Welcome to Husker Heartbeat - a sampling of links and quick wit to start your morning! Keep checking each morning, Monday-Friday, for new links! We look for the offbeat as well as the straightforward - so don’t just think of us as a typical link farm!

A quick abbreviation key FYI: OWH=Omaha World-Herald, LJS=Lincoln Journal-Star, CN=Corn Nation, BRN=Big Red Network, HI=Huskers Illustrated, BRR=Big Red Report. If we need to add more - we will. Others, like ESPN, are self-explanatory.

*A terrific LJS story about the bonds of friendship and how it kept Kelsey Griffin at Nebraska. Griffin is a rarity - a smart, mature player who nevertheless enjoys life like a kid might.

*Mike Anderson is making plenty of demands of his young team. He needs to. Nebraska has five easy, winnable home games before a series at Texas - where NU needs to be pragmatic, and take two.

*Much as the Holiday Bowl continues to haunt Arizona- chalk that up to uber-intense coach Mike Stoops, who has a hard time letting things go - offensive coordinator Shawn Watson continues to call it a springboard.

CN breaks down the Big 12 schedules.

*BRN examines the value of JUCO offensive linemen at Nebraska.

*OWH’s Lee B talks a lot of Husker hoops in a recent chat. He’s still firmly behind Doc Sadler as NU’s head coach. So are we…for one more year.

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Here's some of the early odds on the 2010 national championship, as seen by Bodog.com.

Alabama (7-2)
Ohio State (13-2)
Boise State (12-1)
Oregon (12-1)
Texas (14-1)
Nebraska (15-1)
Southern Cal (15-1)
Florida (16-1)
Virginia Tech (17-1)
Oklahoma (18-1)
TCU (18-1)
Iowa (20-1)

It's fair to say Oregon's odds will slip over the next month as the Ducks boot some of their...ill-tempered folks.

When the powers who be in Sin City start jumping on the bandwagon, it's not a fluke. Or fans' expectations aren't likely to be any less.

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Nebraska will be playing a Thursday night road game on ESPN for the second straight season.

NU will travel to Kansas State Oct. 7. The game had originally been scheduled for Oct. 2. Kickoff time will be determined later.

The schedule change will reduce the amount of time NU has to prepare for the Oct. 16 Texas game, but may allow the Huskers to switch out the Sept. 25 opponent, South Dakota State.

ESPN wanted Nebraska and Texas for Oct. 14. The Huskers were on board; the Longhorns were not.

Last year, Nebraska beat Missouri 27-12 in a driving rainstorm on ESPN.

The Huskers also announced season ticket prices would not go up in 2010. Season ticket holders will pay $54 per ticket. Students will pay $21.

“Our fans have been the most loyal college football fans in the country for several decades,” Nebraska athletic director Tom Osborne said. “We certainly appreciate their continued support and expect that they will continue to enjoy the experience of coming to Memorial Stadium in 2010.”

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Nebraska finished No. 14 in the AP poll released right after the BCS national title game.

That's NU's highest final poll rankings since 2001.

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“Nebraska is back and we’re here to stay.”

-Bo Pelini, after NU’s 33-0 win in the Holiday Bowl

Just in case you presume he hasn’t been listening to the media during the last two years. Just in case you think his offhand, almost dismissive air regarding questions of the Cornhuskers’ place in college football was an accurate inventory of his actual thoughts.

Bo Pelini was paying attention all along. He didn’t have an ear to the ground. He didn’t have a finger in the air. But he was listening. And waiting.

He just didn’t want to address it until his team had earned it. The Holiday Bowl, with NU’s muscular, thorough thumping of a lean, brittle and careless Arizona team, merely confirmed what Pelini sensed weeks before: The Huskers, at least on defense - where it counts most - had figured it out. Like a chess shark in Central Park - or Robert Downey’s character in “Sherlock Holmes” - Bo, Carl and crew had predicted the moves in advance, swamping the Wildcats with an unusual approach - max pressure coverage with a occasionally (just slightly) delayed four-man rush - until Arizona tipped over its king onto the board.

Really, Nebraska was “back,” in terms of notoriety, somewhere in the first quarter of Big 12 Championship, when the Blackshirts slugged Texas quarterback Colt McCoy for a couple picks and a couple sacks.

When the burnt orange blushed red, and UT’s haughty fans assembled in the gaudy palace of Cowboys Stadium squirmed in their seats and delayed that trip to the concession stands.

When America - its sportswriters, punditocracy and casual fans on a Saturday night - settled into their couches and decided they had to see this, a team with one arm tied behind its back, whaling away at an armored truck of talent - and winning!

Cincy WKRP, that close to a trip to Pasadena!

Until a combination of bonehead errors and controversial calls - so reminiscent of the 1994 Orange Bowl that I half expected Bobby Bowden had taken Mack Brown’s place as UT coach - sunk NU’s chance at victory.

But not its confidence. Clearly not.

Pelini spent the last two weeks chuffed and fired up like one of Flannery O’Connor’s characters set for the inevitable fall - it seems ill-timed at best, doomed to punchline at worst - only Nebraska fulfilled his words and more. It’s fun to be wrong when 33-0 is the result.

When a coach has that kind of read on his team, when they’re that positively in sync - that’s a scary thing. I recalled Florida’s unusual certitude before the 2007 BCS title game, USC’s certitude before just about any bowl game, and Nebraska’s certitude after the 1994 Orange Bowl for, oh, the next six years or so. Like Alexander’s army before they hit India.

Is there an India out there for NU in 2010? I suppose, after 33-0, we chew on a modified version of that question for eight months now:

Can Nebraska, with all the variables happily lining up next year, pull off a natty champ in Bo’s third year? Damn straight.

One cannot help but look forward. In the Big 12, Texas takes a step back. Has to, right? Oklahoma State does, too. Oklahoma must replenish a big chunk of that defense. Texas Tech looked like a foil until Mike Leach let his ego get him fired. Missouri visits Lincoln with a spread offense that can’t score inside the 20-yard line. The biggest road games - Washington, Texas A&M, Kansas State - seem eminently manageable.

Nationally, Alabama will be there. Florida won’t. USC has an offensive line to rebuild. Oregon is a myth. Ohio State is probably the truth, with Terrelle Pryor finally beginning to tap the deepest veins of his remarkable talent. Boise could be preseason top 5. TCU will put in its two cents. Virginia Tech again. Watch for Clemson, even without C.J. Spiller.

