huskerstag

I really don't know how you can train in a way that protects you against an injury in the arch of your foot. I don't think you can train your knee to survive having it turned sideways. I think the more likely cause of the injuries is just that everyone on every team is so big and fast now. Kind of like Slauson's injury - if you get caught with an arm/foot/whatever in an awkward position it could get torn up in an instant.

I thought it was pretty funny. Everybody needs to have a sense of humor about themselves. I actually don't mind Texas or Oklahoma fans. They've earned the right to be a little cocky and elitist...at least, as much as a fan can "earn" something.

All I can say is that it doesn't speak too highly of your program if having fewer than 15,000 Nebraska fans in your stadium is a big accomplishment. Someone above stated that if Missouri loses a couple games prior to this one then interest in this game will drop - that's the absolute truth. I live in KC and the first half of last season Missouri fans were coming out of the woodwork. When their schedule got tougher and they started losing suddenly all the 'fans' disappeared. The interest in their bowl game was so low that some rich alumni actually offered transportation and lodging for any Missouri student who would go to their bowl game. Of course, even though they only had to pay for the ticket, there were still few takers.

It sounds like they're finally teaching the corners to look for the ball and get their hands up. Personally, I think the secondary will improve solely because Shanle won't be back there. I can think back to a couple of plays that make me sick. Hopefully with some bigger hitters at the safety position those wideouts will be getting blown up right about the time the ball gets to them.

Sam Keller's receivers always cradle the football like a baby because Sam actually throws them babies in practice.

The movie Alien vs. Predator is a biographical account of Sam Keller's first sexual experience.

I think Nebraska's still trying to shake its reputation as a running school. I'm sure that other schools use that tactic against us in recruiting. That's why we haven't had much success in pulling in the top wide receivers and tight ends. We kind of stole Chris Brooks from Missouri, but he has yet to prove anything. Niles Paul is an in-state recruit and Mo Purify came from junior college. The other receivers and tight ends were lower rated prospects who flew under the national radar. Until Nebraska puts a couple receivers in the NFL and further distances itself from its ground attack days, it will be a struggle to pull in the big name receivers and tight ends.

I don't have a problem with moving guys around to fill the team's needs. I'm not so happy about Culbert being moved because I think he could be a stud safety for our team and he's got the most experience of the last year's freshman, but we needed another running back in spring practice. However, I read on rivals that USC has 9 running backs. That's a foolish situation if you ask me. If there are talented players that will never see the field as running backs, give them a chance to play somewhere else. We'll need some athletic corners next year, so putting Amakamura there instead of burying him behind 3 or 4 guys isn't such a bad thing.

I see no reason Nebraska can't win the Big XII. Starting with the North, I don't see any teams that I expect to be very much improved from last season. On the other hand, I expect Nebraska to be much improved. Over the past 4 years, Callahan has taken what was a weakness the year before and turned it into a strength. The first year we couldn't throw the ball, the next year we threw the ball well but couldn't run it, last year we threw and ran well, but didn't put teams away in the second half. I fully expect that issue to be resolved this year. I think the offense could be a juggernaut. Defensively, NU did lose 4 studs along the defensive line, but fortunately, they're back to replacing All-Americans with freshman/future All-Americans. I firmly believe Turner will fill in for Moore without missing a beat. Suh is a beast and will have a breakout season, Steinkuhler has shown the ability to play every down and hold his own. Some wonder if Potter will be able to hold his ground in the Big XII - I say yes. He's got the physical tools, its only a matter of attitude for him. They've finally got some depth and experience in the secondary and will be able to run more than just the basic 4-3 defense that handcuffed them last year. So in short, I see Nebraska being improved on both sides of the ball, while the rest of the North will likely be more of the same. Mizzou's defense and running game are still suspect, KSU is a one man team, CU will likely start a freshman at quarterback, ISU has a new coach and KU still doesn't have a qb. As for the South, OU may take a small step back. Their defense will be killer, but they need a qb and an established running back. Texas will probably be better than last year. McCoy will be a year better and they've always got studs on defense. I'll be extremely disappointed if NU doesn't make it to the CCG. I think the team showed last year that its got the athletes to compete with Texas and OU. Its just a matter of playing their best football in the biggest games. Hopefully Nebraska's gotten to that point.

Sam Keller once walked down the street with a massive erection...there were no survivors.

If Keller were to lose confidence because he's being asked to compete for his job, then he must not be that good after all. Mental toughness is vital to the qb position. He surely won't be babied by the defense, the crowds or the refs, so why should Callahan protect him now? If anything, I would bet earning the spot would give him more confidence than just having it handed to him. Callahan has to the let the players distinguish themselves. If he doesn't, then he could find himself in a similar situation that played out at Arizona State. When Keller first arrived, there were probably some players who favored Ganz as the next quarterback. If Callahan just dubbed Keller the starter without making him earn it, the team could have split. This way, all the players get to see who the better quarterback is, and they won't be talking about how the competition was slanted in favor of one player or the other. Also, why are we all knocking Ganz? Its true that Keller has played against the likes of LSU and USC, but Ganz hasn't had that chance yet. None of us has ever gotten to see what he can do, aside from the spring game. So maybe, just maybe, he's as good as Callahan says he is and not some second rate scrub. People said the same thing about Brook Berringer in 1994 and he did pretty well.

