We're back for another week of "Guess The Score!" Last week, Mark_From_Aurora nailed the 31-17 score of the Nebraska-Kansas game and won Tom Osborne's book "Beyond The Final Score." Congrats Mark!

Who will win this week? Put your score below, along with the offensive MVP and the defensive MVP.

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We're back again with another installment of guess the score! We've yet to have anyone hit the nail on the head, but when someone does - they'll win a copy of Tom Osborne's book "Beyond The Final Score!"

Give us your predictions for this week! A score, an offensive MVP and a Defensive MVP.

Fire away!

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Here's a great way to celebrate the best fans in college football, and the remarkable 300th sellout streak: With a set of four commemorative sellout glasses! Glasses from the 1st, 100th, 200th and 300th sellout!

Two Husker Locker members will get a set for FREE!

There are two ways to win.

1. We will give ONE set of glasses to a random Husker Locker member for telling us your favorite Husker football player of all-time in the comment section below.

2. We will give ONE set of glasses to a random Husker Locker member who:

a. Follows HuskerLocker on Twitter

b. Retweets the following message:

RT @HuskerLocker: RT to Win 300th Sellout Glasses http://bit.ly/3yoB8E

We will pick the winners at random and announce them Friday at noon! Have at it, Husker fans!

If you're not a member of Husker Locker and want to join the contest, click here!

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Our weekly guess-the-score feature returns for the football season! Yah!

OK, so we're expanding the game a little bit this year, and asking for you to predict three things:

1. The Score
2. Offensive MVP
3. Defensive MVP

Our prediction:

We weighed two factors in arriving at a score:

Just how well do Bo Pelini defenses typically fare against straight pro-style offenses? Pretty well, especially if the quarterback is forced to stay in the pocket. Only Oklahoma's Sam Bradford really picked NU apart last year without being mobile or in a classic spread offense, and he did that behind a terrific offensive live, at home, with no huddle, and the benefit of three straight turnovers. Rusty Smith has few, if any, of those advantages.

How conservative will NU keep the gameplan? We think it'll stay pretty vanilla after the first quarter. Nebraska should be able to run right at FAU. That'll eat yards in smaller chunks and the clock in larger ones.

As a result, we think the game will be a little lower scoring than predicted, much like last year's New Mexico State game. The score there was 38-7. We'll take 34-7 Nebraska in this one.

Our offensive MVP: Roy Helu
Our defensive MVP: Barry Turner

If you haven't signed up and want to play, just sign up here for free! It only takes a few seconds!

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We're back again - and remember - anybody who guesses score right on the button wins a throwback poster - offense or defense - your choice.

Last week, Gassman came quite close to Nebraska's odd-looking 27-12 victory with a 25-13 prediction. Who makes the grade this week? Post and let's find out!

Also: Give us your offensive and defensive MVPs for the game!

Have at it Husker fans and check out our prediction podcast for our take right before the game! We have a...surprising prediction. Is it in favor of NU? Find out!

See also: Inside The Air Raid Offense!

Join Husker Locker today - it's free!

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We're back again with another installment of guess the score! We've yet to have anyone hit the nail on the head, but when someone does - they'll win a Husker Throwback Poster!

Give us your predictions for this week! A score, an offensive MVP and a Defensive MVP.

Fire away!

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In honor of Nebraska's 300th-consecutive sellout, easily an NCAA record, we're asking the experienced Husker fans among to remember: Where were you in 1962, when the sellout streak began?

Were you cheering on the Huskers in the knothole section? Listening to the games in between farm chores? Waking up on Sunday morning to read the paper cover to cover? Taking your own sons and daughters to the game?

And if you weren't born during or before 1962...that's OK, too! Give us a memory from your parents, grandparents, or someone else who remembers the time.

And if you can't find that...just give us your favorite memory from any of the 300 sellouts you might have attended.

We want to hear from you, Husker fans. And we've got a great prize as an incentive.

Simply place a comment in the comment field of this blog by Friday afternoon and you're entered to win a chance at the Devaney Era DVD from the The Cornhusker Collection. Relive all of Devaney's greatest moments as a Husker coach. At the end of the week, we'll randomly select a winner from the comment field to receive this $30.00 DVD for FREE!

Have at it, Husker fans!

Want to comment but not a member...join here for free!

