Husker_Power
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I found this, and thought to share it. Yeah, it's quite a read but it gets me even more pumped up for the season to start.
by Samuel McKewon
August 09, 2007
Keys To San Antonio (And Just Maybe New Orleans)
Part One: Keller, Lucky need to lead the offense, while a sophomore could explode on defense
Hey. You. Nebraska football fan. Don't roll those pollen-allergic eyes. Don't calm your Husker heart. Write the wills. Buy the Saab Turbo. Fish out the cast-iron pan and fill the kitchen with the scent of deer sausage. Take pity on a local buffalo.
In 2007, you just might die happy.
This year's edition of the Nebraska football team has the guns at the skill positions and the butter on the lines to make a run at the BCS National Championship game being played in that crossroads of vanity, glory, gumbo, tragedy, victory, suffering, persistence, toil and early-morning trouble, New Orleans.
Fantasy? Well, if Wisconsin's talking title with a brand new quarterback and bunch of Clydesdales and UCLA gets sugar fits after its remarkable 7-6 campaign, can't you draw up a scenario for NU?
Is the schedule brutal? Yes.
It's also perfect – a line of bullies fit for the kind of run Colorado made in 1990 with the help of a fifth down. If Nebraska can manage to run this buffet table, not even an act of Kirk Herbstreit could keep it out of The French Quarter.
Believe! It's only the best word in sports.
If only the Husker fan base had a Willie Stargell, we-are-family vibe. Or ate some grits from the SEC. Instead, it's all smiles and business these days in most of the local diners, bars, steakhouses, chat rooms, fishing boats, wi-fi cafes and places where good-looking Omaha people dance.
Maybe the West Coast offense has taught Nebraskans to forget 11 and just hope 10 can sound louder on the national scene. Maybe it's tempered the Sea of Red, this methodical, occasionally beautiful offense, which most resembles a dozen unfinished Rembrandts with three resplendent masterpieces on display for the 85,000 patrons.
Twenty years ago, though it didn't always happen (and hardly ever did against Oklahoma) there existed a tension in Memorial Stadium, in the anticipation of Kent Pavelka's radio voice, and in the strength of a boy's grip on his crimson mesh jersey, that any second, on that very next play, the defense would bust. All the linemen and receivers would clutch their defenders long enough and the quarterback would make just the right feint toward a hole before pitching the ball to an I-back accelerating into that dry, cement-hard alley of old Astroturf that led to the end zone. From the first sign of option right, the crowd would build in its noise, a faucet being turned on, climaxing not at the moment Ken Clark, Calvin Jones, Derek Brown, Scott Baldwin or Doug DuBose crossed the goal line, but precisely when the crowd sensed he would - some 30 or 40 yards before he did. The steady roar had the affect of a day fishing for walleye on the lake; you could close your eyes and hear it, matching it to the sight of a option play, perfectly run.
This offense, NU Coach Bill Callahan's offense, as sane, proficient, sublime and effective as it is, is a hive of working parts and skill groupings, a playbook full of wildly varying sets and plays. There are “rocket backs” and “big backs.” There are plays with three tights, and plays where wide receivers are bunched within the hash marks to create what is believed to be, if executed perfectly, a largely unstoppable formation of short passes, tiny little pin pricks that eventually drain a defense's arteries. There are dive plays that, based on the chaos of blocking styles and brawling bodies at the point of contact, must be very hard for running backs to perfect.
Its look and language have a way of reaching beyond the basics of the game. Blocking. Tackling. Running. Catching. Taking yours and beating his. Even in this state, whether football knowledge is a mark of pride, it can, at times, seem like a European art film. It is alternately wonderful and filled with ennui. Nothing in football looks better than flawlessly executed, 37-word play in the West Coast Offense. And nothing – except that ridiculous Globetrotter weave Arkansas likes to run – looks uglier than a poorly executed play in said offense. The form doesn't always seem in step with function.
