The Second Rise of Rex Burkhead...

[omahapanda]

http://www.huskerlocker.com/blogs/view/bid..._run_of_rex/o/2

[knapplc]

The Second Run of Rex

 

In Carrollton, Irving and Euless. Flower Mound, Allen, Wylie and DeSoto. All the way down in Duncanville, out to Keller and of course, in Plano.

 

Rex Burkhead was a known property. The Metroplex version of a made man.

 

Wherever Nebraska running backs coach Tim Beck traveled in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, the high school football coaches – many of them Beck's former peers - loved this kid they used to call Superman on the field, in part for his Clark Kent persona he possessed off of it.

 

“It was unique,” Beck says now. “Anywhere you went, people would talk about him and what a great football player he was...when he played, he played hard. And people saw it.”

 

Varsity as a freshman. Starting quarterback as a sophomore. The kid with Barry Sanders on the wall and Walter Payton on the ceiling above his bed. Sweetness before bed every night.

 

“I'd rather run over somebody,” Burkhead said Tuesday.

 

As a junior and senior at Plano High School, he amassed 3,530 yards rushing and more than 60 touchdowns. Ole Miss wanted him as a Wildcat quarterback. Rich Rod wanted him a scatback and -

 

Well, hell – if you're in the DFW, you already know all this. Most Nebraska fans who count recruiting stars as they go to sleep know it, too. The Huskers got the loot, nabbed one of the biggest names out of the Lone Star State, and needed a bevy of position coaches – Beck and Mike Ekeler and John Papuchis to do it.

 

“I felt most comfortable here,” Burkhead says of NU. “Felt like this was the place.”

 

Head coach Bo Pelini tested him straight away in fall camp. Gave him the “rookie ball” for 24 hours. First day. First guy. Burkhead wasn't supposed to fumble it, and every member of Nebraska's top-shelf defense tried to pry it away.

 

“Who better than him?” Bo said of Rex's selection.

 

Indeed. Because Burkhead didn't fumble.

 

And he didn't blink an eye when, after the dismissal of Quentin Castille, he shot up to No. 2 on the depth chart. When he played well in the first five games of the season. When he converted a crucial third down at Missouri, taking a poorly-thrown swing pass from Zac Lee, planting hard with his right foot, and jutting back to the middle of the field for a first down. Decisive. Quick.

 

“He hits the hole downhill,” offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said. “He doesn't waste time. He doesn't over-analyze or read. He gets north and south and gets skinny.”

 

Three plays after Burkhead's clutch play, Lee hit Niles Paul for a NU's first touchdown. The Cornhuskers won, but starter Roy Helu jammed his shoulder something awful on his second-to-last carry. Burkhead would likely have been the guy for Texas Tech. And Iowa State. And possibly Baylor.

 

Then – pop! A simple little cut in practice four days after the Mizzou game. Gone awry.

 

“It wasn't a extreme pain, but I knew something wasn't right,” Burkhead said.

 

Foot fracture.

 

Sit down, Superman. Time to take a lesson you haven't yet learned – how to lose time to an injury.

 

Understand the difficulty here for Burkhead. After high school football, he would transition directly to basketball. He didn't slow down. When he arrived at NU, coaches and teammates noticed quickly: He's way ahead of the game here. How hard has this kid been working?

 

And Burkhead had learned so much, he said, in his short time in college football. The mental game, blitz pick-up, setting up defenders, using your blockers. It was close, you sensed. Burkhead seemed small on tape but bigger in person. And he runs even bigger than that.

 

“He's explosive,” Watson said. “It is surprising.”

 

For five weeks, NU lost its spark plug. Helu wasn't right for at least half of that time. Still isn't 100 percent, frankly. The Huskers had to burn Traye Robinson's redshirt in the process, and endure that awful 9-7 loss to Iowa State, in which Robinson and Helu combined for three fumbles.

 

Would Burkhead, who held on tight in the toughest of conditions during fall camp, have been so careless?

 

Often in a black puffy coat on crutches, Burkhead would sit back from practice and watch from afar. It got to him a little, he admitted. It took teammates – especially Helu, who doesn't let on much but is a kind of joyful mentor to Burkhead – to bring him around. Also, for a broken foot, the doctor's prognosis was good: Back for the Colorado game.

 

Of course, Rex being Rex, he was back a week early, for Kansas State.

 

“I was little hesitant at first,” Burkhead said. “I didn't feel it at all, but just knowing it's down there and the possibility of re-aggravating it.”

 

That changed once Burkhead got into the flow vs. the Wildcats.

 

“It was a nice bonus,” Pelini said.

 

Losing that trepidation was crucial, as it turned out, in the following week, when he rushed 100 yards on 18 carries in a 28-20 win over Colorado. Nine times for 55 yards and a touchdown on NU's penultimate drive, the one that made Husker fans party like it's 1979, all power sets and inside counters and Burkhead's churning legs.

 

It wasn't so much that Burkhead gained the yards as how he did it. One cut – and go. He bounced off some tackles and crawled past others. In all, 67 yards of the century were after contact. It's one thing to see a guy like Castille bull moose his way through a defense. Another to see a man of Burkhead's size even try, much less succeed, when NU made no secret on that drive of who was getting the ball, and where he was going to go with it.

 

“Whether he made the right decisions or not, he made them and ran with them,” Beck said. “He ran down his pads and kept his feet moving and accelerated through contact. He wasn't dancing around trying to make the big plays.”