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It's that time again! Guess the score of the Nebraska-Colorado right on the nose and win a gameday program from the 2009 Senior Game!

Last week, AllthingsHusker guessed the Nebraska-Kansas State score of 17-3 and won a Tom Osborne book.

Like always - post your score, offensive MVP and defensive MVP!

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Wethinks it’s time for a little more fun! Answer the questions below, and we'll pick one random winner to win two tickets to the Nebraska spring game in April.

We'll announce the winner on Friday, so you have until then!

Pretty sweet, eh? Fire away!

1. Which player needs to make “the leap” in spring football for the Huskers?

2. Who do you think will be NU’s starting quarterback in 2010...why?

3. If there’s one position group at NU you could upgrade - which would it be?

4. Has Doc Sadler earned another season at Nebraska? Why or why not?

5. How far with the Nebraska women’s basketball team go in the NCAA Tournament?

6. What’s your favorite event in the Winter Olympics? Your least favorite?

7. What’s the best movie you’ve seen in the last year?

8. What did you have for dinner last night?

9. What’s your favorite Bo moment?

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Who do you love in this game? Are you for sure?





We at Husker Locker like Nebraska, 30-14, for a couple reasons:


1. The Huskers understand that KSU is vulnerable against the run. KSU understands that, too. Nebraska will exploit that mismatch with the playaction pass that takes the Wildcats off guard for big plays at least twice in this game.



2. Bo Pelini actually picked a pretty good time to pull out the Blackshirts, as it help NU's defense to focus against a dangerous Kansas State offense.



3. Kansas State expects to lose. As hard as the Cats might play - and we think they'll play hard - they - and their fans - still expect to lose.


Still, expect this game to be close - very close - for a half. Don't be surprised if Kansas State gets a big play or two. Remember: These two teams don't like each other. They haven't for 15 years. Nothing has changed. It'll be a hard-fought game. Just see.


You want news? We got more news!

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It's a heavy week of coverage around here, so we're going to break it up with a little NU-UT questionnaire that makes you laugh and think - but only a little!

1. What's your favorite staple of Texas BBQ: Brisket, Beans or Dr Pepper?

2. Dallas Cowboys - Love em or hate em? Give us a memory.

3. Your favorite thing to wear when the Huskers play a big game.

4. One player from Texas' team, either this year or in the past - that you secretly like.

5. Who shot J.R.?

6. Favorite movie about Texas - or football!

7. Make a caption for this photo (Please keep it clean, people)

8. Does Fearless Frankie win the MAC title?

9. Who does Notre Dame hire as its coach?

10. Besides Bo - which assistant would you most like to meet?

Take a stab at all ten questions, and we will select one winner for a Big 12 Championship t-shirt from Best of Big Red.

Have at it!

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Ah, so we've come to it - the end of the line, as far as Nebraska football season goes.

How optimistic are you about this Gator Bowl? We've gone back and forth on it. For one thing, Nebraska going to be playing one of the fastest, most athletic teams it has played all year. Short of Oklahoma and Virginia Tech, Clemson might have the most raw talent on both sides of the ball.

Beyond that, the Tigers are now motivated by new coach Dabo Swinney. They "believe" again. Coupled with top ten talent, that's a scary proposition.

So we'll see. We think Nebraska's West Coast Offense has grown mightily since that Va Tech game, and thus can stress Clemson in ways that no offense has all year. We think NU's defensive line can beat CU's offensive line, too. BUT, we also think Clemson's defensive line might be as tough for the Huskers' o-line to handle as any this year.

We expect a close, well-played game with more scoring in the first half than the second. It's a even-up contest, frankly - one of the best pure matchups of the bowl season, and we like Nebraska to emerge with a 24-21 win - thanks to an Alex Henery 45-yarder with less than a minute in the game.

What's your take?

Not a member? Create your free profile to guess the score!

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We're back again with another installment of guess the score! We've yet to have anyone hit the nail on the head, but when someone does - they'll win a Husker Throwback Poster!

Last week, only Bootlegger predicted a Texas Tech victory, so he gets the nod. No one had Nebraska scoring less than 21 points, by the way.

Give us your predictions for this week! A score, an offensive MVP and a Defensive MVP.

Fire away!

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What's your take guys? Post it in the comment field below!

The closest one...just might get a prize.

