It's official!

Nebraska will play in the Gator Bowl at noon on New Year's Day. It will be televised by CBS.

Here's what tigernet.com has to say about one of it's players:
Michael Hamlin, a first-team All-ACC safety, is the leader of Clemson's defense. The graduate has six interceptions to rank in a tie for sixth in the nation, and he has also contributed a team best nine pass deflections. His 15 passes defensed rank among the national leaders as well. Hamlin is second on the Clemson team in tackles with 102 and has 18 career takeaways (interceptions plus fumble recoveries). He ranks second in Clemson history in that category, just one short of Terry Kinard's career record of 19 set between 1978-82.

And here's what clemsontigers.cstv.com has for information on their site:

Clemson is 10th in the nation in scoring defense (16.6), ninth in pass efficiency defense, 10th in pass defense (167.3) and 17th in total defense (294.8). Clemson led the ACC in scoring defense and is second in the nation behind Southern California in fewest yards allowed per pass attempt.

Clemson is led on offense by running backs James Davis and C.J. Spiller, quarterback Cullen Harper and wide receiver Aaron Kelly. Davis has 725 yards rushing and has scored 11 touchdowns this year. He needs just 112 rushing yards in the Gator Bowl to become Clemson's career leader and two touchdowns to establish a Clemson career record. He currently has 49 after a three touchdown performance against South Carolina in the regular season finale.

Spiller leads the ACC in all-purpose running and was named first-team All-ACC as a specialist this year. Spiller needs just 114 all-purpose running yards to become Clemson's career leader. He has 612 yards rushing and 430 yards receiving in addition to ranking 12th in the nation in kickoff returns. His reception yardage total was a Clemson record for a running back.

Should be a close game. This writer thinks the spread should be Nebraska favored by eight points.

Coach Danny Nee and Erick Strickland will be inducted into the Nebraska Hall of Fame on January 16, 2009.

Former Nebraska Coach Bill Busch is headed to Utah State to be their new defensive coordinator and safeties coach. He will be under their new head coach Gary Anderson who comes over from Utah where he was the defensive coordinator. Best wishes to Coach Busch who was one of my favorites under Coach Callahan. Funny guy!

Nebraska showed it has a long ways to go to play with the best. #19 Arizona State beat Nebraska today 64-44 at Tempe. No doubt from the start who had the most talented team but the Cornhuskers did give a great effort. Nebraska needs a couple of good big men to move up to the next notch,

This writer loves Coaches Bo Pelini and Doc Sadler. He hopes they are around for a long time.

The last Nebraska All-American was Barrett Ruud in 2004.

Leading this year's team in interceptions are Zach Potter and Ndamukong Suh with two each. Kind of odd beings their defensive linemen.

The Big 12 is the best conference in football and basketball. In basketball, The Big 12 has had six teams advance to the Final Four in the last seven seasons, more than any conference in the country. A year ago, the Big 12 had more wins against top-25 opponents than any conference in the country. The winning percentage of the Big 12 teams in NCAA play (,642) is the best in the country over the past six seasons. These facts were taken out of the new 2008-9 Basketball Media Guide.

The Nebraska Sports Journal's Top Five Football Teams will remain the same as last posted on November 23rd.

1. Oklahoma
2. Florida
3. Alabama
4. Texas
5. USC

Doing Sports God's Way With Lance Thorell!!

This is an awesome video!!

Godtube

Nebraska thrills the crowd.

PICTURE COURTESY OF THE LINCOLN JOURNAL STAR
SEE THEIR PHOTO GALLERY FOR OTHER GREAT PHOTOS

Friday afternoon Nebraska knocked off Colorado 40-31 in the most thrilling NU game this writer has ever attended. Nebraska seemed to be in control of the game after Colorado opened up a 14-0 lead but every time you would look at the score we were tied or behind. This writer didn't worry about it because we just seemed to be outplaying them and it was a matter of time. It was a matter of time at the end when we had a 4th and 25 from the Colorado 40 yard line. Thoughts went through my mind that we were beat. The ride home was going to be disappointing. There was no way. The sickening thought of our fake field that backfired for a Colorado touchdown went through my mind.

Should we punt? There was less than two minutes left in the game. A first down by Colorado and this game was over. Kunalic could possible hit a field goal from that distance but the chances were slim. Our offense didn't look to be with it this series so a first down needing 25 yards was not very probable. And then Alex Henery come on the field. He is a heck of a kicker and my vote all year long for All Big 12 but 57 yards? It couldn't be a fake. Not after the last one we tried. Impossible. And then the ball was snapped and he actually kicked it. Some yelled "It's short!"

But it kept going and going and then this writer saw a fan raise his hands behind the goal post and the crowd erupted. It went crazy! People were falling over over the place! Fans were hugging other fans they didn't even know. It has never been that loud in the Nebraska stadium.

But the game wasn't over. They had hit three early passes for a lot of yards and they might do it again. QB Hawkins threw the ball down the middle with his tight end temporily open. At the last second Lance Thorell leaped and knocked the ball away from the receiver. Wwwhhheeewwww! Still time left. Hawkins goes back to throw and Zach Potter, for the second time in the game, deflected it away to N. Suh and Suh races to the end zone for a touchdown. The crowd went crazy again and this time it might have been just as loud or louder. Nebraska had it won at last!!

Yes, we beat Oklahoma a few years ago on the Stuntz to Crouch pass. That was crazy, Yes, we beat Missouri on the famous Frost to Davison pass in overtime a few years ago. And yes we beat Texas A & M a couple of years ago on the Taylor to Purify pass when it looked like we were beat. The Oklahoma-Nebraska Game of The Century was as good as it gets. There are others. But this writer wasn't at those games and two of those games weren't even in Nebraska. Never had we had 85,000 plus fans at a game like this. It was loud. It gave you goosebumps and it made you emotional!

If you get a chance view Corn Nation's (In the Blog List) replay of the fieldgoal. WOW!

Stars of the game were of course, Henery and Suh, Helu again, and Zach Potter. Oh and the Nebraska fans!!!

The Big 12 was also crazy today. Kansas beats Missouri and Nebraska ties for the Big 12 North.

We are 8-4 and probably headed to the Gator Bowl. Let's go 9-4 but maybe don't make it so exciting this time.

Happy Thanksgiving to NSJ

Happy Thanksgiving to readers at the Nebraska Sports Journal! Happy Thanksgiving to John and the gang who run Nebraska Sports Journal. I hope that you have plenty to be thankful for, such as a possible bowl game for Nebraska in a tropic weather place. Over at Collegefootballtopten.com, I posted my annual Top Ten Things I'm Thankful For, if you have a chance, check it out. Here's a hint. It includes the guys from Nebraska Sports Journal.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Oklahoma remains #1 in the Nebraska Journal Standings!

