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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Six strong takes as we begin to prepare our NCAA Tournament guide. Look for it a week from now!

*Bo Pelini and Co. can smell a bonanza recruiting season ahead.

We told you, on the 2010 Signing Day, what was coming. Now NU is making its move to surpass the Big 12 North and the back half of the Big 12 South, settling in as the No. 3 recruiting power in the league behind Texas and Oklahoma.

If you look at scholarship offers in talent-rich areas - with a key expansion in Florida - and the aggression toward getting top-notch prospects - like Chandler (Ariz.) offensive lineman Christian Westerman - to attend the Red/White Spring Game on their own dime, there’s a distinct sense of urgency to create buzz and momentum after spellbinding the nation during the Big 12 Championship and turning in the most dominant performance of the bowl season.

According to the Rivals.com database - as always, those gents do terrific gumshoe work - NU has offered nine players from Florida, getting a verbal commitment, thus far, from Clearwater offensive lineman Tyler Moore. There will be more. Few states grow speed - both to stock the spread offense and to stop it - quite like the Sunshine State, and when you get the scent of Tampa, Miami and Ft. Lauderdale in your nostrils, it’s hard to get out.

The key is landing the cream of the Florida crop - not the second-tier better suited for the MAC or its Big 12 brother, Iowa State.

The usual full-court press is being done in Texas. The Huskers have already offered 11 wide receiver prospects, two of which have committed to Texas and Oklahoma, respectively.

Who has NU not offered? Three in-state prospects with D-I tenders: Omaha Central’s Ted Lampkin (Kansas State and Iowa State), Millard North’s Cole Fisher (Iowa and Kansas) and 6-foot-9 Hastings St. Cecilia giant Zach Sterup (Iowa and Ohio). Nebraska will invite all three to camp - Fisher is recovering from an injury - but, by then, the Huskers might have scooped up bigger names based on the varyag of players heading to the Spring Game.

Nebraska walks a fine line with the in-state ham-and-eggers. Bonanza or not, NU needs their camp money, and some Husker faithful believe when a player is worthy of a scholarship offer at Iowa - which will begin next season ranked inside the top ten - then he‘s earned a seat the Big Red’s table. Other (mostly younger) fans wouldn’t care if the entire roster was comprised of kids from Nova Scotia, if that’s what it took to win a Big 12 title.

*The word out of winter conditioning and 7-on-7 drills is that Cody Green appears ready to make the leap. Let’s see in practice and the Spring Game. Zac Lee is the clubhouse leader; Green, still out on the course, will have his chance. Getting scolded earlier in the 2009 season for playing too recklessly in mop-up duty - and that pick six in the Baylor game - shifted Green shifted into a piece of unsteady wood who strung out plays and doubted his skills.

*Ndamukong Suh won’t fall below the No. 3 pick to Tampa Bay - but swish this scenario around in your mouth for a second: The Seattle Seahawks have the No. 6 and No. 14 picks to play around with, and it’s not a sure thing that the quarterback they want - Oklahoma’s Sam Bradford - will be around that long. While Seattle has the ammo to go after the St. Louis Rams’ top pick if it wants Bradford that badly, I wouldn’t be shocked if new coach Pete Carroll packages his two picks to jump a few spots and land Suh.

Talk about a home run. Suh would know Carroll’s defensive system as well as any in the NFL - Carroll mentored Bo Pelini, remember - Seattle is close to Suh’s Portland home, and it’s close to his primary sponsor, Nike. Plus, the Seahawks need defensive linemen. Starters Colin Cole and Brandon Mebane are solid-but-unspectacular.

*Kelsey Griffin is a shoe-in to be a Naismith finalist. She ought to win it - especially after a spectacular 36-point performance to preserve the Nebraska women’s basketball team’s undefeated season - but since ESPN and most other news outlets treat the sport like the Connecticut/Tennessee Invitational, you can expect UConn’s Maya Moore, who won the Naismith in 2009, to win it again.

