Ouch, that wasn’t the way Nebraska wanted to end the 2011-2012 football season. South Carolina pulled away in the second half to defeat the Cornhuskers 30-13 down in Orlando at the Capital One Bowl. It was a crazy game that saw a blocked PAT that was returned for a two points, two future first round draft picks ejected and many missed opportunities for the Huskers.

The game turned on Nebraska when Gamecocks receiver Alshon Jeffery leaped over the Nebraska defenders and then launched himself into the end zone on a hail mary pass to put South Carolina up 16-13. That play gave all the momentum to South Carolina and they came out in the second half and punished Nebraska up and down the field.

After the game, there was talk about communication problems in the second half as the team went to a silent count. Nebraska had nine penalties, including four false starts and one delay of game while only picking up five first downs in the second half. Martinez said he was unable to get the cadence calls to the line in time due the crowd noise. Hmm maybe that should have been practiced a little bit more between Martinez and the line? Or have the coaching staff possibly signal it in with the play?

Not a whole lot to talk about on the positive side of things unfortunately. It was down right en embarrassing game for coaches, the team and also the fans. It’s going to be another long break that will have many Husker fans wondering which direction this team is headed. I’m hoping for a good ending to the recruiting class and then some good spring practices. There is plenty of people coming back on offense that there should be no reason the offense won’t put up better numbers. I think the question will be how will the defense play after losing Alfonzo Dennard, LaVonte David and Jared Crick…

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Well the season opener as come and gone and Nebraska has a 1-0 record after beating Tennessee Chattanooga 40-7 on Saturday afternoon in Lincoln. It’s always good to get a win the first week of the season no matter who the opponent is but I thought that the offense left a lot to be desired and after reading comments from Coach Beck I was left thinking if he is ready to be a big time offensive coordinator?

The offense struggled for pretty much the whole game I had though. Terrible option plays, terrible line play and terrible blocking on the outside led to three and outs and fans wondering where the heck the new offense was that had been greatly talked about all off season. Coach Beck said he would get in a position where he wanted a play to succeed so badly that he just kept calling it even though there were probably better play calls that could have been made in those decisions. Yeah, like not running the option when your line is getting blown off the ball and the spacing between quarterback and running back is not where it needs to be.

Can we please get Jamal Turner the ball more than 2-3 times a game? The talented Freshman wowed the crowd with his one reception and he could be a big time play maker if given the ball more. The same could be said for Ameer Abdullah who flashed around on punt returns. I love his Turner’s and Abdullah’s running styles and they can really spark the offense if given the chance I think.

I’m hoping for a much improved offense and hopefully a more relaxed offense when Fresno State comes to Lincoln on Saturday night. If not, the Bulldogs just might make a game out of it.

The bright spots I thought were was the defense and special teams. The blackshirt defense held Mocs to just seven points and pretty much controlled the game from the get go. I thought that Cameron Merideth really stood out on defense and made some big plays including two sacks and an interception. Lavonte David had a team high nine tackles while fellow Senior Jared Crick finished with five tackles (two being for losses).

Special teams was led by Brett Maher who converted four out of four field goals. Maher connected from 50, 48, 34 and 21 yards out. Maher looked great out there and answered the question of who would fill in for Alex Henery who is now with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Overall the defense is there and will play even better once Alfonzo Dennard is back. The offense has a lot of work to do both from the players and coaches perspectives. Coach Beck needs to move away from plays that are not working and also work with Taylor Martinez to read through his progressions as well as spacing throughout the option plays. Hopefully the two can figure it out!


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A long standing tradition has come to an end on the football field as Nebraska beat Kansas 20-3 in their final game of their storied history together. It was a cold night in Lincoln and it seemed like that had a little affect on the players as the game was low scoring but fast moving. It wasn’t a pretty win for the Huskers, but a win is a win just like they got against Iowa State last weekend. All you can do is keep on winning games no matter how it gets done.

It was nice to see Taylor Martinez back in there at quarterback. The coaching staff kept it safe in the first half as he mostly handed the ball off or threw to receivers. Martinez really didn’t scramble or run until the second half when he ran three straight times to open up the half. Taylor once again fumbled the ball and also threw a bone headed interception but overall he had a decent game and the turnovers didn’t do much damage as the defense played lights out.

