• Nebraska dominates Kansas State 56-28
• Husker Bball Opens Season with Win
• Huskers set to take on Kansas State
• Bo Pelini hands out some Blackshirts to the defense
• Cody Glenn has been suspended indefinitely
• 2008 Basketball Preview
• NebSports.Com welcomes two basketball bloggers!
• Suh and Helu lead the Huskers past the Jayhawks 45-35
• Huskers look to get back on track against Kansas
• Nebraska and Kansas set for PPV - NU/K-State possibly
• Huskers are crushed by the Sooners 62-28
• Nebraska and Oklahoma ready to renew rivalry
• Nebraska pulls out 32-20 victory over Baylor
• Brandon Rigoni vs Mark Manning Youtube Video
• Nebraska is ready for the Baylor Bears

First off I would like to apologize about the lack of upates over the weekend. We were busy moving the site to a new server and it took a little bit longer then we had expected. However, we are back up and running and newer and faster server and all things are looking great!

The Nebrasa Football team is gearing up for a prime time battle against Virginia Tech this Saturday. I can’t wait for the game as it will be our first game in person this season. (Yeah, it sucks living eight hours from Lincoln) There was good news to come out of practice on Monday as Pierre Allen, Ricky Thenarse, and Anthony West all practiced and were in full pads. All three players are expected to play Saturday night.

I’m sure that everyone knows that the game will be broadcast on ABC to a regional audience at 7 p.m CT. Memorial stadium is going to be rocking that is for sure! I can’t wait to get into town and start tailgating and meeting other Husker fans. It’s going to be an awesome night and we are going to see the Huskers pick up a nice win over the Hokies!

The Huskers won’t be done with night games after Saturday however, they will be playing another night game against Missouri the next weekend. Missouri will be coming to town ranked in the top 5 and the two teams will face off at 8 p.m. CT. Yeah it is a later start, but the game is going to be shown on ESPN and that is why there is a later start.

So Husker fans, how are the Huskers going to do the next two games?

It’s almost that time of the week again Husker fans! Nebraska will be taking on San Jose State Saturday morning from Memorial Stadium and the Huskers say they are ready for the Spartans.

San Jose State struggled in their first game of the season as they had to come back in the final seconds to beat UC Davis 13-10. I expect this game to be a blowout for the Huskers as they win by atleat 24-27 points. I predict that the Huskers will get a lot of reserves into the game in the fourth quarter which will be some valuable playing time for those players.

One thing we will want to pay attention to in the game however is if the Huskers can run the ball against the Spartans defense. I think they will be able to because San Jose State isn’t just going to stack the box against the Huskers like Western Michigan did. The Spartans just aren’t the taem that Western Michigan is to be able to stack the box and shut down the run.

I expect Joe Ganz to have another great day and throw for atleast a couple of td’s. Hopefully he doesnt’ make any mistakes with the ball and makes good decisions out there. I really think he will have a good day and we will see Patrick Witt in the game in the fourth quarter with the Huskers up big.

Will the defense show up and control the game is one question a lot of people have been asking. The secondary needs to fix some communication problems, but I think they will get those things figured out and and have a good day. I’m not worried about the d-line or linebackers in Saturday’s game, I will be watching how the secondary plays. They should step their game up that’s for sure.

Lydon Murtha and Ricky Thenarse will not be playing in the game as both players are still rehabbing injuries. Saturday’s game captains will be Nate Swift, Todd Peterson, Ty Steinkuhler and Alex Henery.

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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!

It wasn’t what Nebraska fans had expected on Saturday as Nebraska struggled against Ball State in a 41-40 victory.  Thanks to Sam Keller and the offense, the Huskers improved 3-1 on the season.  Should they have won though?  Probably not but some teams have to get lucky at some point.

I’ll start off a good note and that was the offense.  Sam Keller and company were scoring on almost every possession.  Keller finished the day with completing 29-of-37 passes for 438 yards and three touchdowns.  A big play of the game came in the 3rd quarter when Keller connected with Sean Hill on a 73 yard pass.  Keller also connected with Maurice Purify on the final drive of the game to give the Huskers win.  Keller looked great 90% of the time yesterday and the receivers were all catching the ball instead of dropping them.  A+ for the passing game!

Marlon Lucky, Quentin Castille, and Roy Helu all carried the ball the Huskers.  Lucky led all the running backs with  21 carries and 102 yards.  Lucky also caught 11 passes for another 81 yards.  Castille caught a nice swing pass and then ran it in for a yard out in second quarter.  Helu was the suprise as he got quite a bit of playing time as Cody Gleen sat out the game.  Helu is a quick back that finds the hole and gets to it quick.  He needs to add some weight but he will be pretty good down the road.

Now for the bad part of the game.. The Blackshirts or I think we should start calling them the pinkshirts.  What a disgrace the way the defense is playing right now.  Ball State ran and passed all over the defense and should have put up more points but four dropped balls really hurt them.

I did like the fact that Ricky Thenarse and Phillip Dillard played more, and they need to continue to get more snaps every day.  Tierre Green, Bo Rudd, and Corey McKeon all sucked once again, and only Rudd had one good play on the interception and td.

Nate Davis is a hell of a quarterback, but the Husker defense made him look like a first team all american all day long.  If Cosgrove doesn’t start making some adjustments during the game, it is going to be a long season for the defense.

In the end I’m happy with a win and that is what really matters, but it doesn’t really feel like a Nebraska win.  It was ugly, and one of the worst performances by the defense in a very long time.