Let’s look more closely at the numbers:

Moore’s per-game numbers: 18.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4 assists, 2.1 steals and 1 block in 28 minutes.

Griffin’s per game numbers: 20.4 points, 10.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.8 steals, 0.7 blocks in 27 minutes.

Looks like Griffin holds up. Moore is more dynamic, Griffin draws more fouls. While UConn’s non-conference schedule was harder (games vs. Oklahoma, Texas, Stanford and Florida State) the Big 12, top-to-bottom, is stronger than the Big East. And Griffin, let’s face it, means more to Nebraska than Moore does to the Huskies. Moore is one of many studettes in Storrs. Griffin is the straw that stirs Nebraska’s drink.

*Not only would it be nearly impossible to fit a 96-team NCAA Tournament bracket on a 8½-by-11-inch piece of paper legibly, any expansion of the Big Dance hurts the very best teams.

No. 1 and No. 2 seeds would no longer play a retread from the MEAC in the first round, but some 20-win mid-major with a warm-up game already under its belt. No. 9 seeds would play the retreads, getting the advantage of a 40-minute, live practice the No. 8 seeds wouldn’t enjoy. Fair? Not hardly. An expansion only fattens the wallets of programs and coaches whose teams aren’t quite good enough to qualify now. The improved reputation of a few is not worth trashing a beautiful thing.

*Nebraska baseball needs two weeks of passable weather. Livable. Playable. In those two weeks, NU plays five games at Haymarket Park - including a three-game series vs. Houston Baptist - and should win all of them. Every bit of confidence and practice will help when the Huskers head to Texas Mar. 19 for a three-game series. The Longhorns - great pitching, good enough offense - are similar to UCLA, the team that just swept NU.

The Huskers are better than their 3-7 record suggests. Closer to breaking through than slipping back. But they need some good weather. And they need to stick Casey Hauptman in the weekend rotation.

See also: Commentary: Doc On the Clock

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The Nebraska football team’s “Junior Day” paid immediate recruiting dividends Saturday as NU picked up its fourth verbal commitment for the 2011 class: Blue Valley (Kan.) West offensive lineman Dylan Admire, per two recruiting sites.

Admire, at 6-foot-3, 250 pounds, had already visited the Huskers in January. He made the trip with 86 other prepsters to Junior Day to meet head coach Bo Pelini. Once he did that, he committed to the Cornhuskers.

Kansas was Admire’s only other offer, but Missouri and Kansas State were both heavily interested, as well. Nebraska offered the best overall experience, Admire told recruiting sites. He’s like to play the guard or center position at NU. He’s the third lineman - following Crete’s Ryne Reeves and Clearwater, Fla., standout Tyler Moore - to commit to Nebraska for the 2011 class.

See also: Instant Analysis on Dylan Admire

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Six strong takes after an enjoyable - and refreshingly quick - Super Bowl.

*Now that the 2010 recruiting class is in the books, there is two are primary goals for the 2011 class, which needs to be spectacular - not just solid - for head coach Bo Pelini.

Offensive line. You can never, not ever, be too deep there. Mike Smith, Keith Williams, DJ Jones and Ricky Henry are seniors next year. Mike Caputo, Jermarcus Hardrick and Marcel Jones are juniors.

With his reliance on the junior college ranks, Bill Callahan left Pelini to play perennial catch-up in this arena. Expect at least four more next year, with the best of the bunch, Florida prepster Tyler Moore, already committed.

Playmakers. Anywhere on the field is fine, but preferably at wide receiver and kick returner. One Rex Burkhead per class - a versatile guy who doesn’t have to come off the field in spot situations - is ideal.

The Huskers appear to be ready to host junior prospects now through the spring game - and you know NU will roll out the red carpet there. Pelini himself said he expected two or three more commits in the coming months. The question becomes: How does the summer shape up? Last summer, NU took a step forward and arguably two steps back, pursuing verbal commitments from three players (Anterio Sloan, Keeston Terry and Tyler Gabbert) that Nebraska later didn’t want.

