2013 Pre-Season Previews

Mavric said:
Randy York's 13 for '13 via Huskers.com:

1) NINE-WIN SEASONS: Nebraska is one of only four teams nationally to win at least nine games in each of the past five seasons. The other teams to accomplish that feat are Alabama, Boise State and Oregon.
2) BIG TEN BEST: In Nebraska’s first two years in the Big Ten, the Huskers own the best overall conference record (12-4) and the best division record (8-2).

3) WINNING THE DIVISION: Bo Pelini is the nation’s only coach to lead a team to three conference title games in the past four years. Overall, Nebraska and Northern Illinois are the only two programs in the country which have made three conference championship game appearances in the past four seasons.

4) OFFENSIVE FIREPOWER: Nebraska's 6,451 yards of total offense in 2012 ranked second best in school history. The Huskers return 84 percent of that offense in 2013, including 99.6 percent of the passing yards and 71.1 percent of the rushing yards.

5) SURPRISING HUSKER FIRST: For the first time in school history,Nebraska boasts a pair of returning 1,000-yard rushers from the previous season. Martinez returns for his 2013 senior season after rushing for 1,019 yards in 2012, and Abdullahreturns for his junior season after rushing for 1,137 yards as a sophomore.
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Those are some eye-opening stats.

 
Abdullah and Martinez among several B1G players on the Maxwell Watch List.

Maxwell Award
Bednarik Award

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ESPN Blog

 
Pensick Named to Rimington Watch List

Nebraska senior Cole Pensick is one of 44 players who have been named to the Fall Watch List for the 2013 Rimington Trophy. The Rimington Trophy is presented annually to the Most Outstanding Center in the Football Bowl Subdivision, and is named in honor of two-time Husker Outland Trophy winner Dave Rimington, who starred for Nebraska from 1980 to 1982.The 6-2, 275-pound Pensick is in line to take over as Nebraska’s starting center in 2013, after splitting time between guard and center last fall. Pensick is one of five senior offensive linemen with extensive playing experience that figure to make the offensive line a strong unit for the Huskers in 2013.
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Huskers.com

 
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Evans Named to Thorpe Award Watch List

Nebraska senior cornerback Ciante Evans is one of 48 defensive backs named Friday to the 2013 watch list for the Jim Thorpe Award.
The 5-11, 190-pound Evans is the leader of the Nebraska secondary and one of the most versatile defensive backs in the country. Evans has seen his most extensive action as Nebraska’s nickel back during his career, but also lines up in a normal cornerback role when the Huskers are in a base 4-3 defense.
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Huskers.com

 
Nebraska offensive linemen Spencer Long and Jeremiah Sirles are on the watch list for the Lombardi Award. The candidates earned a place on the preliminary watch list by earning All-America honors, being named to their respective all-conference teams or receiving 2013 preseason honors.
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OWH Article

 
University of Nebraska junior wide receiver Kenny Bell joins the growing list of Huskers on preseason watch lists, as he was selected for the Biletnikoff Award on Tuesday. The 6-foot-1, 185-pounder from Boulder, Colo., comes off a season where he earned second-team All-Big Ten honors from the coaches and media, and first-team accolades from BTN.com and ESPN.com among others.
Bell comes one off the most prolific receiving season in school history, setting Husker sophomore marks for catches (50), yards (863), touchdowns (eight) and 100-yard receiving games (three). His 50 catches ranked seventh on NU’s single-season chart while his yards and TDs both were eighth all-time for a single season at Nebraska. Of Bell’s 50 catches in 2012, 16 went for at least 20 yards, including all eight of his touchdowns. He had a career-high nine catches for 136 yards and two scores against Minnesota, while his other two 100-yard games came at UCLA and at Ohio State. In addition, Bell also averaged 23.2 yards on 14 kickoff returns in 2012 and set the school record for longest TD run by a freshmen in 2011 (82 yards).
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Huskers.com

 
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I'm waiting with bated breath for Bill Connelly at SB Nation's "Ten Things to Know." Best previews I've ever read.

 
The Davey O'Brien Quarterback Award joined the preseason watch list parade today, and three Big Ten signal-callers are featured among the 34 honorees.
It's going to be a crowded race, as five O'Brien semifinalists from 2012 have returned to campus. That includes Ohio State's Braxton Miller, who was also one of three finalists last season.

So there's no surprise that Miller is on the preseason watch list. Joining him from the Big Ten is Nebraska's [/size][/font][/color]Taylor Martinez and Michigan's Devin Gardner. No upsets there, either. Martinez completely deserves the recognition as a four-year starter who could smash several career Cornhuskers records. Gardner has only started five games in his career, all at the end of last season, but he was impressive in that stretch and has a chance to usurp Miller and Martinez as the best Big Ten quarterback this season.
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ESPN

 
Husker veterans challenging young defenders to gain knowledge

Give Nebraska senior Ciante Evans a couple of hours of preseason practice and he'll be able to identify the underclassmen who did their homework this summer.It all gets revealed on the practice field, Evans said.

Were you engaged during meetings or just hoping to keep your eyes open? Retaining concepts in the playbook or just flipping through it? Properly analyzing game film or just glaring at a screen?

“I can see it on the first day of fall camp,” Evans said.
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Back in the spring, the coaches quit installing new formations, blitz calls and coverage packages about halfway through. They wanted the defenders to grasp the system's basic elements. That was by design.
When Aug. 5 rolls around and NU steps on the practice field for the first time, coach Bo Pelini hopes there won't be much backtracking.

“If our guys are able to take the things that we did in the spring and have good recall from that, build upon that, we'll be in really good shape,” Pelini said.
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Would you look at that. Our coaches are changing how they do thing to make it work better. Whoda thunk it?

 
Anyone read Lee Barfknecht's article?

I see an 11-1 regular season and a Big Ten Legends Division title, with the only slip up in early November at Michigan.
I don't see an end to the conference championship drought. Ohio State will go undefeated again, win the Big Ten title and play Alabama for the national title.

The good news from that is with OSU in the title slot, the Huskers' 12-year absence from a Bowl Championship Series appearance will be history. Have a good time NU, as an at-large selection, in the 100th anniversary of the Rose Bowl.

Now, wait a minute, I hear a few of you saying. The conspiracy theorists who insist I'm a Husker hater must think this column is a plot to somehow subvert the season.

Not so.

Hard evidence exists that nearly every barrier that has stood in the way of Bo Pelini becoming a championship coach has been kicked aside. The pathway is the clearest it has been in many years. Here are seven reasons why:
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I call BS. I say he's just prepping for the Pelini didn't have any excuses and he still came up short" article later in the year. I bet he has it half written and is waiting for things to go badly to fill in the details.

MAYBE, I'll believe him a little bit if he has Nebraska #2 in his B1G rankings to start the year but I don't buy it.

 
yeah, the fact that of all people, it's Barphneck that puts out the most koolaid pumping precdiction to date is mind-boggling. I'd say youre probably right.

 
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