Oklahoma showed its speed last night and dominance of Texas Tech in an easy victory. Here is our new rankings:

1. Oklahoma
2. Florida
3. Alabama
4. Texas
5. USC

This writer predicts an Oklahoma/Florida Championship game! How do you see it?

Nebraska now looks good for the Gator Bowl!

Nebraska has to beat Colorado next Friday. With the Notre Dame loss today vs. Syracuse, they should have eliminated themselves from playing in the Gator Bowl. Nebraska should be at the top of the list!

The Gator Bowl is held in the Jacksonville Municipal Stadium which seats 76,877 and is the home of the Jacksonville Jaquars. The game features the third place team of the ACC vs. Notre Dame, or a team from the Big East or Big 12. The ACC is so close that it could be a number of team that could play in the Gator. Boston College, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Florida State, Wake Forest, Clemson, Miami (Fla) and Virginia Tech could all be possibilities.

The Gator Bowl is the site where, in 1978, Ohio State Coach Woody Hayes clotheslined a Clemson player after he intercepted an Ohio State pass. Woody Hayes lost his job the next day.

Former MVP's of the Gator Bowl include:
1954 Vince Dooley
1957 John David Crow
1965 Fred Biletnikoff
1966 Floyd Little
1971 Pat Sullivan
1971 ArchieManning
1974 Earl Campbell
1978 Art Schlicter
1980 George Rogers
1984 & 1985 Thurman Thomas
1989 Andre Rison
1991 Cale Gundy
1994 James Stewart
1996 Donovan McNabb
2001 Michael Vick
2002 Javon Walker
2007 Calvin Johnson
2008 Graham Harrell

This would be Nebraska's first appearance in the Gator Bowl!

Nebraska is getting closer to the Top 25!

Nebraska is #20 in the RPI ratings in college football. We are getting votes and are ranked in the 35th area in most of the polls. Three of our four losses come from #2 Texas Tech, #5 Oklahoma, and #13 Missouri. The other loss was to Virginia Tech and they have now dropped out of the Top 25.

I find Joe Ganz as my most exciting player to watch and the player right now NU can least afford to lose. Roy Helu Jr. is the most exciting back we have had in many many years. Every time he runs the ball there is a chance he can get to the endzone. Nate Swift is next. He is the all-time leader in receptions for NU and he also can score at any time. Mike McNiel is an excellent tight end and Matt Slauson is my favorite lineman because he can pass block and run block consistantly, but more importantly he paints his face before the games.

On defense, this writer loves to watch N. Suh. He is a force and All-Big 12. Zach Potter is an excellent D-End with Pierre Allen not far behind. Ty Steinkuhler likes to make plays. This writer's favorite defensive back is Loomis's Lance Thorell. We hope to see more of him before season's end.

Rankings are as follows:
1. Oklahoma
2. Texas
3. Alabama
4. USC
5. Texas Tech

Oklahoma has too much speed for Texas Tech. But the game should be "I don't even want to leave to go to the bathroom" fun!!

Listen to this! The Pomeroy Rankings for college basketball has Nebraska #10 in the nation right now.

Galleries

I wanted to introduce you to my gallery section at Collegefootballtopten.com. I have a Collegefootballtopten.com gallery at Flickr, and there is a link at my site. I have just a few pics, but I am looking to add more. Anyone that has pics of a game that you attended can send me the pic in an email (info@collegefootballtopten.com) and I might include it in the gallery. Another way to get your pic in the gallery is to take a pic of yourself wearing Collegefootballtopten.com gear.

Another gallery I have up at Flickr is one in which the famous Bob Lilly signed copies of his new book at our store in Fort Worth, TX. You can check it out as well.

It looks like the Cornhuskers have pulled things together winning four out of their last five games. With a win over Colorado next week, the Huskers can secure second in the Big 12 North. They would be 8-4 with that win and probably wish they could get that Virginia Tech game back. And, by the way, Nebraska took the number 2 team in the country to overtime in Lubbock. Not bad. I think Bo Pelini has done a great job in his first year. It's tough enough for anyone to stop these Big 12 offenses, much less a team who has a new coach. I know that you Husker fans are happy with the results. Good things are coming for Nebraska.

Nebraska will take care of Freeman and the Wildcats!

This writer hated to see Josh Freeman switch his commitment to Kansas State a few years ago but now it is a blessing. If Freeman would have come to NU, we probably would have never had Joe Ganz start and seriously I'd rather have Joe Ganz.

Look to NU to be inspired because of the blackshirts and the fact that they want to play in the Gator Bowl vs. the Sun Bowl.

Look to the weather to be cold and windy. NU will get three plus turnovers tomorrow but both offenses will depend on the run so it will shorten the game. NU wins 23-14. Look to Marlin Lucky to have a great game!!! The front four on defense will play very well again!!

Nebraska could be headed to the BRUT SUN BOWL!!

If Nebraska can win out, chances are they are headed to the Sun Bowl in El Peso, Texas. The game will be 12/31/08 at noon and will be televised on CBS. Oregon State may be the opponent but others could be Oregon, Arizona, and California. Remember Oregon St beat USC earlier in the year.
And guess what! The Village People will be performing at halftime.

The Sun Bowl has had many great players participate. They include:
1. Priest Homes, Texas
2. Kyle Orton, Purdue
3. LaDanian Tomlinson, TCU
4. Zach Thomas, Texas Tech
5. Merlin Olson, Utah State
6. Tony Dorsett, Pittsburgh
7. Tommy Cassanova, LSU
8. Bert Jones, LSU
9. Rick Bryan, Oklahoma
10. David Rimmington, Nebraska
11. Pat Tillman, Arizona State
12. Cornelius Bennett, Alabama
13. Derrick Thomas, Alabama
14. Thurman Thomas, Oklahoma State

Nebraska has played twice in the Sun Bowl and is undefeated. In 1969, they beat Georgia 45-6 and in 1980 they won 31-17 over Mississippi State.

Tickets are on sale and they range from $15-60.

"We aren't in Kansas anymore"

Dorothy: [has just arrived in Oz, looking around and awed at the beauty and splendor] Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas any more.
Dorothy: [after a pause] We must be over the rainbow!
[a bubble appears in the sky and gets closer and closer. It finally lands, then turns into Glinda the Good Witch wearing a spectacular white dress and crown, holding a wand]
Dorothy: [to Toto] Now I... I know we're not in Kansas!