We're all for justification, too. And honesty...so if you think VT's gonna take it, well, post it!

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After more than a year of silence, former Nebraska defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove offered his first comments Friday on a final, tumultuous 2007 season at NU.

Cosgrove, fired from NU in November 2007, has been hired as Minnesota’s co-defensive coordinator after spending a year coaching his son in high school football “studying trends in college football.”

He gave UM Web site GopherHole.com an exclusive interview and talked at length about that final year in Lincoln, in which the Huskers finished 5-7 and were 112th in yards allowed and 114th in points allowed – although Cosgrove seems to refute that first statistics.

Among the highlights:

On NU’s statistical rankings in 2007: “I don’t know, I didn’t even look at it, because the way things went down there, it was done before the season was even over. We all knew we were fired before that.”

Cosgrove used the 2005 team, which led the nation in sacks, as an example of his success: “In 2005, we led the nation in sacks, and tackles for loss. You have to put a lot of pressure on quarterbacks to do that, don’t you?... We led the nation, not the conference. I think that’s an accomplishment.”

On whether the 2007 season at NU tarnished his overall track record: “Well, I’m not going to make any excuses for what happened there, but if you look at my past, we’ve had many successes on the teams I’ve been with. If I do remember, I think we won Big 10 Championships on four of the teams I’ve coached, and I won a Big 12 North Championship on a team I coached, so I think my record will speak for itself. If I’m going to be judged on one year in this profession, it seems like the people in blogs will do it, not my peers. That’s just the way it is.”

Cosgrove criticizing the NU fan base for being negative, and himself for listening to it: “When I was at Wisconsin, working for Barry (Alvarez) we never even knew that stuff existed. I never saw anything negative; the only thing I ever saw was positive. Then I went to Nebraska, and I started looking at the negative stuff, and that was probably the worst thing I ever did. It was the worst thing our team ever did, because our players started reading it. They were not only beating up me, but the players, and that’s a bad thing when that happens. That’s their team, they’re beating up the kids, and that’s not right.”

Check out the skinny on NU recruiting a 2010 QB and an update on the basketball practice facility!

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It's that time of the week again!

1. Guess the score of the game
2. Offensive MVP
3. Defensive MVP.

Last week, huskersfosho came so close to nailing the score with his prediction of 38-10. Remember...if you hit on the dot, you win a Husker Throwback poster. Your choice of offense or defense!

Our take:

We're not sure Nebraska has the speed or the offensive line to stay with the Hokies for four quarters. We like Tech to stake an early lead, and hold on to it. Virginia Tech 23 Nebraska 14

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We're back again! Nail the score of the Nebraska-Texas game and win a set of 300th-sellout commemorative glasses!

Also give us your offensive and defensive MVPs!

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We're back again with another installment of guess the score! We've yet to have anyone hit the nail on the head, but when someone does - they'll win a Husker Throwback Poster!

Give us your predictions for this week! A score, an offensive MVP and a Defensive MVP.

Fire away!

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So where do you have the Huskers in the Big 12 North? In the Big 12 in general? In the national picture?

Is it a battle between Nebraska and Kansas for the North? Can the Huskers overtake Oklahoma and Texas in the south? Where in the top 25 does Bo Pelini's second bunch belong?

We know what Athlon, ESPN and Phil Steele are saying.

Now we want to hear from you.

Post your late spring/early summer prognostications in the comments section, and we'll revisit come fall camp. We've got more than 60 days until then, you know.

If you haven't joined, it's free. Click here.

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Have it at folks!

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Hey there Husker Locker members! Time for a little more fun!

Between now and Friday, simply answer the recruiting questions below to your heart’s content, and we’ll select one participant to win Tom Osborne’s “Beyond The Final Score.” What did Tom find out when he replaced Steve Pederson? Why did he pick Bo over Turner? Find out when you win!

It’s a free country and a free contest! Have at it!

1. Who’s your favorite recruit in this class thus far?

2. Who would you like to see Nebraska land in the next two weeks?

3. Which do you think is most important: Recruiting, Development or Game Day Coaching?

4. Do you think enough Nebraska kids are offered, not enough, or too many?

5. How important do you think the walk-on program is to NU’s success?

6. If you were a highly-coveted high school football player, what would be most important to you in picking a school?

7. Where do you think NU’s class needs to rank in the Big 12 to be competitive? How about nationally?

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Nebraska's backup quarterback for all of 2008, Patrick Witt is leaving the program, Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini said in a statement Sunday night.

