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According to several news outlets, Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne bumped the base salary for head coach Bo Pelini again on Monday - and sweetened the pot for NU’s assistants - particularly defensive coordinator Carl Pelini.

Effective Feb. 1, 2010, Bo Pelini will make 2.1 million per year. Last year, he made $1.851 million as a base, although incentives pushed him over $2 million.

Carl Pelini gets $375,000, while offensive coordinator Shawn Watson gets a small raise to $380,000. Secondary coach Marvin Sanders now becomes the highest-paid non-coordinator, making $250,000 per year. Ted Gilmore, Tim Beck, Ron Brown, and Barney Cotton will make $220,000. Previously, all five, plus Carl Pelini, made $208,360. Watson made $375,000 last year.

Mike Ekeler and John Papuchis were bumped from $150,000 to $175,000.

Bo Pelini is now the fifth-highest paid coach in the Big 12, inching just ahead of Kansas’ Turner Gill, who will make $2 million at KU. Bo is just behind Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy’s $2.2 million base salary. Like OSU, NU and Osborne has chosen to focus more dollars toward the assistant coaching staff than most programs in the Big 12.

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Shotgun to stay? Whether we or you or any Husker fans prefers an under center power game is immaterial to what offensive coordinator Shawn Watson’s players can actually execute. And the Huskers look better in a shotgun spread offense. They just do. It suits the quarterbacks, the running backs, the offensive line, the receivers and the Wildcat formation.

How long does it take Zac Lee to recover - and is recovery successful? Funny that Nebraska fans would pin a potential national title run on the health of No. 5, but, after seeing Cody Green’s wobbly work in the Holiday Bowl, so be it. Lee is unquestionably the No. 1 guy going into spring practice - and he still isn’t very good. So not only does he have to rehab after surgery on his right torn flexor tendon, he has to find a way to improve without throwing the ball - possibly through all of spring camp.

Can Cody Green capitalize on Lee’s absence to develop for 2010 and beyond? We can’t ignore his struggles during the last half of the season - but we also can’t take too much from them, either. Green hasn’t been allowed to grow into a starter - too much attention for a handful for a good plays, too short of a leash for a handful of bad ones - and he should make “the leap” in the spring. Well, he’d better, anyway.

Whither Kody Spano? The things Spano reportedly did best - throwing those skinny slants and posts, and hanging in the pocket when bullets started flying - are attributes Watson appreciates most. Can he come back from two ACL tears? Can he trust his knee enough to make plays. It’s rare - but possible.

Is there a No. 2 receiver in the building? Some Husker - Brandon Kinnie, Khiry Cooper, Antonio Bell, Curenski Gilleylen - has to take the heat off of Niles Paul. And receivers coach Ted Gilmore has to stop sampling every guy on the roster for the role. Find two or three complimentary receivers, stick with them, and develop chemistry with Lee - when he returns - Green and whoever else tries out at QB.

How much can the redshirt freshmen - plus Jermarcus Hardrick - push the vets on he offensive line? Hardrick will push Marcel and D.J. Jones at right tackle - and potentially win the job. As for the redshirt freshmen, we’re talking about Brent Qvale (guard), Jeremiah Sirles (tackle), Jesse Coffey (guard) and Nick Ash(guard/center). At the very least, Qvale (huge, and nimble) and Sirles (looks the part) were slated for the two-deep before injuries tilted the risk/reward scale against burning their redshirt. Neither will likely start for NU in 2010, but they can provide important depth every third or fourth series, or serve as injury protection. At any rate - they sorely need experience for the future.

Where does Taylor Martinez fit in? We dug around in the few weeks after the Big 12 Championship game about Martinez, and found he was more feared as a receiver than he was at quarterback. And yet he’ll start at QB - potentially as a Wildcat guy - and take a run at the backup job. Either way - the kid needs to see the field, and get the chance to make plays. He’s among the fastest players on NU’s roster and he’s big enough to take some licks. T Magic is more like T Mystery.

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The story of Nebraska’s offense in 2009 turns out to be a crackerjack courtroom drama, complete with compelling characters, riveting testimony and a twist ending - touched off by a surprising revelation - that has some Cornhusker fans sailing out of theater satisfied, and others wondering if all plot threads meet up.

The men on trial - offensive coordinator Shawn Watson, his staff and quarterback Zac Lee - won acquittal in a 33-0 thumping of Arizona, returning to the shotgun, unveiling an effective version of the Wildcat - which running backs coach Tim Beck correctly described as an offense, not merely a play - and getting Lee to a point where he can run the zone read competently - if not beautifully - for yards and first downs.

Everything you could have hoped to see vs. Arizona - third-down efficiency, big running plays, Niles Paul, Mike McNeill, a dominant offensive line - you saw. Roy Helu got hurt early, but Rex Burkhead capably replaced him.

For the first time since the Kansas game, Lee looked like the solution instead of the problem. Afterward, when he revealed he’d been playing with a torn flexor tendon in his throwing arm, which requires surgery and nearly three months of rehab, it was like that beer glass in the novel “Presumed Innocent” that nobody could find - because nobody ever asked the guy who took it from the evidence room to return it.

“It was them that (screwed) up,” Lipranzer tells defendant Rusty at the end of Scott Turow’s best book.

In this case, the few left in Watson’s corner could say the same of his many naysayers. If you only you knew of all the injuries on the offensive line, at running back, in Lee’s right arm.

You can see how the arguments set up.

Credit where it’s deserved: Watson crafted a good plan, and called an even better game. He and Barney Cotton got their offensive line to fire off the ball. He trusted Lee on third-and-long to extend drives. Lee did. In short, Watson seemed to be returning to midseason 2008, when Nebraska sliced and diced Iowa State, Kansas and Kansas State with a dizzying array of formations and plays.

Lee was a poor man’s Joe Ganz, which, with Bo’s defense, was more than enough. He’s a tough kid who chooses to struggle with injuries and inconsistencies in relative silence. Commendable enough.

But “Holiday Bowl scoreboard” isn’t a sufficient salve for every offensive problem in 2009.

“Torn flexor tendon” isn’t a sufficient answer for why Watson had Lee throwing the ball in the Missouri rain, or why Watson couldn’t bear to call a trick play - just one! - vs. Texas in the Big 12 Championship.

“O-line injuries” doesn’t explain why the wide receiver corps fell apart, with two starters apparently so unmotivated and disinterested that they spent two weeks on the scout team.

No, Watson didn’t suddenly forget how to call plays.

But we can’t suddenly gloss over real struggles, either.

The offseason, beginning with Lee’s surgery and rehabilitation, will be a test of patience, creativity and coaching for Watson and his assembled crew. I look forward to watching skilled - but embattled - guys whittle away the problem, with a prominent chip on their shoulder, I suspect, and something to prove.

*At quarterback, Watson will have to play it by doctor and trainer as to when Lee can return. Then he’ll have to develop quarterbacks Cody Green, Kody Spano and Taylor Martinez in three distinctly different places in their career. Will Ganz, a new graduate assistant, help? Sure. But even that’s a adjustment, for these Huskers know and respect Ganz quite a bit, and may initially see Lee - or any signal-caller - in stark relief of the former No. 12. When a former teammate suddenly becomes a mentor, it’s can be an interesting transition. Ganz isn’t going to sugarcoat anything, nor should he.

*At running back, Tim Beck has to manage Roy Helu’s health, devise new ways to exploit Rex Burkhead’s skills and find a No. 3 running back between Traye Robinson, Lester Ward and Austin Jones.

*At offensive line, Barney Cotton gets to integrate young pups Brent Qvale, Jeremiah Sirles, Jesse Coffey and Nick Ash, get JUCO signee Jermarcus Hardrick quickly up to speed, break in center Mike Caputo, wait out the recovery of Keith Williams - who has a torn pectoral muscle - and hone the games of Ricky Henry, Mike Smith, Marcel Jones and D.J. Jones. Cotton has the most important - and arguably toughest - job of the bunch. As goes the offensive line, so goes NU.

