RB Rex Burkhead, 5-11, 200, So.

If he isn’t already, Burkhead is on his way to becoming the most popular Nebraska player among NU fan. His character and humble demeanor is part of it, but it’s more Burkhead’s style and game.

As a runner, he’s tough and doesn’t quit. He doesn’t lose yards. He makes one move, hits the hole and barrels confidently. Concerns - we had them, too - that Burkhead wouldn’t be durable were completely unfounded and wrong. A freak foot break may have sideline Burkhead for a good chunk of the season, but the guy who came back at the end of year was better than the guy who got hurt.

We’ll see if Burkhead remains the Wildcat quarterback, or if that job is passed to Taylor Martinez. Because the Wildcat is essentially a power running game out of the shotgun, we have a hunch Burkhead will still man the role some of the time. He’s likely to become NU’s third-down back, as well, because of his superior hands and better pass-blocking skills.

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Nebraska running back Rex Burkhead returned from a broken foot and played in which game?

A. Missouri
B. Iowa State
C. Colorado
D. Kansas State
E. Texas Tech

The answer is D, Kansas State

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In the summer and fall, Husker Locker created its “50 Huskers to Know” list for the 2009 season. We now review our list by examining production, injuries and depth chart position.

We’ll present these in five-player increments. Here we go!

No. 35 Ben Cotton/Kyler Reed: Their production doesn’t necessarily jump out at you, but their potential to be big contributors does. Nebraska tried hard - really hard - to get Reed the ball once or twice a game before his injury vs. Baylor, but it didn’t always work out. Cotton, meanwhile, was a key cog in Nebraska’s offense after the Baylor game, as the second or third tight end of those “heavy” sets offensive coordinator Shawn Watson reverted. Also caught a touchdown vs. Colorado. Both are keepers, and should creep up this list in 2010.

No. 34 Blake Lawrence: Retired from the game after lingering concussion problems; served as a student coach for the last half of the season. He’ll be making millions doing something else in a few years, we’re certain. Good kid.

No. 33 Baker Steinkuhler: Managed to make it through the season without any significant back problems and without speaking once to a reporter. Had a nice season as Jared Crick’s occasional backup. Although he’s slated to play beside Crick in 2010, we doubt that happens - it’s hard to see two 6-foot-6 guys on the interior of the defensive line - and Steinkuhler might still move to offense, where his dad, Dean, did so much damage. At the end of the day - we think he’s a decent defensive lineman, and potentially an elite offensive guard.

No. 32 Rex Burkhead: Served as a backup to Roy Helu through the non-conference season, flashing some potential. Looked like Nebraska’s best offensive player, in some respects, vs. Missouri. Then - boom! - broken foot. If Burkhead doesn’t get hurt, NU probably beats Iowa State and gets a BCS bowl berth. When Burkhead returned, he made an immediate impact in wins over Kansas State and Colorado, and dominated from the Wildcat formation in the Holiday Bowl. He is likely a co-starter along with Helu heading into 2010. He’ll leap forward on this list dramatically.

No. 31 Sean Fisher: Didn’t flash quite like linebackers coach Mike Ekeler said he would. Fisher actually looked best on special teams; at linebacker, he made a handful of big tackles, but mostly played too high and a step behind the ball carrier. He’ll have to battle to stay on the field once Eric Martin and LaVonte David pick up the defense.

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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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The Flex: Niles Paul executes a nifty double move, Arizona cornerback Devin Ross falls down, and Paul zooms past. Zac Lee hits Paul in stride for a 74-yard touchdown pass. Paul caps it off perfectly: With a flex of those impressive muscles. It drew a 15-yard penalty, but was an apt picture of what happened Wednesday night.

Dare we say Florida? Nebraska’s first play of the second series was a picture of plays to come in 2010. Rex Burkhead motioned to the backfield, Zac Lee faked to Roy Helu and ran the option - effectively! - pitching the ball to Burkhead for a 12-yard gain. Florida uses this play, and former Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione made a living off of it.

Wildcat!: Offensive coordinator Shawn Watson waited three drives to unveil his bowl wrinkle, but, oh, did the Huskers alight on something good. Rex Burkhead out of the Wildcat - the first run for 34 yards - is precisely the medicine NU’s offensive line needed. Burkhead deftly read holes from that deep shotgun position all night.

Third Down Clutch: Facing the possibility of another long Alex Henery field goal, Lee hung in the pocket and nailed receiver Niles Paul on a 22-yard slant pattern on 3rd-and-7. It set up Nebraska at Arizona’s 5 yard line. Burkhead scored out of the Wildcat on the next play.

McNeill’s Hands Are Back: Nice grab by tight end Mike McNeill to extend NU’s first drive of the second half

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So much for motivation, preparation, hangovers, skeptics, doubts or close games in the Holiday Bowl.

Turns out Bo Pelini had a reason to strut in San Diego. A reason to gift-wrap a six-day break for his team before Christmas. A reason to bust out some lofty talk about 2010 in a handful of interviews.

What did Bo know? Something. That’s for damn sure.

Three plays, one Matt O’Hanlon pick, one quick Zac Lee touchdown, a dash of the Wildcat starring Rex Burkhead, Niles Paul as a triple threat, that magnificent golden foot of Alex Henery and Blackshirts, Blackshirts, Blackshirts.

First round knockout. Boom! Down! Nebraska as Mike Tyson, and Arizona as a weak-kneed Michael Spinks.

“We got whacked,” Arizona head coach Mike Stoops.

Yep. Thumped. Striped. Punished. Seems like the two teams did their share of trash talking during the week at joint functions, and the muddy blood carried over to Wednesday night. Like so many fights that start with a couple of loose jaws, it ended with one party - the Wildcats - on the floor - a jigsaw puzzle with a couple of pieces gone.

Savor this Big Red ribeye of a win, Cornhusker fans. It tasted so good, sizzling from the start - and mostly because NU cooked it just so. In all three phases, I can’t recall a more complete bowl win since the 2000 Alamo Bowl. And even there, Nebraska had a few leaks. You might have to go back to the 1996 Fiesta Bowl. Or the 1969 Sun Bowl, when NU beat Georgia 45-6. Or maybe never. I’m leaning toward never.

At some point, Stoops stopped with his Jimmy Cagney/George C. Scott facial grimaces and submitted to total defeat. His willingness to forego an easy field goal at the end of the game and try for a touchdown - knowing full well his quarterback would face a seven-man blitz - was not merely a nod to his old friend Bo. It was a tip of the cap to the Husker defense as a whole. You’ve earned the right to shut us out. Good for Stoops. Intense guy. Class move.

Yes, the Blackshirts evoked memories of those days of heaven, the mid-1990s, when opposing quarterbacks gazed wistfully into the defense in the mere hope of completing a pass. Foles had that “blow-the-whistle!” look all night, his impressive arm - yes, I’ve seen it in other games - reduced to a bad parody of the Balloon Boy saga. Just 21 snaps in the first half. For 32 yards. And the Huskers didn’t even have to commit a blitzer on the pass rush. TV can’t do justice to how well NU’s cornerbacks challenge and blanket opposing receivers, so Foles, with the relative mobility of Pooh Bear, had no choice but to dance around, fruitlessly searching for downfield targets.

Once again, we saw irrefutable evidence that the best way to great defense is through a quarterback’s rattled cage. How many signal-callers have answered the bell vs. NU this year? In retrospect, just one: Texas Tech’s Sticks Sheffield.

“It’s nothing fancy,” Pelini said. In a sense, he’s right. Challenging receivers at the line of scrimmage, and taking away those easy throws spread teams thrive on isn’t fancy. Doesn’t mean it’s easy, either, but it’s not fancy. And the recipe works.

The secondary was nothing short of brilliant. I doubt Arizona had ever seen such aggressive coverage. A healthy Alfonzo Dennard, coupled with a healthy Prince Amukamara, might be as good a cornerback tandem as there is in college football.

And color me pleased by the offense, and impressed with offensive coordinator Shawn Watson from this perspective: He said NU would travel back in time with its offense, and that’s precisely what we saw Wednesday night.

Nebraska spread it out and mixed pass and run. Zac Lee throws much better out of the shotgun, and runs a competent zone read, even if he takes the ball too often. The big wrinkle - the Wildcat - was more of a no-brainer, considering how good Rex Burkhead was at running it, but it was good to see Watson actually put it on film and put it to good use.

Burkhead is a keeper. He runs hard, headlong, with the occasional surprising flourish - a spin move, a hard cut. A little Correll Buckhalter. A little Derek Brown. A little Josh Davis. Watson has a weapon there, whether or not Burkhead stays at the Wildcat QB, or hands the reins to Taylor Martinez.

Does Watson have a quarterback? Lee took a step forward Wednesday night, but I still think he is inconsistent and a little robotic as a runner. Cody Green, who burned a timeout and nearly threw a bad interception, again looked adrift and ill-prepared on the field. But it’s hard to get a grip in a couple drives when Lee gets the whole game.

Unfortunately, you don’t get the offensive sequel for nine months. You won’t even get a sneak peek trailer for four months. And don’t presume that Nebraska solved its problems in one bowl game. Arizona seemed struck by the stage and the stakes. Stoops’ team needs to grow up some. I suspect that he knew that earlier in the week, and hoped it wouldn’t matter too much in the game. But it did.

Arizona’s at now where Nebraska resided in early 2008. What a journey since then for the Big Red. Despite the kind of losses that make you want to starve for a week, Pelini pulled his troops through, and has them positioned for a national title run in 2010.

I don’t know about the Huskers being “five times better” next year. For one thing, a lot of pro-style offenses roll onto the schedule, and you can’t just trot Dejon Gomes out there at linebacker to stop the inside counter. The Huskers absolutely must find two or three serviceable linebackers.

But, provided Nebraska does that, a trip to Phoenix - for one of two BCS games held there - should be the early expectation. The Big 12 will be ripe for the plucking. The best of NU’s recruiting classes - the 2007 bunch rotates fully into upperclassmen mode. That solid class of 2008 - that included all of the red shirt freshmen, finally begins to contribute more, as well.

Hope springs eternal. Football championships are autumnal. I think we have 33 reasons to put those two sentiments together for next year.

