predictionking

.......but I also think Pelini and his staff won't waist scholarships either. Every school has busts, but NU has had some notorious busts over the last few years. We've brought in guys that people like myself got banned from HI over. For instance: -Victory Haines- WTF? Why is NU fighting Utah State for a JUCO guy when we have plenty of linemen? - Santino Panico- What kind of idiotic moron evaluates this kid and believes he can play in the Big 12, let alone D-I football. - Jordan Adams- I realize we were desperate for a QB, but Callahan and company showed some serious innexperience with evaluating film on this kid. He played 3 games in 2004. 3 games against bad JUCO teams. I really doubt Pelini and his staff will make that kind of idiotic mistake. - Tyrell Spain- This past fall, I watched Tyrell Spain play wideout for Baker University, an NAIA program in Baldwin City, KS. Spain was the 3rd best wideout on the team behind his cousin and a white kid from KS 2A football. Not only did we waste a scholarship on him initially, we held one for him 12 months later. - Brandon Johnson- Roz from Huskers Illustrated banned me two years ago after I mocked the coaching staff for this move. Brandon initially played at Graceland College, an NAIA school in Lamoni, IA. I personally watched Brandon get dominated one game by a 5'9 265 lb center. That center happened to be a transfer and All-Cal JUCO performer from the same conference Brandon played in a year later. Not only was B. Johnson a notorious cancer and pothead at Graceland College, he never dominated the NAIA the way a future Big 12 D-linemen would dominate the NAIA. Trust me, I played in the same conference as Spain and Johnson. A Big 12 caliber scholarship D-linemen would destroy any offensive linemen in the NAIA. Steve Allen- Not only was he an academic liability who never made to Nebraska, he couldn't even get on the field at West Texas AtM until late in his Junior year. Who knows when he could've seen the field for the Huskers. Brock Pasteur- This one doesn't even deserve comment. Justin Tomerlin- In the NAIA, you find kids who have played at 3 or 4 schools all the time. They are there for various reasons: grades, playing time disputes, or criminal problems/attitude. How a player like Justin Tomerlin ever gets his 4th chance at a place like Nebraska is beyond me. If it walks like a duck and looks like a duck, it's a duck. David Harvey- does anyone esle think we offered to Harvey to get his teammate who went to Penn State? Yeah, exactly. Harvey will never play for Nebraska, and he never deserved a scholarship offer. If the Huskers hadn't have offered him, he would be playing D-IAA football right now. Broderick Hunter and Wallace Franklin- I believe in taking a chance on a kid if he's talented enough. But these guys were marginal recruits to begin with. Neither one of them would've ever played for the Huskers. There is no reason to waste a scholarship on these guys when their academic future is written on the wall. I could go on about the Harrison Becks and Leon Jackson's of the world, but that's not my point. You're going to have busts in every class. That's part of football. However, all of these guys were just wasted scholarship offers. I understand the 2004 class was hurried, but how do you possibly offer Panico? Huh? That one was just strange. Of course Pelini will have recruiting busts. However, I don't think he will just be wasting scholarships either. You can argue Kreikemeir is a wasted scholarship. I saw him and Jared Crick both play in High School, and they're virtually the same from a size and athleticsm standpoint. The only difference is Crick starting making the camp and recruiting rounds prior to his Junior season. Krekemier didn't. Krekemier had the most tackles and blocked punts in Class C-2. The fact he didn't receive All-State is a joke and a product of the idiocy behind All-State selections. There's a kid named Luke Witte from Ainsworth who earned a Scholarship at D-IAA South Dakota State. He was 6'4 300 as a senior at Ainsworth High School. He has since started for more than a season at SDSU. He never received anything more than Honoroble Mention All-State and he was the 3rd or 4th best offensive linemen in state of Nebraska. All-State recognition in Nebraska beyond Class A is a joke.

only memory I have of Assante is dodging Javorski Lane .... when did he ever hit anyone ? when did any husker defender hit anyone this season ( and I mean when the game mattered, before it was a blowout cuz I stopped watching a few games ) ? Asante hit the guy holding the down marker a pretty good lick when they played ISU. Old guy went down like a ton of bricks! Blythe kept running but I think they ended up taking that old man off the field in a cart... I was probably close to death by alcohol poisoning at that point I posted this a little while age, but if you look at all of the SEC defenses, they all have "undersized" LB's I would put asante at LB. Asante, dillard, culbert. thats the type of speed we have been missing. Excactly what I was thinking.... Ali Highsmith 226 Luke Sanders 229 Darry Beckwith 229 I'll take speed and good tackling technique over size any day. If the defensive line does its job you don't need monstrous LBs That's why I think Eric harper will play linebacker. I love his film. He's extremely explosive at 6'4 230. Culbert still has to put on quite a bit of weight to get to the 220 range. I think Asante has the "hitter" instinct, but his angles were always so poor. I think that something to do with a kid having never played the safety position before. He's trying to adapt to the speed of D-I and playing a position he's never played before. I think if he makes the transition to Will, he could be a far more productive player. We're all in agreeance that between Dillard, Lawrence, Washington, Stafford, and possibly Asante or Culbert, those guys will definitely see the field. The real question is whether or not Covey can ever see the field and produce. And is Kyle Moore ready to provide minutes?