So the Husker Nation is hopeful but sober. Better informed than ever before on the intricate, delicate nature of a newly snapped ball aloft in a play borne of Callahan's organized brain. Fans can have any reason to believe a spectacular season awaits, but such a thing relies on an acumen and precision they can't quite imagine for 14 straight games. They will settle, though they do not have to, for 10. A berth in the Big 12 Championship game would be good. A win over Southern Calfornia? Like the wings of a dove. But, generally, fans will enjoy and accept, the incremental, clearly measurable progress that they more than deserve, given the money they shell out in tickets, merchandise, and “N” support, instead of the dizzying pinata of Creole treats they could smash and grab.
In other words, I'd argue to dream big, because the material is there. But the vibe I get is to give you 10 keys to playing for the conference title in San Antonio. It's the measurable objective. A feasible target.
So here is part one. The first five.
Sam or Joe - Nebraska coach Bill Callahan calls it an open race. Fine. Whoever does become the starting quarterback needs to own the role in the difficult first month of the season.
If it’s Sam Keller, owner of a big-league arm and a linebacker’s body (6-foot-4, 240 pounds) he has to trust his wide receivers, settle for the short pass and not turn into former Iowa firebrand Drew Tate, whose team was too often hurt by his roller-coaster emotions.
To Keller’s credit, he acknowledged some loose performances at Arizona State at the opening fall press conference:
“I would feel like I had the entire team on my shoulders and I had to make some ridiculous throws to keep us in it” he said. “Some cases that may have been true, but in some cases I might have shot myself in the foot. I don’t think I do that anymore.”
Callahan deserves credit, too. By not declaring Keller the starter in spring, he kept some of the media pressure off him in the summer, but kept the competitive pilot on. You could have heard debate about whether Keller could throw for 4,000 yards, but you didn't. You could have heard Keller was big-timing his receivers in 7-on-7 drills; instead, in an act of kindness that should not be underestimated, he played catch on his own with a suspended Maurice Purify.
I confess: I've only seen Keller at Arizona State twice: The incredible performance against Louisiana State that resembled a pickup game, and a wild performance against USC where it looked like the big stage and big lead go to him in the second half. His delivery seems low, but he's got everything, including the size to take blindside hit or two.
Joe Ganz knows the offense - “probably as good as anybody except Coach Callahan,” he said Monday - and he can scramble. But he has a weaker arm than Keller, throwing longer passes with a lot of arc. Ganz is a good changeup pitcher, and may eventually be the starter. But Keller is the more complete talent.
Lucky. Good. - The messy offseason is over. Marlon Lucky, a smooth, effortless runner, says he’s matured from it, which is good: He’s got a target on the back of his new No. 5 jersey from opponents, competitors and, to some extent, fans, who will root for the top recruit of Callahan’s era to be an every-down back.
His 155 total yards against Auburn - every last one of them earned - seem to suggest he’s ready for that role.
But consider: Lucky gained one-third of his 728 rushing yards last season on just eight plays. On the other 133 carries, he averaged 3.7 yards. Translation: When Lucky got a nice hole, he made the most it. When he didn’t, he struggled.
Lucky’s style isn’t necessarily conducive to the zone blocking scheme of the West Coast Offense. Maybe he craves daylight too much, but improved speed should help on those toss plays previously designed for now-injured Kenny Wilson.
At any rate, he needs to get off to a good start; if he can’t separate himself from Cody Glenn, Major Culbert and three freshmen within the first month, look for Callahan, like last year, to go on a constant hunt for the hot hand.
Don’t get smoked in Winston-Salem - Southern California might be the non-conference game of this early century for the Huskers, but Wake Forest is a classic trap game.
The Deacons don’t have Nebraska’s athletes. But Coach Jim Grobe’s offense runs a lot of tricky misdirection plays, while the Wake defense tries to lure opponents into turnovers with a bend-but-don’t-bust defense. The Deacons may have officially arrived with an Orange Bowl appearance last year, but here’s the game where they prove it’s not a fluke. They’ll be just as tough, if not tougher, than Missouri. Unlike Missouri, with an offense that could take a 14-point lead and fritter it away in seven minutes, Wake likes to take small lead and sit on it. If the Deacons hit a counter play or a tunnel screen for a touchdown in the first quarter, they'll know how to stay in it. If NU were panic-prone, you'll know by mid-afternoon on Sept. 8.
The early betting line? The Huskers, only by a field goal.
Worried a little?
Suhperman - All the focus on the quarterback race somewhat drowned out the player who easily received the most early praise: Sophomore defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.