Right before the "Tunnel Walk" yesterday, the big screen showed a scene from the Wizard of Oz. It is the part where Dorothy tells Toto "We aren't in Kansas anymore". It fired up the crowd!! Everybody realized that Kansas, who hadn't won in 40 years years in Lincoln, had their hands full. Even on a freezing day with the wind blowing 30 miles an hour from the north the crowd warmed up and helped the team stay fired up for the entire game.

It was so cold this writer wished that Coach Mangino was close to him to get warm. It was that cold! This writer is pretty sure that Mangino could have eaten Toto by the end of the game. Don't get me wrong, Coach Mangino is one of the best coaches in college football. He has taken Kansas to new heights. But he looks so big in blue. Almost as big as myself.

The Nebraska offense played their best game of the year. The line played very well. Roy Helu ran very well. He is the fastest back we have had in a while. The 50 yard touchdown in the second half is my play of the year so far. It fired the crowd up as much as this writer has seen since the Stuntz to Crouch pass vs. Oklahoma.

Joe Ganz continues to play very well. He the best QB that NU has had in the past ten years. He fits this offense very well. He is a leader and a gutsy player. We will miss him next year!

On defense the front four are playing extremely well. As this writer has said before, Suh is an all Big 12 player. He is dominating. Not a bad fullback or tight end either. What a day he had.

The secondary and linebackers are ok but this is the area that is keeping us from being a Top 25 team. Thanks to a few dropped balls to open receivers yesterday or Kansas may have won the game. KU knew who to pick on yesterday. They constantly threw the ball at a couple of our cornerbacks and were very successful doing so. We are young in the secondary so we should only get better in the future.

Kansas didn't only lose the game 45-35, they lost a recruit also. Earnest Norman switched his commitment from Kansas to Nebraska yesterday. He is a 5'11" 220 lb linebacker from Texas. He is rated the 39th best middle linebacker by Rivals.

One more race this year for Nascar. Jimmie Johnson has the cup won.

Now a little bit of politics. This was in my bulletin today at Church.

A Grave Mistake and an Abiding Hope
Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director, Priests for Life

Americans have made a grave mistake in electing Barack Obama to the presidency. Yet America herself remains great and is not a mistake, which is why so many of her citizens will continue, with even greater energy and determination, to defend her founding principles.

The man elected to the Presidency said during the campaign that he does not know when a human being starts to have human rights. How can one govern from that starting point of ignorance? Governing is about protecting human rights; to do it successfully, you have to know where they come from, and when they begin.

The President-elect has already failed that test miserably.

The American people do not share Barack Obama’s extreme and offensive views on abortion. They never have and they never will. The coming four years will see a widening gap between the people and their President on this fundamental issue. As Americans come to know how extreme his position is, the intensity of the struggle to protect these children will only increase.


One last thing. My #1 team, Oklahoma St., was beaten bad yesterday by Texas Tech. Here is my new Top Teams:

1. Alabama
2. Oklahoma
3. Texas
4. USC
5. Texas Tech

Nebraska is out pick in a close one!

What is Mangino picking?







Nebraska will win this week in a Texas Techish type game 42-41. Lucky and Helu will have great games. Look to Mike McNiel to score this week. The defense will struggle but will get three turnovers and over two sacks.

Kansas, coached by the 2007 National Coach of the Year, Mark Mangino, is very good again. Not quite the team it was last year, it is a very fine team. It is obvious Mangino likes to eat so that qualifies him as my hero.

The key to the game is containing Reesing on the zone option. If he starts running at will, we could get behind early again. Sharp will have his 150 yards rushing but we have to stop Reesing or things will totally open up and get out of control.

My guess we will do a respectable job of holding down Reesing but he will get 100 yards+ rushing.

NU will show some trick plays this week. Why hold them any longer. This is a huge game for NU. Cody Glenn will have a very good game this week. Watch Ricky Thenarse emerge as a big factor. Lance Thorell will have five plus tackles and his first turnover this week. Will he take it in for a TD. Watch! It will be exciting!

Mendoza will catch a pass this week and look to him to run a reverse for some good yardage.

It going to be a HOOT!

My Top Six teams this week are:
1. Oklahoma State
2. Alabama
3. Texas
4. Florida
5. USC
6. Penn State


NU basketball played an exhibition tonight and beat Chadron State by 30 points. Toney McCray had 18 points and Eshuante Jones 16. Two freshmen. Steve Harley put away 13 points.

Starters tonight for NU were Chris Balham, center, Steve Harley, guard, Sek Henry, guard, Ade Dagunduro, guard, and Ryan Anderson, guard. Cookie Miller, last year's starting point guard played the second most minutes behind Harley with 23 minutes.

What is your score of the football game tomorrow and your predictions of what may happen?

Don't even want to talk about it!

This writer agrees with the coach, let's move on. You can't spot a good team like that 35-0 and expect to win. Oh well, we won the final three quarters 28-27.

This writer thinks its odd that so many fans complained last year that we needed some fire in the program and now they are complaining about Bo Pelini's passion for the game or temper, however you want to look at it. This passion is all fans wanted to be happy. We just wanted them to play hard again. Bo Pelini is very passionate and he will continue to be that way. He had a flag thrown in his only other game he played so why did you think he would change. This writer likes the passion and our coach will make things happen down the road. Just don't try to change who he is.

Boy did NU play a lot of reserves the other night. New numbers were all over the field. Watson, Koehler, Lawrence, Witt, and the list goes on and on. Competition for positions should be fierce. It may also show our overall knowledge of the schemes are not being picked up by some of the players.

Next up is Kansas. It will be a tough one and Kansas will be favored by 3-6 points.

NU basketball starts this Friday with an exhibition game against Chadron State.

This writer thinks now it will be low scoring!

This writer has changed his mind and thinks this game will be low scoring.
Not entirely, but this writer is a contrarian so we will go will a score of 21-18, OU. Hard to believe right now but yes the defenses will be pretty darn good this Saturday and NU will stay in the game until the end.

Nate Swift is a great talent and a hard working player. He broke Johnny Rodgers record for career receptions last Saturday. But did you know "The Jet" had the previous record and accomplished his record in three years because Freshman couldn't play back then. So to equal Rodgers record, Swift would have to have 48 more receptions this year to do what Rodgers accomplished.

Top College football teams!
1. Oklahoma State
2. Alabama
3. Texas
4. Florida
5. USC
6. Penn State

Yes, OSU got beat by Texas by three or four points but would have Texas have beat them at Stillwater. This writer doesn't think so. We'll take OSU as #1 right now.

Tom Tresh recently passed away. He played in the ourfield with Mantle and Maris in the 60's. Great player.

The Phillies won the World Series. It was over before this writer could get into the series.

The Ernie Davis Story, we hear, is a great movie. Hope we can get to the Sun Theatre in Holdrege to watch it this weekend.