*At wide receiver, Ted Gilmore needs to build around senior-to-be Niles Paul, with an emphasis on guys who can actually catch, run and keep their balance on a wet field. Gilmore has to put a better product on the field than NU offered up in 2009, when Menelik Holt’s drops cost the Huskers at Virginia Tech, and Paul’s midseason lapses in concentration contributed heavily to losses vs. Texas Tech and Iowa State.

*At tight end, Ron Brown just needs to keep doing what he’s doing, juggling time and snaps for a gifted unit.

Presuming he has enough healthy pieces, Watson then gets to play chemist. Which combination of formations, plays and players make the best brew? Injuries, execution and “inexperience” - plus Bo’s intervention right around the Oklahoma game - prevented him from figuring that out in 2009.

What are the key questions for this offseason? Click here.

Otherwise, continue the debate. Does the Holiday Bowl resolve your concerns? Does the end of the movie forgive its dull middle?

In 2010 - a national-title contending season - we’ll have the sequel.

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Do you remember how your high school buddies and fat little girlfriends – thanks Mike Leach! – used to scrawl in the back, blank pages of your yearbook, “Stay the same...never change!” Wasn't that about the most common phrase in the last quarter-century of yearbook history? I mean, besides “Have a kick-ass summer!”

If Nebraska quarterback Cody Green brought a yearbook to Tuesday press conferences – caution, belabored analogy ahead – I assure you, the media would fill every page of the book with “Stay the same...never change!” At least when it comes to talking to the press corps.

The kid can talk, he can talk a lot – a 20-minute session of smiles and wisdom Tuesday - and, for now, he says interesting football things. In my racket, that's like dinner with Naomi Watts.

Plus, he's truthful – which is a little different than being skeptically honest – about his game.

He needs to work on the little things, like finishing off zone read fakes.

“At the end of the game, I started getting lazy,” Green said. “Started watching the game. And we always say if you want to watch the game on the field, buy a ticket.”

He knows Oklahoma's defense will “bring the house at me.”

He can joke about himself, like when his high school coach told him he “choked” in the second half at Baylor. Which, frankly, is a little true, although understandable.

He knows that game day is about making plays, not thinking about making them: “I try to analyze everything throughout the week the best that I can and then once game day comes, just go out there and play. Just let my instincts work. I trust my instincts. I’ve been playing football for a while now so I really can just sit back and say, ‘All right, there’s a hole here, I think that guy’s going to run there, take off.’”

The kid can talk. He and Blake Lawrence could go into business together and sell a million widgets in a month.

The question for Saturday is this: Can Green color inside the lines enough to give himself the chance to make one or two spectacular plays when Nebraska needs them? Because, if Saturday goes according to NU's plan, the Huskers limit their mistakes against a faster, more talented OU team, win the field position battle, and keep Green on a reasonably short leash – except for those one or two plays where he lets loose.

“This'll be like a NFL game,” offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said. “It's going to be a physical, hard-knocking football game. It's one of those games where it's important to win on normal downs and stay in a manageable third down situation. That's our objective: Stay on the field, move the ball, good things will happen.”

Groan if you wish at the NFL reference, but Watson, fundamentally, is right. NU needs to drag this game in the fourth quarter with a fighter's chance. And it only does that with a NFL-style gameplan: Eat clock, complete the short passes, convert half of your third down attempts and pick your spots for the big shots. That's a winning formula, which is why Watson and offensive line coach Barney Cotton need to whip the offensive line into shape for its best game of the year.

Saturday won't be a game for stat hounds. If the Huskers muster 280 total yards and 17 points, know this: They've done about all they can do with the inexperienced, banged-up materiel on hand.

Green needs to know his role. By his own admission, he got a little loose in the second half at Baylor – the fumble was more inexplicable and maddening, in my view, than the Pick Six – and all of that needs to be tightened up by Saturday.

There is a sense that, despite his poise and confidence, he'll try to make plays outside the system, because he trusts his natural ability and instincts. But OU represents an elite level of speed and defensive talent. The Sooners make some gaffes, at times, overplaying their hand and getting too aggressive. But Green's not going to outrun them. He's not going to fool Oklahoma's master bluff artists at cornerback. Kansas' Todd Reesing and Joe Ganz can attest to that.

He can, however, get three yards instead of one on a zone read. Scramble for a first down or two. Get out on the edge with a bootleg and hit Mike McNeill in a soft part of the zone.

Little things win big games.

The key: Will Green get starry-eyed? Saturday, in the immortal words of Danny Nee, will be an electric zoo in Memorial Stadium. At kickoff, anyway. And then NU will have to settle into a modest game plan that relies on the Blackshirts, Adi Kunalic and Alex Henery.

The crowd may get restless – especially if the Huskers fall behind. Green can not.

See also: An Unforgettable NU-OU Memory

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Barney Cotton smiled and stared. It was the kind of stare you'd like your offensive line coach to have, especially when his unit is under siege after so-so-performances for, well, most of October.

“I don't read the paper and I certainly don't look at the Internet,” Cotton said when asked about the critics of his coaching and his line's play.

From his point of view, there's enough on his plate now, trying to get Nebraska's pipeline somehow flowing smoothly again before Oklahoma, the nation's No. 3 rushing defense, rolls into town for a Saturday night tilt.

The Huskers have rushed for 341 yards on 96 totes – that's 3.5 yards per carry, a full yard under their season average – in their last three games. Not one of those opponents – Texas Tech, Iowa State and Baylor – are juggernauts against the run. OU is. Necessity is the mother of invention, right? Cotton's banking on his unit discovering its full potential this week in practice.

What's been the issue? Recently, Cotton said, it's been a matter of “hats on hats.” In the last three weeks, he said, “we haven't necessarily targeted the right guys” on running plays.

“If we don't put a hat on the right linebacker or a hat on the right two linebackers, the play's not going to go very far,” Cotton said. “We've got to make sure we're putting hat on the right guys on every play. Every play.”

Communication and consistency is, in part, coaching. And Cotton shoulders that responsibility.

“We have high standards,” he said. “We want to make sure we're doing the right thing. Offensive line certainly is a focal point.”

The players know it, too. This is Nebraska. The county seat, if you will, of historically good run blocking, of mashing at the point of attack, walling off defenders, and dominating defensive assignments.

Effort and attitude are part of it. After the Tech game, head coach Bo Pelini preached that message to the line: Don't take crap from any opponent. The message has been the same in the last two weeks.

Senior guard Derek Meyer, who's been rotating in at the left spot during the last two weeks to occasionally give Keith Williams a breather, has noticed an intensity building as the offense has struggled.

Not that it wasn't tense before – NU's coaches aren't balata balls, that's for sure – but “since we've fallen into a little slump on offense, they're kinda getting after us a little more,” Meyer said. “But it's something we need and something we expect from them.”

Cotton's not making excuses.

Inexperience? “We're all veterans after eight games,” he said. “We need to go out and put our best product on the field.”

Injuries? “If you go out there to play, you go out there to play,” Cotton said. “Injuries or being beat up is absolutely no factor.”

That's an o-line coach being an o-line coach. Don't kid yourself: Nebraska's never had a moment during this 2009 season where it rolled out its five starters at full speed. Williams missed action early. Center Jacob Hickman has a bum ankle. Other guys have been dinged up here and there, and depth, beyond Meyer and backup center Mike Caputo, hasn't been ideal.

But there isn't much Cotton and Co. can do about that except execute better, persevere and find some way to crack open OU's defense. Against a defense of that caliber, the little mistakes the Huskers' offensive line has been committing could look like giant gaffes.

“Our time to wait is over,” Meyer said. “We need to do it right now.”

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WACO, Texas - Finally. Maybe. We think. We hope. Sigh.

Yes, it's like that, right now, for Nebraska's offense. For Nebraska, period.

NU seemed to locate its offensive identity Saturday in 20-10 win over Baylor. For a half, anyway. It's not fully-formed, it still remains trapped a bit in the inane intricacies of West Coast Offense, but it's a start. Maybe. We think. We hope. Sigh.

Cody Green at quarterback, scrambling when necessary, running with poise and authority. A power offense designed to punish lesser teams and set up deep passes. A strong, forward-leaning running back in true freshman Traye Robinson. And, at long last, a compliment of big-bodied tight ends on the field – at the same time.

Fireworks, it wasn't. Well – unless you count the ones that got shot off after Baylor intercepted and returned one of Green's two mistakes for a touchdown.

