The Perfect Recruiting Poster

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

NE Statepaper

 

My wife, who is smarter than I am, often likes to say: “More than one thing can be true in a given situation.”

 

In the sports world, a statement like that acts as a cherry bomb. Tunnel vision is the soup du jour. Columnists and commentators pose black and white choices to their readers, viewers and listeners. Nebraska’s offense, for example, cannot run and pass with equal commitment. It must be “about” something. It must be “defined.” Of course, it really doesn’t have to be, but we’re not belaboring the point in this space.

 

Rather, we’re reflecting on the heavyweights of the industry descending on defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh after his magnificent performance at Missouri. The national media, being the national media, waited for ESPN to visually confirm what we already know: That Suh is the rare, transformative player for his position. At least in college, he is.

 

Post-Mizzou, the national pundits suddenly shot Suh to near the top of their Heisman polls. ESPN and Sports Illustrated showed up Tuesday, getting an hour each, it seemed. And that was on top of the typical media requirements Suh already has. He handles it like a quarterback would, which, for a defensive player – is quite rare.

 

Of the Heisman, make no mistake: Pundits mean to promote Suh as a way of capturing readers who tire of seeing Tim Tebow (whose performance, thus far, simply doesn’t deserve the trophy) and Colt McCoy (ditto) occupying the Nos. 1 and 2 spots in the Heisman race, and readers who won’t trust Jimmy Clausen as a frontrunner until he beats USC.

 

Suh is meant as a novelty. A two-week pastime. Trust me. That’s the intent. That’s the national media, which, at this point, pretty much runs the Heisman by choosing who does and doesn’t get the most publicity.

 

But Charles Woodson was a novelty. For many months. Except Michigan kept winning. And Woodson kept making big plays. Until he deservedly eclipsed Peyton Manning at the finish line.

 

Suh can chart that same path. He’s that good, and his defense gives him enough chances to make headline plays. And the rest of the field – save Clausen, who controls his own destiny vs. USC – hasn’t done enough to warrant the medalist spot.

 

Now here’s where my wife comes in: Nebraska can – and should - promote Suh without it being at the expense of the larger team goals: A Big 12 Championship and a BCS bowl bid. The circus doesn’t come around every day to Lincoln. It doesn’t come around most days. Bo Pelini and his crew can recruit their fannies off, and still not draw a talent like Suh in the next five years.

 

“Everybody wants to just focus on Suh,” head coach Bo Pelini said. “That’s great. He’s earned that. But there’s a lot of guys around him who are playing well, too…I know everybody wants to build it into one guy. It’s a team game. That’s how it works. That’s the way it’ll always be.”

 

That’s true. But it’s also true that Suh is the straw that stirs the drink. He’s got the talent, the statistics and the commitment to his own education to back up the hype, too. Suh has shown he can handle the press and his best gift is giving credit where it’s due: To the NU coaches, specifically defensive line coach Carl Pelini.

 

“If I’m supposed to be that spokesperson, that’s supposed to be my God-willing thing to do, I’m more than happy to do that,” Suh said. “As long as this team continues to win and move forward.

 

“I’d like to be an example of what these coaches have taught me in the last two years. And now you can be a recruit and have four years under your belt – just imagine how much better you can be than me.”

 

You don’t have to watch Carl Pelini in practice very long to know he’s an excellent teacher, a mixture of attitude and intelligence, a preacher of technique and desire. Suh’s ability to defend the pass from his position is a combination of natural instinct and sound instruction. Defensive end Zach Potter did the same last year. Against a quick passing offense, pass rushes can be hard to come by. That’s why you have to disrupt the quarterback in a different way. Suh, and the rest of the defensive line, is surprisingly good at doing that.

 

Suh is so practiced at explaining what he’s learned from the Brothers Pelini that it serves as an excellent recruiting poster for the program.

 

Suh’s performance does, too, of course – but the Heisman, convoluted as it may be, brings the wood, so to speak. It’s helped resurrect the image of USC’s program in the 2000s; Tim Brown’s 1987 Heisman opened the door to five years of great success at Notre Dame, while Ricky Williams did the same in 1998 at Texas. Wisconsin won the 1994 Rose Bowl, but didn’t peak until 1999 with Ron Dayne’s sprint to the award.

 

Most of those teams also won games. Suh’s chase for the Heisman, and NU’s team success, generally go hand in hand.

 

Now – those hands have to wash each other’s backs.