Aim9

For what it's worth, this is what I think will happen: Kenny Wilson- Will become a wingback Marlon Lucky- Will share playing time about 50/50 as #1 RB (will be used on first and second downs, or third and longs) Cody Glenn- Will share playing time about 50/50 as #1 RB (will be used on 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and short and in the red zone) Brandon Jackson- Will be behind Lucky and Glenn at RB Leon Jackson- Will be a kick/punt returner and will be used on trick plays. He will line up at various positions such as wingback, RB, and WR. I hope that everyone will stay on board, but the only ones I could see jumping ship would be Leon Jackson (he already kind of did once) and POSSIBLY Marlon Lucky, but probably not. With any luck NU will be able to incorporate them all into their offensive schemes in such a way that we can utilize all of their talents. That way everyone is a winner! Good luck BC!

Meh- any of them are better than Kirk Herbstreit. That guy has got to be the absolute #1 mainstream media husker hater. I remember last year right before the USC-Texas game he was ranking the greatest college football teams of all time and it made me want to throw up. He had the following teams in front of the 95 Huskers- 2001 Miami- 95 Huskers were still better, but he could make an argument here 2005 USC- Yes, the team that lost to Texas and BARELY eeked out 4th quarter victories over mighty unranked Fresno State and unranked Arizona St. 1994 Penn St.- When I saw this my brain hurt. Yes, the team that was voted into second place in 1994, was the 3rd greatest team of all time. The team that was deemed inferior to the 1994 Huskers, which was basically the 1995 Huskers with a year less of experience under their belt. Logic would dictate that the 1995 Huskers should be ranked higher, but Kirk Herbstreit says no. At least a few analysts are pulling for NU this year.

1) How long have you been a member of Husker Nation? 22 years 2) What/who led you to The Nation? Family (mother, father, sisters all NU alums) 3) Where are you from originally? Omaha, NE 4) Where do you live now? Omaha, NE (commute to NU for law school) 5) Favorite Husker memory? 1995 Orange Bowl comeback victory over Miami 6) Worst Husker memory? 2004 loss to Texas Tech 7) Number of home games attended? 5 8) Number of away games attended? 0 9) Favorite Husker memorabilia/apparel? NU hoodie 10) Favorite place to watch a Husker game? Memorial Stadium 11) Favorite all time player? Sam Koch 12) WCO or Option? WCO 13) Stevie Pederson or Billy Byrne? Byrne 14) Lil Red or Herbie Husker? Herbie Husker 15) Favorite Husker play? miracle kick in 97' at Missouri 16) Favorite game-day beverage? Boulevard Pale Ale 17) How did you find HuskerBoard? google.com

I'm hoping to score tickets to the CO game from my father-in-law. I'd love to go to another, but have no access to tickets. More importantly, I have no money to buy the tickets even if I did have access to them. Law school + kids + house = no husker ticket money this year.

Will Coach Cally wear red? -Agreed, a red polo First Husker scoring connection? How long? -Either Taylor to Peterson, about 20 yards (did anyone else notice that all Peterson does is score touchdowns? I swear the guy never touches the ball outside of the red zone) or a 2yd Cody Glenn TD run. Will we sell out the athletic venue to max capacity? -yes, no question Result of Tech's first offensive drive? - 3 and out Players of the game? - On offense it will either be Taylor with about 250yds. passing, 2TDs, 0 INTs or Cody Glenn with about 115yds 2TDs. On defense it will be Octavien with 2 sacks, an INT, and some broken up passes. On special teams it will be Terrance Nunn with two 30-50 yard returns, but no touchdowns.

It would be incredible- ANY team who could win out against that schedule would silence all criticism. However, it's just not going to happen. With the sheer volume of talent present at those four programs, I would be happy to see one win. I would be elated if we could win all four, but it's so crazy it's hardly even worth getting your hopes up for. Planning on winning those 4 games would be like planning on winning the lottery- it's possible, but just barely.

Sadly, his minutes in the CFL amount to more professional QB playing time than any of the other NU quarterbacks within the last few decades- at least as far as I know. However, with the WCO this should change in coming years as our QBs become increasingly viable in the NFL.

I would have to agree that the Huskers are definitely headed towards a better season than the 49ers. Alex Smith will do much much better this year (although that isn't very difficult when you throw 10ints and 1td) and I bet his QB rating will hover around the low 80's- pretty respectable when you consider the players around him. I think the 49ers made enough progress in the offseason to have a 6-8 win season. Still not very good, but a far better season than last year with some solid building blocks for the future. The Huskers on the other hand I feel are headed towards a season that should produce 9-12 wins. (remember, we'll probably play 14 games this year) It's a crying shame that we're all but eliminated from title contention by our schedule alone. If NU wanted to win it all, we'd have to beat the four best teams in the country- USC, Texas, Oklahoma (Big 12 title), and then whoever else made it to the championship (probably Ohio State). Could we win one or MAYBE two of those games? I think we could. Could we win all four without dropping the ball against teams like Iowa St.? No way. It makes me wish that we were in the PAC-10. One huge game against USC, some decent competition from Cal and Oregon, and you're set for a title match. Stupid conference championship... greedy money grabbing Big 12.... I project a Husker finish anywhere from 5-20 in the final AP poll.

