• Huskers fall 28-25
• Blackshirts are back after 24-3 win over Michigan State
• Nebraska rolls by Minnesota and eyes Michigan State next
• Second half pushes Nebraska past Ohio State
• Thoughts after loss in Madison
• Nebraska heads into Big10 play 4-0
• Huskers improve to 2-0
• Huskers open up with 40-7 win
• Bubba Starling signs with the Royals
• Nebraska and Iowa to play in the “The Heroes Game”
• New Nebraska Football Gloves from Adidas
• Seven Huskers picked in 2011 NFL Draft
• Nebraska and Wisconsin set to play under the lights
• Memorial Stadium Expansion Update
• Bo finally speaks about coaching staff

Just a quick reminder for the all the Lady Husker Volleyball fans that the match against the Texas Longhorns will be broadcast live on CSTV.  You can view the match by clicking here!

Good lucky tonight! GO BIG RED!!!

ESPN GameDay will be making a return to Lincoln this Saturday for the Nebraska / USC game.  They will be broadcasting live from inside Memorial Stadium starting at 9 central time.  Plan on being there well before that if you want some good seats and great views for your signs!

If anyone wants to make a little money and try to get a “NebSports.Com” sign on tv I will compensate them with a giftcard or something similar.  I will be live at GameDay as well so I won’t be able to watch it until I get home and look on the DVR.  If you can screenshot it I’d love to see that as well!

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

I’d like to welcome a bigtime Husker fan to NebSports.Com PMHusker has decided that he would like to write about a Big 12 game each week on the blog, a game that doesn’t involve the Huskers.  I feel this will give the blog a little more substance, and our readers will learn what is going on with other teams in the Big 12 conference.  I think you will all enjoy PMHusker’s articles and hope you will leave comments and let him know what you think as well!

Once again, welcome to NebSports PMHusker!

The pride of Texas is on the line Saturday evening as 7th ranked Texas (1-0) host 17th ranked TCU (1-0). The former Southwest Conference rivals meet for the first time in nearly 12 years. In their last meeting on November 18, 1995 Texas won at home 27-19. Texas leads the all-time series 60-20-1 and have won 14 straight meetings in Austin versus TCU. But this is not your dad’s Horned Frogs.

TCU has found their niche as they have won at least 10 games in four of their last five seasons. TCU is favored to win the Mountain West Conference this season after finishing 11-2 last season. Throw in the fact that the Horned Frogs have won five straight games against Big 12 opponents and this is not an easy non-conference game for Texas.

Why TCU will win?

Defense. TCU showed how stout their defense will be this year by starting the season with a 27-0 shutout of Baylor. Baylor is no Texas but they are certainly better than Arkansas State. (I’ll talk more about the mighty Indians in a bit.) TCU has only allowed a total of 44 points (8.8 per game) during their winning streak against the Big 12. Their current winning streak began two years ago when they shocked then-No. 5 Oklahoma 17-10 in the season opener. They also have wins over Iowa State and Texas Tech.

The Horned Frogs finished in the top three nationally last year in total defense, rushing and scoring. TCU returns 9 starters from last year but the teams best defensive player has yet to step on the field this season. Two-time All-MWC Selection and NFL prospect Tommy Blake has only practiced a handful of times since leaving campus and going home for a week for personal reasons in mid-August. Word is that Blake will be on the field this weekend which adds another dimension to the TCU defense.

What does TCU need to do to win?

• Contain the Texas passing game

TCU’s defense has a reputation in being a run stopping defense (allowed just 51 yards on the ground last week). Texas knows this so they will challenge the Horned Frogs in the air. Last week against Arkansas State 6-foot-5 Limas Sweed had 5 catches for 98 yards and a score. Texas will be without starter Billy Pittman (suspended) and Jordan Shipley is not 100%. The tallest CB for TCU is 5-foot-11 so this will be a key area to watch in this game.

• No turnovers

You can’t upset a top ten team on the road if you lose the turnover battle. The Frogs had just one turnover last week albeit on the 1-yard line. If TCU wins the turnover battle they can win this game.

• Win the battle in the trenches

Three things favor TCU in this area. First, Texas replaced three starters on the offensive line from a year ago. The Texas offensive line did not play great in the season opener. Second, Tommy Blake is back and he will cause problems for the Texas line. Third, Texas will be without starting DE Brian Orakpo. He was on crutches with a brace on his right knee this week and will not play on Saturday. To pull off the upset TCU will need a strong performance from their offense line. Ball control will be key on Saturday for the Horned Frogs. TCU’s offensive line has one of the top centers in the country in Blake Schlueter. He is an early candidate for the Rimington Trophy which is awarded to the top center in NCAA Division I-A. Left guard Matt Lindner is equally impressive as he is a candidate for the Outland Trophy. Without Orakpo on the line for Texas, TCU may have the edge but Texas tackles Frank Okam and Derek Lokey will certainly make their presences known on Saturday.