One note on quarterback commit Jamal Turner: Let’s just see if Texas or Alabama pushes for him to visit on Junior Day. Those are hard invitations to turn down. Nebraska’s Tim Beck did a whale of a job securing a verbal commit. Now Beck will have to keep him from the wolves of top ten programs.

*Because Drew Brees proved it once again in the New Orleans Saints’ impressive 31-17 win over the Indianapolis Colts in the Super Bowl, let us repeat it: Height doesn’t matter at the quarterback position nearly as much three things:

1. Accuracy. Knowing where to throw a ball, and how hard to throw it.

2. Evading pressure subtly, but effectively.

3. Chemistry with your receivers.

Brees, Sunday’s MVP after completing 32 of 39 passes for 288 yards in a 31-17 win, is brilliant in all three categories, and most of that stuff is not physical talent. It’s work ethic, classroom study, and instinct. Yes, of course, Brees has a good motion and is blessed with gigantic hands for a man his size. But the position is so much about being canny, more than it about raw skills.

Who in this year’s NFL Draft reminds me of Brees? Colt McCoy. Provided he’s healthy, McCoy would be my pick over Sam Bradford and Jimmy Clausen if I’m a general manager and needed a quarterback.

*One can only hope Nebraska’s fourth-ranked women’s basketball team gets its shot at top-ranked Connecticut before the season is up. At its current pace, NU will have to reach the Final Four at the very least - and maybe the title game.

Nebraska would match up in several key areas - better, arguably, than No. 2 Standord. The Huskers live and breathe a breakneck pace. So does UConn. The Huskies are tenacious in transition. The Huskers get back better than almost any team in the country. Connecticut throws one big after another at teams. Nebraska boasts a deep, versatile frontcourt that can absorb fouls and punishment.

Where the Huskers may struggle is against a deliberate, methodical team with a strong point guard and a stingy zone defense. Credit NU head coach Connie Yori with beating the Big 12 South at its own speed game. I’m curious to see how well Nebraska handles junk defenses - and the ever-increasing burden of perfection - as the season wears on.

*You heard it here: Nebraska’s men’s basketball team pulls a fast one on Baylor this week. The Huskers are getting closer. You see it in their performances.

*I am completely against the NCAA expanding to 96 teams for March Madness. Ugh. I can live with an expansion to 68 teams - or even 72 teams, which essentially banishes the No. 15 and No. 16 seeds to play-in status - but I’d much prefer the NCAA employ some common-sense rules for the Big Dance:

1. An at-large team must finish .500 or above in its conference. If you can’t do that, you have no business in the Big Dance. It’s not a bowl game.

2. If a team from your league hasn’t won a NCAA Tournament game in five years, no more automatic bid. In other words - if your league can’t prove it’s worth one win in the Big Dance, then the next bid needs to be earned outside the welfare program with an at-large selection. Could take one year. Could take 15.

3. Regular-season conference champs get the auto-bid. Spare me the “what about the conference tournament?” argument. Do it during the grind - or don’t do it.

*I don’t care too much that USC’s Lane Kiffin offering a 13-year-old from Delaware a scholarship to play quarterback for the Trojans. I don’t care that the kid, David Sills, verbally accepted the offer.

What irks me is Sills’ “mentor,” Steve Clarkson, trying to book the kid on Oprah and Ellen. And Sills’ dad willingly allowing Clarkson, who funneled several quarterbacks - including Matt Barkley - toward the Trojans - to fly his son to USC games, meet Pete Carroll and make the kid’s decision essentially for him.

We talked about the rise of handlers and street agents just before Signing Day, and here’s a lovely example. Oh, Clarkson may have impressive connections and pupils, sure. And he uses those connections and pupils to get his name in the news. Sills’ father appeared to have his argument all planned for ESPN Los Angeles two days ago, and he makes his fair share of points when it comes to immersing his son in college football.