"Patrick has decided that it is in his best interest to continue his college career at another school," Pelini said. "Patrick is a great kid from a great family and I appreciate the contributions he has made to our football program. I wish him nothing but the best in the future and know he will be a success wherever he goes."

The No. 1 job is now junior Zac Lee's to lose against redshirt freshman Kody Spano and true freshman Cody Green.

We'll have more when we know it, but, well, hey, never a dull moment around the Nebraska football program, huh?

Well, wait one more thing - Lee, Spano or Green are all more mobile than Witt was. This opens the offense back up to the full complement of bootleg, zone read and option plays. Maybe it takes NU just a little closer to a classic version of the spread, too.

OK, one final tidbit: Toward the end of last year, it became clear that Lee was gaining momentum in practice. He, and not Witt, was throwing passes to Meno Holt for an hour after practice. He, not Witt, seemed to have the confidence of his teammates more. That didn't mean Witt didn't have it - by all accounts, he was a smart kid who tried to run the offense as efficiently as possible. But Lee's athletic gifts - and big arm - are hard to overlook.

Not a member? Join today! It's free, free, free!

What now for Nebraska? Talk about it in our forums!

Mike Ekeler on the move, too?

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Assessing just who, exactly, would belong on a Mt. Rushmore of University of Nebraska athletics is a harder task than it would initially seem.

The off-the-cuff assumption is to populate the four spots with three Nebraska football players and Tom Osborne, the man who took the baton from great Bob Devaney, retooled the offense at just the right time, pushed for a retool of the defense at, again, just the right time, and left the game on top, having coaching an incredible five-year stretch.

To be sure, Osborne is in the running.

But the other three spots are trickier. Can they be filled by just football players? Would football players fill any of the spots at all? Can someone really leave the consummate winner, Tommie Frazier, off the list?

We considered a number of options in compiling this list. We narrowed it down, in fact, to 16 athletes competing for four spots. Over the next couple weeks, we'll be running "mock" competitions between these athletes, trying to discern who is on that mountain. We want YOUR feedback on these, and we will field your comments in the comments section. Although we at Husker Locker will ultimately be making the final decisions, we can be swayed by your arguments! So help us participate in this very fun feature!

In crafting this little tournament, we've tried to be a little creative.

We've reserved one spot for "coaches" - four landmark trailblazers at NU. These four coaches will square off against one another, and whoever emerges from the quadrant goes on Husker Locker's Mt. Huskmore. The coaches are:

Tom Osborne - football
Francis Allen - men's gymnastics
Bob Devaney - football
Terry Pettit - volleyball

Next we decided, to have a special spot on Mt. Huskmore just for one Nebraska quarterback. That's right - one, to symbolize the iconic nature of the position. Each of these QBs will square off against each other, with one emerging victorious:

Tommie Frazier
Jerry Tagge
Turner Gill
Eric Crouch

The final 2 spots will be determined in an open competition with remaining Husker athletes. A couple, not surprisingly, are football players. Several are not. They are:

Merlene Ottey - track and field
Penny Heyns - swimming
Sarah Pavan - volleyball
Jim Hartung - men's gymnastics
Alex Gordon - baseball
Mike Rozier - football
Johnny Rodgers - football
Tom Novak - football

Now here's where you, the Husker Locker member, come into play...we are soliciting entries from you for four more spots in this competition. See, four of the above entrants will have first round byes - we'll announce who next week - so we need four more athletes to put into the Mt. Huskmore competition. They can be from any sport - they just can't be any of the athletes listed above.

The competition begins next week, so submit your wild card entries over the weekend...enjoy!

Stick your comments below or file them here in our forums!

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Hey there, Husker Nation! Are you a fan living outside these fine borders of Nebraska? We'd love to hear from you! How you keep up with the team, how you live in "enemy" territory, how you hook up with Husker fans...the whole Husker enchilada, if you will.
If you - or someone you know who has a great story - is interested, drop us a line at sam@ne.statepaper.com, or simply email us here. Remember - you may live elsewhere, but we're still all one Big Red Soul...thanks!