You're a tool. Nebraska's offense is vastly different with Ganz at the helm. The Huskers also put up big offensive numbers against Texas and Kansas. The offense had a three week struggle against AtM, Okie State, and Missouri. Other than that, the offense was pretty damn good. Ganz made everyone on offense better, including Marlon Lucky, who became the first running back in NCAA history to rush for more than a 1,000 yards and garner 700+ yards receiving. Nebraska's defense still has more talent than Iowa State, and they will have a better defense next season as well. And I expect Nebraska to kick Iowa State's ass again, whether we win 5 games or 10 next season. Ganz didn't make everyone else better, his ability to move out of the pocket just made it easier to overlook some of the poor blocking that was being done on the O-line. Keller didn't have the ability to move out of the pocket, and if he was going to take off running, he better have a hole the size of Kansas to run through, of he was a dead man. Uhhmm.....yeahhhh..... Thanks for making my point. Joey Ganz made his offensive line better than it was because of his ability to avoid pressure or even showcase the zone read which is more about deception than blocking. Ganz's ability made Marlon Lucky and the other running backs more dangerous as well because teams could no longer just key on the running backs. So back to my initial point which you dumbfoundly tried to refute: Ganz made everyone on else better. As for Cy's response. If I didn't think Pelini could motivate NU's defense to play the game with a different attitude, then I wouldn't be talking about the Huskers at all. What you're saying is exactly correct, but it's also obvious. if they don't play with the intensity of the Blackshirts past, then it won't matter who plays what position. I can honestly say though, I'd rather have Nebraska's defensive talent and believe Pelini can get the same thing out of them Chizik got out of Iowa State. I admire Chizik a lot, btw.

Could it be 6 losses in seven games? Or might it be no bowl game? Or could it be blow out after blow out? Could it be that Missouri and Illinois have had recently good seasons, are playing in bowls and have what appears to be programs on the rise? There is no mystery here. Recruits go with winners ( or , at least, perceived winners). History counts for little. Where are you now counts for much. Right now NU is not a winner. Missouri and Illinois are. It is very simple. Until NU wins, this will be the case. Bo and company will have to produce before any recruits with choices will choose NU. Exactly!! Let's hope LSU destroys Ohio State. That could help the Huskers in January.

On one hand I'm upset we will be losing a kid like Mohler who would likely come in and start, which would lead to more depth. On the other hand, I'd rather take our bumps and bruises with a sophomore or redshirt freshman than relying on a JUCO guy. So what's gonna happen to this unit next season? Will we move a guy like Asante to play on the Weakside? Can he get play that position at 215 to 220? Is LaTravis Washington capable of playing a position he never played in high school? I have very little faith in his development this past fall. Cosgrove never proved he could develop a linebacker. Did Blake Lawrence receive enough experience to propel him into a starting role over Stafford or Washington? Can Covey finally get healthy? If so, does he have the ability to see PT? He might be the only guy who can back up Dillard inside. Can Kyle Moore or Thomas Grove step up and produce at a scholarship level? Will a guy like Sean Fisher get some early PT? Eric Harper, whom I believe is Nebraska's most athletic defensive recruit, could see some early PT as well. Harper would be the #1 HS player in Nebraska by far. If he didn't attend a poor, inner city HS in New Orleans, he'd be receiving far more attention. I think he will play Backer instead of D-End at NU. Right now this is what we know: Dillard is slated to start inside. Lawrence will probably start at the Weakside position, at the very least, he'll play extensively. Stafford is probably ahead of Washington because of experience. We'll probably see both of those guys on the field. Pelini might leave Asante at safety, but he might move Larry back to the position he excelled at in JUCO. Virginia Tech had him slotted as an outside backer. Perhaps a real defensive coach will do the same thing. It just seems like a no-brainer for Thenarse to play Free Safety and Culbert at SS. I don't like Culbert at linebacker because he's just not big enough. Let him roam in space in the defensive backfield. Covey makes this equation easier to swallow. If he can respond from injury and produce, that will be a great thing for this defense. Linebacker is a serious question mark going into '08. Ironically, it's unlikely the linebacker play can be any worse than it was in '07. God help us if it is worse.

