Holding a football against the ground, Nebraska wide receivers coach Ted Gilmore kneels near a line of guys running sideline patterns inside the Hawks Championship Center.

“Hard through ten!” he barks at nearly every one of them. He watches their feet, mostly; he wants to see their precision as they stop and change direction. Detailing, Gilmore calls it. He wants routes that give his receivers an extra half-yard of cushion on an out pattern. That set the hook in the cornerback for a double move later in the game, when his calves are burning.

The line starts with Niles Paul. He bolts from a half-crouch, faster than any receiver in recent memory. He jams the breaks at 12 yards, turns and presents himself to a pass already thrown by Cody Green.

Green’s pass flutters a bit, high and wide, tailing like a foul ball. But Paul’s run the route so crisply, so quickly, that he’s on it. Thwap! Paul catches it cleanly, two hands above his head, feet safely in bounds.

Gilmore’s silence after the play is a compliment.

It’s just a drill. Just a small, forgettable, insignificant repetition. But it’s everything, too. It’s the speed and explosion Terrence Nunn, Nate Swift and Todd Peterson lacked, combined with the “detailing” Maurice Purify couldn’t bother to master.

“He’s doing things now that two years ago I honestly didn’t think he’d be able to do,” Gilmore said. “I didn’t know how important it was to him…he’s a now a guy where I can say, ‘Here’s an example of what we want.’”

Said Paul: “It’s dramatically different. I could never see myself growing into the player I am now. I knew I had talent as a freshman, but I never really ran routes like that, really working on my routes, really catching the ball, doing things better.”

As easy as Paul now makes it look, that’s how hard it was, getting there.

For much of his NU career, he was Sisyphus, making strides only to, in momentary lapses of concentration, watch the rock tumble down to the bottom of the mountain. Or, in the Texas Tech and Iowa State games, watch it roll around like a pigskin bomb on the turf, detonating NU’s chances at victory.

Before that, just a year ago, Paul was suspended for the last week of spring practice following an alcohol-related arrest.

“Made a mistake around this time last year,” Paul said. “It’s something that will never happen again.”

Before that was a sketchy Gator Bowl performance that left some Husker fans wondering if Paul, who dazzled fans with so many circus catches at Omaha North, would ever recover from Bill Callahan torching his redshirt in 2007, thus robbing Gilmore of a year coaching, and Paul of a year of maturity.

Yet here is Paul now catching a quick slant from Taylor Martinez, flexing, smiling and quoting Leonidas from the movie “300:” “This is where we hold them! This is where we fight!”

Easy confidence hard-earned through a chiseled body - the Spartans have nothing on Paul’s physique - a mastery of the offense and repeated doses of humility.

Yanked at halftime of the Missouri game, only to save the Huskers’ hide in the fourth quarter. The dropped backwards-pass returned for a touchdown vs. Texas Tech. The “phantom fumble” vs. Iowa State, when it appeared Paul was coasting for a long touchdown, only to have the ball pop out, leading to the strangest of NU’s nine turnovers.

“I made some mistakes I thought I’d never make in a million years, but I did, and I learned from them,” Paul said.

But after both games, disastrous, soul-rattling losses around here, Paul hauled himself out to the lobby, where the media grilled him about his gaffes.

Paul could have begged off, like Nunn did after the 2006 Texas game. He could have let Bo Pelini take the bullet. And Bo would’ve done it. He’s spoken for his players more than once - including the entire team after the 2008 Oklahoma game.

“I just had to man up and take my licks for that,” Paul said. “I’ve been raised that way by my dad. I knew a lot of that was my fault. I felt like I had to talk to the media about it.”

Just an interview. A small, mostly forgettable moment over the course of Paul’s career.

And yet it’s everything for an offense that lacked vocal leadership last year, and will count upon Paul for it in 2010.

“He’s grown up,” Gilmore said.

See also: Sizing Up NU's 2011 QB Prospects

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It was the gut check of Curenski Gilleylen’s career.

The Nebraska receiver, then a sophomore, had just been demoted from starter to scout after a 9-7 loss to Iowa State. He tried to take his medicine, man up, roll with it.

But then he stood on the sidelines of NU’s 20-10 win at Baylor, waiting to enter the game for one play. Any play.

“It was one of the first times I had a lot of family there,” said Gilleylen, a native of nearby Leander, Texas. One hour from Waco.

But wide receivers coach Ted Gilmore never sent him in. Not once. Imagine how that would burn.

“I realized then, this is for real,” Gilleylen said.

Said Gilmore: “I think (Curenski) miscalculated how long it would take.”

And no wide receiver could have hoped to predict what happened to the Cornhuskers’ offense after that. The power sets. The fullback. Four tight ends, lined up like dock workers, mashing into extra defensive linemen. Three yards and a mist of the rubber stuff in FieldTurf.

Other than Niles Paul, do you think any of NU’s wide receivers signed up for that? Standing on the sidelines, watching trench warfare between the hash marks?

“Did I have counseling sessions at times?” Gilmore said. “Sure. Absolutely. But we have to understand at times we have to surrender the ‘I for the We.’”

Brandon Kinnie, an athletic junior college transfer, watched all of it transpire, watched friends Gilleylen and Menelik Holt get demoted, thus opening a door for him. Time to step through it.

It cracked open once before in the Missouri game, when Gilmore benched his starters to begin the third quarter and welcomed Kinnie and Antonio Bell to a driving rainstorm, without their gloves, which Gilmore had snatched from his pupils at halftime.