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We know you're ready to head out for Black Friday before Nebraska makes it a Red Friday, so we'll make it short and sweet.


CU simply doesn't have the weapons or the home crowd to ruin NU's day. The Buffs stay home for the holidays, and the Huskers cement that Gator Bowl birth.


Nebraska 27 Colorado 10

Let's hear your guesses.

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Staying home from school or work today because of the major snowstorm? Just want to get away and remember all your fun in the snow?

Here's another fun survey from Husker Locker! Just answer all the questions below in the comments section, and one lucky poster will win a Heisman bobblehead of their choice: Crouch, Rozier or Rodgers!

Last week, jredwine12 won our Texas football survey. Congrats to him!

Now - what are you waiting for?

1. Describe your first sled.
2. What was your favorite childhood sledding spot?
3. The worst snowstorm you've ever been in
4. Your best "snow day" memory
5. Stupidest thing you ever did in the snow.
6. Favorite "snow" football game - Husker or otherwise.
7. Favroite winter movie.
8. Favorite Husker game in November

OK - go for it!

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Think, for a moment, of Nebraska football as a giant bulletin board. And everything on that bulletin board is part of what makes NU, well, NU.

What’s on there? Great coaches, of course. Game-changing quarterbacks. A tradition of power football. The walk-on program. Thousands of things.

And one of the centerpieces of that board is a simple black shirt with white numbers on it. Out of a simple choice at the sporting goods store has grown one of the definitive traditions among college football defenses.

The first-team Cornhuskers. The Blackshirts.

And I guess we all have our takes on what those practice jerseys mean. Here’s head coach Bo Pelini’s opinion:

“It represents playing to a very, very high standard,” Pelini said at his weekly press conference. “Week in, week out. To me, it’s as a unit. It’s not an individual thing. To a certain extent it is, but it’s about your unit. It’s about that first group. It’s about earning the right by how you’re executing the type of football you’re playing. That’s how I see it.”

My take: That jersey is about creating an expectation of greatness, and holding the men who wear it up to that standard. The jersey, in other words, transforms the player wearing it.

It’s not reflective of what the player’s already achieved. It is reflective of who he is supposed to become while bearing the responsibility of being a Blackshirt.

The positions are subtly different. Like putting the emphasis on a different syllable of a word.

Does that subtle difference matter?

It’s a topic of discussion because NU is No. 1 nationally in scoring defense. Yes, this includes games against the Sun Belt Three, and maybe those games shouldn’t really count. But they do, and you can be sure Pelini and Co. aren’t going to be handing back the first shutout since 2006.

And yet the shutout and the ranking aren’t enough for Pelini. In fact, until he was taking a call from a fan last week during a radio appearance, “I really hadn’t thought much about” the Blackshirts.

“I’m not disrespecting the tradition or anything else,” Pelini said. “But I think it’ll become obvious to me,” when the Husker defense has earned the honor.

Maybe Pelini was being casually dismissive of the topic. He can be that way sometimes, and it’s a trait he’d be wise to eliminate as time goes on. Because he probably doesn’t mean he hadn’t thought about a tradition important enough to Husker fans that the words “Blackshirts” is flashed all over the HuskerVision screens on game day.

But if it hadn’t crossed his mind, handing out the jerseys after a dominating shutout that included two sacks and defensive touchdown, well, it points to something, doesn’t it? Indifference? A lack of awareness? Something?

Maybe the opponent, Louisiana-Lafayette, wasn’t good enough. Maybe it comes after a significant win. Last year, Pelini handed them out after a 45-35 win over Kansas, not exactly a stellar defensive showing, but a big victory. By that point in the 2008 season, reporters figured they wouldn’t show up at all.

When they did, one of them went to reserve defensive end Clayton Sievers. Safety Matt O’Hanlon, who had started all season, didn’t get one. And the look on his face that day spoke volumes. Before the Gator Bowl, Eric Hagg had his taken away and given to another reserve defensive end, Shukree Barfield.

Pelini calls the timing and selection of players “a feel thing.” Fair enough. But such a vague process certainly invites scrutiny and arguably diminishes the tradition.


Is that OK? Sure it is. It’s Pelini’s team, and I’ve stayed firm on this idea: When he was hired, he was given a mandate, essentially, by the state of Nebraska, whose collective anger helped sack Steve Pederson, bring back Tom Osborne, fire Bill Callahan and draw Pelini back into the fold. Pelini should run the team as he sees fit, and sink or swim on the merits of his ideas, talent and effort.