The Huskers held the Jayhawks to just three points and 87 yards of total offense. The Jayhawks were only able to pass for 15 yards as the Blackshirts dominated the line of scrimmage and also played lock down defense in the secondary.

Lavonte David had another kickass game as he was causing problems for Kansas all game long. David finished the game with 10 tackles and two sacks. David and d-lineman Jared Crick really showed up and played up their potential. Those two players and the rest of the blackshirt defense is what won this game even. It’s nice when the defense can pick up the offense when they struggle to put but the ball in the end zone. Great job defense!

Like I said before, it sure wasn’t pretty but at this point in the season all you can do is grind out the games and hope to come away with victories. With a victory over Texas A&M on Saturday, the Big Red can clinch the Big12 North for the second year in a row. The game down in College Station sure won’t be easy. I know I’ll be in front of my tv and watching on ABC!


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The rosters for Saturday’s Red-White Spring Game have been announced, and like Coach Bo Pelini’s first two seasons, the teams appear to be fairly evenly divided.

The White team will be quarterbacked by sophomore Cody Green and senior Latravis Washington. The offense will have plenty of firepower with I-backs Roy Helu Jr. and Dontrayevous Robinson, along with receiving targets Niles Paul, Mike McNeill and Dreu Young. Up front, center Mike Caputo and tackle D.J. Jones are the leaders of the White offensive line.

Defensively, the White squad boasts a number of players with significant starting experience, led by junior defensive tackle Jared Crick and senior end Pierre Allen. Sean Fisher heads the linebacking corps, while the secondary features Alfonzo Dennard, DeJon Gomes and Rickey Thenarse.

Offensive coordinator Shawn Watson leads the White coaching staff, along with Barney Cotton, John Papuchis, Marvin Sanders and offfensive graduate assistant Curt Baldus.

Redshirt freshman Taylor Martinez and sophomore Kody Spano will quarterback the Red unit, while redshirt freshman Ron Kellogg III is expected to see action on both teams. Keith Williams and Marcel Jones lead the Red offensive line, with I-back Rex Burkhead and receivers Brandon Kinnie and Curenski Gilleylen among the top offensive weapons.

Defensively, sophomores Baker Steinkuhler and Cameron Meredith lead the Red front four, with Will Compton the most experienced linebacker on the Red squad. Veterans Eric Hagg, Prince Amukamara and Anthony West will patrol the Red secondary, while all-conference place-kicker/punter Alex Henery heads up the Red special teams.

Defensive coordinator Carl Pelini heads up the Red coaching staff, along with Tim Beck, Ron Brown, Mike Ekeler, Ted Gilmore and defensive graduate assistant Ross Watson.

Kickoff for Saturday’s spring game is set for 1 p.m. at Memorial Stadium. ? Tickets are still available at huskers.com

(Info courtesy of Huskers.Com)


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Hey Husker fans! I’m finally recovered from the long weekend in Lincoln what a great weekend it was! The Huskers came out on top against the Sooners 10-3 and even though the offense still stunk it up, the defense picked them up and everyone was jacked inside of Memorial Stadium.

Even before the game, the crowd was crazy and what can I say about the tunnel walk besides “THE BEST EVER”. This game was the loudest game I’ve ever attended and it was a huge win for Coach Pelini and the program. Did anyone else see Bo after the came when he was walking off the field? Now that was one excited man!

So the 10-3 win was nice but there is still a lot of things that the team needs to work on. The offense still can’t move the ball (only seven first downs?!) and had some costly penalties against a tough Sooner defense. No matter if it is Cody Green or Zac Lee behind center, the team is not moving the ball and putting points on the scoreboard like they should be. It is really too bad the offense can’t keep up with the great defense that the blackshirts are playing.

The defense picked off five passes while Ndamukong Suh and Jared Crick once again had a great game from their DT positions. The Sooners did put up 325 yards of offense, but they had just 80 rushing yards and Landry Jones completed only 26 of his season-high 58 pass attempts.

Overall it was a great victory and keeps the Huskers in pace with Kansas State for the Big 12 North title. But that brings up another question, does any North team want to face Texas down in Dallas for the Big 12 Championship?

Sunday brought some great news for the coaching staff and fans as three high school players verbally committed to the program. Defensive tackle Jay Guy, cornerback Joshua Mitchell and defensive end Tobi Okuyemi all want to be part of the tradition at Nebraska. Three more defensive players for the 2010 recruiting class that is filling up pretty quickly.