Then Zac Lee fluttered a pass toward Kinnie’s feet. A slider in the dirt, low and outside, no gloves, hard rain, soaked ball, smashed up against the sideline.

Like you’d catch that.

So Kinnie was taken out. Later, Paul rescued the Huskers with the first great catches of his career.

When Holt got demoted - never to really return - and Chris Brooks got hurt right after that vs. Texas Tech, Kinnie seized his second opportunity.

“I was like ‘anything can happen,’” Kinnie said. “I just kept telling myself: You have to make plays.”

He made a few - two of the seven receptions in the Oklahoma game, two more in the Big 12 Championship game. The Sooners and Longhorns blanketed Paul. Kinnie was Plan B. And he finally figured out blocking by the Kansas State game.

“That took the whole year,” Kinnie said.

But Kinnie, a talkative, motivated competitor, was more driven by what he didn’t do. Didn’t catch a touchdown. Didn’t get his foot down on two key plays vs. Texas, one on third down, when Lee dialed up Kinnie - not Paul - on an end zone fade route.

“If I have had that ball, we score a touchdown,” Kinnie said. “We would have won that game, we would have been Big 12 champs.”

Gilleylen felt the same way about his near-miss vs. Iowa State. He ran a post, Lee stuck the ball a little high and wide. Gilleylen only got two fingers on it, tipping the ball to a Cyclone defender. Pick. Eighth turnover of nine for the day.

“That’s a ball you want to come down with,” Gilleylen said. “And that pretty much sealed the game. That’s one I wish I could have had back.”

How much would the receivers, as a group, take back from 2009? Enough of it.

The mastery of small details - ball security, route running, hand placement - that defined Nate Swift and Todd Peterson in their senior seasons eluded the 2009 bunch. Instead - frustration. Ego. Inconsistency. Immaturity.

“I got comfortable a little bit,” Gilleylen admitted. “I can’t get complacent. I always have to strive to get better.”

It’s still a journey. For all of them, really, even Paul, although Gilmore sets him apart for now.

“He’s had one mistake all camp,” Gilmore said. “He’s really matured.”

Kinnie, who knows his coach too well, rattles off a list of details he trying to master. Gilmore, while praising the junior for his competitive zeal, just as quickly mentions: “We’ve got to clean up his routes.”

Beyond that, Kinnie guns for Paul. It’s friendly, but hardcore. Somebody has to push No. 24.

“Every little thing you could think of, we competed at it,” Kinnie said.

Gilleylen started spring camp, Gilmore said, “on fire.” Gilleylen has that gear, you see. Straight-line speed, size, strength. He flashed all of it at the beginning of last year, when he made many of the best plays in the Florida Atlantic game, including the one he was proudest of, a block to spring Holt for a touchdown.

But then Gilleylen “took a step back” in the last two spring practices, Gilmore said.

“He’s got to play hard, he’s got to play explosive every single time,” Gilmore said. “We’re still working on that. We’re not where we need to be.”

Gilleylen’s battling with senior “adjuster” Mike McNeill for the slot job while Paul holds down one outside receiver job and Kinnie seeks to secure the other. Sophomore Khiry Cooper rejoins the fray in the fall. Tim Marlowe’s in there. Sophomore Antonio Bell is “on the come,” Gilmore said, but he needs to catch more balls this summer, build up his confidence. More work in the weight room, too.

“You see it on the field,” Gilmore said. “He’s getting knocked around a little bit.”

A challenger has emerged at the edge of the frame, too, in senior walk-on Joe Broekemeier. Doesn’t know what he doesn’t know yet. But he has ball skills. And a summer to catch up.

“This fall could be interesting,” Gilmore said of Broekemeier, but he could have been talking about the entire corps.

Kinnie uses a different phrase: “Big-time.” He’ll answer a question that way, or use it as a description. Oh, big-time, big-time.

Interesting. Big-time. The distance between the two.

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Ted Gilmore didn’t start counting until midway through the first quarter.

But as Nebraska’s receivers coach and recruiting coordinator watched the BCS National Championship game between Alabama and Texas, he heard NU’s football program mentioned by name 15 times during the broadcast, often in addition to another name. Ndamukong Suh.

“When you have that kind of free exposure, all that can do is help you,” Gilmore said.

Suh, who swept all of the major defensive awards, finished fourth in the Heisman and should be picked at the very top of April’s NFL Draft, is a gift who keeps on giving, especially as it pertains to Nebraska’s 2011 recruiting class. The Cornhuskers, Gilmore said, are at a high-water mark for visibility.

“Young men are calling us asking about the program,” Gilmore said. “We’re feeling it.”

And Nebraska, after modest-sized classes in 2009 and 2010, is feeling them, responding with its most aggressive - and optimistic - recruiting plan yet.

“We’re going to make a push nationally,” Gilmore said. “We’re going to make our push all over. We’re going to take our shots at some kids and see what happens. With the exposure that’s come over the last two years, you’d be foolish to not at least swing at a couple of them and see what happens.”

The boldness is particularly seen in Florida where, according to the Rivals.com database, NU has already offered 13 players and received one commitment from Clearwater Countryside offensive lineman Tyler Moore. That’s on the heels of landing Bradenton Manatee quarterback Brion Carnes on Signing Day for the 2010 class.

