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NamelessHusker

Banned
The Nebraska football team opened fall camp with 100 players, five under the NCAA maximum.

Coach Bill Callahan says five incoming freshmen have yet to be cleared academically by the NCAA but he hopes they'll be practicing soon.

The missing players are offensive linemen Jordan and Rodney Picou, tight end Justin Tomerlin, wide receiver Tyrell Spain and running back Leon Jackson.

Callahan announced that one scholarship player and three walk-ons have been added to the preseason roster.

The scholarship player is six-five, 340-pound offensive lineman Matt Slauson out of Air Force Prep in Colorado Springs.

The walk-ons are six-four, 358-pound offensive lineman Adam Gibson of Indianapolis; six-three, 202-pound tight end Hunter Teafatiller of Kingsbury, California; and six-one, 205-pound long snapper Nate McBride of Scottsdale, Arizona.

"It feels great to get back out again. I love this time of year. I absolutely love it," Callahan said. "The first day was really encouraging and very positive. Our kids were high-spirited, very positive, up-beat and had a lot of energy on the field."

Callahan went on to say that the Huskers have shown solid signs of improvement from his first Nebraska training camp during the spring of 2004.

"I will tell you that our older, experienced players have a little bit more of an advantage because they have heard these plays and heard these techniques now for about the fifth or sixth time," Callahan said, "so they are pretty confident in what they are doing out on the field."

Callahan also said the communication level among all of the players was a promising sign.

"The way you feel that (energy on the field) and they way that you recognize that as a coach is that you hear a lot of communication," Callahan said. "You hear players talking the game. When you have players that are communicating and feel loose and confident in the way they are making the calls, that gives you confidence as a coach. Obviously that spreads throughout the team."

For a Video report from the practice field click Here and click on NU Opens practice or Sean Callahans's Insider Report ti view

*There's also a video titled NU Fans ready for comeback on the right hand side

 
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[SIZE=14pt]Huskers Hit Turf In Second Year Of West Coast Offense[/SIZE]

Some Players Await NCAA Clearance

LINCOLN, Neb. -- A new season has brought a new outlook at Nebraska.

Last year's humiliating 5-6 campaign seemed to be a distant memory to the players and coaches as the Cornhuskers opened preseason practice Thursday on an autumn-like afternoon in Lincoln.

Coach Bill Callahan said he was pleased with the effort and attitude during the two-hour workout on the grass fields north of Memorial Stadium.

Callahan said he anticipates a smooth lead-up to the Sept. 3 opener against Maine. He said the second go-round with the West Coast offense and defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove's schemes have put the returning players at ease.

Zac Taylor, favored to win the starting quarterback's job, said he is a "thousand times" more comfortable with the offense after going through spring practice.

The Huskers won't wear full pads until next week, but receiver Mark LeFlore said it is apparent that the team's talent level has increased.

The Nebraska football team opens fall camp with 100 players -- five fewer than the NCAA maximum.

Callahan said five incoming freshmen have yet to be cleared academically by the NCAA, but he hopes they'll be practicing soon. The missing players are offensive linemen Jordan and Rodney Picou, tight end Justin Tomerlin, wide receiver Tyrell Spain and running back Leon Jackson.

Callahan announced that one scholarship player and three walk-ons have been added to the preseason roster. The scholarship player is 6-foot-5 inch, 340-pound offensive lineman Matt Slauson out of Air Force Prep in Colorado Springs.

The walk-ons are 6-foot-4 inch, 358-pound offensive lineman Adam Gibson, of Indianapolis; 6-foot-3-inch, 202-pound tight end Hunter Teafatiller, of Kingsbury, Calif.; and 6-foot-1-inch, 205-pound long snapper Nate McBride, of Scottsdale, Ariz

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[SIZE=14pt]Chemistry key at Camp Callahan[/SIZE]

BY STEVEN M. SIPPLE / Lincoln Journal Star

If good cheer counts for something in football, Nebraska evidently is off to a swift start in its attempt to rebound from last season's struggle and strife.

Junior center Kurt Mann said the Huskers' vaunted group of newcomers have meshed better with veterans than any group of incoming players since he arrived on campus in 2002.

Mann recalls feeling like "an outsider" as a freshman.

"I think a lot of older guys have taken as many steps as they possibly can this summer to make sure young guys feel they're a part of the team," he said.

Nebraska, 5-6 last season, opened preseason camp Thursday hoping, among other things, to improve overall team chemistry. The challenge involves integrating 29 scholarship newcomers — several of whom figure to play prominent roles this season — with returning players.

So far, so good. Husker coach Bill Callahan praised his team's spirit and energy Thursday. At least one player overflowed with enough mirth that he offered a bold prediction.

"I'll just say this: In the regular season, I don't see anybody stopping us," said outside linebacker Steve Octavien, one of five juniorcollege transfers who practiced with NU during the spring. "We just have to keep our composure."