My brother just sent this picture. It is Kansas Coach Mark Mangino when he was a baby!!

Nebraska has a solid game against Baylor.

Nebraska played a tough team in Baylor this past week. Nebraska did not give up when adversity hit them and rebounded to win 32-20. Next year in Baylor will be no gimmee with their quarterback.

Oklahoma is this week. They will score a lot. Nebraska will score a lot. Look to Oklahoma to score more and win 38-20. What a tradition this game USED to be. It was something we looked forward to for weeks!

Today we are going to talk about that Thanksgiving Day when we played the Game of the Century vs. Oklahoma.

It was No. 1 Nebraska vs. No. 2 Oklahoma in front of 63,000 fans at Owens Field. Never has the quality of a game been so strong. Yes, there has been buildup of many games over the years. This game, however, featured two teams that performed brilliantly all day long. The errors of the game included three turnovers by Oklahoma and one by Nebraska. There was only one penalty the whole day, an offside penalty against Nebraska.

Oklahoma ran the record breaking Wishbone T. Nebraska was able to stop the main weapon of Greg Pruitt's end runs but was not able to stop the keeper, fullback, or most of the passing game.

Nebraska ran the I spread and the I slot. Oklahoma took away Nebraska's passing attack but Nebraska was able to the run the ball effectively. The difference in the game is the play all Nebraska fans remember. It was Johnny Rodger's punt return. It was the play we have heard called by Lyle Bremser a billion times and it is never enough. That play was the difference in the game that day.

Joe Wylie punted the ball high and deep which helped Rodgers' return. Oklahoma was down to him when he caught the ball. You can't describe the run. You have all seen it. Rodgers went 72 yards for the score!! He should have called a fair catch the way they had him covered. Greg Pruitt spun him around. Ken Jones almost had him. He darted, caught his balance, twisted, dodged, disappeared a couple of times and then ran for the end zone. Joe Blahak bumped Joe Wylie out of the way. He put the fans in the aisles. Man, woman, and child!!!

The Cornhuskers twice were able to get 11 point leads that day; 14-3 in the second quarter and 28-17 in the third quarter. Remember the punt return was in the first 3 1/2 minutes of the ballgame. But the punt return forced OU to fight from behind most of the day.

With seven minutes to go in the game, OU's QB Jack Mildren had ran for two touchdowns and passed for two more. Nebraska had the best defense in the country but Oklahoma had 467 total yards. Oklahoma also had a 31-28 lead. It was reported that Devaney lost his temper and yelled at the defense on the sideline "Why can't you guys give Rich Glover some help once in a while?" Rich Glover seemed to be doing it all that day.

Then is was NU's Jerry Tagge's turn to direct NU on the winning 74 yard drive. "Nobody said a word in the huddle but me," Tagge said. "We all just knew what had to be done." And they did it.
The drive took 12 plays and over five minutes. Jeff Kinney ran for 30 yards on two plays early in the drive. He broke a few tackles. Do you remember his torn up jersey? Tagge hit Rodgers on a third and eight with Rodgers making a great catch.

Jeff Kinney ran the ball into the end zone with little time left running behind All American Daryl White. Nebraska won 35-31 and we all felt great for hours, days, months, and years to come.

Let's hope this Saturday we get a big upset and the victory gives us some of that feeling again!

What is the status of NU recruiting?

Nebraska so far has seven offensive and seven defensive recruits that have committed so far. On our present two deep chart, we will be losing eight offensive players and seven defensive players after this year.

Let's take a closer look.......

Quarterback
IN Cody Green
OUT Joe Ganz

The loss of Ganz will be pretty major but there some good QB's on the roster with Lee, Witt, and Spano. Green could compete next fall but usually it takes a year or two to learn the system.

Running Back
IN Dontrayevous Robinson
OUT Marlon Lucky

With Castille and Helu back, our concern will be depth and who will be that third and fourth back. Mendoza will be in the hunt.

Fullback
IN C.T. Zimmerer
OUT Thomas Lawson & Hunter Teafatiller

So far, sadly, not a key position other than blocking

Offensive Line
IN Nick Ash, Jess Coffey, Brent Ovale
OUT Lydon Murtha, Mike Huff, Matt Slauson

We lose some key players but the depth is there to possibly improve before next year.

Wide receivers
OUT Nate Swift, Todd Peterson

Key losses of to the offensive. We have some younger guys coming up along with M. Holt. Gilleylen, Paul, and Cooper. We need to recruit at least one or two receivers in this class.

Tight End
IN J.T. Kerr


DEFENSE

Defensive End
IN Emerson Evans
OUT Zach Potter, Clayton Sievers

The loss of Potter is especially big. Sievers has played well also. We need two or three more recruits at this position as the depth isn't there.

Defensive Tackle
IN Cole Pensick, Thaddeus Randle
OUT Shakuree Barfield, Ty Steinkuhler

We need one or two more commits at this position too. Suh is back but again depth is not there.

Linebackers
IN Shawn Bodtmann, Chris Williams
OUT Tyler Wortman, Cody Glenn

Chris Williams is the real deal. He has the best chance on this year's commits to play right away. We lose Wortman and Glenn so we need two more recruits at linebacker. Depth is an issue but with Mike Hays, Sean Fisher, Lawrence, and Williams, we may better next year.

Defensive Backs
In LeAndre Byrd, Taylor Martinez
OUT Armando Murillo

With the nickel and dime packages, we should recruit one more defensive back. We do have some pretty good at defensive back.

The Toddler comments on the Baylor QB!

I usually don't list specific comments in my blog but The Toddler had some interesting comments on Robert Griffin, the QB at Baylor. This writer thinks this will be a pretty close game. The point spread will be around 14, my guess. This writer thinks it will be closer than that.

The Toddlers comments:
"You are, uh, going to enjoy watching Robert Griffin play QB at Baylor. He has started his career with 155 pass attempts without an interception. That includes last week against Okie State, the same team who intercepted Chase Daniel multiple times. He will be a real challenge for Nebraska. Griffin is the real deal. Both Baylor and Nebraska beat Iowa State by about a similar score, so it should be a good challenge for both teams. Enjoy"

NU football has great week!

First J.T. Kerr, a San Diego (Cal) tight end recruit committed to Nebraska. Then Four-Star linebacker recruit Chris Williams of Abilene Texas committed to NU. This was out first recruits since late August.

Next Friday Jerimiah Sirles, a three star offensive line recruit, will announce whether he is going to Oregon or Nebraska. My guess is he is coming to the Big Red. He is from Lakewood Colorado.

Yesterday the NU Cornhuskers dominated Iowa State with a 35-7 win. The NU lines won the battle and this was the difference of the game.The offensive line overall played well. The defensive line continues to play very well.