In the Bill Callahan era, NU rarely tapped the Sunshine State, landing just four high school commitments, one of which, center Danny Muy in 2004, was a Bo Pelini connection. Two of those four - Muy and quarterback Harrison Beck - left the program. Offensive lineman Cruz Barrett appears headed for a medical redshirt while senior LaTravis Washington is a reserve quarterback. Bo Pelini’s first class added wide receiver Antonio Bell from Daytona Beach.

Running backs coach Tim Beck handles most of the duties in South Florida; Nebraska has offered four players in Ft. Lauderdale, three in Miami, two in Tampa, two in Plantation and one in Delray Beach.

“Their program has an awful lot to present right now,” Ft Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas coach George Smith said. “They have a great reputation. They’re down here making their presence known, and they have a great opportunity to get some guys.”

Tim Beck first made his Aquinas connection last season to recruit running back Gio Bernard, who, after backing out of a commitment to Notre Dame, landed at North Carolina. Aquinas, having won five state titles in the last 17 years - and one USA Today Super25 national title in 2008 - sent ten players to Division I last year, including cornerback Lamarcus Joyner, the USA Today Defensive Player of the Year.

NU has offered two Aquinas players - offensive lineman Bobby Hart and wide receiver Philip Dorsett - for the 2011 cycle.

Not surprisingly, both have a glut of local offers - Dorsett to Florida and Hart to Florida State, South Florida and Central Florida - but that doesn’t mean they’ll stay close to home, Smith said. Aquinas sent players to Wisconsin, Notre Dame and Marshall last year. And, of course, Carnes - the quarterback who knocked Aquinas out of the state playoffs with a 28-20 win last year - hoofed it to NU.

“It’s unique, because you can get guys to leave here who simply want to get away,” Smith said. “It’s feasible to get guys out of here.”
Beyond the exposure, another reason for the jump in offers, Gilmore said, are the relationships NU spent the last two years building.

Although many college programs execute the “regime change” recruiting class in year two, Nebraska mostly held on to Callahan recruits, most of whom will graduate after next season. That allowed NU’s high school relationships to marinate.

While Callahan opted for a heavy dose of junior college transfers in his massive, highly-regarded 2005 class, some recruitniks argue his 2007 class as his strongest. That group - including Prince Amukamara, Eric Hagg, Zac Lee, Roy Helu, Jared Crick and Niles Paul - is a backbone of the 2010 team.

“Some of these kids you’ve been working on for two or three years,” Gilmore said. “You reap the benefit of that hard work. I’ve always felt it’s that third or fourth year where you see the fruits of your labor.

“This year will be a pivotal year. No question about it. And it should be a year, in my opinion, that’s our best.”

Can the Huskers catch UT and Oklahoma in three years?

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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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Maybe it's useful, sometimes, to close our eyes and imagine offensive coordinators as philosophers. Instead of the dismal tide of civilization and all that, the subject is, you know, how to use a fullback. Or the value of the wildcat formation.

You could not have divorced John Locke from the idea of tabula rasa, even if you don't agree with it, any more than Eleanor Rigby could throw away her face in a jar. It's what Locke believed. It's the rock upon which he built his worldview. Sages in some circles, fools in others – most folks stick to their philosophical principles.

So it's little surprise, really, when NU offensive coordinator Shawn Watson, asked for his vision of the future, said, simply: “It would be a team like we were last year.”

Shotgun spread. Zone running game. Controlled passing game. With some power formations mixed in near the goal line. The stuff that didn't work for the first half of this year. The offense never quite reached “diseased yak” stage, but it was taking on the hoof rot, and beginning to look incongruous with, you know, victory.

To Watson's credit, Tom Osborne's help and head coach Bo Pelini's leadership, Nebraska's offensive braintrust enacted an “Apollo 13” scenario, Watson said, hatching a plan to rescue the Cornhuskers from an overrated Pink Floyd album.

WatsOzBo dialed first Cody Green's number. To no avail, apparently – the kid's jersey hasn't been street-side in nearly three games. Now it's the option, the occasional (and successful) house call from Dr. Niles Paul, a rejuvenated Roy Helu and Zac Lee eating his fruits, vegetables and cheap shots from opposing linebackers. A steady diet of big, burly power football, replete with tight ends, fullbacks and all the stuff that makes us think of Osborne, Lassie, homemade deer sausage, and afghans knitted in the parlor and draped over couches in the sun room.

It's also a winning formula, playing to what Watson calls the “best defense in the United States of America.” If not Zanzibar.

“We've all had to diet our egos, and we've all had to put the stats behind us,” Watson said. “The most important stat we all care about is winning. We've done what it's taken to win football game.”

Just know: Watson doesn't intend it to last.

Oh, he'll keep some of the power tools in the shed.

“Some of the problems we encountered last year as our season wore on on was red zone football, red zone running game, and you have to have a lead running game down there,” Watson said.

But Watson will return the Great American West Coast Novel.

“We're going to have to grow into that at quarterback, to be honest with you,” Watson said. “We're going to have to grow into that at receiver. And that's going to be a process.”

Ah, the “p” word again. The single, seven-letter, two-syllable utterance used to explain the countless hours and unknowable effort that goes into the elaborate chess match that is football. It also describes how Velveeta is made.

How long does Watson's “process” take? I find the word equally vague when Pelini uses it, but his revamped defense is a Brazilian tarantula preying on baby toucans. He can call it Parker Posey for Nebraska fans care.