But all of it lines up right, you know? That 2010 will not be 2008 or 2004, when there were four or five teams worthy of the national title. Winning the Big 12 crown, of course, remains at the top of the list. But, as new Kansas coach Turner Gill so sagely pointed out a few weeks ago: You win the Big 12, and you’re usually right there for the national title hunt. In 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2009 that was true. Had Missouri beaten Oklahoma in the 2007 Big 12 Championship, it would have been true there, as well. In 2006, OU was a ripoff loss to Oregon away from supplanting Florida in the 2007 BCS title game.

Even if NU loses in Seattle, the real game is afoot in October and November. Shoot the moon there, and every significant goal is intact for Dallas 2010.

What we’ll examine over the next couple days: How the Huskers get there, and what questions need to be answered - first in the offseason, then in spring ball - to achieve it.

Because there’s the pressure of expectation now. That’s what 33-0 does. The problem with playing your best football - or close to it - is that fans, pundits, coaches and players have now seen what it looks like to execute at an elite standard. Anything below it elicits tougher questions, more fingers, harder decisions, and even more pressure.

Bo knows so much - and he must also know that, now, in declaring “Nebraska’s back” on the podium in San Diego, he’s marked his words, not unlike Steve Pederson did when he fired Frank Solich.

But Husker fans know what “back” looks like. They lived the 1990s.

“Back” is dominating the Big 12 and playing in the BCS. It’s been 10 years since NU won a league crown. Eight since it played in the BCS.

“Back” is winning big non-conference games on the road. How long has it been? Pittsburgh in 2004? Notre Dame in 2000?

“Back” is maintaining the defensive excellence Pelini developed over two years.

“Back” is having an enviable offense that punishes and challenges most defenses.

“Back” is having top-flight kicker and punter (Consider that done.)

“Back” is recruiting the six states surrounding Nebraska like a fiend, with a supplement of big-timne talent from Texas, California and elsewhere, as needed.

“Back” is signing the quarterback you want - not the quarterback you’re left with.

NU’s commander-in-chief has completed most of the major combat operations in restructuring the Huskers to his brand of attitude, work ethic and athleticism.

Now it’s time to stomp out the fires in Fallujah. Beat Texas. Win the Big 12. Storm the doors in Scottsdale.

The 2009 Holiday Bowl wasn’t the end of anything. It’s only the beginning of one dramatic season - for good or ill - to come.

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Six strong takes for your Monday morning coffee. It’s free of snow - we promise.

*Kudos to Bo Pelini granting a long-form interview last week with Tom Shatel of the Omaha World-Herald. Bo needs to do this more, not less, often. The man is sharp and expansive in a relaxed setting, and, dear Husker fans, the man is not in a relaxed setting when he walks off the practice field.

About 25 percent of the chat focused on the future of Nebraska’s offense - as it should - and Bo’s apparently shared vision with offensive coordinator Shawn Watson on its identity and direction. Bo already stated his plans one week ago, but he reiterated them again, drawing comparisons to Alabama - which has an equally good defense as Nebraska, but a more productive offense.

A couple thoughts about the comparison.

1. Bill Callahan didn’t want Alabama quarterback Greg McElroy. Maybe could have had him; didn’t want him. McElroy, as it turns out, has the savvy, intelligence and playmaking skills necessary to be a top-flight QB. Chew and choke on that.

2. Alabama’s offense uses the wildcat with Mark Ingram. Only ten snaps per game, but it works. Here’s the Tide’s left guard Mike Johnson on why it’s been successful.

"When you think about stacking the box, one of the main things we focus on is that we're just trying to get the running back through one gap,” Johnson said. “They can have all they want to up there, but they can't fit nine people into one gap. If we can get the running back that seam, then we'll be successful and gain yardage."

Rex Burkhead - a former quarterback with decisive moves - is an excellent fit for the role.

3. Take a look at Youngstown Cardinal Mooney’s offense and running back Braylon Heard in it. Look familiar? Once Heard packs 10-15 pounds for the college game, he’ll be a downhill runner with wiggle.

4. Alabama’s Julio Jones may not have eye-popping numbers at wide receiver, but his size and ability force defenses to roll their safeties toward him in bracket coverage. That opens up the rest of the field for the Tide‘s receivers and tight ends. Translation: Niles Paul has to be good enough in 2010 to not only make catches vs. double coverage, but draw attention for the Huskers to develop a second option - like Brandon Kinnie.

*Cody Green looks like a lock to play in the Holiday Bowl. Good. Now give him some plays that shows off his athleticism.

Sorry, but the kid’s been caged within a funny structure of playaction passes and slow-moving speed options. When you recruit a quarterback, presumably you do it understanding the attendant risks - which, in Green’s case, includes a shotgun-only, zone-read-heavy high school system. Green without his bread-and-butter running plays is Almodovar without Penelope Cruz. What’s the point? Before Bo goes off into the land of the double tight ends, he may want to make sure he doesn’t have a Robert Griffin on his hands. Right?

Or is that dynamic athlete now Taylor Martinez?

*Missouri sure is courting the Big Ten. Won’t the Tigers look dumb if the Big Ten invites Rutgers, Syracuse or Pittsburgh instead?

If Mizzou wants to bolt, here’s to the Big 12 making a bold choice: BYU. Great, albeit unique, football program. Ask Doc Sadler about the basketball team. The Cougars have a national following, a recognizable name brand, good women’s teams and a committed athletic department. And let’s just address the elephant in the room right now, because the whispers surely would exist behind closed doors in Dallas: Any talk of religion, in terms of an athletic conference, is completely inappropriate. It’s not an issue with Baylor. It shouldn’t be one with the Cougars.

*A recent Sports Illustrated profile reveals Urban Meyer to be a fairly anguished, dramatic persona. So I guess I’m not stunned by the last 48 hours, in which he resigned - telling a rather heartfelt story about his 18-year-old daughter getting her “daddy” back on Christmas Eve - then changed his mind. He’ll take an extended vacation instead.

I’m sure much be will said about this reversal - expect ESPN and other national outlets to hold the guy in deep, abiding reverence - so I’ll just say this: I really, really want Cincinnati to beat the Gators in the Sugar Bowl.