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The five plays that thousands of Nebraska fans missed at the outset of the 2009 Holiday Bowl turned out to be the only ones No. 22 NU really needed to secure victory over No. 20 Arizona.

What followed the Cornhuskers’ touchdown in the first 75 seconds of the game - which went untelevised on ESPN because of the end of Idaho’s 43-42 win in the Humanitarian Bowl - was gravy, and arguably the most dominant performance in Nebraska bowl history, as NU crushed the Wildcats 33-0 at San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium Wednesday night.

"It was a complete win," said a relatively subdued head coach Bo Pelini, who badly beat his friend, Arizona head coach Mike Stoops. "...It was nothing fancy."

Indeed, Stoops said Pelini "had mercy" on Arizona, which in turn prompted Stoops to forego a chip-shot field goal late in fourth quarter and try for a touchdown on the Wildcats lone successful drive of the game. Reserve safety P.J. Smith knocked down a fourth down pass from Arizona quarterback Nick Foles, preserving the shutout and touching off a wild, out-of-character celebration on NU's sidelines.

"Nothing was right all night," Stoops said. "Give Nebraska credit...I don't know if we were just content getting here, but we certainly didn't show up."

Nebraska certainly did - in all three phases.

Building off a brilliant defensive performance in the Big 12 Championship game, the Blackshirts managed to better themselves, notching the first shutout in the Huskers’ 46 bowl appearances, and the first in the history of the high-scoring Holiday Bowl, too. Nebraska held Arizona - an offense averaging more than 400 yards per game - to just 109 yards, more than half of its coming on the game’s final drive.

Nebraska, 10-4, felt disrespected by Arizona prior to the game, all-everything defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh said. Suh and his mates wasted little time in earning it, as safety Matt O'Hanlon intercepted Foles on the third play of the game, returning the ball to the Zona 6-yard line. Two plays later, quarterback Zac Lee scored on a naked bootleg around the right end, diving over the pylon.

Anxious, frustrated Husker fans only saw a replay of that touchdown. ESPN joined the Holiday Bowl feed just as kicker Alex Henery made the extra point.

"It was huge," Pelini said. "We got momentum right away."

The next 58 minutes of the game weren't much different. The NU secondary blanketed Arizona's wide receivers. Foles, confused and frustrated, overthrew several targets, completing just 6 of 20 passes for 28 yards. Passes Foles threw well were dropped. The Wildcats (8-5) didn't bother trying to run the ball until their final drive of the game, when Keola Antonin ripped off 36 of the team's 63 rushing yards on a single play.

"I didn't have a good throw all night," Foles said. "I've got to get my butt back to work."

Henery nailed four field goals - a Holiday Bowl record - of 22, 41, 48 and 50 yards. Niles Paul set up the Huskers with excellent field position with a punt return of 28 yards and a kickoff return of 44 yards.

The surprise was NU's offense, which produced 396 total yards and a number of big plays, highlighted by Zac Lee's 74-yard touchdown pass to Paul in the third quarter.

"It was a little bit of redemption," said Lee, who added that Nebraska had won enough ugly games during the regular season to endure a repeat of that in San Diego.

Offensive coordinator Shawn Watson - back in the booth for the Holiday Bowl, instead of down on the field - unveiled a series of wrinkles, including a shorter shotgun formation for Lee to run the zone read with Rex Burkhead and Roy Helu and the Wildcat formation with Burkhead playing quarterback. That formation accounted for most of the yards on a seven-play, 82-yard touchdown drive that padded Nebraska's lead to 17-0.

"It's something we had in our hip pocket," Pelini said. "It's a good wrinkle - something that Rex does well."

Said Stoops: "They kept us off balance all night. They had a good plan. Our defense struggled for some reason."

Nebraska churned out 226 yards, executed almost exclusively out of the shotgun, which mirrored the offense from earlier in the season.

"This was more 'us,'" said Lee, whose arm helped NU convert 9 of 18 third down attempts.

Lee tossed for 173 yards - 123 of them went on four passes to Paul. He played most of the meaningful snaps in the game. Freshman backup Cody Green got a series in the second quarter with NU leading 17-0, but nearly threw an interception. A series in the fourth quarter led to another three-and-out.

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At nearly every postmodern, faux-hip Christmas party not worth a damn, there is tinsel, mistletoe, a fine array of “strengthened” cordials, three idiots in Santa caps, the guy who likes to dance to “White Christmas” as he sloshes the highballs being held in each hand, the minx who revs up to Eartha Kitt, the beleaguered hosts who spend most of the night tidying the trash can, the kids who tracked in snow, the amateur showman blowing the dust off his guitar case from last Christmas, the depressive contemplating Chet Baker out the window and drawing flirtatious looks from nerdy cute girls, and, of course, the platter.

The platter is often some holiday dish, with cursive writing or festive designs, your mom bought. Or you did, in the post-Christmas after-sale extravanganza at the local Big Box. Sometimes it's just a long, oval paper plate with a snowman and some kids, on it. The platter contains every Christmas treat known to the western world – and a few the Thais don't mind either. Sugar cookies. Frosted cookies. Chocolate cookies. Chocolate-frosted sugar cookies. Peanut brittle. Candy canes. Bark-covered pretzels. Fudge with nuts, fudge without nuts. A hard clump of dough with craisins in it. Corn Flakes glued together with almost-primordial sugar and dipped in a green acid bath. Twigs and sticks, drenched in chocolate. Peanut butter balls laced with marshmallows that sprout from the orb like poisonous mushrooms. Some vegan bar made without eggs or butter that looks like a divot your pitching wedge might take in early spring.

There is always one treat on this platter – much like there is one Girl Scouts cookie – that you wait the entire year to eat. Maybe you even filch two or three for the road, wrapping them in cocktail napkins and shoving them in the pocket of your coat lying on the bed in the spare room. For me, this is a simple ginger cookie - not much bigger than the participation medal you get on field day in grade school - with a mint Chocolate kiss pressed gently into the middle of it.

On the opposite end of the spectrum: The rum ball. It makes fruit cake taste, by comparison, like the work of culinary genius.

For one thing, I don't really get booze candy. Does anyone want a Seagram's Sucker? A Keystone Kit-Kat? Zima Licorice?

For another – the rest of rum ball is comprised of crushed-up vanilla wafers, chopped nuts, powdered sugar and dried fruits. Sweet Santa! About the only thing missing in Icelandic hakarl.

And yet, inevitably, you find yourself, once a year, subjecting yourself to a single bite of the rum ball. You try to chew it. You know it's sour and pointlessly crunchy, yet chewy to the point where you can't just swallow it. Eventually, you either spit it out and rinse your mouth with water, or you drink some actual rum for a little company.

Shawn Watson likes to say he went on an “ego diet” as Nebraska's offensive coordinator this year.

I prefer to think - he drank the rum.

Only, for Watson, it was worse than that. You see, for the first two games of the 2009 season – he thought he was eating a ginger cookie. We all did. NU slammed Florida Atlantic 49-3, and Arkansas State 38-9. Remember that? Seems ages ago, doesn't it, when head coach Bo Pelini was picking at the toughness and tackling of his defense, and quarterback Zac Lee started so well (42 of 59 for 553 yards, six touchdowns and one interception) pundits (this one included) were thumbing through the “records” portion of the football media guide.

Lee threw to all parts of the field. Menelik Holt and Curenski Gilleylen were living up to their preseason billing as improved players. Niles Paul showed off his big play skills. Roy Helu was busy hitting home runs. Mike McNeill already had eight catches for 108 yards and two touchdowns. The offensive line, though light on depth, seemed to be holding up.

Even after red flags were raised in a 16-15 loss to Virginia Tech – red zone issues, dumb penalties, Lee looking shaky and uncertain – NU seemed, well, still OK. The Huskers gashed the Hokies for almost 200 rushing yards. Helu looked tougher than ever. Lee would recover.

But, after a 27-12 win over Missouri - “the moment we've been waiting for!” Watson exclaimed - the Huskers lost something.

First, Helu hurt his shoulder, badly, on the second-to-last play. Second, rex Burkhead got hurt two days later in practice. Third, NU receivers coach benched Holt and Gilleylen in the Mizzou game for not playing with courage. Fourth, Watson and Pelini at least toyed with benching Lee against the Tigers although, let's face it, the conditions in which he was being asked to complete 15-yard deep outs were just awful. Fifth, near the end of the game, with NU leading 20-12, Watson shifted to a archaic-albeit-effective four-tight end offense and jammed it down the discouraged Tigers' throats.

You see? Columnists exclaimed. It worked! POW-er football. Hey, me too here. I was a big ol peanut in the gallery. (Still am, I suppose, because power football can and does work.)

Thanks, really, to Ndamukong Suh and The Blackshirts, NU had the key victory season in its pocket by early October. But the seeds had been planted for change. And when Nebraska got a nasty wake-up call one week later vs. Texas Tech, Watson's vision and personnel got a final chance vs. Iowa State. To paraphrase McCroskey from Airplane!, the Huskers picked the wrong time to commit eight turnovers.

***

I've seen enough of Pelini to know, by now, that one his best strengths – and his biggest potential weakness – is an adherence to his gut feeling. As much as Bo talks about the consistency of his process – about never getting too high or too low – you are not likely to see more drastic change in the history of Nebraska's offense than the charted course from the beginning of this season until the end. Few head coaches would be daring enough to even attempt it, and fewer offensive coordinators would submit to that kind of direction. We poked a lot of fun at Watson this year, but, seriously, the man has an admirable dose of humility.

Bo shut this thing down, folks. After Cody Green threw that Pick Six in the Baylor game, and had ants in his pants to start the Oklahoma game, the Brothers Pelini went back to what they knew: Defense, and an offense that won't screw it up. Thanks, again, to the Blackshirts and Alex Henery, it worked. But, in the process, NU didn't change identities so much as it lobotomized itself. Within the rigid structure of NU's new offense, Watson had only three speeds:

1. Plunge into the line and hope for the best.
2. Deep ball to Niles Paul
3. Speed option, at the physical peril of Lee

The problem with that plan:

1. NU's o-line injuries made a power game hard to execute.
2. Watson forgot about every other receiver in the process.
3. Lee can't run the option.

You already know the result.