Composure. Confidence. Chemistry.

The third of those crucial ‘C' words has been an area of emphasis since last season, Callahan said. He said orientation exercises Nebraska applied during preseason camp a year ago were instead used during June and July this year.

"We made our newcomers feel welcomed and relaxed, and made sure they could integrate into the team and feel comfortable socially," Callahan said.

There was a paintball outing and a barbecue at the head coach's house.

Mann, one of three returning starters in the offensive line, said he made it a point to approach newcomers and ask how they were doing.

"I think I'm like a lot of guys — I'm not going to talk unless you talk to me," he said.

Callahan, starting his second season in charge at Nebraska, said it's largely up to players to ensure team chemistry is sound.

"I don't think as a head coach you can manufacture chemistry," he said. "When you force things upon guys, when you force players to get together, it's artificial. You have to let leadership take its course."

Quarterback Zac Taylor, who ended spring practice atop the depth chart, drew praise from teammates for his leadership this summer. He was quick to answer questions about the offense. He organized 7-on-7 drills. In short, he helped develop team chemistry.

Taylor, a junior-college transfer, said he made it a point to become more of a vocal leader in summer drills. During the spring, he said, he "took a back seat" as he learned the offense and developed rapport with his teammates.

"I think now I know what I'm doing, so I can speak out a little bit more," Taylor said.

Callahan reiterated that the race for the starting quarterback job is "wide-open," though Taylor retains the upper hand based on his overall experience and his performance during spring. Among those pushing Taylor is freshman Harrison Beck, rated last season as the nation's No. 3 high school pro-style QB by Rivals.com.

"You can't become complacent," Taylor said. "I just have to keep working hard."

Beck is just one of a slew of newcomers expected to contribute this season. Octavien said several of the new players caught his eye during summer workouts. He specifically mentioned running backs Marlon Lucky and Cody Glenn, linebacker Nick Covey, wide receiver Frantz Hardy and cornerback Zack Bowman.

Of Bowman, Octavien said, "He'll bait quarterbacks and make two or three interceptions every time we play 7-on-7."

Yes, it's August, and hope springs eternal in preseason camps throughout the nation.

Callahan hopes the positive vibe he felt Thursday is still around in November.

On Day One of Camp Callahan, he saw players communicating and working well together.

Perhaps those orientation exercises worked. Maybe the players really did enjoy that cookout at the head coach's house.

Did Callahan flip the burgers?

"I think we had someone come in and do it," Taylor said, smiling.

Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com

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[SIZE=14pt]Competition fierce for unified defense[/SIZE]

BY BRIAN ROSENTHAL / Lincoln Journal Star

It's common for freshmen and other newcomers to sport a funky hairdo within the first few days of fall football camp.

So what is junior Stewart Bradley's excuse after Nebraska's first day of practice Thursday for the lightning bolt shaved into the side of his half-inch-long buzz cut?

It's supposed to be a fun symbol, said the returning starter and two-year letterwinner, for those linebackers who ran a 4.5, or better, the last time they were timed in the 40-yard dash. Other "winners" were Bo Ruud, Steve Octavien and Adam Ickes.

Do those guys have lightning bolts on their heads now, too?

"Not yet, but we're all going to get them," Bradley said. "The freshmen have funny haircuts, so we thought we'd have our own little club this year."

Call it corny, goofy, cliche, whatever. Bradley doesn't care. Any sign of bonding, of stronger team unity, is just fine with him.

"The feel this year is just so much different," Bradley said. "You're on the field, you feel the energy and the confidence of the guys. You're so much more comfortable.

"We've got a new base defense that's so, so natural. Coaches love coaching it, and we love playing it."

That means Nebraska will have a better defense this year, right? Well, that's hard to say on Aug. 4. But Bradley believes things will be better, and his coach agrees.

"Players know us better, know how to react to us. We know them better, what makes them tick," second-year defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove said. "And we've got some different players. We've added some depth, we've got competition, and competition makes you better."

Bradley is the only returning starter at linebacker for Cosgrove, who also coaches the linebackers. At 6 feet, 240 pounds, Bradley started 10 games last season at the SAM, or strongside position. His 11 tackles for loss tied for second most on the team.

"I just like Stew's development," Cosgrove said. "I thought he came around well last year. I think he's gaining confidence now. I look for his leadership. He's having fun out there. He was one of the first ones to say today after practice, ‘It's different coach, we were flying around, it was easy.'

"I think our players respect Stew. I know as coaches, we certainly do."

Cosgrove is more focused on solidifying the middle, or MIKE linebacker position, vacated by the graduation of Barrett Ruud, the school's all-time leading tackler.