*If Nebraska basketball coach Doc Sadler could just get a healthy team, for one month, who knows what the Huskers might do. But such a reality remains just beyond Doc’s reach. Do the Huskers practice too hard? Not exactly. But nobody practices harder. It bears worth watching in future years.

Good to see Eshaunte Jones getting hot as a three-point shooter - he lit it up in Las Vegas, where the Huskers finished 1-1 - because NU needs his range to help free up Jorge Brian Diaz and Quincy Hankins-Cole on the blocks.

Could the Big 12 be any harder? Nah. But if NU can manage a 7-9 league record, it’ll be in excellent position for a NCAA Tournament berth. That 51-48 road win at USC (now 8-4) looks better every day.

*Count me interested to see how Nebraska’s women’s team handles, well, being really good. We’re talking, Final Four-contending, 25-30 wins good. Of course you’d hate to see Kelsey Griffin and Co. look ahead - or would you? There’s something to be said for seizing the moment. It doesn’t come around often, and head coach Connie Yori officially has lightning in the Bob Devaney Sports Center bottle. The Huskers will draw great crowds for the rest of the year following that huge win vs. LSU last Sunday, and they should be in a race with Baylor for the Big 12 crown.

You can bet the Bears are aiming for a Final Four. Is Nebraska? If you win the Big 12 - the nation’s best conference, three years running - what’s to stop you?

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This decade of Nebraska football came closer than you think to traveling full circle.

It began with a Fiesta Bowl win over Tennessee that seemed to validate the Frank Solich era, and position the Cornhuskers as a prime national title contender in 2000.

It ended with Nebraska coming within one second of earning another trip to Arizona and setting up a run at the national title in 2010.

In between those bookends, the seams of the program came apart not once – but twice.

You know the story. It's plenty juicy, painful and unforgettable.

When mediocrity, struggle and frustration finally knocked on NU's door – as it has with every college football program in the last 30 years – it rocked most fans, who'd grown to love the bucolic, never-changing nature of the Cornhuskers - nine wins, option football, red balloons, stoic head coaches – without understanding the brilliance, timing, effort and sheer good fortune that went into that incredible run from Bob Devaney's hiring, really until the end of 2001, when Colorado smashed the Huskers in the Day-After-Thanksgiving Massacre, triggering whispers that only continued in a blowout Rose Bowl loss, and a subsequently disappointing 2002 campaign.

We learned what most major programs already knew: Money, influence and image overshadows the mission of educating and coaching 18-to-22-year-old men. We learned that TV dollars and coverage matter more than it should. We learned that winning is put at such a premium that most programs are willing to lard up their non-conference schedules with fattened lambs so as to ensure that bowl game that's apparently so precious to student-athletes.

We learned that a great running backs coach doesn't necessarily translate into an inspiring head coach. That the best-laid plans of the Ozfather when awry, to some extent, because he handed over leadership to Frank Solich, but not complete ownership. We'll never know how Solich might have fared if he'd courted a staff solely of his choosing. If Tom Osborne hadn't offered the seemingly wise, but ultimately imperfect advice of retaining the entire staff. Solich might have soared higher. Or he might have flamed out sooner.

But Solich never got his man at quarterback – and no, I don't think Joe Dailey was that guy, either – and the program slowly lost momentum. In 2002, it was a team still flush with athletes, but not much levity. Solich looked beleaguered for much of that season – a confused on-field visage was one of Solich's unintended, but real nonetheless, weaknesses – the offense hinging, primarily, on whether Jammal Lord could whittle and plow his way through the defense. The innovation, inspiration and pluck were on empty.

Leaks on the just-then-burgeoning Internet message boards abounded. Practice scuffles. Coach squabbles. Pointless debates over Solich and his recruiting coordinator, Dave Gillespie. Boosters took these boards like street walkers to crack, and, to some extent, the man was a casualty of that technology. Recruiting discussions, fueled by the emerging market of exclusive (and intrusive) recruiting coverage, became the belle du jour. Solich was a casualty of the media in general. The Husker nightly radio program, far from the weak, perfunctory broth it is today, did, as well. The papers tread gently at first, but started asking harder questions, in louder word choices, after the Day-After-Thanksgiving Massacre.

By the end of 2002, after a loss to thoroughly average Mississippi in the thoroughly average Independence Bowl, Nebraska was, let's face it, a fading light.

And then Solich hired Bo Pelini.

There was no way to measure Bo's impact before he marshaled Nebraska's defense into a lethal force. If then-Athletic Director Steve Pederson made a mistake of hubris, it wasn't necessarily firing Solich – we could debate that all day - but believing Solich was incapable of making a top-shelf decision.

Except Frank did: He got Bo. And that was damn smart for Nebraska.

And inconvenient for Pederson.

Had Solich stuck with Craig Bohl, or hired 90 percent of the perfectly-functional defensive coordinators in the football world, NU finishes 5-7 in 2003 and Pederson gets his pick of the coaching litter. We never know Bill Callahan. Pederson probably never considers Houston Nutt, for that matter.

But Pelini was a wild card. The game-changer. A tactician and motivator. His defensive success, as we've seen, wasn't lightning in a bottle. It wasn't apocryphal. It was the real thing. And his players loved him for it. In the eyes of many fans, he even saved Solich's job.

I wonder if fans appreciated that when they clamored for Solich to get one more year, who they were really applauding was - Pelini. The offense in 2003 was sluggish and one-dimensional. Even more than 2002. Almost as bad as 2009. And there was no real guarantee it was getting any better. Aside from making one brilliant hire, Solich's attachment to the defense was negligible. And yet Pelini produced the bulk of a 10-3 season, and made an incredible splash, the kind that earned him, frankly, a shot at the head coaching job.

Much like Ndamukong Suh earned the Heisman - but fell short because of sheer, ingrained politics and shoddy thinking – Pederson, a modern-businessman-acting-as-AD, rejected Pelini for a lack of flash, and experience. While Pelini flourished elsewhere, Pederson embarked on what turned out to be an intensely personal odyssey over the next four years – an era that turned out to be as much about him as it was Bill Callahan.

The events, controversies, triumphs and tumbles of that time you already know well. I think Pederson's imprint – especially in the way Husker fans view recruiting – is deeper than some think. Pederson's strange methodology was criticized; his brazen greed for winning, for putting his stamp of restraint on the school (which he has with that blockish, monolithic font that's used for everything Husker) is not unlike most in the business world. Indeed, Pederson, and the boosters that supported him, introduced Husker fans to the uncomfortable “efficiency model” of college athletics. It's groupthink, multiplied. A place where individualism was reserved, primarily, for the coaches – not the department employees.

