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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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