BiggerRed

For the six teams that have participated in the BCS title game from 2003-2008, each team has had at least two top five Rivals ranked recruiting classes from 2002-2008. Only one team (Virginia Tech) has been ranked in the top 25 each of the last four years and has not averaged a top 15 recruiting class from 2002-2008. It isn't the only way, but recruiting with the elite seems to be the most sure-fire way of challenging for a title or consistently being among the 25 best in the nation. Now I don't think that we are going to recruit with the likes of Georgia, USC, Texas, OU, Florida, USC, Alabama, LSU, or Ohio State; but if we can be in that next tier more often than not I have to think that it would boost our chances to get back to where we want to be. I think that is why many of us still care about recruiting.

Pelini found out this year he's no longer at LSU or OU, I take it he understood the obstacles before taking the job and again hopefully it doesn't burn him up. Recruiting this year had to have been a shocker given NU had a pretty good year. Turner Gill fully knew everything about NU. Let's not kid ourselves in the recruiting game is no b.s. style, in fact it's all about that. That's what sales is. (See Dan Hawkins at CU and watch out if they have a good season.) They can keep telling you no, commit elsewhere, but you don't stop. There's a reason why Ekeler is a self made millionaire, that guy can sell the hell outta things. Also why he's NU's best recruiter and will always have a job in CFB somewhere. Like John Blake. It has to say something that NU's best recruiters are first year assistant coaches and Tim Beck. Watson is a good recruiter, he pulled in C. Green and Cotton pulling in the majority of the O-line recruits did a good job. That's about it. TO didn't get over the hump until he hired bullsh!ter extraordinaire K. Steele who pulled in tons of studs for him in the early 90s. Maybe Ekeler can be that guy?? I do agree with you about the tradition deal and that the majority of the kids could care less about it. See Notre Dame, Michigan, NU. I don't mean to be doom and gloom but when the Big 12 was formed Texas more or less cut NU's head off. I've come full circle with this and I'm just glad NU and TO got that last MNC in this conference. I've accepted the fact that NU will always have to play with Texas/OU leftovers and will be recruiting on par with Kansas. 8-4 to me is pretty good considering the league NU plays in and the current environment of CFB . Also it could be worse, we could be aTm fans, lost. I agree that we should be happy with who we've got, they are the future of Big Red Football and I hope they have a great experience!! So you don't think that Pelini will improve much from his first full year in recruiting or on the field? Seems a bit pessimistic to me. Now I don't think that we are going to go back to the mid 90's or anything, but eight wins shouldn't be a "pretty good" year. It should be the watermark. As for recruiting, we are ranked ahead of Kansas in Rivals, so I wouldn't say we are on par with them. If you look at Scout, they don't like Kansas' class nearly as much and we are well ahead of them. I would guess that our recruiting will be similar to Virginia Tech's. Most years, I would guess that we'll end up somewhere between 15th and 25th.

At one point in time, I heard Ty Kildow was interested in walking on. If he hadn't broken his leg last year, I really think that he might have worked his way into a scholarship offer.

I think I remember that Bo refused to interview at Michigan State as well. I may be wrong though. Does this sound familiar to anyone else?

I think the TC meant oops. It looks like the wrong audio file was uploaded for tonight's SN episode. The whole thing is Davison doing multiple takes on a Napa commercial and talking like a sailor.

I totally agree. this is a huge class. if we can keep them all, talent will not be a problem at all We won't keep them all. Even if we'd had a good season and none of the upheaval had occurred, there'd still be decommits. sure... but if we could keep the bulk of the class.... say everyone but gabbert and another, but kept everyone else and picked up robinson(I dont know why, but I feel we have a better shot at him now then before) then I would be thrilled i'm on the same page as you here...i think w/ T.O. back in charge, it'll push some recruits over the edge to come to NU...i actually think that Gabbert is more of a solid commit now that T.O. has taken over. Actually, I think Gabbert is as good as gone. The pounding by Mizzou seems to have pretty much sealed that one. He's a practice field warrior when the pressure is off, but seems to fold in game situations so don't worry about this one too much.

This is a tough one. If the people that post these rumors hadn't let us know about TO and SP before it happened, I would say no way. Because they were right gives them instant credibility. But this next set of rumors is much more outlandish. Charlie McBride as interim head coach? TO being coy and somewhat deceptive in all of the interviews he's given so far? I will take a wait and see approach, but it is a lot of fun to read the posts and speculate.

If you are going the PM route, I certainly would like to be included on the list. I'm not one to give someone hell for posting info that they have heard.

Whoa. That's quite a story there, partner. At this point, I'm sure you'll understand, rumors have morphed and swirled together to the point of madness. At first it was fun, now it's exhausting. I don't doubt you, necessarily, but there are some potential problems with your information, such as the lack of a coach to replace him. Not to mention that would be a quick move on Callahan's part. Usually that stuff takes some time.... X I'm guessing that this is more of a "I just installed Bob Davie's cable" instead of a "My girlfriend works for Big Red Sports and Imports and . . ." but only time will tell.