The four current candidates in the middle, Cosgrove said, are Lance Brandenburgh, Phillip Dillard, Corey McKeon and Dontrell Moore. Only Dillard, a true freshman, wasn't here in the spring. But that doesn't rule him out of the mix. Cosgrove said he wouldn't hesitate "at all" to play a true freshman, if he's the best player.

"It's not that I don't feel good about (the MIKE position)," Cosgrove said. "I do feel good, because I have options. I'm going to put the best 11 on the field. Whoever they have to be, I don't know yet.

"We had some little nicks in the spring with some of those guys, but now they're healthy, and I'm anxious to watch them develop. What I saw today was pretty good."

Is it possible Cosgrove could look at other players in the middle?

"Oh, there are always possibilities," he said. "Like I said, I'm going to get the best 11 on the field."

Bo Ruud and Octavien, a junior-college transfer, will continue their battle at the WILL position. True freshman Nick Covey is working at SAM, Cosgrove said.

Bradley said the freshmen "weren't overwhelmed too much" but were probably a bit wide-eyed for their first college practice.

"They did a good job," Bradley said. "At least they're athletic, flying around, and that's all you can really ask for on the first day.

"They all have good attitudes. They're definitely excited about being here."

Which, Bradley said, is a definite improvement from some of last year's team members.

"I think last year, some guys were just kind of sad because the coaches were playing the best players, and they thought, for whatever reason, seniority, or where they were from … I don't know, they weren't in concurrence with how the coaches felt.

"We'll put those guys behind us. … They were obviously just cancers and bringing the team down. We're glad that everyone we have with us now is positive. Unity is way up, and we're getting along great."

Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.

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[SIZE=14pt]NU notes, 8/5: Five recruits await academic clearance[/SIZE]

Five players in Nebraska's touted 2005 recruiting class missed the opening day of preseason practice Thursday because they haven't been cleared academically by the NCAA, Husker head coach Bill Callahan said.

Three of the five participated in informal drills this summer in Lincoln — junior-college transfers Justin Tomerlin and Tyrell Spain and freshman Leon Jackson. Tomerlin attended practice Thursday in street clothes, but Spain and Jackson weren't on hand. The other two players — cousins Jordan Picou and Rodney Picou, a pair of offensive linemen from California — have yet to arrive on campus, Callahan said.

Callahan said it wasn't unusual for a team to open preseason camp with a few players needing to be cleared academically by the NCAA.

"The NCAA clearinghouse has over 170,000 student-athletes they have to evaluate," Callahan said, noting NU's preseason camp begins earlier than many other teams. "We're hopeful we can learn something about the status of these players in the next few days, so we can define our roster."

Nebraska's roster, for now, is set at 100, five short of the NCAA preseason limit, he said.

n ROSTER ADDS: Among the handful of new walk-ons on Nebraska's latest roster is Adam Gibson, a 6-foot-4, 358-pound guard and the brother of former Wisconsin standout lineman Aaron Gibson, now with the Chicago Bears. Adam Gibson transferred to NU from Rock Valley (Ill.) Junior College. In addition, Callahan confirmed the arrival of 6-5, 340-pound offensive tackle Matt Slauson, who played last season at the Air Force Preparatory School. Slauson is a scholarship player, the coach said.

n HERIAN UPDATE: Nebraska senior tight end Matt Herian didn't practice Thursday and will remain sidelined indefinitely. "I'm hopeful he'll be back with us, and if he's not, it'll be in the best interest of Matt Herian," Callahan said. "He'll make that decision. It is a day-to-day thing, and some days look more hopeful than others." Herian, rehabilitating a broken leg suffered last October, was on hand for Thursday's practice, which was good to see, Callahan said. "It's good for his confidence and morale to be around the team and continue to learn the offense," the coach said.

n BOSS' PRAISE: Callahan praised head strength coach Dave Kennedy and his staff for their work with players this summer. "I think Coach Kennedy's done an outstanding job in every phase of conditioning — not only in preparing them in terms of running, sprinting and change-of-direction drills, but also in the weight room. We're a much stronger team. That's beneficial when you hit the ground running like we did today."

n WIDE BANANA?: Quarterback Zac Taylor, a junior-college transfer, offered some insight into why Nebraska's offense can be difficult for players to learn. An example of a play he calls at the line of scrimmage: Strong right, F-short, spider two, wide banana, ‘Z' over. "I remember my first day of practice last spring — everything was so intense and so fast," he said. "It was tough to get used to … That spring helped me out big time."

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[SIZE=14pt]Huskers get down to business[/SIZE]

BY DIRK CHATELAIN/ Omaha World Herald

LINCOLN - Holy moley. If Bo Ruud had known what his scalp looked like before he grabbed those clippers, the spontaneous Nebraska linebacker might still have a head full of beautiful brown locks.

Now he looks five years younger and his mom's going be mad and, worse, what are all those brown marks?

