Husker_Power Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 By BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star Friday, Aug 24, 2007 - 12:14:32 am CDT LINK If you were looking for a guy who looked like he’d been through it, Larry Asante was the picture of him Monday afternoon. Sweat soaked the Husker sophomore safety’s face. His limp was noticeable. “Just a bruise,” he says. “I’ll be back tomorrow.” Juco ball wasn’t like this. A guy could get by with talent alone there. Here, there is more to it. Here, football starts at 7 in the morning and ends at 9:30 at night. Here is where Larry Asante has to make that nickname a coach gave him on the recruiting trail seem worthy. The Assassin. That’s what the coach called him. Asante smiles. A bad name in most places. A good name for a safety who likes to rattle the rib cages of running backs. “It just kind of stuck,” he says of the nickname. Here’s why it sticks. Go back to the first Saturday fall scrimmage. Freshman running back Marcus Mendoza has the ball, closing in on the sideline, but not to safety yet. Asante, patrolling the middle of the field, sees opportunity. He hauls tail to meet him, picks up Mendoza and puts him down like his kid brother, the ball bouncing out of bounds. The field becomes a collection of “oohs” and “aahs.” Ask Asante about that hit and he starts laughing. “He said that was the hardest anybody’s ever hit him.” Husker senior cornerback Zackary Bowman was standing on the sideline that day recovering from an injury. “That was an eye-opener,” Bowman says. “Everybody was like, ‘We haven’t seen that around here in a while.’” This is part of the reason as to why the 6-foot-1, 210-pound Asante is leading the parade to start at strong safety in next Saturday’s season opener against Nevada. “It’s kind of like a rep that I’ve built up throughout playing football,” Asante says. “I come up and hit people. I hit ’em. I don’t try to injure nobody, you know what I’m saying, but I try to put a hurtin’ on the person.” He’s admittedly come a long way since he arrived at Nebraska as a transfer in January. He was a stat monger as a linebacker at Coffeyville (Kan.) Community College, racking up 76 tackles, 11 of them for losses, three blocked kicks and an interception. Just read and react. It was so simple in junior college. Then he got to Lincoln and lined up against Bill Callahan’s West Coast offense. Shifts galore. His head was spinning. “The first day of practice I had no idea what was going on,” Asante says. “It was too fast. Coach (Bill Busch) was saying, ‘Man, keep your head up. You’re going to pick it up.’ At the time, I wasn’t believing him. I was like, ‘Man, this is crazy, Coach.’” He got crazy in the film room. He’d text message defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove with football questions. Asante didn’t just want to know where he was supposed to be on the field. He wanted to know why he was supposed to be there. “He doesn’t just freelance it,” says Busch, Husker safeties coach. “His work ethic to learn is incredible. He studies film as well as anybody that’s been around.” Amazing what some film work will do. The game slowed. It’s simple again. Just read and react. The hard work looks like it might pay dividends when the depth chart comes out. Asante says he’s currently working with the top string at strong safety with senior Bryan Wilson backing him up. The snaps at the No. 1 free safety spot are going to senior Tierre Green with sophomore Rickey Thenarse behind him. “I think we have a chance to have one of the top defenses in the nation,” Asante says. “We’re getting better every single day. That’s the improvement all across the board, at D-line, cornerbacks, linebacker, safeties. We know what everyone’s doing on the field.” He played both defense and offense in high school in Alexandria, Va. He was a running back, a good one at that. Now, he looks into the eyes of a running back before each play. The eyes of a running back tell all, he says. “If it’s a pass block, he’s looking around scanning to see who he has to block,” Asante says. “If it’s a run, he’s looking at the gap he has to hit.” Being a running back was fun but it lacked hitting, and he needs the hitting. His limp gone Thursday, he talks about opportunities to blitz from his safety spot. There’s that smile again. He wouldn’t enjoy rocking a quarterback like that, would he? “Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Love it. Love it.” Reach Brian Christopherson at 473-7439 or bchristopherson@journalstar.com Quote Link to comment
huskernation20 Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 Gret Read! GBR!!!! Quote Link to comment
DJR313 Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 Can't wait to see this guy unload. Quote Link to comment
HuskerDaveTX Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 Man I got goose bumps just reading that!!! Quote Link to comment
xkbubo Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 Awesome can't wait to see him in action! Quote Link to comment
SOCALHUSKER Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 When I watch and read about him, he reminds me of another Kansas-juco we had in the 90's. A badass linebacker by the name of Terrell Farley. Terrell was under-sized as a linebacker, who moved to safety in the NFL, but boy did he have a nose for the football and did he ever earn that Blackshirt. Looking forward to many, many exciting plays by Asante. Here's to Asante and the rest of the Blackshirts, CHEERS!! Quote Link to comment
Axl_sued_me Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 Who's going to play at free safety? Quote Link to comment
1Huskernation Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 Oh man....If Asante can be anything like Terrell, and stay out of trouble....Look out! He does sound like a stud so far, though. Here's to a little Blackshirt Swagger coming back to Lincoln!!!! We need it! Go Big Red!!!! Quote Link to comment
SOCALHUSKER Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 Who's going to play at free safety? Free Safety will be Tierre Green or Ricky Thenarse Quote Link to comment
Husker_Power Posted August 24, 2007 Author Share Posted August 24, 2007 Who's going to play at free safety? Free Safety will be Tierre Green or Ricky Thenarse IMO it is Tierre Green. On my other post Scout's 2008 NFL Draft Rankings Tierre is the No. 2 NFL safety prospect in the country, but that's according to scout.com. Quote Link to comment
Axl_sued_me Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 Who's going to play at free safety? Free Safety will be Tierre Green or Ricky Thenarse IMO it is Tierre Green. On my other post Scout's 2008 NFL Draft Rankings Tierre is the No. 2 NFL safety prospect in the country, but that's according to scout.com. Tierre's tackling ability is suspect. Quote Link to comment
skersOVRsc Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 Who's going to play at free safety? Free Safety will be Tierre Green or Ricky Thenarse IMO it is Tierre Green. On my other post Scout's 2008 NFL Draft Rankings Tierre is the No. 2 NFL safety prospect in the country, but that's according to scout.com. Tierre's tackling ability is suspect. Part of that is his poor attack angles due to late reads because of inexperience at his position, he should be much improved this year. Quote Link to comment
MCAT800 Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 That kind of intensity is contagious, hopefully will have a epidemic on our hands. Quote Link to comment
admo Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 Cant wait to see some of those snot-bubble hits! Quote Link to comment
HuskerJosh82 Posted August 24, 2007 Share Posted August 24, 2007 Asante is exactly what this defense needs. Someone that is gonna come up on you and knock the the living sh_t out of you. Make you want to stay down and never get back up. Put a little fear in the offense. Quote Link to comment
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