For Watson, the journey may be tougher. Lee knows the words, but not yet the music. Green's on-field development is pretty much over for 2009. The bowl practices and spring football will be an extended audition to see if Green can become a consistent passer and wrestle the job away from Lee. As for Kody Spano and Taylor Martinez – who knows?

At receiver, Nebraska faces a dicier proposition. Paul will be a senior. The guy is who he is. I actually like who he's become in the last month. It suits him. NU's power offense suits him, for that matter. Paul can block, and he can catch the deep ball. This version of DosQuatro seems more helpful than running ten-yard stick routes.

Menelik Holt and Chris Brooks graduate as unfulfilled (underdeveloped?) talent. Khiry Cooper will spend this spring playing baseball. Antonio Bell probably won't be allowed on the field until he can block. Will Henry probably won't be allowed on the field, period. That leaves Curenski Gilleylen, who hasn't caught a pass in a month, and unpolished-but-talented Brandon Kinnie.

Do you see Joe Ganz or Todd Peterson or Nate Swift – three guys who were so discounted that they honed their craft to precise detail – walking back through that door? That trio was so prolific because they shared a desire to prove their coaches and critics wrong. They had no choice but to be precise. They weren't going to play otherwise.

Does Watson appreciate the dynamic those three had? After all, when he talks about “growing” into the quarterback and receiver positions, he's talking about replacing what Ganz, Swift and Peterson brought to the table. It wasn't raw athleticism – it was canniness, mixed with smarts and sheer effort.

But how do you replace motivational lightning caught in a bottle?

You can't, really. So you either alter the scheme – a temporary fix, in Watson's eyes - recruit new guys to learn the scheme, or hire new coaches to teach it. And the last of those three options is never pleasant. But Boss Bo, at the very least, has to put it on the table.

If “Apollo 13” is really the soup du jour, and Watson wants his offense a certain way, then hard questions need to be asked. Why did Holt, Brooks and Henry slide by the boards? Recruiting? Development? How do you handle the quarterback competition between Lee and Green? Can you afford to keep around certain scholarship guys at the bottom of depth charts for the sake of kindness? Why were they recruited in the first place?

We know the questions sound like a broken record - but as Watson said Monday - he intends to return the scene of scratch.

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An unseasonably warm night game. Television cameras swarming around the field of play. A raucous Memorial Stadium crowd bubbling with noise and excitement. And most importantly, a big win over a name team – Oklahoma.

They don't happen often, but Nebraska enjoyed one of those perfect storms of football recruiting Saturday night, as three official visitors – defensive tackle Jay Guy, defensive end Tobi Okuyemi and defensive back Joshua Mitchell – committed directly following NU's 10-3 victory. Other visitors who didn't commit rated the experience highly.

“You have to live through that one,” said running backs coach Tim Beck, one of the Huskers' prime operators in Texas. “You can try, but it doesn't give it justice. Being here and experiencing that – and having those kids come here and experience that – it's once in a lifetime.”

The weekend commits made 14 overall pledges for the 2010 recruiting class. Then Lincoln Southeast offensive line Jake Cotton officially made 15, although he apparently committed weeks ago. Cotton, the son of offensive line coach Barney Cotton, is a 6-foot-7, 265-pound late bloomer whose only other offers were from UNO and Northwest Missouri State. He's an offensive lineman now, but may fit in on the defensive line in college.

“In this situation, I'm a coach,” Barney Cotton said of son's commitment. Ben Cotton already plays tight end for Nebraska. Coaches aren't allowed to talk players who haven't officially signed with a team. “I'm a dad in seeing him play and all that, but in this case I'm a coach.”

After a slow summer of few unofficial visits and two decommits – Anterio Sloan and Keeston Terry - that had message boards buzzing with concern and criticism, Nebraska has seemingly rebounded, filling most of its class. Recruiting coordinator and wide receivers coach Ted Gilmore said NU's class should be in the “16 to 18 range” in terms of players, “unless something crazy happens.”

Gilmore said he's “satisfied” with NU's haul thus far.

“A lot of times people look at what other teams are doing – 'Oh, they've got this many commitments, why don't we have any commitments?' - but we're comfortable with our process and we're going to let it take its course,” Gilmore said. “It comes in spurts for us. And we're happy. We're only going to take a few more. We're right there.”

Nebraska already has a solid start on its 2011 class, as well, with commits from Crete defensive tackle Ryne Reeves and Florida offensive lineman Tyler Moore. A trip to the Big 12 Championship in Dallas – Beck's stomping ground – only improves NU's profile in the Lone Star State and elsewhere.

“Anytime you're playing in championship games, they help,” he said.

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Trap game. Tune-up. Upset alert. Afternoon pastry.

You could flip-flop all morning, you know, on just what Saturday’s 1:10 p.m. game vs. Arkansas State represents for Nebraska’s football team.

But, in the state that invented the reuben, we prefer the independent party on this debate: Call the Red Wolves the first of three “sandwich” games. The next is Sept. 26, vs. Louisiana-Lafayette. The third is Oct. 24 vs. Iowa State. All home games. All bridges to and from more important contests. All meant, eventually, to be devoured.

ASU is perched between NU’s season-opening romp over Florida Atlantic – crucial for development and experience – and the game at Virginia Tech. It’s should be a win, but, initially, it probably won’t be easy. Arkansas State is liable to raise more questions about the Cornhuskers than it answers. Consider it a hoagie bun of meat, vinegar, olives – OK, we’ve taken the analogy far enough. On with the keys:

The Buzz Word: Which, over the last week, was “tempo.” Is it college basketball season yet? Did Doc Sadler start coaching the NU offense?