I won't lie – the corporate business model does little for me. Never has. It's put college sports, and America, in a reasonably phony place that eyes the “popular” and “marketable” more than it does the “sustainable.” I recall reading Callahan's comments before his first season, about how “geeked up” he was to coach NU. Huh? This, the son of a Chicago cop.

Pederson, who I think liked being hip. So many of visual, stylistic choices around campus – especially the donor wall recalling (somewhat inappropriately) the Vietnam Memorial - suggested the spare, modern look of suburban office buildings, which architects fancy as commercial art in a landscape of interstate and topiary mazes. He never could appreciate the decided uncool of a guy like Pelini, who pairs a sweatshirt with khakis, tucking a play card into his pants. The man is subtle like an Italian hoagie.

Tom Osborne could, though, and when he returned to NU – after his stint in Congress, defeat in the gubernatorial race and a bewildering, self-imposed semi-exile from the Huskers – he immediately filled all that spare wall space Pederson adored with trophies, plaques, pictures and various memorabilia. He commissioned a giant, gaudy (and, it must be said, striking in a colorful, pretty way) mural to be placed in the front hall of the North Stadium building named after him. And he hired Pelini, who, in turn, thanked Frank Solich in the opening statement after his hiring.

Some of the old critics have walked back through the door. It stands to reason they would. But to peer inside Nebraska 2009 is not to see NU 2002, or even NU 2003. Although Shawn Watson weathers some significant shots across his bow, and the offensive staff is, to some extent, in the middle of locating an identity, there is a sense of purpose, fused with high energy, that permeates North Stadium. Pelini, whatever his faults, combines an old-school will with new-school schemes, a dynamic coupling that will eventually reshape the offense, for better or worse, into a similar mold.

See also: NU's All-Decade Team, 10 Best Moments, 10 Worst Moments and A Decade of Upheaval - And Healing

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"I know in this football program, I want to be able to run a physical football team and I want to be able to run the football. Believe me, I understand the need to throw the ball. I mean, everybody has to be able to throw the football. But that's the No. 1 priority going forward. We're going to have a way - we're going to be committed to - running the football when we want to. To me that's the key to a good football team."

-- Bo Pelini. Nebraska Head Coach describing the offensive scheme he is looking for in a great Nebraska championship team. The 10-4 Nebraska team closed the season with a shut-out win at the Holiday Bowl. See the entire story at Bo Lays Out 'Physical' Offensive Identity.

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Is Bill Callahan the worst hire in college football over the last decade? That’s what Sports Illustrated proclaimed in its decade of sports. Here’s SI’s take on the matter:

In 2003, then-AD Steve Pedersen fired sixth-year coach Frank Solich (despite his .750 winning percentage) and replaced him with the ex-Oakland Raiders coach. The school's first outside hire in 42 years, Callahan scrapped Nebraska's long-synonymous option offense in favor of an NFL-style passing attack, alienated fans and former players, oversaw the program's first losing season since 1961 and won one division title in four seasons. His last team (in 2007) went 5-7 and allowed a school-record 455 points.

We don’t dispute these facts. And, as folks around Husker Locker know, we’re no great defender of the Callahan Era. We’ll review it more in full when we publish our decade in review next week.

But the worst hire of the decade? No. Absolutely not. If only because he left enough material behind to help Bo Pelini produce a winner. Poach and moan all you wish about Billy C - he coaxed Ndamukong Suh, arguably the best player in NU history, to campus.

Yes, he was only 27-22. Yes, he never overcame a halftime deficit. Yes, he failed to fire buddy Kevin Cosgrove as the defensive coordinator, even though the writing was on the wall in Cosgrove’s first year that he wasn’t the right guy.

But Callahan didn’t finish 11-37 in four years. That was Washington’s Ty Willingham.

He didn’t get fired before he coached a game because he lied about his playing career (George O’Leary) or got caught with the wrong, chatty exotic dancers (Alabama’s Mike Price).

He didn’t trigger a massive NCAA investigation in his second year, like Michigan’s RichRod.

He didn’t make his assistant coaches run stairs, recruit two-thirds of his team from the junior college ranks, and bilk the school with a secret, back-door cash deal, like Kansas State’s Ron Prince.

He didn’t post a 33-55-2 record at Dartmouth, get fired from Tulane and then finish with a 10-23 mark at Stanford, like Buddy Teevens.

Now, the search for Callahan was, yes, a mess. Steve Pederson handled that with all the grace of a rhino on skates. Callahan was, in the rearview mirror, so much at odds with the culture of Nebraska that, to this day, Pederson’s choice smacked of desperation, a need to save considerable face.

His pick wasn’t good by any measure. But he wasn’t the worst, either. And Husker fans shouldn’t revel in anyone suggesting otherwise.

Talk about this topic in our forums!

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“I thought Coach Osborne was very genuine. I knew he really cared about me as a person, even more than he did as a football player. Yes, he recognized me initially because of my football talents and all that, but I knew he cared about me deeply as a person. That means a lot to me.”

-- Turner Gill. Former Head Coach at Buffalo, and now the newest of the Big Twelve Head Coaches. Gill took the position of Head Coach at Kansas on Monday.

From “Beyond the Final Score” by Tom Osborne, 2009 published by Regal

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The following comes from Nebraska media relations. They explain it well, so we don't feel compelled to repeat it. Congrats to all the winners!

One more note: It appears Alex Henery, a junior, was named captain. Nicely done there!

***

Lincoln – The Nebraska football team celebrated its 2009 season on Friday evening at its annual banquet, held at The Cornhusker in Downtown Lincoln. Nearly 500 people attended the banquet, which included the awarding of several team awards and the announcement of the 2009 season captains.

Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh was the most honored Husker of the evening, although he was not in attendance. Instead, the senior from Portland, Ore., was in New York as one of five finalists for the Heisman Trophy, which will be presented on Saturday. Earlier this week Suh took home the Bronko Nagurski Award, the Rotary Lombardi Award, the Chuck Bednarik Award and the Outland Trophy. On Friday, he was named Nebraska’s Team MVP and Defensive MVP.