The team will now practice this week as they prepare for a big showdown on Saturday down in Lawrence, Kansas. The Jayhawks will be ready for the Huskers and the players are going to have to come out and play a good game to get out of there with a win. Let’s see how things play out!


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Hey Husker fans, hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and a great Halloween! Things go started pretty good on Saturday for all us fans as the Huskers traveled down to Waco, Texas to play the Baylor Bears. The Huskers came away with a 20-10 win even though it was pretty ugly once again on the offensive side of the ball.

True freshman Cody Green got his first career start as Coach Pelini and Coach Watson wanted to spark the offense. It worked a little bit but then there were some of the same old mistakes that have been happening. Green finished the day 12 of 21 for 128 yards and one touchdown. He did have a costly interception and also fumbled once.

One thing that I did like with Green at quarterback was that he can hurt the opposing defense with is feet. On more than one occasion he took off and scrambled or ran a qb draw to pick up 5-8 yards.

Had the running game actually worked on Saturday I think Green would have had a lot better day and put more points up on the scoreboard. It really seems that Roy Helu Jr. needs to rest his shoulder because having him for a couple of plays a game does nothing. If he can’t run with authority and the way we have been accustomed to seeing him run, he should not be out there on the field in my opinion.

The defense once again basically won this game for the Huskers. They shut down the Bears rushing attack to the tune of just 54 yards. Thanks in part to the dominating play of Jared Crick who was named the national defensive player of the week. Crick led the team with 13 tackles (ten solo) and five sacks. Crick also recovered a fumble in the fourth quarter to add to his impressive stat total.

The blackshirt defense also pickd off two Baylor passes as Prince Amukamara and Dejon Gomes both came away with interceptions.

Special teams was great on Saturday as well as freshman Eric Martin blocked a punt that was scooped up and returned for a touchdown by Justin Blachford. Martin once again shows why he is going to be a stud for the next three years.

So now it’s time to start looking forward to a huge game in Lincoln this coming Saturday. Oklahoma will be coming to town for a night game that will be televised on ABC. Memorial Stadium needs to be rocking and we need to have confidence that this team can pull off the upset!


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Hope everyone’s Labor Day weekend is going good! I had hoped to get this up after the game on Saturday evening but had a few things come up and then I was busy all day on Sunday. Anyways, the Huskers started off the 2009 season with a 49-3 victory over Florida Atlantic and rather than go through with a big recap of the game, I’ll just hit on some positives and a couple negatives that I took from the game.

The Positives:
Quarterback play with Zac Lee. Lee was 15 of 22 for 213 yards and two touchedowns. Lee found wide receivers Menelik Holt and Curenski Gilleylen for his touchdown passes. Lee did throw one interception which was a badly underthrown ball. Not bad for the first outing for Lee.

Roy Helu Jr. picked up where he left off in the 2008 season. Helu, Jr. ran for 152 yards on just 16 carries. He picked up most of his yards in the third quarter when he scored his second and third touchdowns of the game. Great game for Roy!

The play of true freshman Cody Green and Rex Burkhead. I thought Green and Burkhead played about as good as they could in their first college action. Green stood out more because of his long 49 yard run but he also threw for 18 yards on two of three passes. Burkhead showed glimpses of what he can do as he rushed for 39 yards on nine carries.

They play by the young linebackers. The linebackers had a combined 17 tackles on the night as Blake Lawrence and Sean Fisher led the way with six tackles each. If this group stays healthy and continues to get better, the Huskers will have one very stingy defense!

Some negatives from the game:

The play of defensive ends Pierre Allen and Barry Turner. The two simply did not get pressure on the Florida Atlantic quarterbacks like I expected. The Huskers were able to get some pressue up the middle with Jared Crick and Ndamukong Suh which was nice but I just wanted to see more out of Allen and Turner.

The owls were able to get 358 yards which is way to many yards against a Sun Belt conference team. I do give the defense credit however because they allowed just three points on the scoreboard.

Overall it was a good first game and it gives the Huskers something to build on for this weekends game against Arkansas State. The game will once again be on Pay-Per-View but this time it will be a 1 P.M. central timezone kickoff.

What were your thoughts on the game? Leave us a comment and let us know!


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