Just one thing: Who said USC was the best place to send a quarterback? Who’s Kiffin star project? Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart belong to Norm Chow. Mark Sanchez? Steve Sarkisian, Kiffin’s “name” is John David Booty. Some fun.

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“What you look for in a walk-on is a guy you feel is going to be able to develop. His size, athleticism, speed, might be a little bit rawer, but in the end, guys who you feel that through coaching, development, weight training, through growth, through maturity, might be able to develop into an important part of the football team. There are already a number of those guys that have already done that around here and we believe we’ve just added to that mix today.”

-Bo Pelini, on walk-ons.

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"To me, there is plenty of time to be a college football player. I don’t think it needs to be rushed. I don’t encourage them to rush it. I believe they should enjoy their childhood and enjoy their senior year. If somebody feels like it’s right for them to move on, it’s up to them. It’s not going to make or break whether we recruit them in or not.”

-Nebraska Head Coach Bo Pelini, on whether players should enroll early to NU

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The graphic above lists the 16 known walk-ons at this time. This is, essentially, the "preferred" list of players who will go through summer conditioning.

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A slow summer. A solid fall. A downer December. A fast finish. And, at the wire, two quality picks, and one whale lost.

Nebraska football can certainly live with its 2010 recruiting haul, especially as quarterback Brion Carnes and safety Corey Cooper committed to NU on Signing Day. The class is fourth or fifth in the Big 12 overall, and first or second in the North, depending on whether you think Missouri’s collection of skill talent trumps NU’s trench bunch. (I don’t.)

But in 2011, the Huskers will have their chance to get fat off the recruiting lamb. And Bo Pelini and his staff will put on the 365-day full court press to get it done. Bo seems to know it, too, having landed three commitments for 2011.

“We have a nice group of kids committed for next year already,” Pelini said Wednesday. And NU has lined up more visitors before Junior Day in the spring.

I hate to get all futuristic on you when you’re still luxuriating in the 2010 bath. But Wednesday kicked off what I expect to be the most ambitious year of Bo’s tenure at Nebraska. With a narrow loss in the Big 12 Championship and the blowout Holiday Bowl win, Bo’s confidence turned the corner. He’s thrown out phrases - “five times better,” “Nebraska’s back” - that suggest he’s ready to hit the next part of the process.

“I came here to win a national championship and to win championships,” Pelini said. “And I recruited a class that I fully believe will get that accomplished.”

Most new coaches sign their defining class in year two. That’s the “regime change” class. Or the “you made me promises, promises” class. Look at Bill Callahan in 2005. Nick Saban in 2008. Rich Rodriguez in 2009. Auburn’s Gene Chizik in 2010. Saban, in fact, has signed three massive classes in a row - 32, 27 and 26. Folks, that’s the whole football team. And that’s what you call scholarship turnover. Bama has a national title in back pocket - and more to come.

Pelini, meanwhile, has held off. It’s a curious, impressive restraint, actually. He’s lived up to the old Bear Bryant adage: He took Bill Callahan’s recruits and beat guys he once recruited to Oklahoma.

Because so much of Callahan’s 2007 class didn’t redshirt - and will be counted upon to carry NU to a Big 12 title in 2010 - Pelini has gambled, to some extent, with two small classes (20 and 21 signees in 2009 and 2010) in a row. Texas employed this same strategy in 2008 and 2009. We’ll see if the Horns get away with it. While Bo signed 28 in 2008, six of those players left the program within a year.

Bo could have cut more dead weight from the program, or handed out fewer scholarships to walk-ons, to create more room in 2010. He didn’t. All hands on deck for a huge 2010 season that will be won with Callahan’s last class and Pelini’s first two. Provided NU produces the boffo year fans expect, Bo should have 25 or more scholarships to hand out for 2011, and that’s when he can make the big push with the nation’s best skill players.