After leading the Huskers in tackles (82), sacks (12.0), tackles for loss (23), quarterback hurries (26) and blocked kicks (three), Suh was also named as the winner of the Guy Chamberlin Award.

The first-team All-American was also named one of Nebraska’s three season captains. The Huskers elected game captains each week, before determining season-long captains after the regular season. While Suh was chosen as the defensive captain, center Jacob Hickman was selected as the offensive captain and place-kicker/punter Alex Henery was named the special teams captain.

After setting a school record with 20 field goals this season and placing a Big 12-leading 28 punts inside the opponent’s 20-yard line, Henery was also named Nebraska’s Special Teams MVP. The Omaha native has connected on 20-of-24 field goal attempts and all 35 extra-point tries this season. Henery is the Huskers’ top scorer with 95 points, while he also averages 41.7 yards per punt. For his efforts, Henery earned first-team all-conference accolades as both a punter and place-kicker by at least two publications.

I-back Roy Helu Jr. was named the Offensive MVP. Despite battling an injury, Helu has rushed for 1,139 yards this season, the third highest total in the Big 12. A second-team all-conference selection by the league’s coaches, Helu has scored 10 touchdowns while posting four 100-yard rushing games and averaging 5.2 yards per carry, a league best among backs with at least 150 carries this season.

Helu’s leading blocker, fullback Tyler Legate was named the Walk-On MVP. Legate helped pave the way for Helu to record the program’s 29th 1,000-yard rushing season. The Novak Trophy went to linebacker Phillip Dillard, a second-team All-Big 12 pick. The Novak and Chamerblin Awards were chosen by a vote of media who regularly cover Nebraska throughout the season. Those two winners, along with the Cletus Fischer Native Son Award, will again be celebrated at the Outland Trophy banquet in Omaha on Jan. 14.

Safety Matt O’Hanlon was named the winner of the Native Son Award, along with earning the Bobby Reynolds Award. Defensive end Barry Turner received the Pat Clare Award, while four members of the scout team were also honored. Quarterback Ron Kellogg III and offensive lineman Nick Ash were announced as the Scout Team Offensive MVPs, while safety Jim Ebke and defensive end Kenny Anderson were named the Scout Team Defensive MVPs. Defensive tackle Jared Crick was named Lifter of the Year to round out the award selection.

2009 Nebraska Football Award Winners
Offensive Captain: Jacob Hickman, C
Defensive Captain: Ndamukong Suh, DT
Special Teams Captain: Alex Henery, PK
Team MVP: Ndamukong Suh, DT
Offensive MVP: Roy Helu Jr, IB
Defensive MVP: Ndamukong Suh, DT
Special Teams MVP: Alex Henery, PK
Walk-On MVP: Tyler Legate, FB
Scout Team Offensive MVPs: Ron Kellogg III, QB; Nick Ash, OL
Scout Team Defensive MVPs: Jim Ebke, S; Kenny Anderson, DE
Novak Trophy: Phillip Dillard, LB
Chamberlin Trophy: Ndamukong Suh, DT
Cletus Fischer Native Son Award: Matt O’Hanlon, S
Bobby Reynolds Award: Matt O’Hanlon, S
Pat Clare Award: Barry Turner, DE
Lifter of the Year: Jared Crick, DT

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See also: Big 12 Postseason Awards, 10 Unforgettable NU-UT Moments, Big 12 Rankings, Bowl Watch, Onward to DFW, Huskers Giving Back and A Dangerous Qwest

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“The fans used to think Oklahoma was the enemy. They actually made us better.”

-- former Nebraska Head Coach, now AD Tom Osborne.


"Early in my coaching career we lost five straight times to Oklahoma which did not go over very well in Nebraska. But I can say each time we lost we learned a lot, we became a better team. We lost seven straight bowl games at one point and I think each one of those losses was very instructional. So sometimes losing can be the most important thing that happens to you. It depends on how you react to it."

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“I'm never disrespectful. I've been pretty direct. I'm a very direct person. I'm pretty black and white. I understand people have a job to do, and you guys have a job to do. I'm very direct, I'm very to the point. That's who I am.”

-- Bo Pelini, Nebraska Football Head Coach.

Read the entire blog, "Bo: I'm Getting Calmer with Media, Zebras" on Husker Locker October 20, 2009.

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“Our job is to play our football and celebrate that thing by us playing Nebraska football, and that’s with passion, great effort and executing to our standard.”

-- Bo Pelini, Nebraska Cornhusker's Head Coach.



Read the entire article in "ULL Week: Five Keys" on Huskerlocker.com

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Not every game is a good bowl game.

The Big 12 seems ready to ink a deal to play in the 2010 Yankee Bowl - that's in the Bronx, Yankee Stadium - against a Big East opponent.

What stands out about a potental Yankee Bowl berth? Let us count the attributes:

*Played in frigid weather
*With implanted sod in the infield
*Against an irrelevant conference
*That probably would invite Rutgers, Cuse and UConn anyway
*In a stadium not outfitted for football
*With insanely expensive seats
*In one of the world's most expensive cities.
*That doesn't like college football

Oh well. Carl Pelini could take the Huskers a tour of his old stomping grounds at Columbia. And there's usually a show of "Cats" playing, isn't there?

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“It’s about time we find out how far we’ve come, and move on from there.” – Bo Pelini

The picture above was found in the "postcard collection" at Burlington Antiques, a Huskerlocker sponsor. The photo is from the 1913 Cornhusker football team that went from being a menacing regional threat to a national powerhouse. As Bo Pelini moves into his second year at the University of Nebraska, the fans hope that he will fall into line with other great Nebraska coaches.


The coach of the team pictured above was Ewald O. "Jumbo" Stiehm, hired as coach in 1911. Stiehm's teams (the "Stiehm Rollers) won a remarkable 35-2-3 in five seasons. He remains the best football coach by percentage (.913) in Nebraska school history. The "Stiehm Rollers" won five Missouri Valley Conference championships and had a school-record 34-game unbeaten streak.


During Stiehm's reign, Nebraska produced their first two All-American players in Vic Halligan and Guy "The Champ" Chamberlain.

The 1914 and 1915 teams were considered by most to be the mythical “national champions,” but we cannot count those years on the national championship list because that title did not exist.

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The 2009 preseason is officially here with the start of fall camp and the annual Fan Day.