"I didn't even know I had 'em," Ruud said. "Never seen 'em before."

Just hours before Nebraska's first fall practice, Ruud and a bunch of Husker buddies basically nixed any chance of getting a date for the next month.

Ruud shaved a square on top of freshman Nick Covey's dome - "like a little hat." Corey McKeon was left with a strip down the middle. Stewart Bradley got a lightning bolt.

"Usually you just get the rookies," Ruud said. "This year, everybody wanted to."

Call it camaraderie. Call it good, wholesome fun. The Huskers could use a little of each after the worst season in 43 years.

Nebraska opened fall camp Thursday afternoon under a gloomy blue sky, but players joked and coaches smiled. All were optimistic despite a steady flow of post-practice questions about - what else - last year.

Answers won't come soon. Nebraska opens the season Sept. 3 against Maine, and a true gauge of progress might not come until the leaves start falling. So the next several weeks will feature many sound bites that go something like this:

"There's a different feeling this year," said Bradley, the junior linebacker.

"You can't look back at last year," said senior receiver Mark LeFlore. "This is a new year. We've got new players. We're going to have to come out and win. Everybody knows that."

Coach Bill Callahan said his players were high-spirited and energized.

"The way you feel that and the way you recognize that as a coach is that you hear a lot of communication," Callahan said. "You hear players talking the game. When you have players that are communicating and feel loose and confident, that gives you confidence as a coach."

Bradley said the offense and defense have more faith in each other. I-back Cory Ross said everyone knows the playbook now. Nobody has to guess anymore.

The mood may have improved from last fall, but crucial questions must be answered during the next month. Among them:

• How will defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove tweak schemes and personnel to stop high-powered Big 12 offenses?

• Can NU find enough playmakers on offense, specifically at receiver, to utilize the strengths of the West Coast offense?

• Which of the more than 30 newcomers will be able to step into the lineup Sept. 3?

Cosgrove told his group Thursday that a top-ranked defense and an average one can be separated by a few plays each quarter. Make those plays in 2005, and NU is looking at a rosier fate.

"The difference between winning a national championship and going 5-6 is not as huge as it may seem," Bradley said.

Nebraska hopes intangibles amount to a few wins alone. Bradley said there's a greater incentive to stick together this year because each Husker believes in the coaches' formula, something that wasn't always true in 2004.

"We put those guys behind us, and the program's better without them," Bradley said of some Huskers who left the team after last season. "They were obviously just cancer and were going to bring the team down, so we're glad everyone we have with us now is positive."

Some were quite humble, too, especially after the razor found them. The first-string quarterback even got his noggin buzzed, courtesy of defensive end Jay Moore. Why not, Zac Taylor figured.

"I've got nothing better to do the next four weeks," Taylor said. "It feels good until I look in the mirror."

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[SIZE=14pt]Huskers' Dillard 'hates to lose'[/SIZE]

BY DIRK CHATELAIN

WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

It was five autumns ago and the police detective who had taught football to young Phillip Dillard was seeing progress.

Dillard, a Tulsa eighth-grader at the time, had once been chubby and timid, "a hostage in his own helmet." But he was growing. He was learning. The cop told Dillard en route to a game he needed to raise his intensity one more time.

"This game," Dillard responded, "somebody's going off on an ambulance."

It couldn't have been an hour later when Dillard, now a Nebraska freshman linebacker, slipped by an offensive lineman, rammed his shoulder pads into the quarterback's abdomen and lifted the kid into the air like an Oklahoma tornado before slamming him to the ground.

The cop ran onto the field, frightened. He remembers the quarterback breaking a couple of ribs and suffering a concussion. Sure enough, an ambulance was called.

"That's when the light came on," said Tyrone Lynn, the policeman who has raised Dillard since elementary school. "He realized: 'Hey, I'm a big, fast guy.' From that day, he's never been the same. He's been a terror."

Dillard, one of Nebraska's prized newcomers from the 2005 recruiting class, gets his chance to terrorize the college ranks starting today when NU starts fall practices. Perhaps no freshman will have an opportunity to make a bigger impact than Dillard, a 6-foot-1, 250-pound wrecking ball who grew up in the heart of Sooner country.

The Huskers' all-time leading tackler, Barrett Ruud, has moved on to the NFL, and neither Corey McKeon nor Lance Brandenburgh nor Dontrell Moore did enough in spring practices to cinch a Blackshirt at middle linebacker. That could leave an opening for Dillard, who said he "can't stand sitting on the sideline."

"I'm pretty sure I can beat them out," said Dillard, a former star at Jenks High School.

Former Oklahoma linebacker Rocky Calmus, the 2001 Butkus Award winner, went to Jenks, too. Dillard's model is someone older, someone more "crazy": Ray Lewis. Watch Lewis in interviews and he's laid back, cool. He walks on the field and he starts barking orders.