NU was quicker, faster and stronger than Iowa State. Iowa State is presently playing ten true freshmen and it was evident.

Our receivers, especially Nate Swift, are playing beyond expectations this year. It doesn't seem that long ago when the receivers had dropitis. Like last year and the year before. None of that now.

What in the world is wrong with our punting. Always a strength at NU, this year we are ranked 118th in the nation. Doesn't make sense.

Nebraska is similar to Baylor statistically and Baylor will give NU a real battle. NU is 18th in the nation in total offense; 64th in total defense. With the game in Lincoln, NU should be favored by 14 points or so.

Defensively we played a similar defense against Iowa State that we did against Virginia Tech. Three linebackers were on the field most of the game.

I hate when Larry Asante showboats and then misses a tackle or gets beat on a pass!

My Top Eight Teams this week are:
1. Texas
2. Alabama
3. Florida
4. Georgia
5. Oklahoma State
6. USC
7. Okalahoma
8. Penn State

Now for Nebraska High School football. It is time to put Lincoln North Star in the Top 10. With their win friday night over 3rd rated Grand Island, 17-14, they have proven they are in the Top 10. Mark Waller, a Holdrege native, is their coach. In Class A, we may be headed to a Creighton Prep/Bellevue West showdown. Both are undefeated.

This week the top two teams in Class B play; McCook and Ogallala. It is at Ogallala, but McCook should win the game. They are really good.

In C-1, the #1 Pierce team got beat by Norfolk Catholic 34-3. Isn't Norfolk Catholic always good? Locally #9 Elm Creek beat #8 Kearney Catholic 38-14 in C-2.

Joba Chamberlain was arrested for DUI Saturday.

Big 12 is the best football conference in America!

Here are my top 7 teams in college football!

1. Texas
2. Penn State
3. Oklahoma
4. Florida
5. Oklahoma State
6. Alabama
7. USC

Oklahoma State beat Washington St. by 26 points, Houston by 19 points, Texas A & M by 28 points and Missouri at Missouri by five points. They are 6-0. This writer would beat Alabama today on a neutral field.

Except for a couple of plays, Nebraska held Michael Crabtree in check Saturday. Crabtree is an All-American.

Niles Paul is a game breaker and fun to watch!

Kudos to Mike Hays and Lance Thorell for their play!

Nebraska has a huge huge game this weekend. They need to win to go to a bowl and we all want a bowl game. Isn't it funny that after the Missouri loss people were saying I don't think we will win another game and now this week the expectations are 8-4.

I found this on the internet today so enjoy as a change of pace.


9 Things I Hate About Everyone

1. People who point at their wrist while asking for the time.... I know
where my watch is pal, where the hell is yours? Do I point at my crotch when
I ask where the toilet is?

2 People who are willing to get off their ass to search the entire room for
the T.V.. remote because they refuse to walk to the T.V. and change the
channel manually.

3 When people say 'Oh you just want to have your cake and eat it too'. Damn
right! What good is cake if you can't eat it?

4 When people say 'it's always the last place you look'. Of course it is.
Why the hell would you keep looking after you've found it? Do people do
this? Who and where are they?!

5 When people say while watching a film 'did you see that?'. No Loser, I
paid $12 to come to the cinema and stare at the damn floor.

6 People who ask 'Can I ask you a question?'.... Didn't really give me a
choice there, did ya sunshine?

7. When something is 'new and improved!'. Which is it? If it's new, then
there has never been anything before it. If it's an improvement, then there
must have been something before it, couldn't be new.

8 When people say 'life is short'. What the hell?? Life is the longest damn
thing anyone ever does!! What can you do that's longer?

9 When you are waiting for the bus and someone asks 'Has the bus come yet?'.
If the bus came would I be standing here, dumbass?

Nebraska will face Texas Tech in first away game for 2008!

Texas Tech has a very explosive offense. We all know that. Our defense plays better this week. Nebraska will throw with some success this week.

Prediction Texas Tech 42 Nebraska 21.

What is your prediction?

Look to Texas to give Oklahoma all they can handle this week.
Oklahoma 28 Texas 27.

Time to regroup and its time to play mean!!

This is a time of the season where NU will need to get together as a team and decide what they want to make of the balance of the season. This is where the leadership of the team needs to have a team meeting and get regrouped quickly.

Against Virginia Tech, this writer thought if we played them ten times in Lincoln, we could beat them five times. If we played ten games in Lincoln against Missouri, we wouldn't win one of them. They are just that much better than us RIGHT NOW.

NU has to knock off the dumb mistakes. Penalties and missed assignments!

NU can make the rest of the season a good one but mentally they have to readjust their approach to the game. We have to get the players on the field who do the job even if they aren't the most talented.

The offensive line has to get meaner to play against the talented teams we face this year. They just don't seem to have the attitude that is needed. Their too passive some of the times. Our backs don't have much to run through.

Texas Tech is going to be tough. We have to be tougher to beat them. We have to be smarter to beat them. We have to do the right things and execute. Enough of a broken record.

Dime Defense will lick the Tigers!

We will be back to the dime defense this week!! More quickness. Better play. Watch for Ricky Thenarse, Eric Hagg, Lance Thorell, N. Suh. Zach Potter, Ty Steinkuhler, and Pierre Allen to excel. Throw in "The Prince" and we will have an action packed exciting game to watch.

More exciting because we will be aggressive in our scheme with more blitzing and gambling. Missouri will get a couple of big plays but the defense will get the crowd into the game with blitzes and great hits.

The offense will be more productive this week also but don't plan on us winning with the run. We will not run for a lot of yards but our passing will get us some scores.

Watch for special teams to excel. Watch for the defense to score at least once. Watch Jeremy Maclin break a couple of long ones for Mizzou. It will be midnight when this game is over but you won't want to go to sleep for a few hours after this one. With a week of better field position and a strong start look to NU to win 32-31.

WHAT IS YOUR PREDICTION!!!!!!

What???????????

Nebraska had VT to a 4th down and then there was some commotion and the announcers said there is a flag. For what? Personal foul? Who did that? Suh? That wasn't a late hit!! In the above picture, you see Erin Andrews from ESPN/ABC turn around and leave the game because she was upset with the call.

The Huskers didn't play very well most of the game and in reality, VT could have had a three TD lead at half. But they didn't. The calls late in the game took away our "hope" but it didn't cost us the game. What cost us the game was that we were sloppy and made a lot of mistakes.

A real disappointment again from the offensive line. I guess in the great years we could run even if the opposing team stacked the middle. That was until we faced Oklahoma.