No, it’s still Shawn Watson up in the booth dialing up the touchdowns, and he wants his plays more quickly relayed to quarterback Zac Lee, called in the huddle, and executed. Watson figures – and he’s right – that if Lee scoots to the line of scrimmage with 12-13 seconds left on the play clock, Nebraska can wear out a defense much like a no-huddle offense. Against Florida Atlantic, when Lee and Co. finally got around to establishing optimal “tempo,” some bioengineer got his wings, and the Owls couldn’t stop the run.

That’ll be the same idea against Arkansas State. It’s still humid in September around here. It’s still pretty easy to wear out a smaller-conference team. And it’s still a big, athletic Nebraska offensive line. Even though ASU has two defensive linemen who could play at NU – especially defensive end Alex Carrington – it is, as a whole, is undersized and mashable. It might take a couple quarters, but tempo, eventually, sets in.

Lead Wolf: On ASU’s offense, that’s quarterback Corey Leonard, a scrappy, stocky kid who threw for 2,347 yards last year and ran for 516. He was the team’s second-leading rusher in attempts with 157, or roughly 13 attempts per game. Leonard’s better running north-south than he is east-west, but he’s counted upon for that extra offensive dimension.

“He can run,” NU head coach Bo Pelini said. “He’s a good dual-threat guy. He presents some problems in that way. They’re not afraid to run him, especially when they get down in the red area.”

More of an athlete than a classic quarterback, Leonard runs to set up his passing, and the result isn’t always pretty. He was fairly awful (8-17, 67 yards) at Alabama last year. But Nebraska has to cause him to have a bad day.

Also a boon to Nebraska: ASU is a little vulnerable to the sack monster, giving up 29, 39, 37 and 31 of them in each of the last four years. The Red Wolves may try to play it safe, like FAU did, but look what it earned the Owls. A bag o’ peanuts back to Boca.

Much of the game will be decided on whether NU’s front seven – we’re including blitzers here - can get up close and personal with Leonard.

Lanes: As in keeping them. On punt team, on kickoff, and especially on upfield defensive pursuits. Spread offenses feast on teams with undisciplined defensive lines. The very concept of the sloppy sack, where four defenders just sort loop around aimlessly until one of them reaches the quarterback, doesn’t apply to the spread, which creates lanes so big, and so inviting, that if a player runs through that trap, Leonard, or his running back, Reggie Arnold, are zipping right by.

After a frustrating week against FAU’s timid offense, NU defensive linemen will be tempted to freestyle in order to get to the quarterback. Which is precisely what Arkansas State wants.

The Edges: Nebraska has a subtle, but potentially important, advantage over ASU. NU’s wide receivers will dwarf members of ASU’s secondary. All three starters – 6-foot-4 Menelik Holt, 6-2 Niles Paul and 6-1 Curenski Gilleylen – weigh well north of 200 pounds. None of the Red Wolves’ defensive backs, including strong safety M.D. Jennings, are anywhere near that weight total, or taller than six feet. It’s a fast bunch, but not necessarily a physical one.

Where does that advantage matter most? Running plays. If Nebraska can rebuff ASU’s scrappy defensive line, and running backs Roy Helu and Rex Burkhead can hit the corners, Paul, Holt and Gilleylen should be able to hold their blocks. Blocking, in fact, might be what the three of them do best. Paul and Holt earned some of their spurs last year, while Gilleylen shook down the thunder on Holt’s 28-yard touchdown catch in the Florida Atlantic game.

“I want a complete receiver, I do,” wide receivers coach Ted Gilmore said. “And I challenge them like you wouldn’t believe to block and take pride in it…you can fire up a team without making a touchdown.”

Mix tape: The Huskers only showed a portion of their running game vs. FAU, and what they did show was a little different from 2008. I liked what I saw – misdirection, a little veer action, a counter sweep. It wasn’t Florida’s offense, but it was nice blend of power and finesse.

Saturday may require more of the finesse. Option plays. Toss plays – which Nebraska ran well on Saturday. Outside zone runs out of the shotgun.

“We’ve got a lot of toys in the trunk,” running backs coach Tim Beck said. Not that he was dishing about just which toys offensive coordinator Shawn Watson was going to use, of course.

See also: Guess The Score NU-ASU, Five More Keys, Five Players to Watch, Husker Locker's Top 25 Poll

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Nebraska wide receivers coach Ted Gilmore had wanted to find his six or seven top candidates for playing by the end of last week.

On Tuesday, Gilmore said, he’s carrying the competition over to the end of this week. As of now, only one player – junior Niles Paul – has earned significant playing time, and another sophomore Marcus Mendoza, moved back to running back. That leaves roughly a dozen players for five spots.

Well, maybe five more spots.

“You knew what? I threw that number out, six, but if two of them are doing it, then two of them are going to play,” Gilmore said. “I’m looking for the best football players.

And if NU needs four pass-catchers for a third down, who fills the role? Tight ends?

“There you go,” Gilmore said. “We’re gonna put the best 11 players on the football field.”

The receiving corps has until the end of this week to prevent Gilmore and offensive coordinator Shawn Watson from implementing any kind of plan out of the Norman Dale handbook.

Said Watson: “They’re competing. We’ll find out who those guys are. We’ll give them to the end of the week to figure it out.”