The question now becomes: What scars does it leave for 2010?

More than a few. The offensive line will have literal scars after offseason surgeries. The rest of the unit has trust and leadership issues to resolve. Especially NU's receivers, who watched Holt, Gilleylen and Chris Brooks never catch another pass after the Iowa State game. That's pretty stunning.

Bo invoked the bunker mode in 2009. He can't do it again in 2010 expect to get any kind of difference-makers in recruiting. He's already lost Curtis Carter and Tyler Gabbert because of it.

My suggestions? Click here.

Otherwise, here's the offensive ginger cookies and rum balls from 2009.

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Roy Helu. An early-season injury – and the flu – slowed a terrific, instinctive runner. He's still the best back NU's had in nearly a decade, but he has one more year to become a complete player – block, catch and run – and emerge as a team leader. Helu was practically a ghost during the last half of this season. And playing when he shouldn't have in the Iowa State game was a mistake.

NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR: Ricky Henry. The junior guard committed his share of penalties, but Henry led the team in pancake blocks, and set himself up for a big 2010. And, oh yeah – please dismiss the comparisons to Richie Incognito. Henry keeps a lid on his temper much better than that, and is a more positive influence on teammates.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Rex Burkhead. He'll share the backfield even more with Helu next year than he did in 2009. Big things are expected from this smiling, humble workhorse.

BEST GAME: Lafayette. A 55-0 win, Lee was sharp, so was Green, and all the receivers, tight ends and running backs got in on the fun.

WORST GAME: Texas. NU's defense gave the Huskers so many good chances. And UT's defense, while good – isn't that good. A failure of imagination and execution, among other things.

BEST SINGLE PERFORMANCE: Roy Helu, Virginia Tech. Helu established a career-high 169 yards rushing against a salty, physical defense. He busted some big runs, yes, but he did it by breaking tackles and evading defenders. That game revealed a lot about Helu's skill as a runner.

BIGGEST PLUS IN 2010: We think it'll be depth along the offensive line. With JUCO transfer Jermarcus Hardrick and redshirt freshmen Brent Qvale, Jeremiah Sirles, Nick Ash and Jesse Coffey ready to contribute – plus the possible return of tackle Jaivorio Burkes – you should see Barney Cotton's unit return to, at least, its 2008 form.

BIGGEST QUESTION MARK: Before even the quarterback, it has to be scheme and coaching personnel. Let's see how the next month shakes out. Let's just see.

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It's a minor pastime in this sunny room I call my office to gently rag on Gary Pinkel. Round here, he goes, generally, by Pinkel Factor. Although Pinkel has proven himself to be a good coach – one who has gored Nebraska four times since 2003 – that squinty, often-unchanging mug of his suggests a man potentially too deep in thought.

Who else runs shotgun zone reads at the goal line, anyway? Not even Mike Leach bothers to do that.

But, one must admit – the Pinkel Factor could reap some bountiful recruiting rewards come February at the hands of Nebraska's nouveau ineptiche offense.

While NU offensive coordinator Shawn Watson was on his Apollo 13 mission/ego diet/Woody Hayes trip over the last six games, quarterback Tyler Gabbert and wide receiver Curtis Carter, two much ballyhooed commits for the 2010 recruiting class, didn't like what they saw. Both, in the days after the Cornhuskers' stirring effort vs. Texas, decommitted, essentially, from an offense they could no longer believe in.

At the top of their lists? Missouri. Natch for Gabbert, whose brother Blaine starts for the Tigers. Carter, meanwhile, forged a relationship with Gabbert during mutual visits to Nebraska, and obviously can't help noticing the kind of season Danario Alexander had for Mizzou.

This development is getting spun every which way on the recruiting message boards. They're like health care reform town halls anyway; this week, they resemble a Pig & Whistle on double coupon Tuesday.

They're a wonderful place, in a sense, yet a face carved up and scarred, as if by a mugger, by the Callahan era, when every other day came a breathless report of some exotic recruit like the boxes of cordials and fruit that went into Jay Gatsby's mansion every Friday. The lurkers and lingerers were like, collectively, Nick Carraway, peering out the window into the great Callahan machine. It was a heady thing for them, I tell you. Seared ribeyes every Monday morning. Bacchanals of stars, power ratings and position rankings every Friday. I guess I'm Nick Carraway to their reverie and lingering addiction to the chase. So it goes.

The initial reaction from any of them, however, is the same: What a blow, so late in the game to NU's 2010 offensive class. And that hunch is correct. Not so much because Carter and Gabbert were immediate impact players next year – although Carter could have been. Rather, the time poured into recruiting both of them, one could argue, has only been equaled, this year, by the pursuit of defensive end Owamagbe Odigizuhwa, who still hasn't committed anywhere.

In Carter's case, NU defensive ends coach John Papuchis cultivated the best relationship – Nebraska offered the kid before anyone else did – over the course of seven months. Mizzou swooped in much later.

Gabbert camped at Nebraska in 2008. He became the Huskers' top target in April when Wichita product Blake Bell committed to Oklahoma. He committed in June. He visited the campus several more times after that. And then, six nights before Nebraska beat Missouri, Pinkel arrived in a helicopter at Gabbert's game. And from that point forward, it was game on. One night after NU beat the Tigers, Watson and head coach Bo Pelini attended one of Gabbert's games. One month later, Gabbert took his official visit to NU.

Do not kid yourself here.Gabbert was Watson's guy. Period. You don't waste all that time, then suddenly decide, four days after a grease fire in Dallas, you don't want the kid.

There were other quarterbacks – including Sean Robinson, who committed to Purdue instead – who were willing to give Nebraska a firmer “yes.” There's in-state prospects like Bronson Marsh that NU doesn't want to pursue. But Watson wanted Gabbert, the 6-foot, 190-pounder with below-average statistics but a big-league arm. He spent 18 months pursuing the kid - putting him through drills at camp, having him talk to other uncommitted recruits – all while ignoring the *MY BROTHER PLAYS AT MISSOURI* sign, in bright neon, flashing above Gabbert's head. Blood is usually thicker pigskin, folks – especially when you're playing the same position.

And when Nebraska's offense begun to resemble Big Ten football on a muddy field, Gabbert had a convenient out clause. Carter, did, too, although his decommitment seems to be more practical, considering NU has not used a 5-10, skinny slot receiver since Watson has been in Lincoln.

Now look. It's still Nebraska, and there's still kids a little down the list who'd love to don that uniform. It's not about coming up empty. If the Huskers really desire a quarterback for the sake of depth – they'll sign one. Or they'll enter another Paulus/Marve sweepstakes.

Instead, it's that Papuchis and Watson poured so much energy into specific guys, landed their verbal commitments, then lost them because Zac Lee and Co. couldn't play its way out of a paper bag, and Watson wasn't creative enough inside the box he drew for himself.

On Oct. 22, NU Director of Football Operations Jeff Jamrog swiftly rebuked a commentary from the Omaha World-Herald's Mitch Sherman that said, in part, the Huskers' offensive struggles could impact the 2010 class.

“Success in recruiting, in my opinion,” Jamrog said then, “is directly related to our coaches' ability to relate and communicate to these young men and give them the feel that Nebraska is the place for them to play.”

I sided, at the time, with Jamrog. Generally, he's right.

Not in this case.

Sherman was right. Sheer lack of performance – and NU's shift to an offense that appeals to almost no one who likes yards and points and stuff – can override the efforts of a recruiter as skilled as Papuchis, who's been responsible for some of Nebraska's biggest coups, including Jason Ankrah, Rex Burkhead and potentially Odigizuhwa. Watson's pretty good, too. After all, he got Gabbert to consider and commit to a rival school, didn't he?

In mid-October, Watson said NU wanted a QB, a running back, two WRs and four offensive linemen in its 2010 class.

Right now, less than two months from signing day, the Huskers have 0,0,1 and 3, thanks to the sudden commitment of Yoshi Hardrick.

Good thing Nebraska's built around its defense, huh?

These developments should be a splash of cold water in Bo Pelini's face, although, I suspect, Pelini doesn't need the wake up call anymore. The Huskers should be reaping the recruiting rewards of a spectacular effort in Dallas, not clinging to its best prospects as they walk out the door.

Yes, coaching counts. Talent isn't everything. And if you simply throw talent at a problem, which Callahan tried to do with his variety of blue chippers and JUCO ringers, only some of it will stick, while the rest peels from the wall and collects in a moldy clump on the tile.

But good recruiting classes are built around certain players. They're the anchors. Whether you or I believe in those players doesn't matter. The coaches believe in them, and show it through their sheer effort.

Last year, that was Green and Burkhead.

This year – don't kid yourself – it was Gabbert and Carter, and two years' worth of recruiting to go along with them.

The criticism for Watson was already rising above the din.

With 0,0,1 and 3 staring back at him, I don't see it getting any quieter now.

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In Carrollton, Irving and Euless. Flower Mound, Allen, Wylie and DeSoto. All the way down in Duncanville, out to Keller and of course, in Plano.

Rex Burkhead was a known property. The Metroplex version of a made man.

Wherever Nebraska running backs coach Tim Beck traveled in the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area, the high school football coaches – many of them Beck's former peers - loved this kid they used to call Superman on the field, in part for his Clark Kent persona he possessed off of it.

“It was unique,” Beck says now. “Anywhere you went, people would talk about him and what a great football player he was...when he played, he played hard. And people saw it.”

Varsity as a freshman. Starting quarterback as a sophomore. The kid with Barry Sanders on the wall and Walter Payton on the ceiling above his bed. Sweetness before bed every night.

“I'd rather run over somebody,” Burkhead said Tuesday.

As a junior and senior at Plano High School, he amassed 3,530 yards rushing and more than 60 touchdowns. Ole Miss wanted him as a Wildcat quarterback. Rich Rod wanted him a scatback and -

Well, hell – if you're in the DFW, you already know all this. Most Nebraska fans who count recruiting stars as they go to sleep know it, too. The Huskers got the loot, nabbed one of the biggest names out of the Lone Star State, and needed a bevy of position coaches – Beck and Mike Ekeler and John Papuchis to do it.

“I felt most comfortable here,” Burkhead says of NU. “Felt like this was the place.”