First Quarter (Nebraska 7, Ball State 0)
NU - Marlon Lucky 28 run (Alex Henery kick), 4:43

Second Quarter (Nebraska 14, Ball State 10)
BSU - Darius Hill 20 pass from Nate Davis (Jake Hogue kick), 2:58
BSU - Hogue 45 field goal, 3:40
NU - Quentin Castille 1 run (Henery kick), 4:10

Third Quarter (Ball State 31, Nebraska 28)
BSU - Davis 14 run (Hogue kick), 0:59, 3-39
NU - Sean Hill 73 pass from Sam Keller (Henery kick), 1:22
BSU - MiQuale Lewis 43 run (Hogue kick), 1:44
NU - Nate Swift 18 pass from Keller (Henery kick), 2:40
BSU - Love 58 pass from Davis (Hogue kick), 1:15

Fourth Quarter (Nebraska 41, Ball State 40)
BSU - Madaris Grant 21 pass from Davis (kick failed), 1:29
NU - Bo Ruud 34 interception return (Henery kick)
BSU - Hogue 22 field goal, 2:10
NU - Maurice Purify 11 pass from Keller (two-point conversion failed), 3:45

It sure wasn’t a pretty win, but a win is a win and that is what the Nebraska Football team needed as the traveled to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to play the Wake Forest Deamon Deacons on Saturday.

It was a very sloppy game for the Huskers yesterday as they could never really get into a roll and score three times in a row while holding the Deamon Deacons at bay.  The Huskers had a very hard time running the ball early in the ball game.  Wake Forest was usually throwing 8 guys in the box and it created havoc for Sam Keller, the offensive line, and Marlon Lucky.  Lucky who finished with 90 yards on 24 carries had a nice run of 22 yards in the third quarter but that was really his only big run of the day.

Keller looked very confused out there.  Maybe it was because it was his first road game in two years?  I don’t think so since Keller has been around for a while and played in some big games during his career at Arizona State.  I don’t think he takes all the reads he could, and yesterday he didn’t have a lot of time to do that with the Wake defense.  Keller also over threw about 4 balls that could have been some big gains.  Hopefully he will get that rust off and lay those balls in where they need to be.

The wide receivers and tight ends did not help out Keller’s stats either.  How many more times are we going to see dropped balls in key situations?  Hold onto the ball before you try running guys!  Catch the ball, take the hit, and move the chains!

As far as the defense, I was pleased with how the defensive line played.  Suh was a beast during the game and if he gets one arm on the running back he is going to go down hard.  I would have liked to see the defensive ends stay at home more often with all the mis-direction and reverse type plays Wake Forest was running.

The linebackers played terrible I thought.  Corey McKeon and Bo Rudd had a ton of missed tackles.  You can’t arm tackle everyone!  Lower your head, wrap up, and tackle the opposing player.  Stop trying to go for a strip every play and lay some damn wood like a good linebacker does.

The defensive backs played alright despite a couple of let downs on the same type of play.  Luckily for the Huskers, only one of them went for a TD, and the receiver dropped the ball on the first long pass.  If Tierre Green is out for any amount of time at his safety position, I would really like to see what Ricky Thenarse could do back there.  He will lay some lumber and lay out some wide receivers and that is what we need to see.

Overall a win is a win and that is what we got.  The Huskers went into a tough place to play, against the ACC Champion and came out of there with a win.  I’ll take a win no matter how ugly it is!

Rushing Stats
Lucky, Marlon      24 rushes for 90 yards, 1 touchdown
Castille, Quentin   6 rushes for 28 yards
Keller, Sam         2 rushes for 1 yard
TEAM TOTALS        34 rushes for 115 yards, 1 touchdown

Passing Stats
Keller, Sam        24 for 41, 258 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 INT
TEAM TOTALS        24 for 41, 258 yards, 1 touchdown, 2 INT

Receiving Stats
Nunn, Terrence      6 catches, 80 yards
Swift, Nate         5 catches, 45 yards
Lucky, Marlon       4 catches, 34 yards
Purify, Maurice     3 cathces, 30 yards
Teafatiller, Hunter 3 catches, 21 yards
Hardy, Frantz       2 catches, 20 yards
Hill, Sean          1 catch,   25 yards, 1 touchdown
TEAM TOTALS        24 catches, 258 yards, 1 touchdown

Punting Stats
Titchener, Dan      5 punts, 45 yard average

Field goal attempts
Henery, Alex       2 for 2 each 22 yards

Kickoff Stats
Kunalic, Adi       5 kickoffs, 1 touchback

Defensive Stats
Asante, Larry       4 solo, 5 assist, 9 total tackles
Bowman, Zackary     4 solo, 3 assist, 7 total tackles, 1 INT
Octavien, Steve     6 solo, 6 total tackles
Dillard, Phillip    5 solo, 1 assist, 6 total tackles
Potter, Zach        4 solo, 1 assist, 5 total tackles, 1 sack
McKeon, Corey       2 solo, 3 assist, 5 total tackles
Ruud, Bo            3 solo, 1 assist, 4 total tackles
Eisenhart, Ben      2 solo, 2 assist, 4 total tackles
Turner, Barry       1 solo, 3 assist, 4 total tackles
Green, Tierre       1 solo, 3 assist, 4 total tackle
Grixby, Cortney     3 solo, 3 total tackles
Suh, Ndamukong      3 solo, 3 total tackles
Brandenburgh, Lance 2 solo, 2 total tackles
Thenarse, Rickey    2 solo, 2 total tackles
Barfield, Shukree   2 solo, 2 total tackles
Murillo, Armando    2 solo, 2 total tackles
Dixon, Kevin        1 solo, 1 assist, 2 total tackles
Jones, Andre        2 assist, 2 total tackles
Cammack, Wes        1 assist, 1 total tackle
Blue, Anthony       1 assist, 1 total tackle
Wilson, Bryan       2 solo, 2 total tackles