What did you expect after a month of sideways passes, soft-bellied screens and tentative quarterback play from Zac Lee? Sixty points? Saturday was a modest step forward. Finally. Maybe. We think. We hope. Green had all the advantages - a special teams touchdown, a dominant defensive performance, a Baylor offense, set to the melt setting every time it ventured into Nebraska territory. And there were times – like most of the second half – where he didn't do anything with those advantages.

But this is change we can believe in. Finally. Maybe. We think. We hope. It's an offense that, at long last, suits the kind of defense Nebraska has become. Offensive coordinator Shawn Watson had to descend from his perch – physically and philosophically – for it to happen. Yes, that was Watson on the sidelines, in his trademark sunglasses, barking excitedly, getting in the faces of his linemen at key moments.

“That was to help Cody,” Watson said. “We've got a freshman tailback (Robinson) that's playing a lot, we've got a freshman quarterback now. I wanted to be there with the guys. Something some of the older guys asked me about. I did that for them.”

It was good to see. He took ownership Saturday. He didn't have much of a choice.

Oh, Watson got cute again midway through the third quarter – and Green got lazy. Watson started calling the horizontal passes again, and Green locked onto receiver Khiry Cooper on a third-down play. The result: A Pick Six that might have had the last remaining members of the Zac Lee camp saying “I told you so.” A fourth-quarter fumble – when Green rather inexplicably left his feet on a quarterback draw – had them roaring a little bit louder.

We think they're wrong. Maybe. We hope so.

It really doesn't matter if NU can't run the ball. Once again Saturday, Barney Cotton's bunch did not deliver on its potential or responsibility. They played hard, but not in sync, and not as a smoothly-operating, confident unit. And head coach Bo Pelini was plenty vocal about it after the game.

“It's a huge concern,” he said. “We've got to be able to run the football better. We didn't run the ball to my liking today.”

This is the tone Pelini has to strike – the same kind of aggression and expectation he shows with his defense. He needs to show it weekly – heck, daily - with Watson, Cotton and that offensive line, which is too big and too experienced to make communication gaffes for the bulk of the second half. Watson tried pounding the ball with big sets, fullbacks, inside zones and the old-school Callahan stretch play. The offensive line didn't respond with enough gashes for Robinson, Roy Helu, Lester Ward and Austin Jones.

Yes, I just named four running backs there. Marcus Mendoza played a couple snaps, too. If Helu isn't 100 percent healthy, the Huskers really have no bellcow. Robinson can only do so much with the time he's been given, and the rest of the backs are not consistently good runners. Baylor wisely took away Green's running lanes on the zone read Saturday, forcing Helu and crew to pick their way through narrow holes, just hoping to stay upright and healthy. Helu got dinged again. So did Robinson.

Even if NU stumbled into success Saturday – even if it's a first step to something better – the Huskers have to healthy and confident enough to keep it going.

Bo pulled the trigger on Green. It was a must. Lee might have given the Huskers some looks in the passing game. But, honestly, I doubt it. NU's receivers were again average. Baylor's corners mostly did stayed with them. The Bears brought two or three blitzes that Green stepped away from for positive scrambles, or withstood in the pocket to throw first downs. Lee wilted under those same blitzes in recent weeks. Green gives defenses an element to worry about. And right now, the Huskers need every element on the periodic table they can get.

But now, Bo has to aim his sights on that offensive line. Whatever they've given already to the team – they've got to dig in and give a little more. The unit is not completely healthy – center Jacob Hickman is nursing a severely sprained ankle – but it's healthy enough.

Time for Cotton – who is a tough, honest coach and a skilled teacher from this point of view – to drive that unit just a little harder, and get them to execute a little better. Oklahoma blows into Lincoln next week plenty ticked off – with a wicked defense to match. If NU can't dent that OU front line, the Sooners will eat Green – or Lee – alive.

This is a unit fighting back the light, folks. The offense remains under siege from pundits and fans. Just one minute into Pelini's press conference, a fan clutching a white gate just feet away screamed a particular insult about Watson.

His boss took it in stride at the moment, but after his media session was done, he walked over to that fence, shook hands with athletic director Tom Osborne, and looked into that crowd. He wanted to know – who had the big mouth? It wasn't the most politically correct moment, but it was vintage Bo. Loyal and tenacious to the last. Nebraska fans may not always like it. But it's what they paid Osborne to find, and Bo to do.

Bo's in the thick of tough, grueling season. He knows it. This is the year that will forge his coaching character even more than he's already forged it himself. And he's fighting back with the best defensive front four I've seen at NU in years.

Now that offensive front five has to do their part.

Can it? Finally?

Maybe. We think. We hope. Sigh.

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“We have Blackshirts there at Texas Tech, too. Every one of our guys is wearing a black shirt underneath their pads. I'm proud to say the Blackshirts won this one.”

It's pretty safe to say that little nugget from Mike Leach will find its way to Nebraska's bulletin board. The Texas Tech coach, is his own, inimitable way, praised his bunch and poked a little fun at NU's top defensive unit at the same time.

Let's just hope head coach Bo Pelini uses it to motivate the right bunch. Not the Cornhuskers' defense, which forced five punts, notched five sacks and only gave 259 total yards to one of the best offenses in America.

Rather, the quote needs to find its way to the offensive line, which can use every bit of fire, at this point, it can get. May Mike Smith, Keith Williams, Jacob Hickman, Ricky Henry, Marcel Jones and D.J. Jones tack it to their lockers to remind themselves of a performance that left offensive line coach Barney Cotton drained and a little crestfallen.

“I think I've got to do a better job preparing,” Cotton said. “We didn't play the physical ballgame that we had planned on playing...this is a league where you have to be physical to play well.”

Cotton and head coach Bo Pelini both called it “putting a hat on a hat.” The final tally - just 70 rushing yards, and most of those coming via improvisation from Roy Helu, Jr. - suggests the Huskers didn't do it. Couple the leaks with five sacks and a slew of tough penalties – including the drive-killing personal foul by Henry – and it was the sloppiest performance in recent memory.

“We'd always leave a hat open,” Hickman said. “Or a guy jumps. It's just one guy who can kill you...just one guy missing his block, and the play doesn't work. Gotta have 11 guys on the same page. You could really call any play at that point – and it should work.”

Hickman said the line affected quarterback Zac Lee's vision and performance. Although Lee held on to the ball for ten seconds on two different occasions – he was sacked once and threw another pass away - Hickman said some early hits on No. 5 - especially on two playaction passes where Lee couldn't even turn around without being hammered - set a bad tone.

“It threw him on his rhythm,” Hickman said. “It goes through the line first.”

NU planned to physical running game in the opening quarter; the playcalling was balanced through the first four drives. But Helu and Lee's rushing lanes were few; Tech slanted its defensive linemen into gaps, and the Huskers' front unit was unable to clear them away.

The Red Raiders weren't fancy, Cotton said. They just beat Nebraska's linemen into the backfield. When Cotton would gather his unit on the sideline, he'd talk to them – sometimes through the entire Tech offensive possession – about effort, and toughness.

“This was not a game where we were doing a lot of drawing things up,” Cotton said. “We talked about putting hats on hats, and keep those hats on hats. We've got to fight more aggressively and more relentlessly.”

What's that going to look like in practice?

“It's going to be physical,”Cotton said. “Everything we do during the week should be darn near live anyway. That's the way we prepare. But it'll be even more physical.”

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The reverie lasted all of a quarter. All the fanfare and hoopla and warm feelings over No. 15 Nebraska and its potential run through the Big 12 have been put on hold. Indefinitely.

Sloppy, slow and uncertain. That's how NU played in a calamitous meltdown loss to Texas Tech. The Red Raiders looked speedier, smarter and definitely less rattled by one of the more incompetent group of officials I've seen.

Most of all, the seemed sure of themselves. Even before Niles Paul's boneheaded, casual drop of a backwards screen pass, which led to a 82-yard fumble return for a touchdown, the Red Raiders played and acted like the better, more confident team.

“If y'all would have seen the locker room before the game, you would have thought it was a bunch of animals running around,” Texas Tech quarterback Steven Sheffield said. “That's how our program is, just letting go and letting everybody be themselves and a lot of loud music.”