Earlier in the season some announcers were saying that whenever Nebraska shifted it would probably be a run. Their logic was that the shifting was too confusing for our quarterback and receivers to handle the change in coverage, so the shifting was partly window dressing and partly an effort to get more blockers/less defenders on one side of the field. While some of that may be true, just because we run after a shift doesn't mean we shouldn't do it. Merely recognizing a run doesn't necessarily give a defense the advantage. Along with that, as the season went on I remember hearing that comment less and less. I think the players got more comfortable with the schemes and started running some pass plays out of the shifts as well. As long as the shifts aren't leading to silly penalties, I don't mind them. If I remember correctly, there was always a lot of motion on the first couple drives of the game. Those were the scripted plays and Nebraska usually did quite well on those drives. I don't see Callahan or Watson cutting back on those. Especially where Watson is a big fan of tight ends, and they're the ones usually in motion.

I thought Wesch did a pretty good job last year. They didn't take him with the team on road games until the middle part of the season if I remember correctly. But whenever he kicked off, he definately booted the ball farther than Congdon.

Rivals now has Gabbert as a 5 star and the 14th best player in the nation. I believe he's now the 3rd ranked qb. I didn't realize it at the time, but his kid could be pretty freakin' good. Hopefully he stays committed and is willing to put in his time to learn the college game.

Hey y'all, what's the story for practice the next couple of weeks? What time do they start today? Have the freshman reported yet? Did all of them make it to Lincoln? It's finally football season again!

I agree with the above statement. Brandon probably figured that his stock was as high as it was going to get and that he'd have to continue sharing time in the backfield if he stayed another year. He probably also figured that the crop of running backs in the draft this past year would be a little lighter than the one expected next year. Next year we'll probably see Mike Hart, Steve Slaton, and Darren McFadden go to the draft, plus some others I probably haven't thought of. Lucky will have to have a pretty huge season to toss his lot in with those guys.

According to the Journal Star, the main reason for his low rating is because there's not any film of him for anyone to review. That seems strange, considering my 8 man high school team filmed all our games, but whatever. Apparently there's so little information on him that Rivals won't even give him a rating. It looks like the coaching staff may have uncovered a hidden gem in this one. Of course we won't know anything until he gets to campus, and we still need to sign him before that happens.

I'd love to tear the goal posts down, I don't care if we are a 'historic program'. Its not like people will think less of Nebraska's fans if they celebrate. If we win and don't tear the goal posts down I really don't think anyone out there would be saying "Nebraska has the greatest fans because they don't get all worked up over a win" Honestly, I think this may be part of the reason fans of other schools dislike Husker fans so much. We come off as being smug. Instead of acknowledging a big win for what it is, some of us downplay it and give the impression that we only show emotion when we lose. Really, tearing the posts down is a part of the college experience that few people get. Why not do it and enjoy it? After all that, I don't think it will happen if Nebraska wins. I remember being in the stands in the mid 90s when fans somehow got down on the sidelines as the clock counted down against Oklahoma and I was at the CU game in 94 when fans also got on the field, but security doesn't allow that anymore. When Nebraska beat Oklahome in '02 - the year of the Crouch catch - as the clock wound down they had about 30 people in yellow jackets standing in the south endzone waiting to catch anyone who was going to try to rush the field. Unless the whole student section overwhelms them at once, I don't think it will happen, but I hope that it does.

With our current personnel I think a 3-4 would be a bad idea. In a 4-3 the down lineman eat up blockers and leave the linebackers more or less free to make plays. This is why we can have smallish linebackers and get away with it - as long as they're quick. With a 3-4, the interior linebackers have to handle the linemen more often. I think Dillard may be big enough to handle something like that, but not McKeon. I also remember Ruud not liking to take any blockers head on, which he may be asked to do in a 3-4 defense. I think we probably have the nose tackle position covered. With Suh, Barfield and "Beast" Johnson, that's three big bodies to rotate - although I don't know if the latter two can really play. We need Potter to step up, 3-4 or 4-3, to man the base end position. Pierre Allen may be able to play there as well. But my personal feeling is that we'd be wasting someone's talent on the other side of the line. Steinkuler could play there, or maybe Pierre Allen, but Turner seems like more of a rush end player to me, not someone who will hold the line at the point of attack. But maybe they'd put him at outside linebacker, I don't know. I think a 3-4 could work effectively, but we'd probably need some different types of players again.

I really can't say that Keller is the better quarterback. I suspect he is, but no one's really seen him play for a year and a half. What I can say, is that the games Missouri wins this season will be because of Daniel. He's far more important to their offense than Sam will be to ours. I fully believe that Sam can have an off day and Nebraska could still win the game with the offensive line and running backs. I'm not so sure that's the case with Missouri.

Just another meaningless prediction. The game still has to be played.

My guess is that he'll miss the first two games for sure. I'd be surprised if he missed all the non-conference games, but it would be a big statement by Callahan if he did, and I wouldn't argue against it. His offenses - bar fight and drunk driving- are both deplorable, but he hasn't stolen anything, put anyone in a hospital, or been found with illegal drugs. 2 Games might be acceptable as punishment, especially considering one of those games is against the defending ACC champions. I don't know what Cally said to Mo after the bar fight, but I would imagine it involved something about staying out of trouble from that point on. So what does Callahan say this time? One more mistake and your done seems to be the most appropriate.

I always though of my sisters as "football savvy" but one had her rehearsal the same time as the '05 CU game and the other one's getting married the Saturday of this year's A&M game. And I've been told that the day is "all about them" so I shouldn't even consider watching the game. EEK

Coming from someone I trust (take that for what its worth) this whole odyssey is largely due to Trevor's dad. Again, this is hearsay, but hey, it's an internet message board. Word has it that Trevor really wants to be a Husker, but apparently Trevor's dad wants a guaranteed scholarship for Trevor's younger brother ( a sophomore in HS? ). This is something Callahan is unwilling to provide, and I suspect it won't be something Charlie Weis or Lloyd Carr will do either. So I'd say he'll still be a Husker. But again, its all hearsay.

Along those lines...How long until fall camp starts? And has anyone heard anything about Bowman lately? How's his rehab progressing?