Stick with Husker Locker for full coverage throughout August! We'll have audio, pictures, and practice reports, along with position-by-position preview...that, on top of 50 Huskers to Know, recruiting updates and more!

And remember to check out our 30-day free trial of the Husker Locker Pass!

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In the last part of our fall camp preview, we look at five position battles that will shape the Nebraska football team in 2009.

On with the list, which is by no means exclusive, but hits the high points.

Backup Quarterback

All things being equal, offensive coordinator Shawn Watson would probably prefer that Kody Spano take control of this spot for 2009 and let Cody Green (and potentially LaTravis Washington) redshirt. But Spano has to show he’s fully mentally and physically recovered from a torn ACL, and then, of course, he has stay healthy afterward.

I’ve stayed adamant: Green should redshirt. It’d help him to see one season from the sidelines, to work on his passing and give the Husker defense an honest look in practice.

Washington? Not so sure. He could fit in nicely as a Wildcat quarterback, or a guy in goalline situations. Redshirting Washington would gum up the quarterback wheels significantly over the next two years. I say find a role for the guy, utilize him there, and call it square.

The wildcard is Taylor Martinez, a more accomplished high school quarterback than even Green. Question is: Can Martinez fix that long, awkward throwing motion in a short amount of time? If so, throw his hat in the ring, too.

Middle linebacker

Senior walk-on Colton Koehler did a fair job in this role during the last half of 2008, but he’ll have Philip Dillard and Will Compton nipping hard at his heels during this fall camp. Linebacker was one of NU’s weak spots last year, at least until the final quarter of the year.

We still like Dillard, of course, provided he’s healthy, in shape, and not buried on the depth chart, in position coach Mike Ekeler’s proverbial doghouse. That’s a lot of “ifs,” but Dillard has enough raw talent to answer all those questions. He also can be a strong leader.

The future is Compton, but he’s still inching his way up the learning curve. But the kid from Bonne Terre, Mo., sure knows how to be around the ball – and that’s never a bad thing.

No. 3 and No. 4 receiver

Meno Holt and Niles Paul haven’t produced much in their careers, but it’s fair to say they are the starting X and Z receivers, respectively, unless one of them suffers an injury or Pelini decides to overly punish Paul for a minor brush with the law last spring.


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File Photo

Chris Brooks is one of many receivers vying for playing time.
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Behind them, a whole host of candidates, all with their own story, line up for their shot: senior Chris Brooks, junior Will Henry, sophomore Curenski Gilleylen, Brandon Kinnie and Marcus Mendoza, and freshmen Antonio Bell, Tim Marlowe and Khiry Cooper.

How it plays out is anybody’s best guess. But Ted Gilmore, a notoriously tough grader and disciplined coach, has to put somebody out there. And two of the above names will be the guys.

Right guard

It’s really a battle to see whether sophomore backup center Mike Caputo progresses enough to surpass junior Ricky Henry at his position, right guard. Obviously the possibility has been brought up, because current center/former right guard Jacob Hickman talked about it at length at Big 12 Media Days.

Nothing against Caputo, the Millard North product whom I expect will be the starter in 2010 and 2010, but Nebraska’s better off keeping Hickman where he is, and Henry fulfilling his potential and tenacity. Reporters have been hearing stories about this kid since his arrival last August. Time for Henry to match up the playbook to his pugnacity.

Cornerback

You’ve got five candidates – juniors Anthony West, Prince Amukamara and Dejon Gomes, and sophomore Alfonzo Dennard and Anthony Blue – for two spots. For now, West and Amukamara are the favorites. But West didn’t earn any defenders when he was flat burned by Wes Cammack on a skinny post for a touchdown in the Red/White Spring Game. And Amukamara still has to be consistently good on every down.

Blue’s the best prospect if he trusts his previously shredded knee, but reports in spring suggested he has a ways to go in that department. Gomes wasn’t brought in from a JUCO to guard a Taco Bell, we know that. And Dennard shows excellent upside, with a tendency to get burned on pump fakes and double moves.

There’s plenty of talent here, however.

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Being the best fans in college football might be a source of pride for most Nebraskans, but there are still black sheep among us.

These anomalies are hard to find in the dog days of summer when there isn’t much worth cheering for, but come fall, Husker fans will realize that not everyone in this state is like them.

Sometimes the odd ducks are just born that way. Reid Christensen, a sophomore at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, was born into a family of dedicated Big Red fans, but Christensen has never been interested in sports.

“The only reason I go to the game is the band,” said Christensen, a baritone player in the Cornhusker Marching Band.

Growing up, Christensen would go to his family’s Husker parties and try to slip out to do his own thing before halftime.

“I find it funny to watch sometimes,” Christensen said. “My family will get hyped up and I’ll just sit there and leave halfway through the game.”

Other black sheep migrate to Nebraska and never join the celebratory rituals.

John Spooner moved to Omaha six years ago and walked off the plane on a game day. Coming from Manhattan, N.Y., where it’s hard to stand out no matter what you’re wearing, Spooner wondered why every person had on the same color of clothes. Even the retail store employees were wearing Husker shirts instead of uniforms.

Six years later, Spooner is getting a degree from UNL in secondary education and English and he describes Nebraska football as “hard to avoid.”

“I understand why,” Spooner said. “Because you really don’t have a professional team. You hold on to what you got.”

Spooner, a Buckeye fan, gets under his Husker friends’ collective skin at watch parties.

“I’ll sort-of root against Nebraska just to be the opposition,” he said. “They get mad…especially if Nebraska is losing.

A mixed-alumni marriage can also divide families down the aisle and spawn children with no allegiance to any particular team. That’s what happened to Stan Schleifer, an administrator at UNO, when his son married a woman with a degree from Kansas State University.

Not only that, but his daughter-in-law’s brother played for the Wildcats and Schleifer said she’s “always putting purple stuff” on his grandkids.

“We have our battles,” Schleifer said of the two families.

But more often than not, he said, it’s cordial when both sides of the family get together. But they don’t watch the NU-KSU game with each other to avoid animosity. Schleifer said he takes the high road and shares his season tickets.

“I’m nice,” he said. “I usually give her tickets to the K-State game.”

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The kids just keep back to school earlier and earlier it seems, doesn’t it? Strange that, right in the middle of the dog days of summer, you’ll have some 8-year-old trudging with his backpack into a hot school, hoping his lunch doesn’t melt in his metal lunchbox over on the food rack.