Understand that Tech's already been through a tumult of a season – two tough losses, suspensions, the typical Mike Leach chicanery. Maybe the boys from West Texas can give Bo Pelini some advice on how to handle the next two weeks. Loud music, apparently.

Get ready. It's going to be a bumpy, restless fortnight. Oh, Nebraska can probably handle defenseless Iowa State and toothless Baylor no matter who takes the field. But NU better have this figured out by Nov. 7, or the stretch run of the season could be a long, troubling slog.

What's wrong? Oh, quite a bit. We'll get there. Let's start with what's right.

Nebraska's front four plays like beasts. Every damn one of them. With attitude, toughness and fury. Phillip Dillard – remember, he's not as good as Colton Koehler for the first two games of this season – is suddenly realizing every ounce of potential he has. Can he please start the game next week and give Will Compton the sideline seasoning he needs? Alfonzo Dennard and Prince Amukamara, a few hiccups aside, bring their lunch pail every week. No cornerback – none – has a perfect record. Larry Asante plays a clean, hard-hitting game. And Pelini is starting to put some of those fancy blitzes back in the box – which is a good thing.

Now for the rest of it.

*Nebraska's offensive line is limping along. Something is missing, and the frustration on the face of Jacob Hickman and Barney Cotton make it clear that they don't quite know what it is. Part of it, I fear, is simple personality. The Huskers aren't nasty enough. Hickman, Mike Smith, Marcel Jones and Keith Williams are all, well, pretty nice guys. Analytical, thoughtful. Technicians. And right now, it's just not working. They're all getting beat at the point of attack. Ricky Henry, too, although he certainly brings a mean mug to the field.

You cannot – absolutely not – run a zone-blocking system without being quick, and tough. You don't have to be that big, and you don't have to pancake guys. But that first step has to be vicious. There can't be a hint of a leak. Roy Helu was flitting around all afternoon like a skier on a slalom course. He'd never admit it, but he got almost all of his yards on sheer improvisation.

*The line is forcing Shawn Watson to alter the game plan. Oh, we'll knock Watson when it's on him. And some of Saturday was on him. But not much of it. Sorry, but when NU runs two of its basic – and often successful – playaction passes, and a Tech defensive lineman is in the backfield before the fake is done, you're not going to have much luck with anything. Watson was relegated to calling two-second slant pattern (that Zac Lee can't throw) and bubble screens that were misadventures.

*Lee isn't trusting his game. His performance was painful, because it was the portrait of a quarterback second-guessing himself. Lee wants to go downfield. Something is stopping him. Because he's not Sam Keller, a professional bail-out artist, Lee sits back there, clutching, shuffling, worrying – until he's sacked, or he's left with a two-yard throw.

And he just won't scramble. This, I don't get. Watson doesn't get it, either. Nobody gets it. Lee is fast, he's tough – and he won't run. And when he does, he runs with his body pitched forward, and his head down.

*Bo still blows defensive timeouts. And two in the first half didn't make much sense.

The first of them was on the fourth down play that NU had stopped – until Pelini called the timeout at the last second. Was it to ice Mike Leach, who always does this? The result: A 21-yard gain on an end around that NU seemed utterly unprepared for.

The second occurred when Tech had the ball on the Huskers' four-yard line. Understandable – except that it was first down. What was Bo going to do – design three plays' worth of defense? As it was, Nebraska committed pass interference in the end zone, and Tech scored a few plays later.

*The penalties. Ugh. First of all, the officiating in the Big 12 – across the board – stinks. Bo can't say it. I'll say it. The zeebs on Saturday were confused, disorganized, out of position and generally perplexed. I give them credit for getting the fumble/touchdown right. Not a lot else.

But how does Bo help his cause by berating the line judge to the point where Memorial Stadium even takes notice, and it more or less delays the last kickoff of the game? How? NU clearly has a reputation at this point, and seems to nurture it with Bo's incredulous behavior.

Some of the penalties are earned, of course. The offensive line seems to pay its weekly toll of 30 yards. When does that stop? Can it stop?

*Most of all, it's just the vibe of this team. Tech obviously had a lot to be fired up about, but the Red Raiders seemed loose, active, ready to mix it up. Outside some of NU's defenders, the reticence – the sheer lack of fire - was glaring. The play of the game – Tech's 82-yard punt return – boiled down to a lack of concentration and mental toughness: Lee not getting a deep enough drop, Niles Paul futzing on a catchable ball, and the whole Husker offense just trotting back to the huddle. Folks, not every team does that. A lot of teams have a few guys, at least, with the sense to be safe about it, and cover the damn ball.

In key moments, Nebraska suffers a collective brain cramp. It happened last year. It's happening now. What's Bo and his capable crew going to do about it?

See also: Defending Shawn Watson - For Now

and

NU/Tech Report Card

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The Husker media machine kicked into full gear this week. Nebraska's football team uneasily wore the crown.

You could sense the strain in some of the answers after a 27-12 win over Missouri. Here was NU, after the biggest program triumph in some time, getting peppered with questions about last year's Texas Tech game, handling success, the offensive playcalling, replacing Rex Burkhead, defending spread offenses, you name it. You could almost see the frustration churning inside players and coaches: Wait – didn't we win last week? Didn't we complete the best fourth-quarter rally in Husker history? Did everyone forget that?

Yes, yes and most certainly not. But here's the thing: With each big win head coach Bo Pelini collects, fans and writers can see the shoreline a little more clearly. With a beaten-up, overrated Big 12 out there for the taking in 2009, the vibe is now distinctly “carpe diem.” Thus, the armor chinks become more glaring with each ratchet-turn of expectation.

Nebraskans express hope with worry. It's the natural tendency, the bedrock of our modesty and insecurity. It couldn't really be this good this fast, could it? It just might. If the Huskers can hurdle one Mike Leach, that is.

On to the five keys:

Aggression: Nebraska returns to its home field, in front of a crowd ready to explode with chants of “We're back!” There ought to be enough energy in the joint to kick start three offensive lines, much less one. Needs to be, too. If the Huskers intend to score a first round knockdown, much less a first round knockout, they'll need every bit of anger, muscle and toughness the offensive line can muster. Running backs can only plow through holes that exist, after all.

“We need to play faster, we need to play more physical, and we need to execute better,” offensive line coach Barney Cotton said. We'll take that and a side of peanut cole slaw.

Turnovers: A typical, fallback key of any big game, but, in the case of NU v. Tech, it matters because the Red Raiders – specifically Taylor Potts – have struggled keeping the ball on the team with the right colored jersey. Tech is 99th in turnover margin – rare for a Big 12 school still in the early stages of conference play – at -.67 per game. Nebraska's 15th overall. Big advantage, right there, to the Huskers.

How does NU force them? In the secondary, breaking on poorly-thrown balls without giving up the farm elsewhere.

Pick up “Sticks:” Walk-on quarterback Steven “Sticks” Sheffield has enjoyed a nice couple of weeks, but those were minor rehearsals compared to Saturday. Sheffield can light as many fires as he wishes and scramble all over the house looking to wear out his own legs. But the kid's probably going to have to throw for three bills and two touches to give Tech a fighting chance.

As skinny and untested as Sheffield is, Nebraska needs to make a maniacal effort to pressure the living daylights out him. If Leach wants to install Potts into the game, hey – so be it. The more musical chairs Leach runs, the deeper the hole his team will dig.

Carter vs. Suh: Texas Tech has a quick rhythm passing game and wide linemen splits, and thus feels like it's fairly impervious to any consistent pass rush, even one led by Ndamukong Suh. So the Red Raiders will likely match guard Brandon Carter – the deposed captain who paints his face as if he's going to death metal concert, or readying for a night of carousing with Kym from “Rachel Getting Married” – against Suh, one on one.

Well, OK. It worked to some extent in 2008. But this ain't 2008.

“(Carter) is a really good lineman,” defensive coordinator Carl Pelini said. “They're a man protection team, but they've got five and we've got four rushing. It's the same way every week. We just try to do our thing.”

Pelini's right, of course, but interior pass blocking, against a player of Suh's caliber, is no trip to Cleveland. Can Suh and his mates force the Red Raiders to keep a running back in to block?