As for 2010?

It’s a talented, deep class on defense - second best in the Big 12, I say - even without stud defensive end Owa Odighizuwa, who committed to UCLA. NU got its fill of interior defensive linemen and padded depth at defensive end. JUCO linebacker LaVonte David is, at the very least, a special teams dynamo next year, and potentially more. Safeties Corey Cooper and Harvey Jackson have prototypical size and speed.

Bo is rightly building the side of the ball that best gives him a chance to win the Big 12 North. A great defense can carry an offense looking for an identity. Not in every game, and not forever, but the 2010 bunch matches up exceedingly well to any offensive haul in the Big 12. Yes, including UT and OU.

NU paid close attention to the trenches, too, signing 10 offensive or defensive linemen. It takes discipline to do that, because linemen rarely play well without a redshirt season.

We’ve already rehashed offensive recruiting enough in the last two months. The Huskers have one season - 2010 - to prove themselves to top-flight skill talent and patch over a washout 2008 class and this thin 2010 bunch.

NU arguably has a commit from one of them in Arlington (Texas) quarterback Jamal Turner. San Antonio running back Aaron Green, brother of Nebraska cornerback Andrew Green, is another. Two more signature, top-flight receivers. And more speed. Much more speed.

“The best recruiting tool is to win,” Pelini said. “We’re starting to do that.”

Well, yes and no. Winning helps. But a clear vision - and sheer salesmanship - are the best formula. Saban parlayed a 7-6 season in 2007 into one of the great recruiting classes in the last 10 years, which has already produced Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram, Terrance Cody and three other starters on the 2009 national title squad.

Anecdotally or statistically, there’s a connection to getting top-shelf talent - no matter where Rivals and Scout rank it - and turning around that talent in short order. Pelini sloughs off those services, to some extent, because he doesn’t always think they’re accurate.

“I like our football team,” Pelini said. “As long as we stay on track of where we are and the direction we’re headed and they keep working the way they are, I like our football team…we want to develop each and every guy on our team and if we do that, we can compete with anybody in the country.”

That confidence in infectious, and it speaks to Pelini’s holistic recruiting philosophy: The selling doesn’t end when the LOI is faxed.

“Recruiting just started today,” Pelini said. “Now it’s our job is to take these young men who have high goals, high expectations, and help enable them to make those dreams come true. And I believe that’s where this staff is at its best.”

Bo’s plan has won 19 games in two years. He’s sticking to it. Now - let’s see if it gets a little broader in 2010.

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Six recruits that got away from Nebraska on the recruiting trail.

Wide receiver Curtis Carter: NU gained Carter’s commitment, then lost it after a series of poor offensive showings. The Stonewall, La., product had speed you can’t teach, and would have been quite a weapon out of the slot. Chose: TCU

Defensive end Owamagbe Odighizuwa: It’s going to take several years to know just how tough a loss this was, but we suspect “Owa” was the top guy on NU’s list - at any position.

Offensive lineman Dillon Bonnell: The Highlands Ranch (Colo.) product would have made an excellent interior lineman at NU. He visited over the summer. Chose: Stanford, which has a pretty good offensive line of its own.

Safety Derron Smith: We think Nebraska missed on a sleeper from Banning, Calif., who chose to sign with Fresno State. Smith, to us, looks like the better prospect to NU’s signing of Joshua Mitchell. A Bob Sanders-style talent who may be undersized, but possesses terrific instincts. Chose: Fresno State

Wide receiver/safety Tejay Johnson: The Huskers nearly plucked this gifted 6-foot-2, 180-pounder out of Egg Harbor Township, N.J. He could have fit in on either side of the ball, although we suspect receiver would have been his position. Chose: Rutgers.

Offensive guard Colin Tanigawa: The Huskers got this 285-pounder from Los Angeles to visit for the 300th consecutive sellout game, but didn’t land his signature. NU wanted another guard prospect in this class, and never really settled on one after Andrew Rodriguez, who may still project to tackle.