Here are the likeliest candidates for those roles:

Senior Chris Brooks: Battled injuries, expectations and bouts of inconsistency to earn more playing time at the end of 2008. He was NU’s No. 5 receiver and occasionally lined up in the slot. He caught a touchdown pass vs. Kansas.

Senior Menelik Holt: Has been slated to start by pundits and most fans since the start of spring football, but the coaching staff has handed the 6-foot-4, 225-pounder nothing thus far. Holt had 31 catches in 2008.

Senior Wes Cammack: Specialist on kick coverage units in 2008, finishing with nine tackles. He caught a touchdown in the spring game and just went on scholarship last week.

Junior Will Henry: A 6-5, slender outside receiver who had strong practice sessions in late 2008 and during the spring. Gilmore said last week Henry’s had a fair camp, but hadn’t made any standout plays.

Junior Adam Watson: Shawn Watson’s son. Converted walk-on safety.

Sophomore Curenski Gilleylen: With speed to burn and a good frame, he could be a front-runner at slot, but he’s struggled catching the ball at times.

Sophomore Brandon Kinnie: Looks the part at 6-3, 220 pounds, but is “sinking” in terms of learning the playbook.

“He hasn’t really shown what he can do,” Gilmore said. “And you can see it in his play. His hesitation…once he gets it, we’ve got something good there.”

Redshirt freshman Khiry Cooper: The two-sport kid who missed all of spring camp playing baseball.

Redshirt freshman Steven Osborne: Tall, lanky guy whose brother, Courtney, plays defensive back. Gilmore has alternately praised and been tough on Osborne during fall camp.

Redshirt freshman Tim Marlowe: Small, speedy slot guy whom Gilmore has praised a couple times in camp.

True freshman Antonio Bell: Nicknamed “Lil Frantz” because he has a frame and speed like former NU receiver Frantz Hardy, Bell has shown good receiving skills. Now it’s a matter of blocking and getting separation at the line of scrimmage. Same obstacles Hardy had, although Hardy enjoyed a solid career, and caught 54 passes for 971 yards and seven touchdowns during his career.

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If a Nebraska football player wants to make a strong bid for early-season playing time, now is the time do it, as the Cornhuskers near the end of the second week of fall camp.

“We’ve got a couple more practices before we’re going to make a lot of decisions,” wide receivers coach Ted Gilmore said after Friday’s morning practice, the first of two that day. “Those last two practices are going to make a difference. There’s a few that have kind of separated themselves, and there’s a few who are kind of teeter-tottering back and forth.”

The heated competition may have something to do with what senior safety Ricky Thenarse called one of the hardest-hitting practices of camp. Thenarse said he got in on the fun, as well, laying a shoulder into senior receiver Chris Brooks on a slant pattern.

Thenarse is one of those players making a late surge in practice. He worked with the No. 1 unit today as senior Matt O’Hanlon did not practice. O’Hanlon is still expected to be the guy at strong safety, but the athletic Thenarse was pleased with his progress.

“I’ve been making good keys,” Thenarse said. “My eyes have been focused. I’ve been focused. I haven’t been having missed assignments.”

Ditto for much of the defensive secondary, which feels far more comfortable with the schemes and calls than it did in 2008. Secondary coach Marvin Sanders said better competition has pushed his unit to learn the defense and communicate it more efficiently.

“We’ve really started to grow as a unit,” Sanders said. “We’re way ahead of where we were last year…I think we have made some progress.”

Sanders said he feels confident about “4 or 5 guys” at cornerback. He named four specifically: Juniors Anthony West, Prince Amukamara and Dejon Gomes, and sophomore Alfonzo Dennard. Sophomore Anthony Blue, or one of the true freshmen, might be in that mix, too.

Gomes, a junior college transfer, has a redshirt season, but Sanders doesn’t think he’ll need it.

“No plans to redshirt him,” Sanders said. “He’s a guy competing for a job.”

At receiver, Gilmore singled out junior Niles Paul for praise, much like offensive Shawn Watson did two days before. Senior Menelik Holt is working now at X and Z position, Gilmore said, and is having a better fall camp than he did spring campaign.

“In the spring, a lot of those contested balls, he dropped,” Gilmore said. “He’s got to understand he’s a big-bodied guy, and he’s not going to run away from everybody.”

Also mentioned by Gilmore: Sophomore Curenski Gilleylen, senior Chris Brooks, and true freshman Antonio Bell, who had the standout catch of the Red/White Spring Game, and surprisingly, redshirt freshman Khiry Cooper, who missed all of spring camp while playing for the Nebraska baseball team.

Gilmore said the slender Bell has improved his physicality and blocking.

“In spring, he didn’t want anything to do with it,” Gilmore said. “He looked at me like I had two heads. Now I’ve got one, but I still might have three eyes. But he’s coming. He’s coming and he’s working at it.”

Gilmore said he was generally pleased with his receivers’ play during the no-huddle session on Thursday.

NU practiced Friday afternoon and will return Saturday morning with another workout.

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Toward the end of Nebraska’s 2008 football season, wide receiver Menelik Holt would see quarterback Zac Lee literally throwing a football by himself, into a net, after practice. Lee, who at the time was about to engage in a battle for the 2009 starting job with then-Husker Patrick Witt, needed a partner.

Holt was the guy.

