Castille to get around 35 carries together.  I’d also expect Roy Helu and possibly Cody Glenn to get 5 or so handoffs in the game.  Coach Callahan hasn’t said if Glenn will play or not so between Helu and Gleen I’d expect 5 carries.

Sam Keller will have plenty of time in this game to get his feet wet with the Husker offense during a real game.  Look for him to to throw for 2-3 touchdowns atleast.  I see a big day for Keller and and the receivers on Saturday.  With Maurice Purify sitting out the first game of his suspension, Terrance Nunn, Nate Swift, Todd Peterson, and Frantz Hardy should all catch a few balls each I would imagine.  Who will score the td’s?  I’ll go ahead and predict that Nunn, Swift, and Lucky will each have a receiving touchdown in the game.

On the defensive side of the ball for the Huskers, lets pay close attention on how the new d-line plays together.  Nevada will be down to their third string center for this game so I expect Ndamukong Suh to have a huge game up the middle.  Look for him to blow through the line ateast a few times and either sack the QB or stop the running back behind the line of scrimmage.  I also think that Barry Turner and Zach Potter will combine for atleast two sacks in the game.

The linebackers are the strength of the “Blackshirt” defense this year.  Corey McKeon, Steve Octavian, Bo Rudd, Phillip Dilliard, and Lance Brandenburgh will have huge days for the Huskers.  Expect them to be very good at gang tackling and possibly causing a few tournovers.

I’m really excited to watch the defensive backs in this game as well.  Since Nevada runs the pistol offense and is always in a shotgun, expect them to really mix up the run and pass quite a bit.  I’d expect some safty blitzes in this game with Larry Asante who is really licking his chops to get to the quarterback in his first Husker game.  Cortney Grixby and Armando Murillo will start at the cornerback positions while Tierre Green and Asante will be the safties.  Expect too see a lot of Andre Jones as well as Nevada loves to run atleast 3-wide most of the game.

Special teams will be a big deal for the Huskers this season.  They haven’t had a punt returner that really put a scare into opposing teams since Groce graduated.  Grixby, Nunn, Jones, and Swift will be called upon to help out on punt and kick returns.

Freshman Alex Henery and Ali Kunalic are still battling it out for the kicking job.  No one will probably know who the starter will be until gametime.  Dan Titchener will be back to handle the punting job for the Huskers.

I’ll go ahead and throw this score out there just as a guess.  Nebraska 45 Nevada 17