Resist the pirate spirit: Nebraska needs to be smart on Saturday not to let Leach's wild gambles rub off on Bo Pelini. When Leach goes for it on fourth down...NU better stuff it. If he tries a trick play, gets cute with his punt formation, or tries to go 80 yards in 38 seconds, you'll have a distinct example of Leach attempting to bait his opponent into bizarre situations. If Nebraska can keep its poker face while the Red Raiders flop about like a fish on dry land, it'll gain one or two extra possessions at least. Tech, which lives or dies by the number and efficiency of plays run, would in be the same spot it was last year. Except Nebraska's defense is more equipped to shut down TTU.

See also: Chalk Talk: Inside the Air Raid Offense and Guess The Score! NU vs. Tech! and Recruiting: All Dressed Up with No Position?

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Texas Tech’s 15 minutes of fame might be up, but the Red Raiders have Nebraska’s full attention as the Cornhuskers prepare for Saturday’s 2:30 p.m. game.

“This team is better than people are giving them credit for,” NU center Jacob Hickman said.

Tech comes to Lincoln at 4-2, with a 34-24 loss at Texas and a 29-28 loss at Houston. That’s in sharp contrast to the 2008 Red Raider team, which started 10-0 before losing two of its last three games. That version slipped by Nebraska 37-31 in overtime. For NU, the loss served as a rallying point for the rest of that season, and the Huskers only lost once more, at Oklahoma.

In 2009, the Red Raiders are the stumbling block for the suddenly-popular No. 15 Nebraska (4-1), which beat Missouri 27-12 on ESPN. Despite losing stars like quarterback Graham Harrell, wide receiver Michael Crabtree, defensive end Brandon Williams, and safety Darcel McBath to graduation and/or the NFL Draft, Texas Tech still has plenty of firepower, head coach Bo Pelini said.

“These guys are a challenge,” Pelini said. “They were right there with Texas right to the very end. That speaks for itself.”

While Leach’s offense is still putting up huge numbers – scoring 48 or more points in three games this year, accumulating a rather astonishing 2,661 passing yards already in 2009 with two different quarterbacks – it’s the defense, which is 27th nationally against the run, that’s performed better than expected.

There’s nothing fancy about Tech’s defensive approach under coordinator Ruffin McNeill – a standard 4-3 with deep safeties - but the unit already has 18 sacks, which leads the Big 12. And while they’ve certainly bent a little against the pass, they’ve only allowed five passing touchdowns – against several prolific offenses.

“Pretty vanilla,” Hickman said. “They don’t blitz much. They’re gonna play one or two defenses. They’re gonna play so they don’t make mistakse. Basically their goal is to let their offense score points and minimize mistakes.

“But they’re not going to give you anything. You have to earn everything you get.”

Offensive line coach Barney Cotton said Tech’s front seven is among the best in the Big 12, especially defensive tackle Colby Whitlock, who has a sack and 3.5 tackles for loss so far this year.

“They play fast, they play physical and they’ve got linebackers who are extremely fast and play downhill,” Cotton said. “We need to make huge improvements from last week or otherwise we’re going to be very disappointed on Saturday.”

See also: 50 Husker Fans, 50 States: Pittsburgh

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Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini hasn’t been kidding when he intimated that position battles may not end until one day before kickoff.

Pelini after Monday’s practice – the first truly dedicated to preparing for Florida Atlantic – that NU would not release a depth chart Tuesday, as has been normally custom.

“It won’t be final until the end of the week,” Pelini said. “Changes every day. The competition’s on every day. We rep a lot of guys. We could give you a depth chart with a lot of “ORs” on it. We’ll see how it plays out. Whoever wins the job, that’s who’s going to be in the game Saturday.”

The closest battles continue at right tackle, wide receiver, punt returner, WILL and MIKE linebacker, and potentially in the secondary. Third-string is up for grabs at many more positions, as well.

At right tackle, offensive line coach Barney Cotton said both juniors Marcel and D.J. Jones should play “both fairly equally” in the FAU game.

“Both had good camps and both deserve to play,” Cotton said.

Cotton did not have the services of left guard Keith Williams, held out because of an undisclosed injury. In his absence Andy Christensen moved back over from right guard to work with the top units.

“I won’t talk about that, but he’s fine,” Pelini said. “He should be out here tomorrow.”

In practice, freshman walk-on Ron Kellogg III drew the job of simulating the Owls’ quarterback, Rusty Smith. Although Kellogg is 4-5 inches shorter than Smith, Pelini said the Omaha Westside product “did a really good job.”

NU returns to the practice field Tuesday after its weekly press conference.

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True freshman Cody Green has surged ahead in the race for Nebraska’s No. 2 quarterback, NU offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said Tuesday, and junior Latravis Washington has some ground to make up if he wants the spot.

“Cody’s doing a great job,” Watson said after the Cornhuskers’ “intense” three-hour workout on the grass fields north of Memorial Stadium. “He’s really catching on…he’s just a mature guy. He gets it. He understands life a little bit and he understands football. Just a gift he has. He’s a natural leader and football comes natural.”

Green enrolled early at NU after a stellar prep career in Dayton, Texas. He accounted for 4,875 yards in total offense and 62 touchdowns in his senior year. Although slowed by a groin injury in the spring, he fully recovered over the summer and has looked good, according to several coaches, in two-minute and situational drills throughout practice. Washington converted from linebacker to quarterback in the spring.

"He's completing passes and making good decisions," Watson said. "He's executing the offense."

The situation at wide receiver and offensive line isn’t nearly as settled, as Watson said he and offensive position coaches will continue to evaluate throughout the week at those spots.

Offensive line coach Barney Cotton has experimented with several players at different positions. The battle at right tackle is between D.J. Jones and Marcel Jones, while Andy Christensen and Ricky Henry duel at right guard. Marcel Jones is working as left tackle as well.

“I’d like to see us a little bit further along,” Cotton said. “We’ve played an awful lot of guys. Marcel’s played on both sides. It’d be nice to get him locked in, but we’re going to have to have somebody who can swap…each year’s a little bit different. The older you get, you probably experiment less.”

The o-line currently has only one senior starter, center Jacob Hickman.

Nebraska added another quarterback to the mix on Monday, and Tuesday Watson confirmed it is NU baseball pitcher Joe Broekemeier, a 6-foot-4, 208-pounder from Aurora. He wore a green jersey and shadowed starter Zac Lee on Monday, and actually threw passes Tuesday. High velocity. So-so accuracy.

“We’ll try him there and if he doesn’t make it there, we’ll move him somewhere else,” Watson said. We have no idea where he’ll play.”

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Another day of fall camp in the books for the Nebraska football team equaled more changes and movement along NU’s offensive line Tuesday.

Position coach Barney Cotton opened his chat with the media after a 2 ½-hour workout on the grass fields just east of the Hawks Center with news that true freshman Brent Qvale, who had been working as the No. 2 right guard, will be held out for the remainder of fall camp with an undisclosed injury.

Only head Bo Pelini goes into any depth on injury issues, and he doesn’t speak on Tuesday.

In Qvale’s place: Redshirt freshman Quentin Toailoa, one of the few scholarship players to miss the original 105-man roster.

Qvale’s absence is another curve ball thrown at Cotton. Left tackle Mike Smith and right guard Ricky Henry have missed practices. True freshman Jesse Coffey is out for the rest of camp with an MCL knee injury. Even now, Henry, who is a contender to start at right guard, is “probably going a fourth of the time,” Cotton said.

“Sometimes your development is maybe not as fast as you would like,” Cotton said. “On the other hand, when you’ve got guys who aren’t out there for periods of time, you’ve got more depth.”

Cotton said he’s got a good idea of which ten players he’ll be using this fall on the line.

“We don’t necessarily know the order of which those guys are going to be placed on the depth chart yet,” Cotton said. “Little by little, it’s starting to fall into place.”

In the meantime, Cotton has experimented with a number of his linemen at different positions. Seniors Andy Christensen and Derek Meyer have worked at both guard positions. Marcel Jones, currently No. 1 at right tackle, has also worked at left tackle. Junior D.J. Jones was at left tackle briefly, but is now challenging Marcel Jones for the top job on the right side.