The offense has some real issues. It starts with the offensive line. They need to respond starting this week or it could be a very long season!!! Roy Helu has to get more carries! Joe Ganz has to hit his receivers with consistency like he is capable of doing. We have to be able to run the ball I don't care what anybody says. We have to and as long as we can't, we will be an average team at best.

On defense, there was a lot of receivers open. Missed assignments. We seem to play better with the nickel and dime package. We need to find a away to get Eric Hagg in the game all the time. Maybe he should be safety. Ricky Thenarse played well when he was in but he is still hurt.

Enough rambling. Is NU still going to win the Big 12 North? Stay tuned but this writer thinks the team will rally. The point spread is eleven points but many feel it will be worse.

Nebraska will go 4-0 with a last second FG!

This writer sees a low scoring game this week with Nebraska's Alex Henery hitting a 41 FG with seconds remaining. The final score will be 17-14. Stars of the game will be D. Suh, Zach Potter, Cody Glenn, Tyler Wortman, Ty Steinkuhler, and Alex Henery. On offense, it will be a struggle with the VT defense. Special teams will be big this week.

It will be a great game to watch so get buckled up and get ready!!

Guess who will be at the game on the sidelines on Saturday night!!!

YOUTUBE

Nebraska is ready to join the Top 25!

Nebraska gets the national spotlight this Saturday night on ABC against Virginia Tech. This is a big game for recruiting. This is a big game for Nebraska to hit the Top 25 in the USA Today poll and possibly the AP poll. This is a game where we get a better idea where this team is.

Virginia Tech beat North Carolina in a thriller yesterday. Their loss was to East Carolina who is ranked. They play the game in Lincoln this Saturday which gives NU the edge. This writer believes NU will be favored by 3-5 points.

With a win this week, NU will hit the Top 25 polls again. When was the last time we did that? Well actually on 9/30/07, Nebraska was rated 25th in the AP and 23rd in the USA Today poll. After the 5th week of the season last year, we were rated.

Nebraska is rated 30th in the AP poll and 27th in the USA Today poll this week. They are ready to break-in to the elite group.

Who are the top teams in college football right now? This writer rates them as follows:
1. USC-Very talented. Pac 10 is really down this year. USC may not get a game until the National Championship Game. I wish they were in the SEC. That would be fun!!
2. Georgia-QB Matt Stafford is very talented with his top targets being DJ Shockley and David Greene. The running attach is led by Knowshon Moreno. Quite a name. SEC team
3. Florida-Fast and they hit hard. SEC team.
4. Alabama. Big surprise this year with Saban as coach. They play Georgia this week and wow would this writer like to see that one. It is at Georgia so they will be favored but don't be surprised if Alabama pulls this one out. They are good!
5.& 6. Oklahoma and Missouri. Big 12 elite.
7. Penn State. Big 10's best! Not saying a lot but they will end the season possibly undefeated with USC. I think Wisconsin is beatable.
8. LSU. Another SEC team who could beat any team on a given week.
9. Texas Tech They can pile up the points!!
10. Wake Forest.

Teams close to the Top 10. Texas, BYU, Wisconsin, Auburn

Some of this week's games this writer will be watching this week besides NU/VT and Georgia/ Alabama are Louisville/Connecticut, Colorado at Florida St., Tennessee at Auburn, Arkansas at Texas, and TCU at Oklahoma.

The Toddler says Oklahoma needs to be ready for TCU this time.

Who is Nebraska's MVP. Who would we miss the most if they couldn't play this week? These ranking are based on talent and the depth at their position.

1. Joe Ganz
2. Ndamukong Suh
3. Zach Potter
4. Nate Swift
5. Alex Henery
6. Phillip Dillard
7. Lydon Murtha
8. Cody Glenn
9. Matt Slauson
10. Eric Hagg
11. Pierre Allen
12. Marlon Lucky
13. Prince Amukarara
14. Mike McNiel
15. Ty Steinkuhler

Texas A & M, Iowa State, Baylor, and Kansas State are at the bottom of the Big 12. This writer hates to look to next year but Colorado will be favored in the Big 12 North with Chase Daniel and Joe Ganz gone.

And then finally the NFL. The best two teams right now are Dallas and Denver. New England has dropped so far without Tom Brady that it is hard to believe after they blew everybody out until the end last year.

Much improved are Atlanta and San Fransisco. Of course any week, any team can beat anybody.

Nebraska goes to 3-0 but who the heck is Lance Thorell??

Nebraska whipped up on New Mexico St. 35-7. It was Nebraska's best game so far and it was a fun game to watch.

The running game got going. We will see when we play Virginia Tech if it continues or if New Mexico St. just didn't have the defensive talent.

All the running backs and offensive line played well. Mike McNiel had great touchdown. Joe Ganz played well. Marlon Lucky had his best game.

Nebraska played a different defense than what we have seen in the past. Four cornerbacks were playing most of the game. With that, we were playing a lot of the game with one linebacker. This writer is uncertain as to whether the cornerbacks are considered linebackers with this scheme but the defense was loaded with faster, quicker players to defense against one of the nation's top passing teams. Many times New Mexico St. lined up with four wideouts. The cornerbacks played directly over the receivers.

The defense was also assisted by the great play of the defensive line. Suh and Potter played very well.

On the first play of the game, #23 was playing and the fans started to say who is that? Who is Lance Thorell? Lance made four tackle on the opening drive and ended with the second most tackles on the team with eight.

Lance is a tremendous athlete from Loomis, Nebraska. Loomis is a town of app. 400 people. Most people that follow high school sports know that Loomis has been a power in D-2 and D-1. Lance was all-state in football and basketball. During his high school play, he played on the state champion basketball team in D-2 and he played in the playoffs in football. He broke the record in the 110 yard hurdles for Class D and won that race and the 300 yard intermediate hurdle in Class D. He was also a member of the Class D champion track team. He was close to the times that Niles Paul was running in the hurdles the whole 2007 track season.

So those that have followed Loomis know Lance is a great athlete. But we know there are tons of great athletes in sports. Lance's success, in this writer's opinion, is due to his hard work, his desire to succeed, and his ability to understand football concepts faster than most athletes. Lance is out to prove to himself and others that he can play for the Big Red. Who would have thought he would have been a contributor this quickly? Maybe Lance.

Before Lance entered his senior year, we had Lance complete a questionnaire. This may help you to get to know him better even though a lot of accomplishments have been achieved by Lance since this time. Lance is a cousin to Matt Hill, the Lincoln Southeast product, who is playing basketball for Texas. Remember this questionnaire was completed in August of 2006 and a lot of things have changed this that time.

QUESTIONNAIRE

Lance Thorell, a senior at Loomis High School, is relatively an unknown except for the schools that have played against him. Coach Grant Mollring of Eustis-Farnam was quoted earlier in the year in the Kearney Hub "and the best athlete west of Kearney, in my opinion, is Thorell". Eustis-Farnam plays Loomis this week in D-1 action.