“There were some routes I didn’t really have down pat last year to work on,” Holt said. “Some balls in different positions that I wasn’t used to catching. So that’s something we worked on every day.”

The two of them would head down to the far, deserted north end of the Hawks Center and play catch, sometimes for an hour. Then they’d carry their pads back toward the locker room, discussing the work they’d done.

“Now, we’ve developed a rhythm,” Holt said. “I know where the ball’s going to be placed.”

Here’s the thing about Holt, the 6-foot-4, 225-pound senior who is hoping, at long last, for the breakout season that’s often been predicted for him: He has the conscience and good habits of an excellent player.

He’s thoughtful. He’s mindful of the younger guys, and helps them when he can. He’s made himself into a serviceable blocker, making several key plays in the Colorado game. He has done most, if not all, of the little things. Certainly more than his predecessor in size, Maurice Purify.

But here’s the other thing about Holt (and, tangentially, about Purify): For a wide receiver, the big thing is catching the ball, running with it, and scoring touchdowns. And the longer the catches, runs and touchdowns are, the better.

Holt’s caught 34 passes in his career at NU, most of them of the short, over-the-middle variety. And scored just one touchdown, on the last play of a 52-17 loss to Missouri. Frankly, Holt’s probably talked to the media more times, in the last calendar year, than he has career catches. To compare him, at this point, to Todd Peterson, Nate Swift, Purify or Terrence Nunn is a disservice.

Are Holt’s modest numbers a result of modest opportunities, or something else? The San Diego native has a year to provide the answer.

“When you’re a younger guy or underclassman, you don’t really understand it until you’re there,” Holt said. “It’s time for me to make those kinds of plays. It’s definitely been something I think about before I go to sleep every night. I don’t want it to end, but it has to happen sometime.”

After a so-so spring camp – by Holt’s own admission – and a Red/White Spring Game where he virtually disappeared, Holt’s been pleased with his work in fall camp. His best to date, he said. “Ball skills,” he said – catching the ball in the right place, and catching it cleanly – has never been much of a problem.

Rather, it’s catching the ball in traffic, with defenders groping after the ball. The best defensive backs get leverage by leaning, just slightly, into a receiver in coverage. Those nudges and racing rubs, if you will, are enough to knock some guys off balance.

“I’ve taken a couple hits this camp, and you don’t really want to have that as a receiver,” Holt said. “But I was able to hang on to the ball.”

Receivers coach Ted Gilmore refers to it as “courage.” You want the ball? Go own it. He wants to see his receivers show it before they earn starting jobs or a ton of playing time.

And not every receiver naturally possesses that instinct. Peterson did; it was his biggest strength. Purify, when he chose to be, was full of courage. Other times, he’d trot as if he were in a forest glade.

Holt, from this vantage point, is somewhere in between those standards. He’ll camp in the middle of a zone, receive the pass, and take the shot. He’s done that a number of times. But Holt has to be able to knife through a cover two on a deep post, catch the ball 25 yards downfield, and take the blowup shot. He has to deliver on those short slants on third down, when a linebacker is almost guaranteed to get a glancing blow, at least.

And if he doesn’t, well, Niles Paul will. Heck, if fall camp is any indication, Niles Paul has already been doing that. Or Brandon Kinnie will. Somebody will, because Zac Lee’s arm is too big to waste solely on 12-yard outs and bunch routes right to the first down marker.

So, to be more aggressive, Holt said, he’s written “attack the ball” right inside his helmet visor.

“I think about it before every play,” Holt said. “When the ball’s in the air, I have to have the mentality that it’s mine. I’ve tried to live by that in this camp.”

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Nebraska receivers coach Ted Gilmore smiles and doesn’t mince words when it comes to Will Henry.

The junior receiver has “worked as hard at his game as anybody” Gilmore said, in the last year, particularly when the light went on toward the end of the 2008 season.

“He’s a willing soul,” Gilmore said. “He’ll do whatever I ask him to do.”

And yet?

“I want him to do it with a little meaner attitude,” Gilmore said. “I want him to have a little snake in him. I want him to reach out and bite somebody.”

Gilmore calls the 6-foot-6, 215 pounder from El Paso, Texas, “a big man.” And he wants Henry to act like it when he goes up for a ball against a smaller defensive back. Or when he has the chance to smack a safety in the earhole on a “crackback” block.

Just one recipe will get Henry there, Gilmore said.

“A lot of collisions,” he said. “A lot of collisions. And, again, a lot more collisions.”

Henry, a “yes sir, no sir” kind of kid with bright eyes and a slight West Texas accent, said he’s game for whatever Gilmore can throw at him. Coupled with a Menelik Holt’s self-acknowledged so-so spring, Henry has now put himself in line for more playing time at the “X” position in 2009.

“It’s a battle,” Henry said. “One of us is going to take it. I’d like for it to be me. We’re all out there competing.”

Henry’s received some opportunities with the No. 1 unit this spring, the first in which he’s been completely healthy and/or experienced enough in the offense to excel. Henry missed last spring with an injury.

“When you don’t get a chance to get those reps in, you come into fall camp rusty,” Henry said. “That was the biggest deal to me. I was so focused on trying to make strides and catch up to everyone else, it just messed up my game.”

For a good chunk of last season, in fact. Henry appeared in nine games. Not a catch to his name. Also not terribly surprising, with seniors Nate Swift and Todd Peterson on the roster.