 

Most backs – like Helu – are trying to “make every cut,” Beck said. They see three guys on two levels of the defense, and want to create a path around all of them. Helu, possessing rare peripheral vision, often makes sudden, almost inexplicable cuts parallel to the line of scrimmage. Where's he going? Helu doesn't always know. He just feels the pressure, and turns away from it. Sometimes, it works beautifully. Sometimes, Roy's just running around.

 

“That's not Rex,” Beck said. Burkhead makes the one cut and then - well, come what may.

 

In this case, a homecoming in Arlington, Burkhead's old stomping grounds, against Texas, the home state team. He played at least ten games inside the old Dallas Cowboys Stadium, and he'll have a hefty fan club for his first game in the new one, including some friends who are UT fans, and lobbied him to stay in-state.

 

Burkhead doesn't have much of an ax to grind with the Longhorns, mind you. He grew up in Kentucky, not Texas, so he wasn't wearing burnt orange out of the womb.

 

Texas did put forth a mild recruiting push for his services. Burkhead made a few visits, saw a game. But UT had already had two running backs – Vondrell McGee and Tre' Newton – with Burkhead's build and skillset, so there was some question as to what position he'd play for Mack Brown – and whether he'd even stay on offense.

 

“It was back and forth deal,” Burkhead said. “They really kind of left it up to me.”

 

UT was the wrong fit. No hard feelings. NU is the right one.

 

Burkhead, Pelini said, meshes with the new attitude of Nebraska football perfectly. As a bunch, the Huskers are humble – but Burkhead is unusually so, even for a high school star in a state where being one really means something.

 

“You can't let everything get to you,” Burkhead said. “You have to stay down to earth.”

 

That's what caught their eye in the DFW.

 

It's certainly grabbed Pelini's attention.

 

“He’s just a football player,” he said. “He’s tough. He’s a leader. He exemplifies all the characteristics that I want in football players that come into this program.”

 

The invaluable ranch hand, to borrow an image from Burkhead's adopted state. Knows the land like the laces of a football, does his job with a little fuss, and occasionally makes your jaw drop.

 

Or, Superman, when the shoe fits. Right Rex?

 

“Aw, it's all right,” Burkhead said. “I guess.”

[BleedHuskerRed]

Great read. I was high on RB from the start, but everything you hear and read, it just gets better. He will never fail to meet expectations, largely he will exceed them.

[NoDoubt]

Thank you Texas.

[fishnfrank]

I have liked Rex ever since he arived at Nebraska and is one of my favorite players to watch. He plays so hard and never quits. That is why I think he has the potential to be one of the best running backs ever to play at Nebraska. Now I know I am going to get a lot of criticism for this and that is expected. This is just my opinion and I am looking forward to the next three years and seeing him get better and better. GBR

[lilred]

I loved that last drive with all the power sets. Rex just tears the defense apart.

[HuckFoley]

great read, thanks for posting this

[Karawithasmile]

Gosh, I really like this guy. Hope he can stay healthy because he's something special.

[cscott2win]

Just another humble hard working kid. It seems the Huskers are loaded with them.

[missouri_husker24]

IMO Burkhead is the definition of Husker Football.

[WVhuskerXX]

every time Rex plays I like him more and more...such a tough player...great team guy...gonna be a stud

[TejasFight]

Plano grad here, more years before Rex than I'd like to admit. I saw him play all four years there, and his brother before him (plays at Harvard, btw).

 

I may be missing a couple but I saw him line up at QB, S, CB, FB, RB, and WR during his four years there. The coaching staff actually wanted him to stay at QB but he was born to be a runner. Rumor is they almost *made* him stay at QB until he threatened to transfer to a private school (again, rumor).

 

Nevertheless, he is a legend at Plano. FYI, if I may toot a horn - Plano is one of Texas' winningest programs and tied for most state titles at 7. They play in one of the state's best districts and face the best of DFW in the playoffs every year. So he wasn't doing all of this "superman" stuff out in the deserts of west Texas. It was against the best high school competition in the country IMO, and he was electricity defined.

 

He basically turned Plano football back into the power they once were, and for that he will always be my favorite Wildcat. I can't wait to see Rex in person Saturday and hope he does well!! After the game is in hand of course.

[HSKRNOKC]

Plano grad here, more years before Rex than I'd like to admit. I saw him play all four years there, and his brother before him (plays at Harvard, btw).

 

I may be missing a couple but I saw him line up at QB, S, CB, FB, RB, and WR during his four years there. The coaching staff actually wanted him to stay at QB but he was born to be a runner. Rumor is they almost *made* him stay at QB until he threatened to transfer to a private school (again, rumor).

 

Nevertheless, he is a legend at Plano. FYI, if I may toot a horn - Plano is one of Texas' winningest programs and tied for most state titles at 7. They play in one of the state's best districts and face the best of DFW in the playoffs every year. So he wasn't doing all of this "superman" stuff out in the deserts of west Texas. It was against the best high school competition in the country IMO, and he was electricity defined.

 

He basically turned Plano football back into the power they once were, and for that he will always be my favorite Wildcat. I can't wait to see Rex in person Saturday and hope he does well!! After the game is in hand of course.

Rex has already found his way into our hearts.. He is a role model Husker.

[WCHusker]

Don't get your hopes up for a breakout game for Rex on Saturday(isn't UTerus #2 in the nation vs. the rush?).

 

If we have a chance in this game, we're going to have to do it with(gasp) Zac's arm.

[cscott2win]

That kid is something else. I love watching him play.