Said defensive end Barry Turner: “Suh is probably one of the strongest men in the world.”
And linebacker Corey McKeon: “He’ll just snap you in two if he has to.”
Suh speaks softly, but at 6-4, 305 pounds, he carries a stick worthy of the best interior defensive linemen in NU history. Rich Glover. Neil Smith. Danny Noonan. John Parrella. Jason and Christian Peter. Suh had only 19 tackles last year, but a number of them were flashy solo collisions for loss. He’s possibly the top NFL prospect for the Blackshirts because he can take two blockers and hold his ground, and he can push one blocker back into those read option plays so many Big 12 teams like to run.
Men on an island- It’s tough question regarding cornerbacks Cortney Grixby and Andre Jones, but fair: If you could have replaced one of them last year with a healthy Zack Bowman or, say, All-American candidate Aqib Talib at Kansas, how many more games would Nebraska have won?
Do USC receivers Dwayne Jarrett and Steve Smith combine for 17 catches and 190 yards?
Does Oklahoma receiver Malcolm Kelly catch that 66-yard bomb in the Big 12 Championship game?
Does Limas Sweed catch his 55-yard touchdown for Texas?
Does Auburn, using a pass interference penalty and two completions over 18 yards, grind out that second-half field goal.? Do the Tigers later escape being pinned at their own one-yard line with four completions - two on third down?
Big plays happen. Leaks are inevitable. And nobody argues that Jones and Grixby gave maximum effort. But they only had two interceptions between them. In losses to USC, OU, Auburn, Texas - all good running teams - Nebraska allowed just 380 total yards on the ground. And 853 passing yards. Picked off just one pass, but gave up eight passing touchdowns. That, in a nutshell, was the difference between 9-5 and 11-3.
Bowman is bigger and he had better instincts. If he’s healthy, and returns before the conference season, it’s a big boost. But one knee injury, much less two, can alter the best athlete's cover skills.
So it’s Grixby and Jones again, probably, at least for the first few games. Nebraska’s front seven can take some pressure off them by getting to the quarterback; Defensive Coordinator Kevin Cosgrove has some designs on doing just that.
LINK
by Samuel McKewon
August 09, 2007
Keys To San Antonio (And Just Maybe New Orleans)
Part One: Keller, Lucky need to lead the offense, while a sophomore could explode on defense
Hey. You. Nebraska football fan. Don't roll those pollen-allergic eyes. Don't calm your Husker heart. Write the wills. Buy the Saab Turbo. Fish out the cast-iron pan and fill the kitchen with the scent of deer sausage. Take pity on a local buffalo.
In 2007, you just might die happy.
This year's edition of the Nebraska football team has the guns at the skill positions and the butter on the lines to make a run at the BCS National Championship game being played in that crossroads of vanity, glory, gumbo, tragedy, victory, suffering, persistence, toil and early-morning trouble, New Orleans.
Fantasy? Well, if Wisconsin's talking title with a brand new quarterback and bunch of Clydesdales and UCLA gets sugar fits after its remarkable 7-6 campaign, can't you draw up a scenario for NU?
Is the schedule brutal? Yes.
It's also perfect – a line of bullies fit for the kind of run Colorado made in 1990 with the help of a fifth down. If Nebraska can manage to run this buffet table, not even an act of Kirk Herbstreit could keep it out of The French Quarter.
Believe! It's only the best word in sports.
If only the Husker fan base had a Willie Stargell, we-are-family vibe. Or ate some grits from the SEC. Instead, it's all smiles and business these days in most of the local diners, bars, steakhouses, chat rooms, fishing boats, wi-fi cafes and places where good-looking Omaha people dance.
Maybe the West Coast offense has taught Nebraskans to forget 11 and just hope 10 can sound louder on the national scene. Maybe it's tempered the Sea of Red, this methodical, occasionally beautiful offense, which most resembles a dozen unfinished Rembrandts with three resplendent masterpieces on display for the 85,000 patrons.