Thorell has excelled in football, basketball, and track at Loomis High during his career. He played on the D-2 championship basketball team three years ago. He had top five performances in Nebraska in the 110 highs and the intermediate hurdles.

He is a two time all-stater in football. Last year he had 101 tackles and eight interceptions. Coach Denis Reese has put him in a position where he can help the team the most. His sophomore year he played receiver on offense and had a great year with all-stater Drew Billeter throwing TD's to him. Last year he played QB. This year he converts to running back. He will be tough to stop and should have a sensational season.

His strongest positions in college looks to be receiver and safety. He has excellent speed, great hands, and is a very tough hard hitter on defense.

Lance is 6'1" and weighs 180 lbs. He benches 245 lbs. and squats 315 lbs. His 40 time is 4.6 and he has a 33 inch vertical jump. His best season in receiving was in 2004 when he had 914 yards receiving and 14 TD's.

Lance will excel wherever he plays and would be a great walk on for the Nebraska program.

This year the word will get out how good he really is. Watch his progress this season.

He responded to our questionnaire and here is what he had to say:



Favorite Game Memory:

"Beating Bertrand 48-16"

Best Athlete You Have Played Against:

"Steve Dent of Mullen and Wade Vontz of Cambridge"

Favorite Team:

"Huskers"

Favorite Player:

"Michael Vick"

College Interested in You:

"Iowa, Doane, South Dakota, UNK, Concordia, Morningside, Dana"

College You Are Interested In:

"Iowa, Doane, UNK, South Dakota"

PERSONAL

What is Your Favorite Books:

"Sports magazines"

Who is Your Favorite Movie Actor:

"Brad Pitt"

What is Your Favorite Movie:

"Dumb and Dumber"

What is Your Favorite TV Show:

"That 70's Show"

Which Actor Would You Like To Be Like:

"Brad Pitt"

What Are Your Hobbies:

"Hunting and Playing Sports"

What is Important For You To Be Successful:

"Making money"

Thank you Lance for giving us this information and good luck in the playoffs.

Can Ohio State beat USC?

I have shown up on this hurricane ridden day in Fort Worth, TX to answer some of John's questions. The first, of course, is can Ohio State beat USC?

In a short answer, yes. Will they? I don't know. When I did my Wednesday Preview, I said that before the season started I believed that Ohio State would win the game, but now I lean toward USC. Is USC that good? I don't know. We won't know for a few more weeks. Will they beat Ohio State, if they do, like they beat Virginia? I doubt it. Is Virginia that bad? Well, it seems that the ACC is not really that good this year, and Virginia may be at the bottom. But, Pete Carroll is unbelieveable in opening games. Ohio State did not look very good last week. But, the week before, they looked just fine. Not having "Beanie Wells" really hurts their chances. I agree with with Eddie at The Red Zone Report that Todd Boeckman has to have a career game.

Another thing you have to remember is that these are college kids. The ability of a team like Ohio State "getting up" against someone like Ohio U is not easy. For USC, you can bet they will be ready. Also, Ohio State has played two games where as USC has only played one. Things probably will not go quite as smoothly against Ohio State as they did against Virginia. USC has yet to face adversity this year where as Ohio State has.

As far as my poll is concerned, remember I update every three weeks. My poll is presently still from the preseason. I think things will be much clearer on Sunday. I will update accordingly.

Who's better, Texas Tech or Texas? Right now, I would go with Longhorns. Tech's defense hasn't shown up yet this year. I think that is unfortunate, but the type of offense that they run puts a tremendous amount of stress on the defense. The Lonhorns, however, have looked impressive so far. As a Razorback fan, I am a little glad that game got postponed. However, I look for Texas to plaster the Hogs in Austin on Sept. 27.

The New Mexico State QB, Chase Holbrook, is a Hurst, TX product from the North Texas area. Another one of those kids from Texas. Good luck to Nebraska against New Mexico State. Go Huskers!

Nebraska goes 3-0 this week!!

Nebraska faces the New Mexico State Aggies on Saturday. A lot of fans think this will be our easiest game this year. This writer thinks it could be a real test. My guess is the offense starts to roll this week and the defense has its toughest game.

The Aggies are coached by Hal Mumme. He is actually a pretty funny guy. The new defensive coordinator is Joe Lee Dunn. He coached last year at Ridgeway High School in Memphis, Tennessee. Even though he was at a high school, he is well known for his defensive schemes. He runs a 3-3-5 defensive. He makes his players pass a very rigorous "The Packer" drill before they can play. Dunn is the guru of the 3-3-5 defense. They have three down lineman and pack in three linebackers. Dunn will have the Aggies blitzing, blitzing, blitzing. Nebraska better protect Ganz because this is a game he could be hit very hard a few times. Of course with this gambling defense Nebraska will break some big plays on Saturday.

Nebraska has some ties to New Mexico State. Tony Samuel has the third most wins as the head coach at New Mexico St. He is a former player and assistant coach at Nebraska. In 1999, Barney Cotton was the Asst. head coach and Jeff Jamrog was the defensive coordinator for the Aggies. They beat Arizona State at Tempe 35-7 that year.

Nebraska has beat the Aggies twice. In 1979, we beat them 57-0. We were second ranked at the time. In 1982, we beat the Aggies 68-0 and listen to this. We had 677 yards on the ground and 883 total yards that day.

The Aggies are led by Chase Holbrook who is the real deal. He has no interceptions in the last 55 passes. He has a chance to break nine NCAA offensive records and nine NCAA passing records this year. He has 8485 yards for 60 touchdowns in his career. And believe it or not he has completed 70.1 of the passes he has thrown in his career.

Chris Williams is his top receiver and he is a good one. Probably the reason they are bragging about having better receivers than Nebraska. He is one of the best receivers in the country. He has caught 160 passes for 2284 yards and 23 touchdowns.

The Aggies have won five of their last six opening season games. They had their opening game cancelled against Nichols St. due to the hurricane weather.

New Mexico St could compete as well as San Jose St if we get off to a slow start. We have to get our rhythm going this week. WE need good tackle and tight end play this week. Lydon Murtha is back and the line should be more physical. The run game needs to be better this week. If they can't get going this week, we may have a problem this year. The competition is going to get tougher after this game.

Look to Nebraska to win 42-21. We will have a number of long touchdowns. Nebraska will go over 425 total yards. New Mexico St. will have 300 passing yards.

Now a couple of questions for our friend Todd Jones. He has Ohio State rated number one on his collegefootballtopten.com blog. With the opponent being USC and Ohio State going there to play, how will Ohio State beat USC on Saturday?