Dillard never raised a stir in high school and doesn't like attention. But when he walks onto a football field, Lynn said, his shyness disappears.

"On the field, I go crazy," Dillard said. "Off the field, I'm cool, friends with everybody. On the field, I don't have any friends."

"He wants to kill you; it doesn't matter what the score is," Lynn said. "But after a game, he just comes home, sits on the couch and passes out. I think he just lets so much go emotionally on the field that he's just zapped."

Curtis Choice, Dillard's AAU basketball coach for three years, attributes Dillard's aggression to his competitiveness.

"Put a uniform on him and you've got your hands full," said Choice, who compared Dillard to old Detroit Piston bruiser Rick Mahorn. "He hates to lose. That's the way he is in football, in basketball, that's how he'd be in pingpong. That's just his nature."

Dillard, who has a 35-inch vertical jump, could execute a 360 dunk as of a couple of years ago. But football was undoubtedly his future. Even before basketball practices, Dillard would spend three hours conditioning for football.

Athletics wasn't always his passion. He hasn't seen his dad since he was 6 or 7. He didn't have a male influence besides brothers he best not follow - one has been in jail for more than a decade.

Dillard's mom got sick when he was in grade school. Suddenly, raising him as a single mother was too difficult. Lynn, a police detective whose mother knew Dillard's mother, remembers "a little fat kid" who had too much time on his hands. He needed a role model.

Lynn and his wife, who had a young son at the time, essentially adopted Dillard. Lynn, 37, signed Dillard up for football soon after and found the boy "scared of his own shadow."

When conflict arose on the field or off, Dillard ran the other way. Lynn worked to toughen him. In sixth grade, he improved from "terrible to sorry," Lynn said. By the seventh grade, Dillard was fast maturing, but he'd yet to shed his athletic reluctance. Then he planted the quarterback and realized this might just be his calling.

At the end of Dillard's eighth-grade year, Lynn moved the family to Jenks, a Tulsa suburb and home to Oklahoma's top high school football program.

Two years later, Dillard started the third game of his sophomore year, beating out a senior for the spot. A taste of varsity football motivated him to spend hours building muscle and speed.

"I watched my brothers handle things," Dillard said. "I knew I wasn't going to handle it like that."

Two years later, he was receiving scholarship offers from the best programs in the nation. Dillard considered signing with Oklahoma, but he got a bad vibe when he visited. When he checked out Nebraska, everybody stopped to greet him, he said. His choice disappointed those back home who root for OU and Oklahoma State.

"When we beat them both, I'm going to love it," Dillard said.

Dillard has been on campus since June. He worked out each day with strength coach Dave Kennedy. He's closely studied his old films during the offseason. The basketball coach said Dillard will be a hard man to keep off the field.

"He's like Pac-Man," Choice said. "You remember the Pac-Man game? He just gobbles up everything that gets in his way. If he's got to knock three guys down to get to the ball, that's what he'll do. He just chews up guys and spits them out along the way. I'm excited to see what happens this year.

"This is what he lives and dies for."

• NOTE: NU coach Bill Callahan will unveil Nebraska's 105-player training camp roster today, ending speculation over whom among the signees is available to play this season. NU signed 31 players in February. Receivers Wallace Franklin and Brodrick Hunter are headed to junior college. Three others were allowed to count against the limit of 25 for last season. A small group of new walk-ons is expected among the 105, including 6-foot-7, 325-pound offensive tackle Matt Slauson. Rivals.com reported Wednesday that Slauson, from Sweet Home, Ore., has arrived in Lincoln. He played at the U.S. Air Force Prep Academy in Colorado Springs last year and would have five years to complete four seasons of eligibility at NU.

 
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[SIZE=14pt]NU won't allow fans to frolic on new FieldTurf[/SIZE]

BY MITCH SHERMAN

WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

LINCOLN - Nebraska has its new artificial turf in place at Memorial Stadium. And the Huskers have a new policy about walking on it.

Save for special occasions, like Fan Day on Aug. 20 and the annual drug-free pledge at the spring game, visitors will be prohibited from setting foot on the field. Associate Athletic Director Boyd Epley said he hopes fans will understand the rule was created for liability reasons.

"It's something we've wanted to do for a long time," Epley said. "We can't have people running around out there. What if someone gets hurt? This is in line with what other schools do across the country."

Young Husker fans for years have come down to the field after games to play catch with friends. Among them are the children of NU fan Nancy Thompson.

"My kids get a kick out of standing on the field that they've seen on TV and where they watch their favorite team play," said Thompson, shopping Wednesday night at Husker Hounds in Omaha. "It just doesn't make sense that you can play a football game with 300-pound men on the field, but when it comes to dads playing catch with their sons or other kids playing games on the field, it just puts too much stress on the turf."