You're a tool. Nebraska's offense is vastly different with Ganz at the helm. The Huskers also put up big offensive numbers against Texas and Kansas. The offense had a three week struggle against AtM, Okie State, and Missouri. Other than that, the offense was pretty damn good. Ganz made everyone on offense better, including Marlon Lucky, who became the first running back in NCAA history to rush for more than a 1,000 yards and garner 700+ yards receiving. Nebraska's defense still has more talent than Iowa State, and they will have a better defense next season as well. And I expect Nebraska to kick Iowa State's ass again, whether we win 5 games or 10 next season.

I think your offensive back field is clearly the strength of this team next year, with or without Lucky. I think you will have an outstanding backfield either way. O-Line looks solid, and really had some success this year. The D-line was your big question mark going into last year, and unfortunately the answer wasn't very good. The entire defense will need a major overhaul. Those guys will have to quickly get over being shell shocked this season. Good luck next year. The D-line does have a lot to prove, but I do think Pelini will benefit from experience and experienced depth along the D-line. The D-line was able to pressure the QB over the last month of the season. They did get better in that aspect. However, they still were poor against the run. We had one interior D-linemen with any kind of serviceable D-I time going into the '07 season. I think Suh broke down over the course of the season because he had no depth behind him. A d-line rotation is imperative to be successfull. Pelini will have a lot of bodies at his disposal to rotate in and out. One important factor will involve guys like Terrence Moore and Seth Jensen. How have they progressed? how can they develop in the Spring under Pelini's system? How is Yancy and Jared Crick coming along? Can those guys see the field next season? If NU can create a D-line rotation with 9-10 scholarship players, they can drastically improve the defense. Linebacker is a position of concern, but if you square up the D-line and have talent and experience in the secondary, the linebackers can learn on the fly.

I agree that we were worse off in 2004, but the fall out isn't over yet either. It will not impact 2008, but it will impact the future if this class completely falls apart. Championships aren't won on Signing Day, but we can't lose the meat of this class and not expect for there to be some challenges. I understand the reality of recruiting and how it's an investment for the future. My point is it's not as bad as some of you are acting. Secondly, it's unfair to criticize Pelini and his staff because some of the current commits have bailed after meeting those guys. How do we know what Callahan told those guys?

Yeah, that's even better. I can't believe I forgot about Ty. Maybe Terrence Moore and Seth Jensen will give NU more depth inside and we'll be able to move Ty out to D-End. The D-line should have plenty of depth and experience.

The response after BC seems to be that since he valued recruiting and failed, recruiting must not be that important. That's just not true. If it didn't matter, why do all the top schools aggresively recruit these top players? Talent matters, recruiting matter. The key for our next coach to be successful is not to ignore recruiting. It's to keep recruiting at a high level but also be able to coach at a high level. The second part was what was missing from BC and undermined his teams. We learned a hard lesson about the importance of coaching with BC. Hopefully we don't have to learn another lesson the hard way. I agree completely that recruiting is important. There is a direct correlation between recruiting and winning national championships. However, let's see how Pelini recruits after his first season at the helm. I don't care about some of our losses this season. Our '08 class is not going to decide our '08 season. However, the '08 season will have a giant effect on the '09 class. We have too many fans who are short sided about recruiting. This class is not going to send this program into a tailspin. Secondly, this class as it was 2 months ago, would've meant nothing towards '08. Judge Bo Pelini by his '09 class, not his '08 class.

LoL!!! How could we ever let Kevin Cosgrove go? Seriously, if he was still here, half of these guys would surely be "N." I'm truly depressed. Nebraska is gonna be awfull for years to come. We should consider a drop to D-IAA. If that's not possible, we should at least think about heading to the Sun Belt. Nebraska football is a fleeting memory.