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Who is this year’s Rex Burkhead or Dejon Gomes? Six recruits in the 2010 class who can make an immediate impact:

Defensive tackle Jay Guy: Short, squat and presumably strong by his tape, Guy, an Aldine, Texas native, fits the nose tackle mold, especially in goal line sets. If Terrence Moore doesn’t make the leap in 2010, Guy could figure heavily into the rotation.

Linebacker LaVonte David: He’ll have to learn on the fly when he arrives in the summer, but David is a natural playmaker. He will compete for a starting job.

Defensive tackle Chase Rome: The Columbia (Mo.) kid is ready-made, both in size and first-step quickness, to play on Nebraska’s defensive line. Rome and Guy may battle each other for the 3rd/4th lineman role in the interior rotation.

Offensive tackle Jermarcus Hardrick: NU brought in the Fort Scott (Kan.) Junior College prospect to compete for the starting right tackle job. If Hardrick, arguably the best junior college lineman available for the 2010 class, doesn’t make an immediate impact, it will be a surprise and disappointment. We won’t crown him the next Carl Nicks just yet, though.

Running back Braylon Heard: This Youngstown (Ohio) Mooney prospect was hand-plucked by Bo to be a game breaker. Since Nebraska didn’t exactly need a running back in this class, Heard is a luxury pick, designed to boost the Husker offensive engine immediately. He’ll get every shot to become NU’s No. 3 guy, which would allow Bo to red shirt Traye Robinson.

Tight end Chase Harper: Shawn Watson likes to stockpile and use tight ends; he used five with regularity in 2009. Harper, a junior college prospect from Navarro, Texas, will fit in there somewhere. Bank on it.

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There were no Signing Day surprises for Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini as he unveiled the Cornhuskers’ 21-member recruiting class Wednesday afternoon.

Despite three high-profile players announcing their college destinations earlier in the day - quarterback Brion Carnes and safety Corey Cooper signed with NU, while defensive Owamagbe Odighizuwa inked with UCLA - Pelini said the day “played out exactly how I knew it was going to play out.”

“I knew before I went to bed (Tuesday) night,” Pelini said. Apparently, all three players - including Carnes, who committed to Western Kentucky just days before - had informed Pelini of their intentions by then.

So while Nebraska lost its big five-star whale, Odighizuwa, to the Bruins, Pelini said the class - supplemented by a 16-member group of walk-ons - “filled some needs” and “provided depth” at key positions, specifically the defensive line, where the Huskers signed six players with a variety of sizes, offers and skills.

Two of them, Chase Rome and Jay Guy, enrolled at NU in January. Another, Jake Cotton, is the son of Nebraska’s offensive line coach, Barney. Three more - Walker Ashburn, Donovan Vestal and Tobi Okuyemi - should start at defensive end.

The Huskers added three offensive linemen, too. The best of them, junior college transfer Jermarcus Hardrick, is already on campus. Nearly half of the 2010 class (see graphic) is devoted to players in the trenches.

“We were thin at all the line position,” Pelini said. “We’ve added depth. I just look at our overall depth chart and it looks mighty different than when we got here.”

The quarterback position looks different, too. Chart the gulf between current starter Zac Lee, a pro-style pocket passer who looks awkward running the zone read, and Carnes, a 6-foot-1, 180-pounder from Bradenton (Fla.) Manatee High School who operates as a dual run/pass threat, almost exclusively out of a shotgun spread.

Carnes became NU’s top target after Tyler Gabbert decommited in December; he told his high coaches he committed to WKU before “praying” on the decision with his mother, and making a Wednesday morning reversal before many Huskers fans had finished their coffee.

"I felt like I (committed to WKU) because a couple of people were telling me that would be a good place for me instead of thinking for myself," Carnes said. "This process is about me. This is where I'm going to be the next four years. And I really thought about it, and I'm happy with my decision.”