The new FieldTurf, installed during the past four weeks, will be ready for use today as the Huskers open training camp. NU regents allocated $491,681 in April to install the turf.

The color of the field alternates between dark and light green every five yards, with the north end zone light and the south dark. Epley said the design gives the field the look of a finely mowed surface.

"It turned out great," he said. "It's so bright. Every single person that has seen it has commented positively. We've heard nothing negative."

NU fan Steve Johnson, another Husker Hounds shopper, had some negative things to say about the new fan-access policy.

"We get a nice field, but no one is allowed on it? It replaces the fan-friendly feel with a business feel. They don't see unhappy fans, they just see dollar signs.

"For all the money they spend on the turf, you would think it could withstand a few kids running around on it after the game."

World-Herald staff writer Jon Crowl contributed to this report

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[SIZE=14pt]New look Huskers [/SIZE]

By Mike Babcock

For The Independent

LINCOLN ­ Kurt Mann sported a new look on Thursday when the Nebraska football team opened practice, and not because he was 5 pounds, or so, heavier than last season.

The junior center said he was "trying a little something new."

Specifically, he was among several players whose heads were shaved.

Stewart Bradley shaved Mann's head, in a kind of chain reaction that began on Wednesday night, apparently with an impulsive Bo Ruud. "We all decided just to do some crazy things," said Ruud. "It's my first time with a bald head, so I went for it. It's not pretty, but I had to do it."

Bradley also shaved Ruud's head. And Ruud shaved Bradley's head, a lightning bolt in it, as well as Corey McKeon's and Nick Covey's. His imagination was such, however, that defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove, their position coach, sent them to the locker room immediately after practice.

Ruud, Bradley, McKeon and Covey all are linebackers.

Cosgrove didn't want McKeon and Covey in front of television cameras, Ruud said.

"It's pretty funny," he said. "We're all doing some weird stuff."

When practice began, however, they were all business, much to the satisfaction of coach Bill Callahan.

"I'm really proud of our players and the way they prepared this off-season, this summer," he said. "I'm really, really pleased with the effort today, the attitude and the spirit of the team.

"It was contagious out there. Guys did a great job, moved around with a lot of confidence."

That confidence was in part a function of a year's experience in Callahan's system, and it included a host of newcomers from the Cornhuskers' nationally ranked recruiting class.

The newcomers have "meshed as well as any since I've been here," said Mann, a junior center. "It seemed like when I first got here (as a freshman) I almost felt like an outsider."

That isn't the case with this group. The veteran players are trying to see to that.

"I think a lot of guys are taking steps to make sure that isn't the case anymore," he said. "I think that's real important to get those guys feeling part of the team as soon as you can."

Mann was among 100 players reporting for practice on Thursday, five fewer than allowed by the NCAA during training camp. The 100 did not include five scholarship recruits, who were missing because the NCAA has yet to clear them academically: freshmen Leon Jackson (I-back) and Rodney Picou (offensive line) and junior college transfers Jordan Picou (offensive line), Tyrell Spain (wide receiver) and Justin Tomerlin (defensive end).

Jackson, Spain and Tomerlin were enrolled in Nebraska's summer conditioning class.

"We're hopeful we can learn something here within the next few days so that we can define our roster," Callahan said. "We're excited about the possibility of those guys joining our team."

The roster includes four additional newcomers: Matt Slauson, a scholarship offensive lineman from Colorado Springs, Colo., and walk-ons Hunter Teafatiller, Adam Gibson and Nathan McBride.

Slauson, Teafatiller (tight end) and McBride (long snapper) are freshmen. Gibson (offensive line), the brother of former NFL offensive lineman Aaron Gibson, is a junior college transfer.

Senior tight end Matt Herian is on the training camp roster even though he is still recovering from a fractured left leg, suffered against Missouri last season. As he indicated at Big 12 media days in Houston, Herian's status remains in doubt, said Callahan. "I'm hopeful that he'll be back with us."

"If he's not, it will be in the best interests of Matt Herian. He'll make that decision as we wind down. But I think it's important that Matt being a veteran player on our team and doing what he has done, this allows him to be in training camp and be a part of the team, in the eventuality that he does join us.

"I think it's good for his confidence; it's good for his morale to be around the team."

The team's morale was high on Thursday. "It feels so good; people just feel more comfortable," senior I-back Cory Ross said. "The more comfortable you are, the more fun you have."

The shaved heads were evidence of that fun, too.

"I know I look 5 years younger," said Ruud.

But "my mom's not going to be happy," he said.

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South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier names Blake Mitchell as his starting QB for season opener

The Associated Press via GII

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier has found a starting quarterback in Blake Mitchell — at least for the season opener against Central Florida.

"Blake's earned it and he's our starter," Spurrier said after practice Thursday night.

Spurrier said the coaching staff decided that Mitchell, a sophomore, should start the Sept. 1 game at Williams-Brice Stadium.