The bulletin board of Nebraska football, after all, is made of a cork laced with the state’s fiercely independent spirit. That freedom, really, the foundation of the Nebraska Way. Pelini’s not Bob Devaney, or Monte Kiffin, or Charlie McBride. He’s not bound to this thing. He’s bound to winning within the rules. If he does that, the first-team defense can wear Hypercolor jerseys, for all the fans would care.

But Pelini’s taken a half-measure here. And it puts him in an odd spot. What if he awards them too soon? What if NU holds Missouri to ten points, gets the shirts, then get fleeced by Texas Tech? Does he snatch them back? The way Pelini’s set it up, inevitably that day will come. As will the questions.

And the simple, inspirational band of Blackshirts may become more complicated and convoluted than it already is. Ditching a tradition is often easier than trying to redefine it.

Join Husker Locker today - it's free!

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It's that time of the week again!

1. Guess the score of the game
2. Offensive MVP
3. Defensive MVP.

In our first contest, huskerinaz emerged the winner,picking NU to win 45-7.

Check back later this week ti explore our picks. Last week, we had NU winning 34-7. We had Roy Helu and Barry Turner are out MVPs. Helu certainly was the ofensive MVP.

Who will win this week?

Our prediction for Saturday's game: Nebraska struggles out of the gate on offense, but causes at least two turnovers in a 35-16 victory. Arkansas State adds a late touchdown.
If you want to comment, and you're not a member...

Join Husker Locker today - it's free!.

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Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini has suspended junior Niles Paul for the rest of spring practice after the receiver was arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence over the weekend, the Nebraska State Patrol confirmed Monday.

“I am aware of the situation involving Niles Paul, and have discussed it with him," Pelini said. "Niles has been suspended from the remainder of our spring practice, including Saturday’s spring game.”

The 19-year-old Omaha native, who had been having a very strong spring practice, was stopped Sunday in a white Mitsubishi Montero at 2:08 a.m. going 53 miles per hour in a 45-mile-an-hour speed zone on Highway 77 just south of Lincoln.

An officer smelled alcohol and conducted a field sobriety test. Paul failed it. Later, Paul also failed a breathalyzer test, confirmed Nebraska State Patrol Lt. Mike Jahnke. Jahnke did not immediately have Paul’s blood-alcohol content.

He also received a citation for driving under suspension and being a minor in possession.

Paul caught 23 passes for 214 yards last year, and also returned a kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown in the San Jose State game.

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It's only been 39 hours or so since the departure of backup quarterback Pat Witt, and already I wouldn't mind if somebody stuck the story on a ice floe and pushed it off into the Arctic.

It's not going to get warmer and fuzzier as the days pass, and let us hope Steve Sipple's column/report in the Lincoln Journal Star is the relatively painless end of it.

The tale Sipple serves is a familiar one: Antsy player wants to keep his options open, while paternalistic coach has the team's greater good in mind. Sipple dials up a "Bully for Bo" line from downtown because, according to his sources, head coach Bo Pelini wasn't going to let Witt dictate the terms of the quarterback competition by forcing offensive coordinator Shawn Watson to name a starter by the end of spring practice

The unofficial story out of the Witt "camp" - who's at that campsite, anyway? His friends and family? Is that really a camp? - is that Witt was basically getting sandbagged. By the coaching staff? By players? By the loose lips that surround every program?

Doesn't matter. I think we've got the gist of this story by now, which is that Witt didn't entirely fit in, Martha Stewart's "Apprentice" style. Whenever a coaching change occurs, there are always going to be personalities at right angles with the new staff and its attendant mentality, or, in the case, of Harrison Beck, a personality at a right angle with Nebraskans, in general.

And unless Witt finds some reason to dish - either now or at his new destination - the gist should be sufficient to satisfy our thirst for explanation on this latest drama.

Credit, so far, to Witt and his father, Gene, for staying off the record. They slip on the record with a semi-sob story, and said credit goes the way of the low-cost mortgage.