Head coach Bo Pelini tested him straight away in fall camp. Gave him the “rookie ball” for 24 hours. First day. First guy. Burkhead wasn't supposed to fumble it, and every member of Nebraska's top-shelf defense tried to pry it away.

“Who better than him?” Bo said of Rex's selection.

Indeed. Because Burkhead didn't fumble.

And he didn't blink an eye when, after the dismissal of Quentin Castille, he shot up to No. 2 on the depth chart. When he played well in the first five games of the season. When he converted a crucial third down at Missouri, taking a poorly-thrown swing pass from Zac Lee, planting hard with his right foot, and jutting back to the middle of the field for a first down. Decisive. Quick.

“He hits the hole downhill,” offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said. “He doesn't waste time. He doesn't over-analyze or read. He gets north and south and gets skinny.”

Three plays after Burkhead's clutch play, Lee hit Niles Paul for a NU's first touchdown. The Cornhuskers won, but starter Roy Helu jammed his shoulder something awful on his second-to-last carry. Burkhead would likely have been the guy for Texas Tech. And Iowa State. And possibly Baylor.

Then – pop! A simple little cut in practice four days after the Mizzou game. Gone awry.

“It wasn't a extreme pain, but I knew something wasn't right,” Burkhead said.

Foot fracture.

Sit down, Superman. Time to take a lesson you haven't yet learned – how to lose time to an injury.

Understand the difficulty here for Burkhead. After high school football, he would transition directly to basketball. He didn't slow down. When he arrived at NU, coaches and teammates noticed quickly: He's way ahead of the game here. How hard has this kid been working?

And Burkhead had learned so much, he said, in his short time in college football. The mental game, blitz pick-up, setting up defenders, using your blockers. It was close, you sensed. Burkhead seemed small on tape but bigger in person. And he runs even bigger than that.

“He's explosive,” Watson said. “It is surprising.”

For five weeks, NU lost its spark plug. Helu wasn't right for at least half of that time. Still isn't 100 percent, frankly. The Huskers had to burn Traye Robinson's redshirt in the process, and endure that awful 9-7 loss to Iowa State, in which Robinson and Helu combined for three fumbles.

Would Burkhead, who held on tight in the toughest of conditions during fall camp, have been so careless?

Often in a black puffy coat on crutches, Burkhead would sit back from practice and watch from afar. It got to him a little, he admitted. It took teammates – especially Helu, who doesn't let on much but is a kind of joyful mentor to Burkhead – to bring him around. Also, for a broken foot, the doctor's prognosis was good: Back for the Colorado game.

Of course, Rex being Rex, he was back a week early, for Kansas State.

“I was little hesitant at first,” Burkhead said. “I didn't feel it at all, but just knowing it's down there and the possibility of re-aggravating it.”

That changed once Burkhead got into the flow vs. the Wildcats.

“It was a nice bonus,” Pelini said.

Losing that trepidation was crucial, as it turned out, in the following week, when he rushed 100 yards on 18 carries in a 28-20 win over Colorado. Nine times for 55 yards and a touchdown on NU's penultimate drive, the one that made Husker fans party like it's 1979, all power sets and inside counters and Burkhead's churning legs.

It wasn't so much that Burkhead gained the yards as how he did it. One cut – and go. He bounced off some tackles and crawled past others. In all, 67 yards of the century were after contact. It's one thing to see a guy like Castille bull moose his way through a defense. Another to see a man of Burkhead's size even try, much less succeed, when NU made no secret on that drive of who was getting the ball, and where he was going to go with it.

“Whether he made the right decisions or not, he made them and ran with them,” Beck said. “He ran down his pads and kept his feet moving and accelerated through contact. He wasn't dancing around trying to make the big plays.”

Most backs – like Helu – are trying to “make every cut,” Beck said. They see three guys on two levels of the defense, and want to create a path around all of them. Helu, possessing rare peripheral vision, often makes sudden, almost inexplicable cuts parallel to the line of scrimmage. Where's he going? Helu doesn't always know. He just feels the pressure, and turns away from it. Sometimes, it works beautifully. Sometimes, Roy's just running around.

“That's not Rex,” Beck said. Burkhead makes the one cut and then - well, come what may.

In this case, a homecoming in Arlington, Burkhead's old stomping grounds, against Texas, the home state team. He played at least ten games inside the old Dallas Cowboys Stadium, and he'll have a hefty fan club for his first game in the new one, including some friends who are UT fans, and lobbied him to stay in-state.

Burkhead doesn't have much of an ax to grind with the Longhorns, mind you. He grew up in Kentucky, not Texas, so he wasn't wearing burnt orange out of the womb.

Texas did put forth a mild recruiting push for his services. Burkhead made a few visits, saw a game. But UT had already had two running backs – Vondrell McGee and Tre' Newton – with Burkhead's build and skillset, so there was some question as to what position he'd play for Mack Brown – and whether he'd even stay on offense.

“It was back and forth deal,” Burkhead said. “They really kind of left it up to me.”

UT was the wrong fit. No hard feelings. NU is the right one.

Burkhead, Pelini said, meshes with the new attitude of Nebraska football perfectly. As a bunch, the Huskers are humble – but Burkhead is unusually so, even for a high school star in a state where being one really means something.

“You can't let everything get to you,” Burkhead said. “You have to stay down to earth.”

That's what caught their eye in the DFW.

It's certainly grabbed Pelini's attention.

“He’s just a football player,” he said. “He’s tough. He’s a leader. He exemplifies all the characteristics that I want in football players that come into this program.”

The invaluable ranch hand, to borrow an image from Burkhead's adopted state. Knows the land like the laces of a football, does his job with a little fuss, and occasionally makes your jaw drop.

Or, Superman, when the shoe fits. Right Rex?

“Aw, it's all right,” Burkhead said. “I guess.”

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It starts somewhere around Denton. It doesn't end, really, until you hit Waco.

It's the endless strip mall that soon becomes the Dallas-Arlington-Fort Worth metro area – the Metroplex, as its known just about everywhere. Exit after exit after exit of shopping centers, big-box stores, cell-phone service marts, cheap book outlets, donut stops, Waffle Houses, Grandy's, Tex-Mex joints, roadside churches, car dealerships, western stores, billboards, crammed-in office parks, live oaks tucked onto an inch of landscaped grass, steakhouses, high-line boutiques, low-end pawn shops, and the lingering scent of traffic jams and the Dallas Cowboys in the air.

From the hard-scrabble, bloody roots of the state's rather amazing history, arises a temple to the transient, the gleam of a new truck's chrome. A symbol of the new American dream: You can have it all, buy it all, eat it all, drive it all. No checks please. Credit cards welcome. Cash, in wads of $100 bills, preferable. The Metroplex is more than 9,200 square miles, with 6.3 million shoppers as its clientele. The U.S. Census tabs it as the fastest growing area by population in America. A cultural beehive made of glass, country music, hairspray, oil money, beef brisket, southern politics and daddy's girls.

Loathe it some, but love it a little, too – there's some “Texas” in just about every Nebraskan. The independent spirit. The self-determination. The hard-won state pride, and the love for football.

The game was born in the Ivy League. Took its roots in the Rust Belt. Earned a living in and around the Great Lakes. Did a tour of duty with the military academies. But it currently resides, full-time, in the Lone Star State. It rents a duplex in Nebraska, but football finds Texas most to its liking.

High school stadiums are the size of small cities. The game there bubbles with innovation, competition and maniacal attention to detail. The state boasts ten Division I programs. The Cowboys are a second religion.

At the roadside barbecue stands, you can actually get your brisket with a side sauce of football. It's a little thick and leathery, but you can acquire a taste for it. Try it with burnt ends.

So it only made sense that the Citizen Kane of this giant pigskin menagerie, Jerry Jones, built a Xanadu: Cowboys Stadium. We'd presume, from all of the press coverage of this white whale, that you're aware of its existence.

It's a tribute, quite frankly, to everything Texas. Its hubris. Its excellence. Its taste for the needlessly ornate and expensive. Its love of large gatherings. And its love of football. Especially the glory part of it.

Into that spotlight walks a man who'd rather never see one: Bo Pelini, who'd just as soon play this thing in Cousin Joey's backyard. He'll be flanked by a single Goliath – Ndamukong Suh – and a collection of Davids looking to pop a burnt orange balloon.

Some challenge! The Big 12, no doubt, will enjoy its "tradition" week, but don't kid yourself: By late Saturday night, it fully intends to send triumphant Texas to the BCS National Championship game, preferably riding the coattails of a perfectly comfortable win over NU.

The league has been shamed, as you know, coming into this game. Sam Bradford's season never really climbed off the turf. Oklahoma State's showpony was an utter flop. The most exciting player, Robert Griffin, went down in week four. While Nebraska finally did emerge from the Big 12 North, Kansas stunk like a pair of old socks, while Colorado regressed mightily on national television.

The Big 12 is putting all its eggs in the basket of Texas and its quarterback, Colt McCoy. A loss, and the door opens for - TCU?

You see what's at stake. The gap between UT and everyone else. Recruits for 2010, 2011 and beyond. The very tidiness of the BCS. There are television executives everywhere, the de facto kings of the world at this point, with millions riding on this one game. What Nebraska can potentially do? How about: Sweet dreams and flying machines in pieces on the ground.

The Huskers as Battleship Potemkin. The people's champion. With the people's coach - in a sweatshirt and slacks, furiously chomping gum.

Ain't it somethin?

Are you ready? We are. But first – a review of Colorado, along with some key questions for the Big 12 Championship.

Five Players We Loved

Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh: Forget Missouri's new uniforms – it was Suh who morphed into “Beast Mode” in the second half vs. the Buffaloes. Had Colorado been rightly flagged for a few penalties, his performance would have been even more dominant.

Wide receiver Niles Paul: He's only scored one touchdown – the 59-yard punt return vs. CU – since the Iowa State game. But Paul's made a lot of big plays – see his long catches at Kansas and timely returns at KU and CU – and crucial small ones, like his two catches to extend touchdown drives on Friday.

Punter Alex Henery: Three more gems inside the 20 on Friday.