Pelini said Nebraska was prepared to finish the 2010 class without a quarterback; NU already has a commitment from Arlington (Texas) junior Jamal Turner for the 2011 class.

“You’re not going to take somebody just to take somebody,” he said.

Nebraska’s best prep quarterback in 2009, Millard South’s Bronson Marsh, will play safety, Pelini said. Marsh is a grayshirt for now, which means he won’t enroll until January 2010. But he may able to earn a fall scholarship in winter conditioning.

Cooper, out of suburban Chicago, was presumed to be NU’s top safety target. He picked the Huskers over Illinois, Arizona, Florida State and Notre Dame. The key? NU secondary coach Marvin Sanders, a Chicago native himself, who handled Cooper’s recruitment.

“We get along well,” Cooper said. “He’s a good coach and he can get me to the next level. It’s good to have somebody from my area to make me feel comfortable.”

Cooper, along with Hardrick, Carnes, Rome, Aurora (Neb.) offensive guard Andrew Rodriguez and Youngstown (Ohio) Cardinal Mooney running back Braylon Heard, are the new Huskers with the most fanfare from myriad recruiting analysts. As a whole, NU’s class was No. 23 in the Rivals.com team rankings. Scout.com, which generally downgrades teams for signing JUCO players, had NU at 30. The Huskers are not ranked inside ESPN’s Top 25. Landing Odighizuwa would have provided a healthy boost.

Florida landed what was unanimously considered the best recruiting class in the nation. So much for Urban Meyer’s 24-hour retirement having any effect on UF’s program. Only one Husker signee - Rome - scored an offer from the Gators. Texas and Oklahoma are in the top five of the team rankings. Texas A&M and Missouri are ahead of NU on both the Rivals and Scout lists.

Pelini, no fan of the services, spent a portion of his press conference taking shots at their work.

“I like to base my decisions on my analysis, not someone who isn’t watching the same films I am,” he said, after asking which analysts didn’t care for NU’s class. “Everyone’s going to have their opinion, but we’ll talk about it in a couple years and find out who’s right. How about that?”

And: “It’s amusing to me. It provides me with a lot of enjoyment reading the analysis, the rankings and the stars that go into recruiting. Honestly I don’t pay much attention to it other than when I’m down and I need a good laugh.”

NU’s head coach prefers to define recruiting more broadly than most coaches, and certainly his NU predecessor, Bill Callahan.

“Recruiting just started today,” he said. “Now it’s our job is to take these young men who have high goals, high expectations, and help enable them to make those dreams come true. And I believe that’s where this staff is at its best.”

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Nebraska’s newest quarterback recruit, Brion Carnes, nearly chose a winless Western Kentucky over NU, a decision that confounded Cornhusker fans - and coaches - who targeted Carnes in December to helped spearhead a new, dual-threat style of offense.

Wednesday, as Carnes, a 6-foot-1, 180-pounder from Bradenton (Fla.) Manatee High School, announced his intention to play for Nebraska, he shed light on why he almost headed to WKU. And why he changed his mind.

"I felt like I made that decision because a couple of people were telling me that would be a good place for me instead of thinking for myself," he said. "This process is about me. This is where I'm going to be the next four years. And I really thought about it, and I'm happy with my decision.”

Carnes, the second cousin of former NU quarterbacking great Tommie Frazier, gave a vague commitment over the weekend to the Hilltoppers, whose head coach is Manatee alumni Willie Taggart.

I love Coach Taggart to death - he's from my hometown and he's an alumni of Manatee, and he knows my family,” Carnes said. “But this is for me.”

The prospect prayed about the decision, he said, with his mother, and gave NU its quarterback for 2010. It ended a long, dramatic season of quarterback recruiting for the Huskers, who courted Tyler Gabbert, watched him decommit in early December, then changed course toward Carnes, who looked as though he was headed for WKU.

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