It’s really no different for college football teams, either, as Nebraska enters fall camp this Saturday, conducting nearly a month’s worth of practice before the first game, vs. Florida Atlantic, on Sept. 5.

Here’s five offensive questions as we enter the camp. For five more bonus questions, click here.

We know quarterback Zac Lee has the physical tools. Now – can he lead?

Lee presumably spent the summer cementing his relationship with Husker skill players and potentially treating his offensive linemen to a treat or two. In fall camp, does he emerge as a guy the offense looks to in tight spots, or does he defer to some of the more senior linemen? Clearly, the Husker offense no longer has Joe Ganz. But Lee has to leave his own imprint on the position.

Is [url=http://www.huskerlocker.com/blogs/browse/t/search/official/y/tag/niles paul]Niles Paul[/url] ready to step up and break out?

Our ears perked up a little when NU running back [url=http://www.huskerlocker.com/blogs/browse/t/search/official/y/tag/roy helu]Roy Helu[/url], Jr., mentioned at [url=http://www.huskerlocker.com/blogs/browse/t/search/official/y/tag/big 12 media days]Big 12 Media Days[/url] that Paul was Nebraska’s best receiverby far. Really? This wasn’t the guy we saw in 2008 running stop and curl routes, was it? Apparently, Paul’s going to be a deep threat this year, running the routes he wanted to run last year, and we’ll find out just how skilled and explosive a player he is.

Paul also has the ability to be a gifted leader, if he so chooses. He’s well-liked and has a strong personality. Does he become a vocal guy in 2009, or does he let the play do the talking?

Can Ricky Henry master the right guard position and win the job?
For Lee’s sake – and Nebraska’s sake – you’d hope so, as Henry’s emergence would allow Jacob Hickman to stay at center. Hickman probably projects to guard at the next level, but he should be much improved as the center this year – if Henry can win the job. Word is Henry’s plenty tough and physical – it’s just a matter of getting the offense and techniques down pat.

Two or three running backs?

Position coach Tim Beck seems to prefer three, but Helu and [url=http://www.huskerlocker.com/blogs/browse/t/search/official/y/tag/quentin castille]Quentin Castille[/url] are hungry for carries and plenty capable of carrying the load themselves. Will Beck and [url=http://www.huskerlocker.com/blogs/browse/t/search/official/y/tag/shawn watson]Shawn Watson[/url] allow for that to happen, or will the third running back see 5-10 touches per game, as was the trend in 2008? If so, who is the third running back? Lester Ward? Austin Jones? Collins Okafor? One of the freshmen?

Does the Wats Coast Offense change at all to fit the personnel?

Lee’s a fast guy, and a good runner. Nebraska now has more speed at the wide receiver position with [url=http://www.huskerlocker.com/blogs/browse/t/search/official/y/tag/marcus mendoza]Marcus Mendoza[/url] and Tim Marlowe. Does Watson try some wide receiver sweeps, more option, more zone read with QB keeps? Or does he keep what was ultimately a pass-heavy offense under Ganz? We suspect Watson has a few tricks up his sleeve, and we won’t see all of them until the Missouri game that opens Big 12 play.

Join today and get Husker updates every day throughout the fall!

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Husker Locker will be counting down and breaking down each of the teams in the conference. We hope you view this series as more interesting, comprehensive and definitive than what you may find elsewhere. Where we can make strong takes – we will.

We rank the teams 12 to 1 in overall strength. Then we’ll provide for you the North/South breakdown – and the preseason All Big 12 team, as well.

Enjoy!

Today: No. 7 Kansas State

Coach: Bill Snyder
2008 Record: 5-7 (under Ron Prince)

What’s Changed Since 2008: Heh – everything. Prince was fired – and deservedly so. Snyder was brought back to heal the family. Then, in the spring, it got really crazy, with secret deals to Prince and audits, and firings and resignations and turmoil. KSU is in a hurtin’ place as an athletic department.

2009 Non-Conference Schedule: Snyder worked a little magic, as UMass and Tennessee Tech worm their way onto the slate. A game at Louisiana-Lafayette shouldn’t be a sweat, and the game at UCLA, poor, no-offense UCLA, is winnable.

2009 Conference Schedule: Highly favorable. KSU hosts Texas A&M, Colorado, Missouri and Kansas, plays at Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas Tech (all losses there) and plays Iowa State in Kansas City, which will probably end up being a home game for the Wildcats. We see 4-5 wins in there.

Offense: Power/Spread

Coordinator: Del Miller and Dana Dimel. Don’t be surprised if Snyder’s imprints are all over the offense, though. Miller worked at San Diego State for the last three years, while Dimel was at Arizona. Both know their way around a spread passing offense; Dimel built a balanced attack at Zona last year. Preferably, Snyder would like a mobile QB who can run and pass, but he’ll settle for a guy who keeps the Cats out of bad situations.

Strength: Wide receiver Brandon Banks (1049 receiving yards, 126 rushing yards) is the kind of dynamic player Snyder loves, and he’ll get 10-15 touches per game. One way or another, Banks will be the team’s primary offensive weapon. KSU has intriguing running backs, too, in Logan Dold, Keithen Valentine and transfer Daniel Thomas, a JUCO guy who could play QB in a pinch.

Weakness: Quarterback. After the Josh Freeman show for three years, Coffman essentially takes over, and while he’s not terrible – he was actually decent in spot duty last year – he’s not a guy who can beat you by himself. On the offensive line, arguably KSU’s best lineman, Brock Unruh, was lost for the year to a weight room injury.

Defense: 4-3/4-2-5

Coordinator: Co-coordinators again, with Vic Koenning, Clemson’s former DC and Chris Cosh, the former DC at Maryland, which was one of the few teams to shut down California running back Jahvid Best. This was an awful defense in 2008. We sense that, at some point, KSU simply gave up on that side of the ball, especially the linebackers, who played with little overall discipline.

Strength: The defensive line could be very good, with super-soph defensive end Brandon Harold (45 tackles and 3 sacks as a freshman) and University of Virginia transfer Jeffrey Fitzgerald at an inside defensive tackle. But this bunch didn’t get great push last year. That part of it has to improve. With Fitzgerald, who started 25 games at UVA, we think it will. The secondary, led by cornerback Joshua Moore, might be, fair, too. Moore was the best pure cover guy on the team last year, and one of the best in the Big 12 outside of Norman, Okla.