"Obviously if he plays well he will be the quarterback for the entire season barring injury," Spurrier said. "We felt like Blake is much better prepared mentally and physically. He's had an excellent summer working out and it's clear to all of us here that he's our best guy to go out there."

Mitchell, 6-foot-3, 194 pounds, played in five games last season, going 9-for-22 for 86 yards passing and a touchdown.

Mitchell played extensively in the Garnet and Black spring game this past April, completing 12-of-23 passes for 175 yards and a TD.

The Gamecocks have only had three practices since camp began. The quick decision even surprised Mitchell.

"It was something I wasn't expecting to hear this early in camp," said Mitchell.

Mitchell came into fall camp battling Antonio Heffner and Brett Nichols at the quarterback spot. Spurrier had said he also wanted to look at newcomers Cade Thompson and Tommy Beecher.

"I busted my tail and I did the best I could to give myself every opportunity to be the number one guy. I was out there every day (this summer)," Mitchell said. "I think that showed them I wanted to be a leader on the team."

While Spurrier said the choice of Mitchell was obvious, he wasn't sure of his rotation after that. "Backups — we don't know yet," Spurrier said. "We're trying a lot of guys right there."

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[SIZE=14pt]Oklahoma State's top RB transfers[/SIZE]

EDMOND, Okla. (AP) -- Seymore Shaw, the top returning rusher on Oklahoma State's roster, will transfer to NCAA Division II school Central Oklahoma, UCO sports information director Mike Kirk said Thursday.

Shaw, 23, was suspended by Cowboys coach Mike Gundy in June after he was charged with felony counts of first-degree burglary and larceny and misdemeanor counts of domestic abuse and malicious injury to property. A preliminary hearing is scheduled Sept. 21 for Shaw, who has pleaded innocent to all four charges

Shaw, a partial qualifier who earned an additional year of eligibility by graduating in May, will have one season of eligibility at Central Oklahoma. He'll be able to play this season because the Bronchos play in Division II.

"It's kind of a natural fit for him to come here," Kirk said. He said Shaw's brother, Fred Shaw, is a defensive back at UCO.

Seymour Shaw played in all 12 of Oklahoma State's games last season and rushed for 377 yards and two touchdowns on 81 carries.

He started in place of the injured Vernand Morency against Baylor and ran for a career-high 172 yards on 30 carries, but had only 10 yards on six rushes in the Cowboys' final two games.

He underwent rehab during spring practice after offseason knee surgery. Morency left after his junior season and was drafted by the Houston Texans.

Kirk said Shaw is talented but will have to compete for a position on the Bronchos' squad.

"There's competition there. I don't think we're going to hand the reins over to the guy," Kirk said.

According to court documents, Shaw allegedly broke into a former girlfriend's house May 13 and struck her, damaged several picture frames and stole a pair of Nike Air Jordan shoes and four custom chrome wheels. A judge granted the woman's request for a protective order against Shaw in May.

Shaw, who played at Shawnee High School, originally signed with Oklahoma, but the Sooners designated tight end James Moses as their partial qualifier. He then moved to Oklahoma State.

Fred Shaw originally signed with Oklahoma State before transferring to Northeastern Oklahoma A&M junior college and then to Central Oklahoma.

Oklahoma State was to begin practice Thursday. Central Oklahoma players report on Sunday.

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[SIZE=14pt]Cyclones' Berryman returns to team[/SIZE]

AMES, Iowa (AP) -- Jason Berryman, who spent most of the past school year in jail, is back on the Iowa State football team.

Iowa State coach Dan McCarney announced Thursday night that Berryman had received the grades he needed in his summer school classes to regain his eligibility. McCarney had said earlier in the day that was the last hurdle Berryman needed to clear before being allowed to rejoin the team

Berryman spent 258 days in the Story County Jail for mugging an Iowa State student and taking $4 from him and stealing another student's cell phone.

McCarney allowed Berryman to work out with the team this summer while he evaluated the former star defensive end's attitude and academic work. He said Berryman met all his obligations.

Berryman was the Big 12's defensive newcomer of the year as a freshman in 2003, but he won't get any special consideration when he reports for practice on Friday.

"I'll start him out as a fifth stringer to see if he works his way back up," McCarney said.

The Cyclones already are well set at defensive end with Cephus Johnson and Shawn Moorehead.

Berryman was arrested in August of 2004, pleaded guilty to first-degree theft and assault causing injury and was released from jail in April. He then met several times with McCarney to discuss his possible return to the team and the coach decided to give him a chance, with the condition that Berryman would pay his own way.

His return means that he'll go back on scholarship. Berryman will meet with reporters on Friday, his first session with reporters since his arrest.