I have a fear that pass happy offenses with big receivers (read Iowa State and USC) will continually go after Grixby because of his size, but he will be greatly improved this year with some experience under his belt. I'm sure that most teams will try to work him over, but hopefully he'll come through. He'll never be a shut down corner, but he could be fairly solid this year. You've gotta love Grixby because of his size and the way he plays- much in the same way you just had to love Cory Ross. They utterly sacrifice their small frames to make plays.

Amen to that. I'm jonesing for some NU football. Pro football is entertaining as well of course, but I don't have near the allegiance to the 49ers (my favorite pro team) as I do to the Huskers. Football is really the only sport I follow very closely and I dislike summer heat, (fall is my favorite season) so I've been itching for fall to come for quite some time. It will be interesting to see what the new guys (Purify, Culbert) will do at fall camp.

Well yes, but Crouch is just not an NFL-style QB. Also, because of his refusal to play anything but QB in the NFL then kind of wandering around for a few years, he is starting to get a little older. He certainly has some productive years left for sure, but if he played for 3 years in the CFL before hopping over to the NFL he'd be 30. I just don't see it happening. That said, I wish him all the best as a former NU player in spite of my intense dislike of his ego.

I think Crouch has some seriously excessive hubris. It's a good thing that he's doing well in the CFL because he's a former NU player, but that's so disappointing considering his potential. He needed to accept the fact that he was never going to be an NFL QB, and he could have been like Antwaan Randle El. Anyone else remember how his ego alone neutralized Bobby Newcombe?

Octavien will be the best defensive player on the team this year behind Carriker. He is so fast and aggressive, and he seems to see the field very well also. I could see him having an absolutely huge year. I predict 6+ interceptions and 6+ sacks on the year. There is a reason why the Husker offensive players fear him. Lets just hope he doesn't go pro early- I would love to have him around for a couple more years.

With regards to our passing game all will be well, but let us not forget that we are one Zac Taylor season-ending injury away from being a totally different team. I hope that Harrison could come through for us, but he is a very big question mark right now. I think a lot of people are taking his health for granted. It was nothing shy of a miracle that he can still walk after the beating he took last year. It wasn't just the sacks- it was the knock downs too. I bet he got hit about every 3rd play last year. If that doesn't change this year (which it should, thanks to our revamped O line and improved receiving corps) Zac Taylor's health could be an issue.

Oh and as to his comment about us never recruiting a Peyton Manning again- What about the increasing number of blue chip recruits we have got? Marlon Lucky, Cody Glenn, Harrison Beck, Jordan Congdon, etc... We have been able to and will continue to be able to draw stars to Lincoln. (ironic that we beat Peyton as well)

Nebraska will never be Nebraska again? Well, let me just say this much- nobody will ever be Nebraska again. Because of the increases in spending and the new media coverage that non-traditional powerhouse teams are getting, the days of rolling over all your opponents by 50+pts are gone. There will never be a 95' Husker team again, sure. Will there ever be a 94' or a 97' Nebraska team again? You bet. Just look at how much more difficult all the traditional "softies" in the Big 12 are- Iowa State, Kansas, Baylor, Kansas State, etc. These teams can now at least compete with the powerhouse programs in terms of both recruiting and gameplay. Look at last year- both USC and Texas were considered to be head and shoulders above all the other teams in the country, yet they had to pull several wins from out of their ass. (Ohio State, Texas A&M, Fresno St., Arizona St.) Colorado has the toughest schedule? Is this guy high or something? Has he looked at 60% of the rest of NCAA football's schedules? Oh no! Not unranked Colorado State! Not unranked Arizona State! Try #1 Texas, #2 USC, with a later showdown with Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship game, who will probably be #1 in the country by then. I would have to agree with him in one respect though- the Big 12 championship is a colossal waste of time. All it does is cost teams in the Big 12 a shot at the title.

I think that even though, as you said, Purify won't be fully operational until conference play, I have to imagine he'll be in on at least a handful of plays against USC. Although he will be extremely limited, I think there is a possibility he may have 3 or so balls thrown his way in that game. (perhaps on the aforementioned fade route in the red zone) Against USC I think Nebraksa is going to have to dig deep, use all available talent to the fullest extent, and maybe even run a trick/new play or two.

I would have to agree that Purify will get limited playing time, but hopefully he can get in a downfield strike or two to loosen up their run defense. I always thought of him as a big-play receiver type, but I've also read that he was excellent at the jump ball. I could definitely see him making some some red zone catches this year, especially on the fade route.

Hello all- I've been hearing a lot of talk about whether or not Kenny Wilson would be ready to go for the USC game, but I haven't heard anything about Maurice Purify. I approach the USC game with a guarded optimism, but I think if NU really wants to take down the Trojans they will need a big-play breakaway receiver. Given NU's depth at the RB position, it seems as if Purify would be the more important factor at the USC game. Any thoughts as to whether or not Purify will be ready?