Weakness: The linebackers are a little undersized, a little slow, and were really chewed up by the spread last year. Then again, they seemed to be getting some iffy coaching as the year went on (like when Nebraska ran the same zone read play over and over, and the Wildcats refused to adjust to it) so maybe that will change. The co-DCs may try to counteract that by getting an extra safety on the field.

Beyond that, the Wildcats are in need of a better pass rush.

Special Teams It was good under Prince, and it’ll remain good under Snyder. Banks is an excellent return man for kickoffs or punts. DJ Fulhage returns as punter, and freshman Ryan Doerr now becomes the kicker. KSU coverage units should be pretty good, too; Snyder likes to populate those units with JUCO guys.

Intangibles: By year two or three of the “Miracle in Manhattan,” Snyder found a way to keep his Wildcats in games where they were severely overmatched. A few years later, KSU was winning those games. Few coaches prepare like this guy. He never strays too far from the plan, his teams don’t often get blown out, and Kansas State will commit to a solid running game. You watch. The formula typically works.

Best-Case Scenario: Kansas State wins nine – all four non-conference games, and five more in the league. Long shot, but doable.

Worst-Case Scenario: Last in the Big 12 North.

Our Take: Same record as Kansas, with the tiebreaker going to the Wildcats on head-to-head matchup. The Wildcats simply get a favorable schedule this year. They’ll need it, and take advantage of it.

See other Big 12 Breakdowns: No. 12 ISU, No. 11 A&M, No. 10 CU, No. 9 BU, No. 8 KU, No. 7 KSU, No. 6 Texas Tech
Agree? Disagree? Tell us about it.

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Husker Locker will be counting down and breaking down each of the teams in the conference. We hope you view this series as more interesting, comprehensive and definitive than what you may find elsewhere. Where we can make strong takes – we will.

We rank the teams 12 to 1 in overall strength. Then we’ll provide for you the North/South breakdown – and the preseason All Big 12 team, as well.

Enjoy!

Today: No. 8

Coach:Mark Mangino
2008 Record: 8-5

What’s Changed Since 2008: KU lost its three starting linebackers. None of them were great, per see, but all of them were experienced, solid tacklers and skilled blitzers – 14 sacks among the three of them. The Jayhawks also lost three starters off an offensive line that wasn’t terrific in the first place.

2009 Non-Conference Schedule: Tougher – much tougher – than it seems at first blush. Kansas must host Southern Mississippi and travel to UTEP. Two Conference USA teams, sure – they’re also the best two teams in Conference USA. Throw in an improved Duke squad, and we see the potential for a loss in the non-conference slate.

2009 Conference Schedule: It’s brutal. No other word for it. Oklahoma, Nebraska at home, with Texas, Texas Tech, Colorado and Kansas State on the road. We see four losses in that bunch, maybe five, and there’s still a rival in Missouri to play in Kansas City at the end of the season.

Offense: Spread
Coordinator:Mangino and Ed Warinner run this together, it’s fair to say, and though the offense changes a bit from year to year, it’s was heavy on the zone read game in 2008 with a lot of downfield passing. KU made a killing on screen passes in 2007, but we didn’t see nearly as many of those last year. Kansas lacks a Jeremy Maclin type to effectively run a lot of wide receiver sweeps and fancy stuff. Fundamentally – the Jayhawks still aren’t that fast.

Strength: Todd Reesing. The kid’s small, smart, tough, and one amazing football player. Why? Because he improvises when plays break down. Where ordinary quarterbacks hit the panic button, Reesing is just getting started. A good portion of KU’s offense – and almost all of the action in that thrilling 40-37 win over Missouri – is because Reesing simply refuses to give up on a play. Kansas had no offensive line last year. Still won eight games. Kansas also has two good receivers in Dez Briscoe and Kerry Meier, but, aside from their chemistry with Reesing, they’re a little overrated. Well, check that – Briscoe, when he runs his route right, uses his height and leaping ability quite well.

Weakness:Reesing was sacked 31 times last year, and who knows how many sacks his scrambling ability saved. KU’s offensive line struggled to open holes for running back Jake Sharp, and KU only averaged 3.7 yards per rush. We don’t expect the line to be any better this year.

Defense: 4-3
Coordinator: Clint Bowen will run it with journeyman Bill Miller, who joins the staff in 2009. Expect KU to lean on its experienced secondary and get daring with its front seven.

Strength: The secondary is probably good enough in 2009 for KU to rely on them in man-to-man coverage at least some of the time. Strong safety Darrell Stuckey is a particularly good player in run and pass support. The pass defense was indeed fairly torched last year, but part of that was a so-so defensive line that didn’t get much pressure, and part of that was the teams KU played. Of course, the Jayhawks play those teams again this year.

Weakness:No linebacker experience, which Kansas fans brush off by pretending the departing three seniors weren’t very good. Well, poppycock. KU had to move one potential starter, Angus Quigley, from running back in order to cover the position. Much like Nebraska last year – do not expect excellence out of this group, especially when there isn’t a Cody Glenn-type athlete in the bunch.

Special Teams Jacob Bransetter made 9-of-12 field goal attempts last year, but the longest was only 34 yards. Kansas had the nation’s worst kickoff return unit last year, and we’re not sure Mark Mangino will risk using Dez Briscoe on it. Alonso Rojas was a fair punter in his year as a sophomore with a 40.7 overall average.

Intangibles: Kansas gets two key benefits from most pundits going into 2009 – beating Missouri in its wild regular-season finish, and drawing an easy assignment in the bowl game with Minnesota, which lost its last five games last year. Beware of the small sample size! KU is a team that was lucky to beat Iowa State, still the team that was badly outplayed by Nebraska in the second half, aside from a couple turnovers, still the team that was stoned by Texas Tech and Texas at home.

Best-Case Scenario: Kansas wins the Big 12 North by sweeping all five opponents in its division. That’s what it’ll take, too.

Worst-Case Scenario: A seven-loss season – which could happen. Two non-conference losses and five inside the Big 12.

Our Take: KU finishes 7-5 and 4-4 in the Big 12, losing the tiebreaker to Kansas State.

See other Big 12 Breakdowns: No. 12 ISU, No. 11 A&M, No. 10 CU, No. 9 BU, No. 8 KU, No. 7 KSU, No. 6 Texas Tech

Agree? Disagree?Tell us about it.

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