Yet Gilmore saw a switch in the kid in late November. Finally, Henry wasn’t just doing as he was told. He was stringing it together into a series of plays. He caught and secured the ball more consistently. His routes were crisper.

Henry wasn’t pushing Swift and Holt for playing time, but, in his third year on campus, he finally felt as if Yeah, I belong here. He no longer felt the eyes of the coaches on him, the pressure of their judgment.

“It just became routine for me,” Henry said.

As such, Gilmore is expecting every-down consistency.

“Not just one out of five plays,” Gilmore said. “Every time.”

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(Above: Pelini)


Nebraska Coach Bo Pelini gave the nod to Oklahoma over Texas in his latest coaches’ voting ballot, the coach disclosed during Monday’s Big 12 Teleconference.


The Sooners are still No. 3 behind the No. 2 Longhorns in the overall BCS Standings thanks to computer rankings. Should OU beat Oklahoma State on Saturday, that could possibly change.

“I’ve played Oklahoma,” Pelini said. “I haven’t played Texas…you have vote to based on what you’ve seen.”

Oklahoma beat Nebraska 62-28 on Nov. 1 and defeated Texas Tech 65-21 Saturday night. Pelini said he “caught most of that game,” which played a part in his vote.

Pelini touched on other topics during his Big 12 chat:

*Joe Ganz practiced Sunday, is 100% and has “no issues.”

*Nebraska linebacker Cody Glenn remains indefinitely suspended. Could he return for a bowl game “You never know,” Pelini said. “That’s why it’s indefinite.”

*Wyoming has not yet sought permission from Pelini to interview recruiting coordinator Ted Gilmore for its head coaching job. Pelini said he’d “hate to lose Ted” but “if it betters his career, I’m all for it.”

*A New Year’s Day bowl game would be important to NU, but the focus is Colorado. “The better bowl game you go to, obviously it’s better for us, it’s better for the kids, but it’s out of our control,” Pelini said.


Is Colorado Buffaloed?

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Above: Photo courtesy of Huskers.com)




The Rivals.com national Web site is reporting that Nebraska receivers coach Ted Gilmore will interview for the Wyoming job on Tuesday. Gilmore played football at Wyoming in 1988-89 and coached there as well.



Gilmore is currently NU's recruiting coordinator and assistant head coach. Nebraska's receivers have performed quite well in 2008, blocking and catching the ball with consistency.



Wyoming fired Lincoln native Joe Glenn after six seasons, even though the Cowboys recently beat Tennessee and upset Virginia last year. Wyoming generally struggled to win in the Mountain West Conference, where it competes against larger, more well-funded schools like Utah, BYU, TCU and

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It might have been a bye week for Nebraska’s football team. It was hardly that for most of NU’s coaching staff.

Tis the beginning of recruiting season in college football. Well, every month, in this modern era, is recruiting season. Let’s just say that, starting with mid-November through signing day in February, the fever gets a little hotter.

Six NU assistants hit the road for two days earlier this week. On Friday and Saturday, NU head coach Bo Pelini, offensive coordinator Shawn Watson and linebackers coach Mike Ekeler will visit recruits. During the next two months, the Cornhuskers hope to hold on to their 16 known verbal commitments and finish out the class by addressing need areas, like wide receiver and safety.

So far, Pelini said, so good. The first-year coach is happy with the effort and Nebraska’s prospects with a few more prepsters.

“We’ve had good reception from people,” Pelini said after Thursday’s practice. “We’ve identified a lot of guys over the last couple days. I like where recruiting is right now. We’re going to have another staff meeting about it tomorrow to make sure everybody’s on the same page.”

College coaches can’t make in-home visits to recruits for another week, recruiting coordinator Ted Gilmore said, so the on-the-road chats are currently reserved to “evaluation” conversations with high school coaches.

Nebraska’s current 7-4 record has elicited positive feedback, Gilmore said, “particularly in Texas” where NU’s 37-31 overtime loss to current No. 2 Texas Tech turned some heads.

“They’re as hot as anybody and kids know you had a chance to beat them,” Gilmore said. “That creates enthusiasm, and they’ll give you a second look.”

Although NU is recruiting nationwide, it’s focused a good portion of its energy in the Lone Star State, long known for its “’Friday Night Lights’ mystique,” Gilmore and running backs coach Tim Beck said. Nebraska already has nine verbal commitments from the state and is pursuing several more players, including highly-touted running back Rex Burkhead out of Plano.

“They’re playing a lot of football,” Gilmore said. “They get coaching year round. There are some staffs down there that have more people than we do…although it’s important here, it’s on a whole different scale there. It’s a different animal. You can go into a one-horse town and it’s a serious thing. Those kids are brought up on it.”

Beck, who from 1999-2004 was a head high school coach in Texas, was partially responsible for Kansas making inroads in the state. He spent this week in Florida, but he’s helping Nebraska do the same in 2008.

One advantage Beck said NU has in Texas that it might not enjoy in talent centers like Florida and California is instant name recognition.

“It’s a Big 12 state,” Beck said “It doesn’t matter if it’s swimming, if it’s volleyball, soccer, whatever the sport may be, they cover the Big 12 Conference. So, every day, you can pick up a newspaper and the word Nebraska is probably in there somewhere.”

While it’s hardly the deciding factor, winning games helps, too. It’s a “here and now” world out there among high school football players.

“Who’s winning, who’s on TV, who’s in bowl games,” Gilmore said. “That’s what they’re paying attention to. That’s universal no matter where you go.”

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