“Marcel and D.J. are locked in a good battle right now,” Cotton said. “It’s a very even competition.”

Center Jacob Hickman “experimented for one day” at right guard, Cotton said, but he’d prefer to keep the senior right where he is. Hickman previously started at right guard before moving to center, where a capable backup, sophomore Mike Caputo, now provides a viable starting option, if needed.

Continuity is important as the Huskers installed more of the two-minute offense and worked on third down situations Wednesday.

“Lots of running for the skill guys, lots of pass blocking and lots of pass rushing for the big guys,” Cotton said.

One skill guy held out: Junior running back Roy Helu, who walked among the rows during stretching encouraging linemen, and guided younger running backs to their spots. His injury, whatever it was, did not seem serious.

“Just the normal strain of practice,” Cotton said when asked why Helu wasn’t practicing.

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Nebraskans can be a hearty-yet-worrisome lot, and in times of concern, they often turn to the timeless stress reliever known as hand-wringing. Or hand-clasping, if you prefer.

It’s a tidy, discreet Midwestern gesture but fairly unmistakable at a Husker football game, when, in a big moment, you see a mass of hands drawn together, as if trying to rub off paint, to defuse the tension of the moment.

I suspect that more than a few hands have been wrung over the state of Nebraska’s right guard position, and maybe even the right side as a whole. The money side in the running game, usually. Where you stick the maulers and the gate crashers, and watch them slug and push and cut and engulf defenders to part holes for running backs.

But those same fans have looked past the strength of the left side of the line, where two returning junior starters –tackle Mike Smith and guard Keith Williams - are nice blend of athleticism and power.

And to hear Williams talk about it, chemistry between he and Smith and center Jacob Hickman.

“We show and lead by example,” he said. “If we’re not doing the job, then the others slack off. We’re not having that…it’s gonna be a war. We have our plays and we need to get the job done.”

The 6-foot-5, 315-pounder caught my eye late last year, when he seemed to blossom into the physical player that Bill Callahan envisioned him being in 2007, when Williams played frequently as a redshirt freshman. But Williams didn’t start to play with more nasty until Barney Cotton got ahold of him. Williams started the last ten games in 2008, and steadily improved.

On Quentin Castille’s 60-yard run in the Gator Bowl, Williams blocked/carried/tossed his Clemson defender ten yards to the side, creating a giant cutback crease for Castille to work through. In the Red/White Spring Game, the White team, with reserve running backs, repeatedly ran right behind the Florissant, Mo., native, as he generally controlled NU defensive tackle Jared Crick.

You cut these moments of excellence splice them together with the penalties Williams has committed and missed blocks, and you get a picture of inconsistency. And Williams, though he wears a slight smile on this day – the offensive line got the better of the defensive line in a goal line scrimmage – knows it.

“Can’t make mistakes anymore,” Williams said. “I’ve got to be mental error-free.”

Position coach Barney Cotton sees a steadily improving, and more consistent, lineman through this fall camp. After Saturday’s scrimmage, Cotton said Williams’ best practices had been his last two. NU had two more practices Monday.

“Keith has a chance to be a very, very physical guy for us,” Cotton said. “We just look for that continued development. I don’t worry about what his top end potential.”

We’ll say this much: Williams has the potential to be NU’s best guard since, oh, Toniu Fonoti in 2001. That spans a lot of time and a lot of players – including recently drafted Matt Slauson – but Williams is nearly prototypical for the role.

Now about that right side…

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Bo Pelini called the Nebraska football team’s Saturday practice/scrimmage a “good long go,” and indeed it was, a three-hour workout inside the empty Memorial Stadium, where workers are busy putting the finishing touches on the old ship before the 2009 season kicks off.

“We got a lot accomplished,” said the NU head coach. “It was obvious to me that, after watching it, we have a long way to go as a football team, but we’re seeing some good things, too. We’re coming along, we’re well on our way, but we have a long journey ahead of us.”

Pelini said the “effort was good” during the hour-long scrimmage but, “we were sloppy at times, especially with penalties.” NU ran around “50-60 plays.” It ended just before a warm, afternoon rain began to fall.

Said offensive line coach Barney Cotton: “They came to work today. There were certain things we wanted to look at; it wasn’t a continuity kind of scrimmage as far as calling the exact same stuff you’d normally call. But they brought their lunch buckets to work today.”

Quarterback Zac Lee, Pelini said is beginning to develop strong chemistry with the rest of the offense.

“His confidence is growing every day, and as soon as that happens, you see the confidence growing around him,” Pelini said. “The offensive guys feel a sense that he’s ready to step in and lead this team. I think everyone would agree they’re seeing the right things from Zac.”

Pelini also praised the special teams units, which expects to be better than they were last year, especially in kick and punt coverage.

“Our steps are better,” Pelini said. “Our protection is better.”

Preseason All-Big 12 kicker Alex Henery and Brett Maher are in “ongoing competition” for the starting punter job, and Pelini said new snappers trying to replace T.J. O’Leary have “done well.”

“Alex has looked good,” Pelini said. “He’s really confident back there. He wants the job. I think it’s going to be a good battle as we go through camp.”

Nebraska also has “a lot of options” at punt returner, as well.

The Huskers now get a day off Sunday, their first of fall camp.

“We’ll give them some rest,” Pelini said. “We have a lot to accomplish in the next week.”

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Some more in-depth takes from practice on Tuesday:

*Folks, this is a grueling fall camp. The real deal. It’s very intense, the practices are the full allotted length, and there is punishment in place for lack of effort or performance. And neither stars nor scrubs are spared. Pretty old-school stuff.

*An example: Bo Pelini devised a game yesterday. A running back has to hold on to a football for a 24-hour period, and the rest of the team has to try and punch it out. But if they do…everybody gets a little punishment. And yet the whole defense tried to knock the ball away from Rex Burkhead over a 24-hour period. And they couldn’t do it.

“He’s a tough kid,” defensive tackle Jared Crick said.

Yeah, Rex is tough. The team is beginning to discover that.

Now Quentin Castille has the ball.

*Tom Osborne dropped by practice on Tuesday and was chatting with NU’s offensive linemen. Osborne certainly looked like he could still coach, and a number of the players were pleased, and a little awed, to chat with him.

*Then the offensive linemen were pulled out of that reverie and immediately into some quick-twitch tandem drills led by offensive line coach Barney Cotton. Cotton doesn’t mess around, that’s for sure. He didn’t like his group’s attentiveness after a rep, and he told them so.

And this, a day after the offensive line did quite well among the team.

*Jacob Hickman is now, by his senior season, a very technically sound guy. Probably not the most vicious blocker on the planet, but he gets his hips around, and he reads defenders well. NU would do well to keep him at center, if at all possible.

*Brandon Thompson has now gone to the mohawk look. He resembles someone who might be Ricky Henry’s bigger-yet-younger brother. Apparently, they’re both pretty tough guys, too.

*Khiry Cooper is so naturally gifted that he does not appear to try hard sometimes. He makes tough catches look easy, and some of the easy catches look hard. He needs to go at every play with that same high gear.

*Nebraska is going to be more diverse in its shotgun running game this, we think. And that’s all we’ll say until we confirm more.

*Ben Cotton? Looking good through a couple days. Decent hands. Good speed. And physical. He wins the blocking drills against almost everyone.

*Saw more of the ribbon boards and how they’ll organize scores. There will be a section for Big 12, national and other Husker sports scores (each denoted by their respective logos), an area for stats, and a big spot in the middle for the score itself. Plus three ads in between all the sections. A little cluttered, but, overall, a good effect.

*Barry Turner isn’t talking much during this fall camp and, all in all, that’s probably a good thing. Turner is poised to have a big senior season, and, if he lives up to his potential, he’s an NFL guy – really.

*Carl Pelini confirmed today what we sorta knew: Jared Crick was still adjusting to his weight in the spring, and it slowed him down some. This fall, Pelini said, Crick looks much better.

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It was the second straight season that zero Nebraska players were taken on the first day of the NFL Draft and only three were taken overall. It served as a death rattle for the Bill Callahan era.