"That whole thing with Jason would have been a lot easier for me and for Jason for him to go to a [junior college] or go someplace else," McCarney said. "He and I both know this is tougher for him and tougher for me to come back here, for him especially to face the people that he so disappointed with his behavior.

"But I'm real proud of the job he's done this summer. He hasn't gotten a dime from us. He's gotten moral support and slowly but surely I think he's proven to people around here that he deserves an opportunity to come back on this team."

Linebacker Tim Dobbins said he agreed that Berryman should be allowed to come back.

"If he's done his time, it ought to be done and over," said Dobbins, a junior college transfer who wasn't on the team when Berryman played. "He ought to be able to come in and work for a spot if he can."

Dobbins said he spent some time at the Story County Jail as part of a criminal justice class and would chat with Berryman when he had the chance.

"I heard and saw on tape that he was a very good athlete," Dobbins said. "We always need a good athlete here."

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[SIZE=14pt]A 'new resolve'[/SIZE]

'Canes set to open camp after substandard '04

Sports Illistrated

CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) -- Even on the eve of a new season, the sting of a disappointing 2004 still lingers among the Miami Hurricanes.

Very few schools would find disappointment in a 9-3 season that ended with a win over Florida in the Peach Bowl and a No. 11 national ranking. At Miami, though, a year without a national championship or a Bowl Championship Series appearance is practically considered sub-par.

So, when the Hurricanes report to camp on Friday, the focus will be on 2005 -- but the motivation will likely come from 2004.

"It's great to end the season with a win. But again, we've got new resolve," Miami coach Larry Coker said. "We hate to end the season with three losses, that taste in our mouth. It's an opportunity to come back and really get back on track and again be one of the elite football teams in the country. That's what we expect."

The Hurricanes return 54 lettermen from last season, including 15 starters -- a list that doesn't even include left tackle Eric Winston, who played in just four games because of a serious knee injury.

Winston -- a projected high first-round NFL pick in 2006 -- is back, and there may be no one in camp more eager for practice drills to begin Saturday afternoon.

"This is the most excited I've been in a long time for the start of a football season," Winston said. "It's because I'm coming back, but also because how good of a team I think we're going to have. Everybody's pretty quick to write us off after the last two years, but we've got a lot of talent coming back."

Most national publications, and the league's preseason poll, list the Hurricanes as the projected second-place team in the Atlantic Coast Conference's Coastal Division behind Virginia Tech -- who came into Miami's Orange Bowl and won 16-10 last season, a victory that gave the Hokies the ACC title.

That loss ended Miami's string of BCS appearances; the Hurricanes didn't play in either the Orange, Rose, Fiesta or Sugar bowls for the first time since the 1999 season. This year, Miami turns to sophomore quarterback Kyle Wright to change that; Wright was named the starter over Kirby Freeman this spring.

Wright has been on campus for more than two years, waiting for his chance -- and he, too, is raring with anticipation for practice to begin.

"I'm tired of working out. We've been putting in a lot of work over the summer and guys are feeling great," Wright said. "I think we're really ready to put on the pads and get going. And once Saturday comes, I think all that hard work is going to show."

Miami opens the season at Florida State on Sept. 5; the Seminoles, even after a turbulent offseason, are still the consensus pick to win the ACC's Atlantic Division. The two division winners will play in Jacksonville on Dec. 3 in the league's first overall title game -- with the winner getting an automatic BCS spot.

Coker knows his team enters the year with visions of winning a national title, but he's also stressing the importance of winning the ACC crown -- something that will likely be a prerequisite for any bigger goals.

"If we win this league and go to a BCS bowl game, the rest of it, I think, will fall into place," Coker said.

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[SIZE=14pt]Colorado to ease recruiting curfew[/SIZE]

BOULDER, Colo. -- Colorado will soon ease a guideline put in place after a football recruiting scandal, extending its curfew for high school players by an hour to midnight.

The policy change takes effect Sept. 1, acting Boulder chancellor Phil DiStefano told The Denver Post on Wednesday.

The previous policy was implemented in 2004 after a series of allegations that players enticed recruits with alcohol and set up sexual encounters. It had an 11 p.m. curfew and required adult supervision at all times.

DiStefano said recruits are allowed only one-day visits, so they need the extra time and unsupervised meetings with players to get a better sense of the school.

"They needed to be able to talk to players about coaches without the coaches present," he said.

DiStefano said the school is not backing away from the original policy. He said a coach must approve any activity a player and recruit are planning without supervision, and it is against the rules to go to private parties, strip bars or places where people are using drugs or alcohol.

Coaches can be fired and players expelled for breaking any of the rules, considered among the strictest in the nation. Coaches are responsible for making sure recruits are back in their hotels by midnight.

DiStefano decided to approve the changes after rejecting a proposal by the Academic Policy Board for Athletics to extend recruit stays to two nights.

"I thought one night was enough to do everything," he said

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