Losing up to 10 recruits is a problem. Some had already left, but this is getting bad. Yes, we need a coach that can develop players, but we also need a coach that is able to bring in talent. Almost every kid Pelini has visited has decommitted or been downgraded to a soft verbal. This is a huge problem. If you do not think this is a problem, just look towards the lack of senior leadership during the 2007 season. The class of 2004 would have produced the leaders for that class and they just weren't there because that class was devastated. I agree, if they aren't on board, they aren't on board, but if every guy who is waivering ends up leaving, what does this say about Pelini's recruiting ability? The loss of a lot of these guys will not show next year, but we will see it in 4 years. For Christ's sake. This is not even close to the '04 class, even if we do lose all these guys. This current class is still much better and more talented. Btw, did the '04 class really kill us against OSU? Did the lack of talent in the '04 class really allow us to give up 140 points combined to CU and KU? Please. Where was the leadership from the '05 class? McKeon and Ruud were around in '04? Where was their leadership. We have too many fans who sat around spanking their puds over recruiting, and now the same people, are crying over some losses. USC was the only game all season where NU lost because of talent, and I'll even argue that game could've been much closer with a different attitude and coaching on defense. Kuli will be the biggest loss for this football team. Other than that, this team can survive the "dreadfull '08 class" where Nebraska finishes 30th in the country. Oh No!! Oh My God! How will we ever compete with the rest of the Big 12?

With all the "woe is me recruiting talk," I thought I would point out how our recruiting losses this season will not effect the '08 season. The future of NU's recruiting will be contingent upon our '08 season and beyond. if we win next season, the recruiting will take care of itself. Our '08 class will mean very little on the field. QB- Ganz, Lee or Witt - fine here RB- Lucky (if he stays), Castille, Helu, Glenn, Wilson, Mendoza - fine here LT- Burkes RT- Murtha LG- Slauson, Huff RG- Hickman or Huff C- Christensen, Hickman, Henry O-line is fine!! TE- Teafatiller, Young, Hetzer WR, Swift, Peterson, Holt, Paul, Gillelyen, Henry DE- Potter, Allen DT- Dixon, Moore NG- Suh, Barfield DE- Kuli( if he signs)(turner) OLB- Larry Asante- I believe Pelini will move him to his natural position, Stafford ILB- Dillard, Covey OLB- Lawrence, Washington CB- Anthony Blue (Future All-big 12), West CB- Armando Murillo, Shawn Sullivan SS- Thenarse, Amukamara FS, Major Culbert, Hagg My point is the only position that will be effected by the '08 recruiting class is D-End. I think Simi Kuli could come in and start. Other than that, our recruits will make very little difference in '08. That means, the real recruiting heats up for '09. Our results on the field or perceived improvement will greatly effect the '09 class. If Simi goes elsewhere, that's reason to fret. Otherwise, the '08 class won't be that bad overall. We were much worse off in '04.

Ive heard Carl pelini and cotton have not been impressive on the recruiting trail. Seems like they are turning off a ton of commits. sh#t, cotton has been around forever, he knows how this thing works......what could be his problem?? CP, i know nothing about him, but Bo knows how these guys should act...where did you hear this rumor? Some guy over on HI is claiming he's hearing this crap straight from recruits. It's another round of message board bs.

The sky is falling!!! Some of you are hilarious. I'm not gonna be able to gratify myself on February 2nd this season. Oh No!!! What's gonna happen when I can't talk smack to other Big 12 North schools on signing day? Oh the humanity!!! Nebraska is going to be fine people. Get a grip. If Simi leaves I will cry a little, other than that, this is all pretty normal and expected. Can I tell you all how excited I am that we don't have to see Shaun Mohler on the field next season. The thought of resting hopes on a JUCO linebacker to come in and start right away were scaring me to death. Let him go. I bet Pelini moves Asante to outside linebacker with Dillard inside and Lawrence outside also. Culbert and Thenarse will start at the safety positions. Latravis Washington and Covey will be the back ups at backer Sure Mohler could've provided another athletic body, but I'm so sick and tired of counting on JUCO players.

1st Post here folks. I've been around for while. Thought I would join because I'm the voice of reason. I think the hysteria involved with our recruiting is rather pathetic. During the Callahan regime we had so many fans who felt the National Title was won on signing day. I don't want to lose guys like Kuli. He's an instant difference maker for next season. However, if the rest of the class chooses otherwise, who cares? They obviously committed to Bill Callahan and his staff. If they don't want to be here now then they never really committed to the University of Nebraska. Offensive guys would still be able to play in virtually the same system. Defensive guys would be able to play in a better system for one of college football's top defensive minds. If they can't see that then they obviously were coming to NU to play for coaches who failed on the football field. All NU needs to do is win games. If we can't do that, then Pelini was never the right guy to begin with. If NU wins, players will come to NU....even big time recruits. Kansas isn't outrecruiting Nebraska. They don't have more talent than Nebraska. Yet, they've taken it to us the last three seasons. Win games, then worry about recruiting. One last thing, let's see what these guys think about Bo Pelini after LSU rolls Ohio State. Win and recruting will take care of itself. But criticizing guys because some recruits are choosing to go elsewhere is dumb. Would you be happier if Kevin Cosgrove was still around but Will Compton did choose Nebraska? Please.