Will the trend change in future years? We look at the potential Draft prospects of current Huskers:

2010 Draft

Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh: If Suh stays healthy and continues to improve his technique – whether or not his statistics are comparable to 2008 – he’s a sure-fire first-round pick, and possibly a top-ten or top-five pick, depending on team need. At 6-foot-4, 300 pounds, Suh probably isn’t a 3-4 nose guard – those guys are usually squatter and, well, fatter – but he fits into a 4-3 scheme as a 1, 2 or 3 technique, depending on how a defense chooses to play him. He already makes the flashy plays behind the line of scrimmage, and has since his sophomore year.

Defensive end Barry Turner: Teams will look over Turner’s broken leg injury, and since we’re not doctors or insurance specialists, we couldn’t say whether that would prevent Turner from getting selected. As an end, Turner has a good first step and can beat slower linemen to the corner. He’s not as adept at swim and rip moves as he should be. On the flip side, Turner’s received average coaching at best from John Blake. He’s got room to grow.

Center Jacob Hickman: He’ll be helped by his versatility to play either guard spot or center. Hickman, 6-4 and 290, is agile when pulling and skilled at getting to the second level. Probably not the nastiest guy on the planet, but he’s smart, and he knows a number of positions. You could see some team taking him with a late-round pick and developing him as a valuable reserve.

Strong safety Larry Asante: Depending on whether some NFL team thought they could put 20-30 pounds on Asante, he could play linebacker at the next level. Asante hits hard, and he’s generally decent in run support. Where’s he’s struggled is in the passing game. As a safety, we’d see him as a free agent; Clemson’s Michael Hamlin, a much better college player, lasted until well into the second day in the 2009 Draft.

Wide receiver Menelik Holt: Longshot here, but one never knows. Holt has the speed, and he’s a good enough blocker. Nobody knows if he can catch balls and get open consistently, however. He’ll get only one year to prove it and he’d better have big-time numbers. Otherwise, he’ll be a free agent, if that.

For now, we don’t consider middle linebackers Phillip Dillard and Colton Koehler, free safeties Rickey Thenarse and Matt O’Hanlon or receiver Chris Brooks as likely selections, although they may sign as free agents.

2011

Left guard Keith Williams: At 6-5, 305, Williams has the size and strength to become a very good NFL guard. He needs to get more consistent, and cut out wasteful penalties. He’s quicker than recent draftee Matt Slauson and he’ll get two more years of coaching under Barney Cotton. Too hard to project a specific round right now, but Williams would be in the Draft.

Safety Eric Hagg: Could be a quality safety for some NFL team; his size and anticipatory skills are a good fit. Nebraska coaches finally seem set on putting Hagg at safety and letting him blossom there. Two years of good development puts him right in the crosshairs of being drafted. Sometimes, though, it seems like Hagg isn’t aware of how good he could be.

Running back Roy Helu: We fully expect Helu to play four years at NU, if he stays healthy. As a pure runner, Helu is instinctive, quick and hard to bring down. He’s a decent pass-catcher and should improve his blocking. If you were projecting way out, you could see Helu getting picked in the 3rd-4th rounds, maybe even the first day.

Tight end Mike McNeill: We could definitely see a guy like McNeill taking that Dallas Clark role with the Indianapolis Colts. McNeill is sure-handed and athletic, and pretty fast for a tight end. His best skill is open-field running. In two years, he’s a 4th-6th-round selection, and better if he improves his blocking.

Defensive end Pierre Allen: Very good sophomore campaign could lead to big things in 2009 and 2010. Allen needs to keep grinding away as a pass rusher so that he can fit into a 4-3 system, which requires good pass-rushing skills out of its ends. He’d need to gain 20-30 pounds to play end in a 3-4.

Kicker/punter Alex Henery: If he continues to kick like he did in 2008, he’ll be one of a handful of kickers selected in the Draft. Henery’s punting skills may also help him make a roster. The kid’s a bit of a kicking savant; many of his field goal tries are perfectly shaped into the middle of the goalposts, looking like a Phil Mickelson wedge shot.

Running back Quentin Castille: Credit where it’s due: Castille has lost enough weight to be a viable player in a one-back, one-cut outside zone NFL system. No the lead guy, necessarily, but a bruiser type. He gets downhill quickly, strides nicely for a big guy, and seems more comfortable in the open field than he does traffic. Blocks and catches pretty well. Hasn’t shown himself to be a great short-yardage back, but he could develop into one. Castille isn’t a fullback, and NFL teams will quickly notice that watching him on film. The right team with the right need could draft him.

Cornerback Prince Amukamara: If this kid picks up the red the courtesy phone and figures out the position, he’s as intriguing a prospect as any on NU’s team. Naturally gifted, huge vertical leap, tall and fast, not afraid to tackle. Amukamara’s stumbling block isn’t physical stuff. But can he play, drive after drive, without mental errors?

Cornerback Anthony West: Steadier than Amukamara, not quite as gifted, and not quite as big. Gambled and lost a couple times in 2008. Needs to close better and be more aggressive to the ball, as his allowed touchdown in the Red/White Spring Game showed.

Wide receiver Niles Paul: Needs to play more often, and more consistently. Paul would be a slot receiver in the NFL, so route-running, savvy and elusiveness would be important to develop.

Guard Ricky Henry: Strictly a project right now, but the clay is there to be molded. We’ll see.

Cornerback Dejon Gomes: See Ricky Henry.

Quarterback Zac Lee: Too early to tell. The skillset and height suggests he’ll fit into the Joe Ganz category.

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No intensity or effort problems in Nebraska football's Friday practice.

"It picked up quite a bit there," NU offensive line coach Barney Cotton said after the two-hour workout on grass. Head coach Bo Pelini had been openly displeased with Wednesday's offering from the Cornhuskers.

Cotton said NU will scrimmage again some on Saturday. Just how much? A little "hit and miss hitting" before next week's Red/White Spring Game was all he'd offer up.

"The staff hasn't talked about it yet," he said.

The o-line shuffle continues. Senior Jacob Hickman moved back to center today as Ricky Henry worked with the No. 1 unit at right guard. If Henry doesn't work out, Hickman could slip back to guard, with Mike Caputo starting at center. Cotton said he's perfectly willing to let the situation work itself out in the fall, if need be.

On the injury front, Nebraska remains relatively healthy. Running back Roy Helu is out with a hamstring pull, but NU's handling seems more of a precaution than anything else. Senior receiver Chris Brooks came back to practice Friday, as well.

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The way Derek Meyer figures, it’s about being home. You can tell in the way he includes “my family” in almost half of his answers. In how often he says “it just feels right” and calls Nebraska football “a family.” By the way he looks when he recounts the one time his father wasn’t so eager to walk into Memorial Stadium.

“I’ll never forget that,” Meyer said.

It’s been a “really weird road” that led Meyer, a 6-foot-5, 315-pound senior from Campbell, Neb. – 40 minutes south of Hastings, right off of State Hwy. 4 – to NU, where he has one year, as a walk-on, to make an impact on the offensive line. He committed to Kansas State and Bill Snyder in 2005. Redshirted one season. Watched Snyder retire as KSU hired Ron Prince. Played five games in 2006, got hurt, and quit before the Wildcats’ 2007 season-opener at Auburn.

You think Meyer really wants to talk about life under the notorious HCRP, as Cat fans called him? The guy who took a scalpel to the “Miracle in Manhattan” and cut a couple pounds of flesh off of it in his three years?

“I’d rather not go there,” Meyer said.

Suffice it to say the experience left Meyer pondering his future. Already, he had spent two years at Kansas State, a school he’d grown up rooting against with his parents, who had NU season tickets since 1994.

“Down there, they think they’ve got what we have up here,” Meyer said. The support was pretty good, he said. But it’s not quite the same.

Meyer’s parents supported his sojourn to KSU, of course – in 2005, recruiting chats with Bill Callahan’s crew “just weren’t working the way I felt comfortable with,” Meyer said – but his dad didn’t like it much when he had to don the rival purple for the 2005 game.

“The day after that game, my dad said ‘This is the first time I’ve ever been embarrassed to walk into Memorial Stadium,” Meyer said.