Running back Rex Burkhead: I especially liked how Burkhead picked a hole and slid through it without changing his forward lean. Roy Helu makes terrific cuts of his own, of course, but Burkhead is a canny runner for his young age. You could see where Burkhead puts a lot of stress on his feet, though, as hard as he plants.

Offensive guard Ricky Henry: The junior is poised to make “the leap” next year to an all-conference caliber player, provided he stays healthy. Be thankful NU coaches redshirted him in 2008. Henry played his nasty best in Boulder.

Three Concerns We Have

Neo-conservatism: There's nothing wrong with a power offense; it can be as dynamic and dangerous as any spread. Look at Stanford. But Shawn Watson almost seems to be embracing his new role too well. The third-down passes – where Zac Lee almost exclusively locked in on and waited for Niles Paul to break loose on a short crossing pattern – were particularly predictable. For Texas, Watson has to get a little more creative. It's pretty hard to milk the clock on Colt McCoy.

More dumb penalties: Cool it, Larry Asante. No need to give Colorado free points with an unnecessary (albeit borderline) hit out of bounds. Texas, the Big 12's Tiffany team, will be protected to the hilt on Saturday night, so every hit not only has to be clean, it has to look like Bevo's mother gave it approval beforehand.

Pursuit angles and poor tackling: This isn't the time – nor the opponent – to start getting sloppy from a tackling standpoint, but Nebraska has struggled in recent weeks against mobile quarterbacks and slippery receivers. Texas has both. Sean Fisher could use a crash course in playing the zone read, if NU has any intention of playing a base defense in Dallas.

Reviewing the Five Keys

Win One for the Hawk: Colorado indeed played hard on Saturday for embattled coach Dan Hawkins, who retained his job for another year. Smart? Not so much. In other words – Nebraska's still Nebraska, and the Buffaloes are still, well, the Buffaloes.

The Specials: Did we call it or what? NU owned CU on special teams. And it was the difference.

Inside-Out: Nebraska's offense rarely tested the deep middle of Colorado's defense, even though it was ripe for the testing. Shawn Watson did, however, dial up a nifty playaction pass for a touchdown.

Tyler, Cody and Zac: Cody Hawkins did not play, so he's out. Of the remained, CU's Tyler Hansen made several more big plays than Lee did – but he also threw three costly interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. Lee managed the offense, like he has for a month, and converted a few third down passes. His offensive line didn't protect him too well.

Play the Odds: Colorado did indeed self-destruct, a hallmark of a Hawkins-coached team. Hey – the Buffaloes are the ones choosing to keep him around.

Three Questions We Still Have

Does NU outsmart itself in preparing for Texas? The Brothers Pelini built this Nebraska defense on the strength of a dime look with Eric Hagg and Dejon Gomes in the game. Will they stick with that dance card, play nickel, or try a base look with Will Compton and Fisher flanking Phillip Dillard? UT's running game stunk for two-thirds of the season, but the Longhorns seem to have found their running back in freshman Tre Newton.

Can Nebraska just line up and run the ball? UT's defense, like Nebraska's, seems very comfortable stopping the horizontal-then-vertical spread running game. But Texas A&M lined up and punched the Longhorns right in the snout with power zone plays, counters and fullback isolation runs. The Huskers will line up in even heavier sets. Will Texas, which has a slight reputation for being soft, flinch, or bow its back?

Does the giant stage affect the young Huskers? This is a gritty team, sure. But it's not that experienced, and with some many native Texans on the NU roster, a game in the JerryDome is rife with expectation and pressure. Because ESPN wants viewers, its talking heads are bound to talk up Nebraska's defense throughout the week. When Texas hits a few big plays – and it will – how does NU respond in a cavernous dome where some fans are a quarter-mile away?

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Apollo 13. Ego diet. And now - three yards and a cloud of those little rubber pellets.

Offensive coordinator Shawn Watson has a new analogy to describe his playcalling.

"Trust me - I feel like Woody Hayes," Watson said after his offense produced 217 total yards in a 28-20 win over Colorado.

Watson was referring to Nebraska's power-heavy design and play selection of 40 runs and 14 passes.

Nebraska did put together touchdown drives of 56 and 80 yards. In between; NU punted six times, fumbled once, missed a field goal and let time run out of the first half.

It's not pretty, Watson said, but it is "managing a win." He used another Ohio State coach as a comparison in Jim Tressel, whose Buckeye teams consistently win the Big Ten crown, often with offenses that are less-than-dynamic. OSU is 69th in total offense this year, and 105th in passing offense.

"It's such a fine line," Watson said. "It's a hard situation. We're young. You don't want to put the game in a quarterback's hands or the receivers' hands right yet."

Just a true freshman named Rex Burkhead, who rushed 18 times for a career-high 100 yards vs. the Buffaloes. Burkhead was particularly crucial on NU's final touchdown drive, a 13-play, 80-yard march in which Burkhead carried the ball nine times for 55 yards and consistently fought for extra yards.

"We determined to get it in," Burkhead said. "We needed it. It felt great. When the offensive line's doing a tremendous job up front, you're seeing the holes better. It feels good. Everyone was upbeat. The offensive line - they were focused. You could see the fire in their eyes."

This, from a kid who broke his foot Oct. 12 and missed five games. Experience? Not much. Certainly less than most of NU's receivers or quarterback Zac Lee. Burkhead just delivered.

"He's running really well," Watson said. "He's giving us a lot more thump. He's such an explosive runner. He finds holes. He finds seams."

Burkhead's specialty on Friday was an inside zone run, a power play where the running back squeezes through a hole between the the guard and tackle, or cuts back into hole between the center and guard, or center and backside guard. Burkhead planted confidently on his previously broken foot, often choosing the cutback lane. Until his seven-yard touchdown run, that is, where he had a giant hole through which to blast.

"It's a confidence booster," Burkhead said.

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Players of the game and a report card from the Nebraska-Colorado game Saturday:

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME: Running back Rex Burkhead and Wide receiver Niles Paul. Burkhead ran much harder than the mercurial Roy Helu, and was rewarded with the game's clinching touchdown drive. Hopefully, Helu is bothered by that, and plays a little tougher vs. Texas. Paul, meanwhile, had two key grabs and a punt return for a touchdown. He's made big plays four of the last five games.

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME: Ndamukong Suh, defensive tackle. Took his game to “that” level in the second half; only a couple holding penalties kept Suh from two more sacks. When he decides to get relentless, he's pretty much unstoppable.

GRADES:

QUARTERBACK: B- Nothing too offensive here, but Zac Lee botched the option play where he hurt his ankle, and overthrew Niles Paul on a sideline route. He manages the game OK, but he still takes some bad sacks. He doesn't escape very well – despite his speed. Can you imagine how good NU would be with even Tyler Hansen?

RUNNING BACK: B Helu didn't play well. He lost a fumble, ran slow, and generally looked tenative. Burkhead, on the other hand, look every bit the bluechip recruit he was touted to be when arrived from Plano, Texas. Now you know why he was rushed back.

WIDE RECEIVER: C Paul blew an easy reception for a first down. Otherwise, the unit wasn't that involved. Paul – and only Paul - played most of the game. Brandon Kinnie caught a pass. Those receivers must just be loving this offense.

OFFENSIVE LINE/TIGHT ENDS: C+ Frankly, the offensive live did not play well until that key fourth-quarter drive. Penalties, missed blocks, a complete ignorance to the blitz, and now Jacob Hickman fudging on snaps. This is a hurt unit, true – but it's not a great unit. The tight ends were OK. Ben Cotton made a touchdown grab. He blocked well. Mike McNeill was mostly a non-factor.

DEFENSIVE LINE: B This grade takes into account poor officiating, which missed two or three bad holding calls against Ndamukong Suh, Pierre Allen and Barry Turner. Generally, they battled OK, and chased Tyler Hansen around the park. Suh stepped up his game in the second half. Turner saved a first down in the first half by tackling Hansen. Crick deflected a pass that Suh should have intercepted.

LINEBACKERS: D Sean Fisher overran several plays, while Will Compton and Phillip Dillard sometimes seemed to be attacking the same spot. CU should have isolated its running backs on NU's backers' more. They did play the screens fairly well.

SECONDARY: C Hot and cold. Three interceptions, after all, is nothing at which to shake a stick. But they got burned for a few big plays, didn't tackle that well, and gave up the touchdown at the end of the game, too, Unacceptable.

SPECIAL TEAMS: A Outstanding. The difference in the game. If Alex Henery makes the 50-yarder, it's an A+.

COACHING/PLAYCALLING: C- Just wasn't “getting” the offense today. NU never tried to attack CU's safeties, rarely tried playaction, never rolled the pocket, never dared to do anything. Nebraska made Colorado's defense look much better than it really is. And with Shawn Watson's long explanation at the end of the game, you get the sense he's either apologizing for it or rationalizing it. The game management was OK.

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Not surprisingly, my column in the wake of Nebraska's 17-3 win over Kansas State – which clinched the Big 12's North division - caused a little dust-up among Cornhusker fans, who were feeling good and not willing – for one second – to even think about that name. Bill Callahan.

The point was to be in a gracious mood. A five-course prix fixe at a three-star Michelin joint doesn't come to the table by the head chef's talents alone, does it? There's the sous chef, the sommelier, the front of the house and, crucially, the buyer of the produce. He or she has to import the best ingredients, and know whom to tap for those items.

We're simply saying this: Everything else being even, Callahan gave Bo Pelini a much better product than Ron Prince gave Snyder. NU beat KSU by 14 points, and those two touchdowns were reflective of talent, not coaching.

Sometimes, just the opposite is the case. The Brothers Pelini thoroughly outcoached Oklahoma's offensive staff two weeks ago – you remember our hosannas then, right? - and did the same to Clemson in the Gator Bowl. Other weeks, the coaching battle was a wash.

Variables change from week to week.

All of it belongs in the narrative, folks. Fewer hacks were harsher critics of Callahan than I, but let's keep a little perspective here. Whatever his and Kevin Cosgrove's faults were, they didn't bilk the university for millions with some secret deal like Prince, they didn't run the program into scholarship limitations and institutional control issues like Gary Barnett, and they didn't leave the program reeling like Mark Mangino will. They left a messy house, but it wasn't condemned.