Twenty years ago, though it didn't always happen (and hardly ever did against Oklahoma) there existed a tension in Memorial Stadium, in the anticipation of Kent Pavelka's radio voice, and in the strength of a boy's grip on his crimson mesh jersey, that any second, on that very next play, the defense would bust. All the linemen and receivers would clutch their defenders long enough and the quarterback would make just the right feint toward a hole before pitching the ball to an I-back accelerating into that dry, cement-hard alley of old Astroturf that led to the end zone. From the first sign of option right, the crowd would build in its noise, a faucet being turned on, climaxing not at the moment Ken Clark, Calvin Jones, Derek Brown, Scott Baldwin or Doug DuBose crossed the goal line, but precisely when the crowd sensed he would - some 30 or 40 yards before he did. The steady roar had the affect of a day fishing for walleye on the lake; you could close your eyes and hear it, matching it to the sight of a option play, perfectly run.
This offense, NU Coach Bill Callahan's offense, as sane, proficient, sublime and effective as it is, is a hive of working parts and skill groupings, a playbook full of wildly varying sets and plays. There are “rocket backs” and “big backs.” There are plays with three tights, and plays where wide receivers are bunched within the hash marks to create what is believed to be, if executed perfectly, a largely unstoppable formation of short passes, tiny little pin pricks that eventually drain a defense's arteries. There are dive plays that, based on the chaos of blocking styles and brawling bodies at the point of contact, must be very hard for running backs to perfect.
Its look and language have a way of reaching beyond the basics of the game. Blocking. Tackling. Running. Catching. Taking yours and beating his. Even in this state, whether football knowledge is a mark of pride, it can, at times, seem like a European art film. It is alternately wonderful and filled with ennui. Nothing in football looks better than flawlessly executed, 37-word play in the West Coast Offense. And nothing – except that ridiculous Globetrotter weave Arkansas likes to run – looks uglier than a poorly executed play in said offense. The form doesn't always seem in step with function.
So the Husker Nation is hopeful but sober. Better informed than ever before on the intricate, delicate nature of a newly snapped ball aloft in a play borne of Callahan's organized brain. Fans can have any reason to believe a spectacular season awaits, but such a thing relies on an acumen and precision they can't quite imagine for 14 straight games. They will settle, though they do not have to, for 10. A berth in the Big 12 Championship game would be good. A win over Southern Calfornia? Like the wings of a dove. But, generally, fans will enjoy and accept, the incremental, clearly measurable progress that they more than deserve, given the money they shell out in tickets, merchandise, and “N” support, instead of the dizzying pinata of Creole treats they could smash and grab.
In other words, I'd argue to dream big, because the material is there. But the vibe I get is to give you 10 keys to playing for the conference title in San Antonio. It's the measurable objective. A feasible target.
So here is part one. The first five.
Sam or Joe - Nebraska coach Bill Callahan calls it an open race. Fine. Whoever does become the starting quarterback needs to own the role in the difficult first month of the season.
If it’s Sam Keller, owner of a big-league arm and a linebacker’s body (6-foot-4, 240 pounds) he has to trust his wide receivers, settle for the short pass and not turn into former Iowa firebrand Drew Tate, whose team was too often hurt by his roller-coaster emotions.
To Keller’s credit, he acknowledged some loose performances at Arizona State at the opening fall press conference:
“I would feel like I had the entire team on my shoulders and I had to make some ridiculous throws to keep us in it” he said. “Some cases that may have been true, but in some cases I might have shot myself in the foot. I don’t think I do that anymore.”
Callahan deserves credit, too. By not declaring Keller the starter in spring, he kept some of the media pressure off him in the summer, but kept the competitive pilot on. You could have heard debate about whether Keller could throw for 4,000 yards, but you didn't. You could have heard Keller was big-timing his receivers in 7-on-7 drills; instead, in an act of kindness that should not be underestimated, he played catch on his own with a suspended Maurice Purify.
I confess: I've only seen Keller at Arizona State twice: The incredible performance against Louisiana State that resembled a pickup game, and a wild performance against USC where it looked like the big stage and big lead go to him in the second half. His delivery seems low, but he's got everything, including the size to take blindside hit or two.
Joe Ganz knows the offense - “probably as good as anybody except Coach Callahan,” he said Monday - and he can scramble. But he has a weaker arm than Keller, throwing longer passes with a lot of arc. Ganz is a good changeup pitcher, and may eventually be the starter. But Keller is the more complete talent.