Dad wouldn’t have to do it again. But the K-State experience had been so sour that Meyer wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. Even though he eventually committed to play at San Diego State – with a scholarship – he kept an eye on NU, which was going through its worst season since 1968.

“Things happened quick,” Meyer said.

Callahan was dumped. Bo Pelini was hired.

That, Meyer said, was a sign. He and his dad had watched Pelini operate when they attended the 2003 Alamo Bowl, where Pelini served as interim head coach.

“Just the fire he had, the way players rallied around him, the coaches likewise,” Meyer said. “That was something I wanted to be a part of. He’s gonna get on you, but he’s got your back no matter what.”

Meyer’s old offensive line coach at Kansas State, Bob Stanley, was then stationed at Western Michigan. He knew Barney Cotton, who was hired by Pelini to coach Nebraska’s offensive line.

Stanley put in a good word, Cotton asked for film, liked what he saw, and offered Meyer a chance to walk-on.

The biggest catch: Meyer wouldn’t just lose one year of eligibility. Because the transfer was inside the Big 12 Conference, he’d lose two. And, of course, there wasn’t a scholarship available.

Cotton even told Meyer: I understand if you can’t come.

“It would have been nice to have a scholarship and get school paid for, but, you know what? I can deal with it,” Meyer said. “If money was an issue, we would have went elsewhere. It’s just a dream for myself and my family to come play here for the Huskers.”

As for the lost year?

“If I don’t play one snap, it’s gonna be worth having the “N” on the side of my helmet,” Meyer said.

Except that Meyer intends very much to play. That’s part of why he was honored as the offensive scout team player of the year in 2008. Usually that goes to some redshirted skill player who punked the defense for a bunch of touchdowns in scrimmages. Zac Lee, for example, won it in 2007.

Meyer did it by playing wherever the coaches asked him – both guard positions and both tackle spots – and holding his own against Nebraska’s defensive line.

“He’s very hungry,” Cotton said. “You can see it right on his chest: ‘I’ve got one year and I’m going to make the most of it.’”

When the linemen meet in the classroom, Cotton said, they’re asked to take notes. They’re given a pad with which to take them.

“I’m going to have to get him another notebook,” Cotton said. “I’ve never seen a guy take more detailed notes than him. He’s writing everything down that’s on that board. He’s got a one-year window and knows it.”

Said Meyer: “I have to. Last year on scout team, we’re looking over offenses that our opponents were running, so I haven’t had a chance to look our playbook a whole lot. Now that I’m finally eligible and looking at our playbook, I’ve got to keep up with everybody else who’s been here two or three years.”

He’ll be needed, too. With tackle Jaivorio Burkes out of spring, and maybe for good, with an undisclosed medical condition, Meyer is slotted as second-string right tackle, right behind sophomore Marcel Jones. Cotton likes to rotate guys to keep them fresh, so if Meyer can lock in the details of the West Coast Offense, he’ll get his wish “to put Campbell on the map a little bit.”

At the very least, Meyer’s dad doesn’t have to fish out a purple shirt from the bottom drawer when Kansas State visits NU in next fall.

“I told him, ‘Dad, that’ll never happen again,” Meyer said. “You’ll be wearing red.”

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It was in Ames, Iowa – that cozy, windy, math-minded community north of Des Moines - where Nebraska offensive line Barney Cotton spent one of the best years of his coaching career.

And we’re not even talking about the three seasons he spent as Iowa State’s offensive coordinator.

“I volunteered at Ames High School and a got a chance to coach my son,” said Cotton, whose son Ben now plays tight end at NU. “And the other two kids, I never missed a game of theirs. I got a chance to rejuvenate myself and got a chance to realize what coaching is all about.

“It’ll be good to go back there. That was home for four years.”

Cotton joined the Cyclones in 2004 when then-coach Dan McCarney hired him. When McCarney was fired in 2006, Cotton was not retained by current coach Gene Chizik. Still, he knows many of the ISU players who will line up against the 3-3 Cornhuskers in Saturday’s 11:30 a.m. contest on Versus.

After the final gun, he’ll seek some of them out, shake their hands and reminisce a little. Cotton handled a similar situation in 2004, one year after he had been Nebraska’s offensive coordinator under Frank Solich.

Before that, he said, he won’t think much about it.

“Too much is made out of playing at old school that you worked at,” Cotton said. “When I worked over there and now that I work over here we were working our butt off just to win the football game. You don’t really worry about who you’re gonna play. At least I don’t.”

No argument from right guard Matt Slauson.

“He’s been even-keel all year long,” Slauson said. “He’s put no extra emphasis on this game. Every game seems like there’s extra emphasis on it, because that’s the way it needs to be."

Cotton’s primary concern has been ISU’s defensive line, which has helped caused nine fumbles so far this year. Ends Christopher Lyle and Kurtis Taylor have combined for seven sacks and 15 tackles for losses, comparable to the numbers compiled by Nebraska’s unit.

It’s a bunch, Cotton said, that got his team’s attention the film room.

“You see them playing with a lot of energy,” Cotton said. ‘A lot of times that translates to turnovers. They’re playing very hard – especially their pass rushers.”

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It’s not a night in the box or eating 50 eggs, but Nebraska offensive line coach Barney Cotton and offensive coordinator Shawn Watson are adding a little deterrent for every penalty the o-line accrues in upcoming game.


The gasser.


“We had to do some conditioning yesterday,” senior guard Matt Slauson said. “We have to run a half gasser for every penalty in the game. So we had to run six. Down and back. Sideline to sideline.”


For the 37-31 loss to Texas Tech, that’s three false starts and three holding calls for a little more than 600 yards, for those of you imagining at home.


For penalties NU coaches see in practice, they will assign up-downs or push-ups. The Huskers’ offensive line had a couple of those to endure Tuesday night. The whole line.


Slauson joked that he would prefer to do the practice punishment than the running that will come after game penalties.


"I’m not good at running, especially long,” he said. “I’m good at between 0 and 10 yards. That’s really my cup of tea.


“Really - all jokes aside, you just have to take the punishment the right way whether it’s easy or not, just because you can’t be having drive stoppers like that.”


Said left tackle Mike Smith: “Coach Watson says he doesn’t know anything else to do except run us.”


Smith was called for two consecutive holding penalties Saturday that killed Nebraska’s drive right before halftime. NU trailed 17-7 late in the second quarter, but Niles Paul returned a kickoff 70 yards to the Tech 30-yard-line. On two straight plays, quarterback Joe Ganz completed passes for easy first downs; both were called because of flags.


The second holding penalty, Smith said, was probably called on him in error because he was never told he held on the play and “officials mess up numbers all the time.” Still, Smith said, he had been caught grabbing the defender’s jersey while Ganz was scrambling.


The flags didn’t just earn Smith some calisthenics; they also led to a seat on the bench in the second half of the Tech game. Jaivorio Burkes replaced Smith, and was listed at the top guy at left tackle in this week’s depth chart.


Head coach Bo Pelini cautioned reading too much into the change.


“(Smith) wasn’t the only one who held,” Pelini said. “We had a number of holding penalties. That’s an area of concern and has been. It’s something we’ve stressed and talked about all week. They creep up. It’s just a matter of having enough discipline so when something breaks down or you start to get beat, you can’t reach out and grab. That’s the bottom line.”



Aside from the penalties, Saturday’s game represented one of the better performances from Cotton’s unit, good enough to eat up 40 minutes of clock and draw ample praise from Texas Tech Coach Mike Leach. Credit fewer line calls and a bunch who continues to learn under Cotton, whose blocking methods and philosophy differ from the Bill Callahan regime.



Slauson said he was a little disappointed in only 114 rushing yards; he thought the line had created better holes (it did, actually; backs Roy Helu and Marlon Lucky missed a couple of them). After watching the film, Slauson said that some holes were present on plays in which NU chose to throw swing passes to Lucky or screen passes to Nate Swift or Niles Paul.



There was also a certain fourth-and-one play in which a hole was conspicuously absent.



“I watched it on film, and I struggle to see what happened, but there definitely wasn’t a hole there,” Slauson said with a rueful smile. “(Tech) ran a great blitz at the right time. Not everybody on that side executed all the way.”



No gassers for botched short yardage plays. Yet.

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