Pelini, to his distinct credit, kept continuity on offense, and went to work whittling away at the unpolished gems on defense. What you're seeing now is nearly two years of Bo's labor bearing fruit.

Now, as I've written before, Pelini will have to make hard choices about the offense – the staff, the personnel, the identity, the scheme – in the offseason.

But, with the advance counsel of Tom Osborne, Pelini didn't screw up like Callahan did in 2004. He gave himself the best chance to succeed.

So – you put the ingredients together with a good chef who learned at some of the best culinary schools, and you get a North division title – and a shot at Texas, which is, let's see, the biggest game Nebraska's played in nearly a decade.

OK, now I'm done. Thwack me.

On with the review!

Five Players We Loved

Safety Larry Asante: He's always been a good hitter and sufficient in run support. But Asante, minus a few mistakes, has become a good coverage artist, too. Part of his growth is Pelini's willingness to plug P.J. Smith into the game whenever Asante isn't up to snuff.

Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh: No. 93 has been curiously unemotional over the last two months. We're fine with that – the man has work to do. We bet that, in December, when the awards shows roll around – his achievements and success at NU will hit him all at once. With time, Suh will appreciate what's he done as much as the fans do. Some hardware will help, of course.

Wide receiver Niles Paul: He's made some nice adjustments and catches over the last two weeks. He's averaging nearly 20 yards per grab for the season. That's pretty sweet.

Cornerback Anthony West: Prince Amukamara is the better player, but West has been clutch in relief of Alfonzo Dennard for the better part of a month now. He stayed stride-for-stride with KSU's Brandon Banks on a couple deep throws.

Punter/kicker Alex Henery: Part of it's skill, and part of it's just plain good fortune, but Henery downed two punts inside KSU's 2-yard line. We'll take that and a side of hash browns any day.

Three Concerns We Have

Backside blocking: If you're going to run an option game, you have to account for blitzes and defensive ends trailing behind the play. The Wildcats blew up several plays – including an open option pass – because NU's offensive line couldn't execute on the backside.

Shoddy tackling: It's creeping up at the wrong time. KSU quarterback Grant Gregory and running back Daniel Thomas both notched their share of yards after contact because the first defender couldn't pen them in. The preeminent key to beating Texas: Tackling.

Iffy decision-making: Zac Lee was cruising along until the middle second quarter, when he again turned into “that guy,” who holds the ball too long and waits for the last receiver to pop open. To his credit, he copped to his mistakes after the game, but the kid has to learn: Tuck and run and live to get points on the board.

Reviewing the Five Keys

To the Banks: NU's special teams unit had little trouble with KSU's Brandon Banks, thanks to kickers Henery and Adi Kunalic. Nebraska's defense let him get loose for 66 total yards, but the Blackshirts marked him pretty well inside the red zone.

Power Play: Kansas State successfully ran the ball with Daniel Thomas in the first half. In the second half, KSU was forced to alter its gameplan after falling behind two touchdowns, which meant a lot of four-wide receiver sets and gadget plays. Nebraska certainly tried to run power, but executed inconsistently. We're still not seeing the option plays working, other than to set up a single pass.

Front Four: Nebraska's defensive line lost a few battles but won the war, drawing timely holding penalties – KSU's line gripped and grabbed all night – and eventually overwhelming the Wildcats in the fourth quarter. It's not a very deep unit – just six guys, really – but hopefully Terrence Moore can step into a starting role next at nose tackle.

Zac Attack: Lee's not a permanent solution at quarterback, but he takes a hit pretty well. Aside from an bad five-minute stretch, he was a strength of the Huskers' offense, not a weakness.

The Snyder Factor: Bill brought his boys perfectly prepared, and Kansas State exploited some intriguing weaknesses – namely, NU's tendency to vacate the short middle when stretched vertically – to move the ball. Snyder has zero good options at quarterback. Not this year. And really not next. Plus, he needs to keep Daniel Thomas around for another year. There's no guarantee of that. He's a first-day NFL pick right now, in my estimation.

Three Questions We Still Have

How hard does NU have to work to beat Colorado? We like Nebraska by a couple scores in Boulder. But, of course, the Huskers' depth and health would be better served by the Buffaloes surrendering their pelts at halftime. It's hard to say just how hard CU will play for Dan Hawkins.

What can Rex Burkhead's return add to the offense? Other than being a breather for Roy Helu – which I'm not sure Helu always needs. Burkhead, to us, is perfect for third down situations, and needs to be given the touches during the two-minute drill – instead of Helu, who is more of a gifted runner.

Can Nebraska's secondary really keep this up? They've been tested every which way, benefited from some crucial drops in the Baylor and Kansas games, and just keep making plays near the goal line. Does the luck run out in Boulder? In Dallas?

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Just two days before Nebraska's tilt with Kansas State, it's like that little mint hotels put on the pillows.

NU running back Rex Burkhead has apparently recovered well enough from a broken foot suffered four weeks ago to be ready for the Cornhuskers' Big 12 North title game with the Wildcats.

“Rex is doing really good,” head coach Bo Pelini said Thursday night after NU's practice.. “If he can play, he can play. Let it all hang out.”

Burkhead broke his foot Oct. 12 in practice. Prior to the injury, he had 262 all-purpose yards (118 rushing, 66 receiving and 88 return yards). Burkhead seemed to be taking over for Niles Paul as NU's lead punt returner when he got injured; since then, the redshirt of Dontrayevous Robinson has also been burned.

Pelini confirmed Thursday that tight end Mike McNeill and defensive end Pierre Allen are expected to play, as well.

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Part of good coaching is knowing when, and how, to push player buttons to get the desired effect.

After Nebraska’s offense laid an egg in the first half of the Missouri game, wide receivers coach Ted Gilmore benched Niles Paul and Menelik Holt. He made them turn in their hand warmers and gloves. He stuck Antonio Bell and Brandon Kinnie out there, to no real avail other than it fired up Paul, who responded with two touchdown catches in the fourth quarter.

“It kind of let me get down on myself,” Paul said. “But then I kind of thought about it and was like ‘he’s doing this for the team.’ And he put us back in there.”

Offensive coordinator Shawn Watson told his quarterback, Zac Lee, point blank: We’re thinking about sitting you for a drive, and inserting true freshman Cody Green.

“He said, ‘We’re going to do it for a series,’” Lee said. “‘Keep your eyes open.’”

Watson didn’t bench Lee. One wonders if his mere consideration was a fire he was trying to light under the junior, who came alive and threw his best passes of the game in the fourth quarter. If Green had entered the game, and played remotely well, Watson would have opened a Pandora’s Box in Husker Nation. As it is, he cracked it opened a little bit,

“It is what it is,” Lee said. “I had to deal with it. I know Coach Wats has my back, I know Coach (Bo) Pelini has my back, so it kind of motivated me to have their back. It’s just part of the game.”

How often do those motivational techniques work? Once? Twice? Ideally, you don’t use them much.

But Nebraska’s offense, especially the running game, has been a little slipshod at times since the Arkansas State game, when Lee looked like the best quarterback in the Big 12. Roy Helu’s bailed out the offensive line with some terrific individual efforts – more than half of his yards this year are after early contact - and Lee’s fired up that great arm of his at just the right times.

Can NU really afford to hope the switch flips at the right time? To assume the offensive coordinator alights on just the right passing plays to beat the opposing defense?

Watson took considerable heat for his playcalling in Missouri. By Watson’s own actions and logic, he deserved some of the criticism.

Watson used the awful, rainy conditions to defend Lee, yet shrugged off those same conditions in defense of his playcalling because Missouri was “loading the box” against the run. But Watson didn’t exactly help his own case when he unveiled a quite successful quad-tight set at the end of the game that ground out 68 rushing yards in eight plays. The Tigers had ten guys hovering near the line of scrimmage – but the Huskers still ran the ball.

Now comes Texas Tech, a “vanilla” defense that doesn’t blitz much and relies on its front seven to stop the run. Will Watson impose NU’s size advantage? Or will the game, again, fall on Lee’s right arm?

The Huskers could, but should not, use the absence of Rex Burkhead as a built-in excuse for throwing the ball 40 times a game. Burkhead was valuable – he made several crucial plays in the Missouri game – but he was only averaging roughly 6-8 touches per game. If Helu has to carry it 30 times, so be it. He’s a great back, Nebraska’s best in a decade. If Helu’s shoulder is too banged up for the heavy load, Watson and Tim Beck need to trust their own coaching skills, and insert Burkhead’s replacement. It’s football, after all, not a North Korean nuclear treaty negotiation.

And defenses are going to start getting wise to Nebraska’s strategy. If it’s that easy to move NU away from the running game, they’ll take the chances with a quarterback and receivers who have been uneven at best over the last month.

Missouri was a handful of plays away from a shutout, frankly. If Burkhead doesn’t make a nifty move to gain four yards on a third-down play, Lee never gets to make that throw to Paul, and the Tigers shift into the “eating game clock” mode. And the bulk of this week is a real bear for Nebraska and its coaching staff, instead of a celebration of Ndamukong Suh’s many defensive talents.

“Bottom line is, we need to score points,” head coach Bo Pelini said. “You’re not going to shut (Texas Tech) out. You’d like to, but they’re a pretty good offensive football team and we need to match them. We need to put some points on the board.”

You wonder if Bo will have to push some his coaches’ buttons to make it happen.

See also: 50 Husker Fans, 50 States: Pittsburgh

See also: Defending Tech's...Running Game?

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Nebraska’s running backs corps just got a little thinner for Saturday’s Texas Tech game.

NU head coach Bo Pelini announced Tuesday at his press conference that true freshman Rex Burkhead injured his foot in practice Monday and would not play against the Red Raiders.

“He’s going to be out for awhile,” Pelini said. He did not specify how long. “…Anytime you have a good football player out, you’re gonna miss him. We’ll be all right. I feel worse for the kid. He’s a prideful, tough kid.”

Sai quarterback Zac Lee: "It'll be a blow. But we've got other guys we have confidence in. I'm pretty confident they'll make the best of their opportunity."

That does not necessarily mean starter Roy Helu – who seemed to suffer a shoulder injury late in the Mizzou game – will get more of the work at the position. While Pelini said Helu had “no issues” in returning to practice Monday, but Austin Jones, Lester Ward, Collins Okafor, Traye Robinson and Marcus Mendoza have moved up the depth chart.