But, for now, Fans slagging on Witt's father should appreciate that a college athlete has no "agent" and generally relies upon a parent or a high school coach to look out for their interests. Somebody has to be his advocate, right? In the NFL, a player hires an agent to deflect heat and negotiate. In college, a mom, dad or high school coach has to do it. Doesn't mean they slipped into some character abyss. It means they remember the concept of family first.

And, yes, negotiating and playing time discussions do, in fact, occur at the college level. Stunning, I know. Coaches are used to it, even if they don't exactly let on.

Look: We may pine for the days when mom and dad sent their boy off to the area football scion and the prodigal son came back five years later, looking like Moses after the Burning Bush, ready for an hard and unforgiving world, his morality having been forged in the furnace of four-hour practices without a water break. We smile at the image, and the first words out of that young man's mouth "And I didn't even play a down, pa. They took my best years and I gave it to them, and it is well with my soul."

We pine for the days when a job at the mill lasted, your neighbors weren't getting foreclosure notices, and your house wasn't built by illegal immigrants, too.

In its place is a modern athlete who considers his own interests above the team because a college football program is no longer a quaint bulwark filled with men driving toward a common goal, but an high-end, money-making corporation of hundreds. Leaks, motives and agendas exist - even if the coaching staff is one the same page, which, in the case of Pelini's crew, seems to always be so.

The smart player, not the dumb one, is keenly aware of his place in the pecking order. In capitalism, a guy should never apologize for refusing to accede to the system, however moral it may seem or supported by fans it may be. The basic tenets of game theory tell us choices are interlocked, and success is arguably equally dependent on surrounding circumstances than an individual will.

Pat Witt, after all, has a 4.0 grade point average in economics.

That said, Witt was predisposed to feeling slighted. You hop around to four high schools, in search of the proper launching pad for your college football career, and you become vulnerable to the inaccurate perceptions of clowns and jokers on the left and right of you. The kid was No. 2, all along, last year. Wasn't that assurance enough that he'd get his fair shake? If, time and time again, his name was called first after Ganz, how could Witt have conceived of a different pecking order?

Part of me thinks that single play in the Gator Bowl was a stake in the heart of this quarterback race. What if Witt had located a wide open Mike McNeill on that third down play, and McNeill had converted that catch into a first down? What if Witt had led NU to a touchdown? What if he hadn't fumbled? Life, and football, are about such tipping points. In that flash, Witt stepped up in the pocket but failed to make his final read, scrambled hopelessly, fell short of the first down, left himself exposed, and did the one thing you can't in the fourth quarter of a bowl game. By the grace of instant replay, we must admit, did the Huskers probably win the Gator Bowl.

Now, a word here about Pelini's handling of Witt's departure. Divine enough, thus far. Let it end here.

But we'd be remiss if we didn't add that we saw this race as another of those "general manager" tests of the Pelini era. Bo handled the Andy Christensen reinstatement wonderfully, and he's recruited well, drilling a big enough hole into Texas' well of players to make Daniel Plainview tip his hat. He's supportive, not restrictive, of his assistant coaches testing waters elsewhere. And he's brought the athletic department closer together in small ways. The signs of wise general manager, in my book.

But this particular test? Well, Witt sure didn't earn the right to dictate terms, not at all. But - and this is a "but" on a molecular level - Watson's comment, before spring practice even occurred, that the quarterback job wouldn't be decided until fall was an unnecessary public addendum.

If Witt believed that the fall deadline was being set in part because it would allow Lee to catch up with the playbook - the knowledge of which was Witt's primary strength and advantage - and he believed that the spring was going to be used to prepare the franchise guy, Cody Green, while Witt and Lee were deemed to be in perpetual stasis (and there's pretty good evidence that Witt believed this) then why not dispel the concerns and conduct the full-bore competition right then in spring?

Think about it: In a 800-meter rrace, of course the guy with a better kick would prefer it end at 810 meters. But the guy who trained to expertly run the 800 would rather it ended at, say 790. Wasn't dragging this deal into the fall more a distraction than it would have worth? Just a question. A thought.

Not that matters. In a sense, Witt did Nebraska a favor by taking an early exit off the Interstate. Lee is now the guy - and there can't be any argument about it - and if he stays healthy, he brings a lot to the table.

So, for now, the Witt departure is essentially a no-fault divorce. Hurt feelings, maybe. A resentment or two on either side, perhaps. But not a ton of pain.

May it remain so.

Should Nebraska go after David Oku?

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