Why Texas will win?

Texas has as much talent as any team in the country but have they lost their mojo? In their last four games they have lost to Kansas State and Texas A&M, followed up by a lackluster 26-24 bowl win over a 6-6 Iowa team. They follow that up with a 21-13 win over…..Arkansas State….yeah the Indians of Arkansas State. A team that is three games under .500 the past seven years in the Sun Belt Conference. Texas has a clear advantage in about every matchup versus TCU. The key is getting all of this talent on the same page. One concern Mack Brown has with this years team is lack of leadership. Texas is still trying to identify leaders on this team. Texas will win this game if they can put up 21 or more points on Saturday. TCU is not a high powered offense as they have a freshman quarterback and their top tailback is highly doubtful for the game. If Texas can establish any time of running game, I think Colt McCoy takes advantage of the size mismatch Texas wide receivers have on the TCU cornerbacks.

What does Texas need to do to win?

• Make TCU throw the ball

TCU QB Andy Dalton had a decent game versus Baylor, completing 18 of 30 for 205 yards and a score. Dalton is just a freshman and he is not your typical TCU QB as he will not beat you with his legs ala Casey Printer. Dalton will have to limit his mistakes and come up with some timely completions if TCU is going to pull off the upset. Texas will certainly load up 8 or 9 men in the box and challenge Dalton to beat them in the air.

• Improve ground game

Texas tried to establish the running game last week versus Arkansas State but it didn’t happen. Texas averaged just 3.1 yards per carry against a team picked to finish third in the Sun Belt. Texas also failed to punch it in after having first-and-goal from the 3. Texas even had senior defensive tackle Derek Lockey playing short-yardage fullback to help get some extra push. Texas needs to establish a running game versus TCU. If they can accomplish this it opens up the passing game for quarterback Colt McCoy.

• Defense has to step up

Texas won the scoreboard last week but the box score told a different story. Arkansas State outgained Texas in total yards by collecting 397 yards (272 passing and 125 rushing) to Texas’ 340 total yards. After watching videotapes of the game, Texas coach Mack Brown has put his defensive starters on alert. Brown made it clear to his team that there could be potential changes on the defensive side of the ball. The biggest area of concern was the Texas secondary. Co-defensive coordinator Duane Akina said free safety Marcus Griffin is safe but the strong safety and cornerback positions could be up for grabs. Bottom line is that the Texas defense needs to play better than it did last week. TCU is not going to put up a ton of points on Saturday as their offense is not setup for high scoring affairs. If Texas can hold TCU to 17 points or less they will have a very good chance of winning on Saturday.

Prediction

TCU has the 11^th best record since 2000 (66-21) so it is not a program Texas can take lightly. TCU will have to be stout on defense and hope that injured star running back Aaron Brown can play. Brown hurt his leg in the first quarter of the opener and his status will be a game-time decision. We will see a different Texas team on Saturday as they know they need to play better. There are questions this year in Austin as their offensive line and secondary are inexperienced but I like Texas in a close one 20 to 13.

Written by PMHusker

The University of Nebraska and FSN announced today that the Nebraska-Ball State football game on Saturday, Sept. 22 will be telecast via pay-per-view on participating cable systems and nationwide to satellite dish customers. Kickoff is scheduled for 11:30 AM CT from Memorial Stadium in Lincoln.

Expect to pay $29.95 or so to watch the game.  I know I will be inviting some people over to watch it so $30 won’t be to bad once people chip in.

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.

ESPN is reporting that the University of Nebraska and head football coach Bill Callahan have reached an agreement on a three year contract extenion.  Callahan’s new contract has him coaching the Huskers through the 2011 season.

Good job Mr. Peterson and Coach Callahan!  Now lets when some big ball games coming up so we don’t hear back from all the Husker fans that still want Frankie as the coach.

Marlon Lucky has been named the Walter Camp player of the week for the first week of the 2007 college football season.  It is no suprise after Lucky ran for a career high 233 yards on 30 carries against Nevada.  Lucky did have 266 all purpose yards as well.

It will be nice to see how Lucky performs against Wake Forest and USC during the next two games.  Hopefully we will see more 100 yard performances out of him and more Husker victories!

Congrats Mr. Lucky!

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