“Still gonna have other guys in there playing,” Pelini said. “Whoever earns it.”

Said Lee: Roy's stud. Roy can take whatever we can put on him, honestly. But it's always nice to have a second guy."

Of Nebraska's 120 running back carries, 114 of them were by Burkhead or Helu. Jones has three, while Ward, Mendoza and Okafor each have one.

See also: 50 Husker Fans, 50 States: Pittsburgh

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Just in case you haven’t come out of that rain-fueled reverie from last Thursday, Texas Tech coach Mike Leach delivered a public service announcement Saturday. More like a warning, with that 66-14 drubbing his Red Raiders hung on Kansas State. KSU isn’t particularly good. But the Wildcats aren’t 52 points that bad either.

Yes – just like playing at Tech wasn’t as hard as it seemed last year, this year’s game won’t be as easy as it seems. In many ways, the “Air Raid” system is better than Missouri’s spread offense, especially in creating big plays for the running backs, which Mizzou’s system doesn’t do so well.

If NU thinks it can get chuffed and proud, the Huskers had better cleanse their system of that incredible comeback win before Leach and Co. head to town. Once thing about Leach: He simply doesn’t care. He’ll boot players, bluff his own athletic director and happily serve as a hypocrite when he chastises players for the seeking the publicity he hounds. He just doesn’t care. Leach is a football mercenary for hire – Texas Tech has him tied to long-term contract – whose measurement of success is racking up points and yards.

My wife and I were watching a YouTube clip on Leach. Some nonsense about dating advice and pirate obsessions.

“He’s kind of a clown,” my wife said. Molly’s a pretty polite girl; she prefers half-insults unless we’re on the subject of bad officiating.

“Well, maybe,” I said. “But he wins a lot of games.”

“Yeah,” she shrugged. “He’s still a clown.”

As we await Leach’s circus on Saturday, we relive, one last time, the Mizzou win.

Five Players We Loved

Defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh: You rarely get to see “legendary” defensive performances from a single player. On national TV, Suh delivered one. I’m not sure even he understood just what he’d done. In the coming weeks, if he makes a push for the Heisman, he will. The Missouri game was his launching pad.

Defensive back Dejon Gomes: He stuck to Mizzou receivers like glue all of Thursday night. Where’s he been? Doesn’t matter. Gomes needs to stay in the game, and off the bench.

Linebacker Philip Dillard: He’s re-established himself as Nebraska’s best linebacker. It took the coaches too long to realize it, but they’ve finally come around to Dillard’s brand of play and leadership.

Running back Rex Burkhead: Made a lot of little plays in the game, including a couple key third-down conversions. He’s excellent in open space, and getting better between the tackles.

Wide receiver Niles Paul: Oh, if only his confidence matched his raw talent. Maybe his fourth-quarter heroics vs. Missouri will clue Paul into the kind of player he can be – every game. He may want it a little too much. Paul needs to let the game come to him a little more often.

Three Concerns We Still Have

Depth and trust in the running game: It’s really hard to account for Nebraska’s deliberate choice to pass the ball, over and over, vs. the Tigers in the pouring rain. We keep hearing about all these guys in the box, but the Huskers pretty much abandoned the run until the game’s final drive and, then, embracing it with the heaviest of the heavy sets (four tight ends!), looked quite good. Where was that all game?

Punt snaps: Freshman P.J. Mangieri needs to figure this out. If Alex Henery wasn’t back there making incredible plays just to get the ball off, NU would have three or four blocked punts by now. Some were critical of Bo Pelini’s minor chew session of Mangieri, but the kid, young as he may be, is only on the team to do one thing. He needs to do it right.

A little too much offensive diversity: Nebraska flashed a ton of formations at Missouri Thursday night, and almost seemed to cross itself up. In big games, it’s not the chess match that wins, but the execution of your best stuff. What is Nebraska’s best stuff? We’re still waiting a little.

Reviewing The Five Keys

Mystery Ingredients: The weather definitely affected Nebraska (although offensive coordinator Shawn Watson called the game like it didn’t) and the flu bug kept five or six players under the weather. The power outage at Faurot Field threw another curveball the Huskers’ way, as the coaches were forced to conduct their locker room sessions by flashlight, essentially. For all that, for NU to still win the way it did – it’s character, plain and simple.

Zac Lee On the Road – Again: I wasn’t encouraged by Lee’s performance through three quarters, but he made some clutch throws in the fourth quarter to redeem the performance. Another plus: Lee put the ball in places where his offensive players could nab it. Unlike Blaine Gabbert, whose vision – not his ankle – was the real culprit Thursday night.

The First Impression: Nebraska’s defense sent a very different message in 2009; Suh and his front four mates made sure of it. Mizzou tried to run NU off the field on the first couple drives, but the Tigers slowed down out of necessity.

Stick or Quit: Missouri’s running game never really got shut down, but never got going, either. The Tigers threw too many passes, and too many of those passes were simply bad, telegraphed reads by Blaine Gabbert.

Pelini vs. Pinkel: Call it a draw, I suppose; both coaches failed to slow the game down with running attack, and both coaches made some gutsy decisions. Pinkel gambled and won on fourth down, while Pelini subbed out three starters – Anthpny West, Will Compton and Lance Thorell – to go with guys whom he thought would get the job done better. He was right.

Three Questions We Have

Is Nebraska ready for more, more, more? NU’s going to see one version or another of the spread from this point forward until Kansas State. Can it stick with the current gameplan used vs. Missouri, or must it alter the plan to fit the needs of each team and quarterback?

Time for Blackshirts? We think so. How about you?

Who’s the real Zac Lee? The kid who knocks em dead at home, or the head-scratcher on the road? Will we really learn anything this week? Maybe. Tech is easily the best home opponent Nebraska has faced this season.

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Report Card from Nebraska’s 27-12 win over Missouri:

OFFENSIVE MVP: Rex Burkhead. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. Burkhead didn’t seem to do much, but he converted a couple crucial third downs, one of which kept alive Nebraska’s first touchdown drive. Burkhead caught a swing pass, planted hard into wet turf, and darted his way to an unlikely first down. Statistically, Burkhead didn’t do much. But he made four or five little big plays, and no bad ones.

DEFENSIVE MVP: Ndamukong Suh. A performance that echoed the dominance of Grant Wistrom and Rich Glover before him. Suh’s one of the great ones.

GRADES

QUARTERBACK: C Zac Lee had one terrific fourth quarter. But his play during the first three quarters nearly earned Lee a spot on the bench. He looked confused, slow, wet and overmatched. Many of his passes were simply inaccurate. But he made the plays when NU really needed them, in tough conditions. He should be glad – really glad - OC Shawn Watson never took him out. If Watson had, we’d have a week of Lee vs. Cody Green chatter.

RUNNING BACK: B+ Considering what NU had to work with – a sick Roy Helu and a so-so offensive line – it was a solid performance. The numbers were low, but hardly reflective on the effort. Helu banged up his shoulder well enough to wear a giant ice pack afterward, but he was still in there on the last drive. Tough kid.

OFFENSIVE LINE: C- They were kind of a disaster until the fourth. Mizzou’s stunting run defense threw off the big boys; their pass protection was fair, but unspectacular until the final quarter.

WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS: C- Niles Paul and Menelik Holt played so poorly that Watson benched them to start the second half. Paul could’ve sulked; instead, he had the two signature plays of his career. Mike McNeill only had the one grab, but he made it count. Too many dropped balls, and not-so-great blocking on the perimeter.

DEFENSIVE LINE: A+ A dominant, signature performance from all four of them. Energy, physicality, playmaking and just plain smarts: This bunch doesn’t necessarily get a ton of sacks, but they frustrate the bejusus out of the quarterback. They combined for 21 tackles, 2 sacks, 2 pass breakups and 2 turnovers. The best defensive line in America? Maybe.

LINEBACKERS: A Mostly Will Compton and Phillip Dillard, who had the complex assignment of diagnosing Mizzou’s spread offense and attacking it downhill. The Tigers slowed down as the game went on. NU’s defense just got stronger.

SECONDARY: A Nebraska finally seems to be playing the right guys in Dejon Gomes and Alfonzo Dennard, who clearly have more pure coverage skills than Anthony West and Lance Thorell. Both of them, along with Prince Amukamara, were excellent Thursday. Larry Asante held up quite well on a injured ankle, too.

SPECIAL TEAMS: D If Alex Henery weren’t so athletic and smart – just check out some of the plays he had to make on bad snaps from PJ Mangieri – Nebraska might have given up more than a safety. Punt returns were just awful, punt coverage wasn’t much better, as several guys simply overran Carl Gettis. Kick coverage was excellent – the lone bright spot, other than Henery.

GAME MANAGEMENT/PLAYCALLING: C+ That would be a A for the defensive work, which was stellar, and a D+ for offensive coordinator Shawn Watson, who frankly stumbled into success in the fourth quarter. Nebraska never tried to establish the run and Lee was about to get the hook after a fumble when Watson changed his mind. The decision turned out to be fortuitous.

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The best play of Rex Burkhead’s young career at Nebraska shouldn’t have happened.

The freshman running back scored a touchdown on a 24-yard shovel pass reception with a nifty feat of speed, moves and toughness in the waning moments of NU’s 55-0 win over Louisiana-Lafayette.

Burkhead caught a short, forward flip from fellow true freshman Cody Green, eluded one defender, broke the tackles of three more, and stiff-armed a fifth tackler at the five-yard line to score the second touchdown on his career.

“I was hoping to get the first down,” Burkhead said. “But I was fortunate to stay up.”

Too bad Green called the wrong play in the huddle. He misread the signals from the sidelines, called a shovel pass, watched it work thanks to Burkhead’s effort and trotted over to the sidelines, where a smiling Zac Lee awaited him.

“Coach (Shawn) Watson told me the exact same thing,” Green said. “He said, ‘Nice job of running the offense. I think I’ll hand over the reins to you and you can call your own plays. Because you just did now.’ It was supposed to be a regular pass to get the first down. But, heck, my shovel pass went for a touchdown. So I was happy for it.”