Well that means the Husker coaches didn't think he was good enough. Plain and simple. In case you haven't noticed, Husker coaches havn't had much luck with in state recruits. Three have left the team in the past year. Nebraska football players just aren't as good as other states players....The Husker coaches saw him play right in front of them, they videotaped him, they talked with with him, etc and still felt he wasn't worthy. I, for one, am glad. Are you serious? I can't believe a Husker fan just made that statement.

it could happen. Witt has been quoted as saying he is 100 percent solid, but we know where that got us in the last recruiting cycle. I think he is smart enough to realize he could be a stud at NEBRASKA. Hopefully the pressure wont scare him away. Hopefully, most of us fans have learned our lesson not to pile hype on an unproven prospect and just be glad if he tries his best and wants to be a Husker. That shouldn't be too much pressure for anybody.

Actually FBWillie, I have it on good authority that Evridge is not leaving KSU because he is afraid of the competition. Evridge is leaving because he feels that he is not getting a fair shake. AE is a team player, and I think that if he was legitimately beat out, he would be fine being a back up. I have heard that Alan even offered to go to defense where he thought he would get a fair opportunity at playing time as a safety, but Prince wouldn't let him. That's the smoke, whether there's fire there or not, I don't know.

He must be horrible to be rated the 6th best QB and 71st best player in the state of Texas (which has a much deeper talent pool than Georgia). He must do something right! I have seen film on him, and he has a live arm and is very accurate with his short to medium range passes. His long ball floats on him, but his footwork is excellent. All in all, a very solid prospect that has all of the tools and intelligence to really be something, especially with the solid coaching he will receive at Nebraska. Now worry about your own team. Isn't it past curfew if you have practice tomorrow?

Holy crap! Thanks for the assessment. BTW - what division I school do you scout talent for. Maybe you should call Mike Leach and Bill Callahan and let them know that they know absolutely nothing about college QB's.

It was a fact. He made the call from the office of his high school coach. I think Beck's mother's comments were just an excuse. If he really wanted to come back and put in the time and effort required to reconcile and earn respect, he would have. It is probably best that we go separate ways. Parting is such sweet, wait it's just sweet in this case.

A post per rivals indicates that Russian may be having second thoughts. Perhaps our coaches are contacting him in the wake of Ian Harris taking visits. Alex Russian

I imagine that we will probably only be taking 3 more DB recruits in this class for a total of 6. My hopes are for Reynolds, Thigpen, and Washington. They are all still showing interest in NU. How do the coaches balance leaving room for the top prospects if more second tier recruits (per Eric) verbal? Position changes?

It will be interesting to see how senior year highlight videos compare between Gray and Witt. From my understanding, Witt's videos from Georgia weren't that spectacular, but he has really developed as a QB in his short time in Texas (spring practice, camps, 7 on 7's, etc.) If the recent 7 on 7's in College Station are any indication and Witt can learn not to float the long ball so much, we have one heck of an underrated QB verbal.

Yeah, and NU slid in the backdoor because OU, UT, TU, and one other team I can't recall at the moment all lost in the last week. Not sure if anyone cares or not, but I think it was LSU.

Gotcha. Thanks for the info.

Then why did N offer Corey Young at safety? It's not like we aren't in the mix with a bunch of highly touted safeties and cornerbacks.

I know the coaches have plenty of receiving targets, but I wonder if they will let two receivers from their own backyard slip through. Bullocks and Russell from Lincoln both have decent size and speed. I'm afraid that by the time we know if bigtime targets like Ausberry will be N, that these two solid recievers will have grown tired of waiting and go somewhere else. Could come back to haunt us in the future (i.e. Jon Davis at Iowa State).

I should clarify my pick. I was assuming that we were talking about from the first few games to the last few games since so many picked Taylor on offense (who I wholeheartedly agree with, followed by the O-line and Terrence Nunn). If we are referring to last year to this year, I gotta agree with the whole defense thing.

I'm referring to the RS Freshman WR from GICC. The kid concentrated on the ball while knowing he was going to get hit, held onto the ball, had the presence of mind to get a foot in the endzone, and has the size that the coaching staff is looking for. I don't know how he does running routes or what kind of speed he has, but I was impressed with his one catch.

What do you think are the keys to the Husker victory? I think that there are only three things we need to do that we haven't demonstrated consistently throughout the last three games. 1. Contain the QB, whether it is Smith or the freshman. The only reason why I didn't include this in the things that we have done consistently is because we really haven't faced a QB this year who has tried to scramble alot. 2. Hold on to the ball and don't throw interceptions (the most important goal). 3. Try to strip the ball or cause a turnover AFTER you have wrapped up your man. I think both of our lines should play well. I think we win, but I don't feel nearly as confident in this game as I did against Baylor.