Lucky. Good. - The messy offseason is over. Marlon Lucky, a smooth, effortless runner, says he’s matured from it, which is good: He’s got a target on the back of his new No. 5 jersey from opponents, competitors and, to some extent, fans, who will root for the top recruit of Callahan’s era to be an every-down back.
His 155 total yards against Auburn - every last one of them earned - seem to suggest he’s ready for that role.
But consider: Lucky gained one-third of his 728 rushing yards last season on just eight plays. On the other 133 carries, he averaged 3.7 yards. Translation: When Lucky got a nice hole, he made the most it. When he didn’t, he struggled.
Lucky’s style isn’t necessarily conducive to the zone blocking scheme of the West Coast Offense. Maybe he craves daylight too much, but improved speed should help on those toss plays previously designed for now-injured Kenny Wilson.
At any rate, he needs to get off to a good start; if he can’t separate himself from Cody Glenn, Major Culbert and three freshmen within the first month, look for Callahan, like last year, to go on a constant hunt for the hot hand.
Don’t get smoked in Winston-Salem - Southern California might be the non-conference game of this early century for the Huskers, but Wake Forest is a classic trap game.
The Deacons don’t have Nebraska’s athletes. But Coach Jim Grobe’s offense runs a lot of tricky misdirection plays, while the Wake defense tries to lure opponents into turnovers with a bend-but-don’t-bust defense. The Deacons may have officially arrived with an Orange Bowl appearance last year, but here’s the game where they prove it’s not a fluke. They’ll be just as tough, if not tougher, than Missouri. Unlike Missouri, with an offense that could take a 14-point lead and fritter it away in seven minutes, Wake likes to take small lead and sit on it. If the Deacons hit a counter play or a tunnel screen for a touchdown in the first quarter, they'll know how to stay in it. If NU were panic-prone, you'll know by mid-afternoon on Sept. 8.
The early betting line? The Huskers, only by a field goal.
Worried a little?
Suhperman - All the focus on the quarterback race somewhat drowned out the player who easily received the most early praise: Sophomore defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.
Said defensive end Barry Turner: “Suh is probably one of the strongest men in the world.”
And linebacker Corey McKeon: “He’ll just snap you in two if he has to.”
Suh speaks softly, but at 6-4, 305 pounds, he carries a stick worthy of the best interior defensive linemen in NU history. Rich Glover. Neil Smith. Danny Noonan. John Parrella. Jason and Christian Peter. Suh had only 19 tackles last year, but a number of them were flashy solo collisions for loss. He’s possibly the top NFL prospect for the Blackshirts because he can take two blockers and hold his ground, and he can push one blocker back into those read option plays so many Big 12 teams like to run.
Men on an island- It’s tough question regarding cornerbacks Cortney Grixby and Andre Jones, but fair: If you could have replaced one of them last year with a healthy Zack Bowman or, say, All-American candidate Aqib Talib at Kansas, how many more games would Nebraska have won?
Do USC receivers Dwayne Jarrett and Steve Smith combine for 17 catches and 190 yards?
Does Oklahoma receiver Malcolm Kelly catch that 66-yard bomb in the Big 12 Championship game?
Does Limas Sweed catch his 55-yard touchdown for Texas?
Does Auburn, using a pass interference penalty and two completions over 18 yards, grind out that second-half field goal.? Do the Tigers later escape being pinned at their own one-yard line with four completions - two on third down?
Big plays happen. Leaks are inevitable. And nobody argues that Jones and Grixby gave maximum effort. But they only had two interceptions between them. In losses to USC, OU, Auburn, Texas - all good running teams - Nebraska allowed just 380 total yards on the ground. And 853 passing yards. Picked off just one pass, but gave up eight passing touchdowns. That, in a nutshell, was the difference between 9-5 and 11-3.
Bowman is bigger and he had better instincts. If he’s healthy, and returns before the conference season, it’s a big boost. But one knee injury, much less two, can alter the best athlete's cover skills.
So it’s Grixby and Jones again, probably, at least for the first few games. Nebraska’s front seven can take some pressure off them by getting to the quarterback; Defensive Coordinator Kevin Cosgrove has some designs on doing just that.
LINK
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