So was Burkhead, who accumulated 108 all-purpose yards for the night, throwing in his two punt returns for 55 yards. It was the most extensive action he or Green - the most ballyhooed of NU’s 2009 recruiting class – has seen this year.

“It was awesome,” Burkhead said. “Every time you get in the end zone. When 86,000 fans roar, it’s a great feeling.”

Green, a native of Dayton, Texas, scored a touchdown of his own on a 24-yard zone read play that looked like his 49-yard showstopper in the first game. Green completed 7-of-8 passes for 62 yards and the touchdown to Burkhead.

On Burkhead’s score, Green thought the Plano, Texas native was already down. He glanced up at the HuskerVision screen – Green calls it the “big board” – to watch a replay. Instead, he watched Burkhead’s touchdown.

“That kid’s got something right there,” Green said. “I think that little guy has probably the best center of gravity I’ve seen in just a freshman or any young guy that’s been playing. The kid doesn’t go down. For nothing.”

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It was a quick vocabulary lesson in the difference between offensive and defensive coaches.

When Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini critiqued, at length, his defense in Tuesday’s press conference, he used the word “soft” to describe its physical effort in a 49-3 win over Florida Atlantic.

Offensive coordinator Shawn Watson’s word of the day? Tempo. As in the speed with which quarterback Zac Lee received the play from the sideline, communicated it to the offense, and actually ran it.

In a 21-point first half, it wasn’t so good, despite touchdown passes of 28 and 51 yards.

But when Nebraska sped up in the second half, FAU “couldn’t stop us,” Watson said after Tuesday’s two-hour practice on the grass fields north of Memorial Stadium. “We went right down the field on them.”

The difference? Lee himself. The junior from San Francisco was “a little nervous in the service,” Watson said, in the first half, and kept heading to the sidelines to receive the play. That’s not uncommon in some offenses; however, Watson and Co. are making a concerted effort to speed up without ditching the huddle altogether.

At halftime, Watson told Lee to stand by the rest of his teammates on the field.

“That’s step one,” Watson smiled. “Pretty logical.”

Then, NU coaches held Lee “more accountable” for making sure the line hustled to their spots.

“If guys aren’t getting their hand in the dirt, he’s got to get them to get their hand in the dirt so we can play,” Watson said.

Watson called Lee’s second-half tempo “beautiful.” Nebraska needed only four plays on each its first two drives in the third quarter, scoring touchdowns on runs by junior Roy Helu.

“It could have been a little better,” Lee said. “But it’s kind of a first game thing.”

Other than the tempo problems, Watson said Lee “graded out really high” in his initial start. He completed 15 of 22 passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns.

“We didn’t ask him to do a whole lot of stuff, but we asked him to do enough to win the football game,” Watson said. “And as the game wore on I gave him more responsibility. And he really handled it well.”

Concerns about Lee vacating the pocket to run seemed answered by Saturday’s performance. Lee only scrambled once, and that was for a 12-yard gain. Mostly, Lee said, he tried to buy time for receivers to get open downfield by stepping into the pocket and moving away from pressure.

“I’ll run if I have to,” Lee said. “But I’d rather somebody got open downfield and hit them for a big gain…you want to get out and run around and make plays yourself, but I think the best thing, in the big picture, is to let guys get open.”

Notes:

*Both left guard Keith Williams and tight end Dreu Young practiced in full pads Tuesday. Young missed most of fall camp and the first game recovering from back surgery.

“It’s good to have (Dreu) back,” Watson said. “He’ll be in the gameplan. He has a lot of thump on the line of scrimmage and he’s a good pass receiver.”

*Watson seemed pretty set on using just Helu and true freshman Rex Burkhead at running back.

“We would ride those two horses, to be honest with you, forever,” Watson said. “That’s the way we’d do it. And we need a third guy, it’d be Lester (Ward).”

Expect more of Ward in the Big 12 season, when Nebraska routinely used three running backs in 2008.

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Here come the Hooters.

(And if you didn’t think that was coming, you don’t know our Five Keys very well).

In roughly the last 20 years, Nebraska has chosen to make its season opening opponent, with a few exceptions (1994, 1996, 2002 and 2003 among them) soft, fruit-filled pastries to enjoy on a late summer day. The names – San Jose State, Western Illinois, Maine, Florida Atlantic – change, but the games they inspire do not.

Oh, there is this nugget of fear right until kickoff. Is this the year the Cornhuskers come out flat? Then the Memorial Stadium crowd leans in, the opponent makes a bonehead play, and it’s time to look for the kid selling Runzas. Even the Fallen Team of 2007 knew how to cut a pound of flesh from Nevada.

Take last year. First quarter. Western Michigan sets up a perfect trick play, WMU quarterback Tim Hiller steps to throw the easiest touchdown pass he’ll ever toss, and he forgets the ball. Just plum slips out of his hand. You couldn’t dream it up.

But this is what happens to non-major conference programs at the beginning of the year. By midseason 2008, when Illinois had already been beaten down a little by injuries and losses, and Western Michigan had some confidence, the Broncos rolled into Champaign and scored an upset.

Six weeks from now, FAU would be a more dangerous team than it is today. As it stands, we call the Owls a funny name. Beyond that, we preach respect. And, as such, a full, in-depth five keys to kick off 2009.

KIDS: That’s short for: Keep It Downhill, Shawn. Offensive coordinator Shawn Watson is much smarter than we are at this playcalling gig, so we figure he can already tell that Florida Atlantic’s defense will eventually crack under the weight and strength of Nebraska’s physical offensive line. Maybe not on the first drive. Maybe not even in the first quarter. But eventually. FAU can only stunt and guess its way into the right defense so many times, right?

Quentin Castille would have been a perfect fit for a game like this, because smaller defenses loathe tackling a load like Q. In Castille’s permanent absence, might NU use some heavier sets, some double tight end packages? Can Nebraska so easily vacillate between power and shotgun spread? We’ll see.

Our long-term concern is the durability of Roy Helu. He’s never been in better shape, and he’s not the kind to beg out of a game. But he has been the kind who’s had to miss a practice or two the following week because of a pull, strain or tweak. There hasn’t been a running back alive who didn’t play with little hurts after the first game, for the rest of a given season. But Nebraska’s coaches need to give their prized junior just enough of a break to keep him away from nagging problems.

If that means a little more Rex Burkhead in weeks one and two, so be it. Burkhead could use the work. Know this: Helu’s money time is in October and November. September is the rehearsal.

36 inches: That’s about the distance separating the facemask of FAU quarterback Rusty Smith from the helmet of Nebraska nose tackle Ndamukong Suh. At least when Smith is under center.

If Florida Atlantic has any chance Saturday, Smith must win the battle between those two players. Yes, between them.

Good quarterbacks don’t hide behind an offensive line all night. Smith can’t and won’t expect his center to stuff Suh every time; it won’t happen. He can’t expect double teams all night, either. Smith and his coaches have to develop a quick rhythm passing game that stares right into the face of the Big 12’s baddest man and throws right over his head. If the Owls spend all night trying to scheme away from Suh, or run around him, the plan will fall to pieces.

As for Suh – if he makes a blowup tackle or a big sack on the opening series or two, the Memorial Stadium crowd will lose its collective head and suck much of the energy out of the Owls. One memorable quality about Grant Wistrom, the last NU defensive lineman of this magnitude: He knew how to say hello on the first drive.

Attack Zac, Zac Attack: When a defense is overmatched, as FAU’s most certainly is, the coordinator is wise to narrow down the number of players who can beat his crew.

If the Owls’ strength is coverage, for example, and NU has relatively inexperienced wide receivers catching passes from a very inexperienced quarterback, the logic flows like this: Put eight guys in the box, dare NU quarterback Zac Lee to throw deep balls into one-on-one coverage, and dare the Huskers’ receivers to do something about it.

"He's new and we want to test him, but to do that we have to make them put it in the air," FAU cornerback Torvoris Hill said.

Western Michigan tried that last year, and Joe Ganz smoked the Broncos with a 61-yard touchdown bomb to Nate Swift that put away WMU for good. Baylor tried the same strategy to nullify Nebraska’s quick WR screen game. Once again, Ganz found Swift behind the coverage for a 60-yard backbreaker of a touchdown.

Just because it burned Western Michigan and BU, doesn’t mean FAU shouldn’t try it. After all, Lee could crumble under the pressure. We doubt it – he’s got more physical skills than Ganz - but he could. Or Nebraska’s receivers, unaccustomed to running deep routes, might not be up for the challenge.

Either way, Nebraska should expect an eight-man box. An option game can loosen it up. A properly timed zone read can, too. Or perhaps, when FAU picks its poison, Lee turns out to be more toxic than the Owls expected.

Young Guns: Great movies, weren’t they? No, they weren’t, but Lou Diamond Phillips was in both of them. Lou also made a movie called “Sioux City,” set in, you guessed it – Nebraska? Apparently “South Sioux City” didn’t make the cut as a title.

We digress.

Nebraska’s roster is stuffed with freshmen, redshirt freshmen and sophomores, many of whom are “Bo guys” he either recruited, or found toiling as walk-ons (Lance Thorell and Mathew May fit this bill).

The youngest of these will make mistakes Saturday. That’s not a specific indictment on them. That’s the nature of football. New guys screw up in their first handful of games, and hopefully they’re athletic enough to adjust on the fly. There probably hasn’t been a more dominant true freshman in NU’s history than Ahman Green, but the prevailing opinion upon his arrival was “Well, he’s no Lawrence Phillips.” Even though, two years later, he was most certainly was.

The Specials: We tend to harp on special teams quite a bit around here, and it’s for reason: It’s a hidden, often misunderstood component of the game that should be won, game in and game out, by the bigger, deeper program.
In the NFL, of course, mandatory roster sizes balance it out. But in college, home teams – especially home teams in major conferences – have the distinct advantage of using athletic specialists (talented redshirt freshmen like Alonzo Whaley and P.J. Smith, useful walk-ons like Wes Cammack, gunners like Rickey Thenarse) where Sun Belt teams are forced to use starters.

So, fatigue, execution and field position becomes an issue. Throw in Nebraska punter/kicker Alex Henery, and NU should be able to create 7-10 points (directly or indirectly) off of this advantage alone.

See also: Guess The Score!

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