Who is better Texas Tech or Texas?

Holy Blowout Batman!!!!!

In Women's Hockey news:

I didn't think I would ever write about women's hockey but........I hope you have already seen this but if not here you go. There were so many crazy numbers from the 2010 winter Olympic qualifying match between Slovakia and Bulgaria. So we are going to play BINGO. Be sure to call out when you get a BINGO. First one is B-0: B is for Bulgaria and 0 is how many shots on goal they had. Next is O-139. O is for Oh my goodness! and 139 is how many shots on goal Slovakia had. Next is N-44. N is for secoNds and 44 is how often Slovakia scored. A goal every 44 seconds! I know, I really streached for that N. Next is I-41-0. I is for Italy and 41-0 is the score of the Italy vs. Bulgaria game earlier in the qualifying. They also lost to Croatia 30-1. Total score from all of Bulgaria's games were 192-1. Next is G-82. G is for goals and 82 is the number of goals Slovakia scored. Yes, the final score was 82-0! Strangly this isn't the biggest blowout in women's hockey. Back in 1998 South Korea defeated Thailand 92-0. By now someone has to have BINGO, please speak up and claim your prize.

NU finishes well to go 2-0

WOW! Wasn't what this writer expected Saturday. The offense just couldn't get clicking and the defense had trouble with Kyle Reed, the San Jose St. quarterback. Reed got hurt, the San Jose St. kickers couldn't make FG's, and Niles Paul ran back a kickoff for a touchdown and Nebraska took over the game. The trouble was it was the fourth quarter before NU got rolling.

Positives:
Roy Helu is a heck of a back and right separates himself from the rest of the field. There is a spark in the team when he is playing.

Niles Paul is doing some good things. The kickoff return for the TD really fired up the team and the fans.

Nate Swift and Todd Peterson continue to be forces on the receiving core.

Defensive Line. Playing well. Suh, Potter, and Allen were standouts.

Prince A. The defensive backfield seems to be less passive when he is playing.

Negatives:
Penalties!!!! Momentum and drive KILLERS!

Barry Turner. His broken leg is a downer for the team and our depth will be hurt by the loss of this fine man.

Offensive line. This includes the tight ends. Many blocks were missed and we were physically dominated at times. We HAVE to get better to be a Top 25 team.

Fullback. When are we going to start using the fullback as a weapon? RUN him three or four times during the game and give the defense more to think about.

Tyler Wortman. We need to find a way to get him some time as he is too good to be sitting when we are running the "nickel" defense. Maybe he could back up Glenn and Dillard to give them some relief.

The offense plays well when Joe Ganz is rolling out and throwing.


The special teams are playing well. The defense got three turnovers on Saturday. That's a huge help to this team in key situations of the game.

This game was decided by about five or six plays. We were outyarded by 50 yards. Next week we will put together a team game and come away with a big game. If not, well there won't be an if not.

Nebraska played another true freshman on Saturday, Alfonso Dennard. He is a cornerback but his action was as kickoff returner. He had two kickoff returns for 21 yards. So far, Nebraska has used Sean Fisher and Mason Wald on special teams this year. This writer is not aware of any other freshman playing. It appears that we will redshirt and large number of freshman this year and build for the future.

Nebraska will go to 2-0

Wouldn't it be cool if Usain Bolt would sign to play football at Nebraska? It has been reported he runs a 3.5 40 and has all his college eligibility left. Well it may be as probable as San Jose St beating Nebraska tomorrow.

Last week Bo Pelini became the fifth straight Nebraska coach to open his first full season with a win.

Bob Devaney 1962 59-0 over South Dakota
Tom Osbone 1972 40-13 over UCLA
Frank Solich 1998 56-27 over Louisiana Tech
Bill Callahan 2004 56-17 over Western Illinois

Did you know that Bill Walsh and Vick Vermeil were San Jose St. Alums?

The two-time Hot Dog Contest champion Joey Chestnut is a San Jose St. alum.

Nebraska wins Saturday 45-14.

What is your prediction???

Q & A With the Toddler

John asked me a few questions the other day. He wanted me to share them in a post. I have done so at my site in a segment called CFTT Inbox. The link to that post is here.

That being said, here is John's questions followed by my answers.

1. What kind of season do you think A & M will have. They have a strong Husker connection from last year’s coaches and also Tim Cassidy.

2. How good is Alabama? Can they beat Georgia on a neutral field today or USC? Is Saban that good of a coach/ He has a pretty good track record with wins.

3. Who do you think will win the North in the Big 12? Is Missouri a lock?

4. What is your game of the week? It could have been Florida and Miami but Miami has gone down hill.

Here are my answers.

Games of the Week

Wake Forest vs. Mississippi–WF defeated Baylor soundly, and Ole Miss looked pretty good in Houston Nutt’s debut. We have a game between a coach who turned down the Arkansas Razorback head football coach job and a coach who left the Arkansas football head coaching job. This will be a good early test for the Rebels to see if they are bowl worthy, and it will be a chance for the Deacons to get a little redemption for the ACC.

Louisiana Tech vs. Kansas–A lot of people weren’t talking Jayhawks coming into the season. Back to earthy they would say about KU. Louisiana Tech beat a Mississippi State Bulldog team that went to a bowl game last year and most people think Sylvester Croom has headed in the right direction. Is La Tech for real? We’ll see if they can stop KU’s “Blue Collar” spread attack.

I just don’t know about A&M. Their fans have already written them off for the season, but I have to think they have enough talent to be at least 6-6. However, it seems Oklahoma State is much improved, but Baylor ought to be someone they can beat.

About Alabama. I saw a mature, seasoned team on the field with Clemson. They dominated the line on both sides of the ball. They appeared to have made the offense more manageable for John Parker Wilson (the QB), and they seem to have the horses to run the ball. Their TE was super Saturday, too. As far as them beating Georgia or USC, that is hard know just yet. Alabama has a lot of freshmen on the field. They will make a mistake (most likely) at some point. I think that they might be able to line it up and go toe to toe with both teams.

As far as the Big 12 North goes, I am not sure about Mizzou. The score in the Illinois game tells me that their defense is not there yet. They gave up 451 yards to a QB who was known for his feet. Either way, giving up that many yards to any QB says that your defense is not quite ready to win a championship. I need to evaluate Kansas and Nebraska before making my analysis. Also, Colorado.

Todd

NU goes 1-0!

This writer has very seldom seen the fans so excited for a game as yesterday. They were starved for some good defensive play. They wanted the Blackshirts back. Well. they are almost back. We are just not sure how good Western Michigan is. On the offensive side of the ball, our passing game was good but our running game didn't meet expectations. There has been very few times where this writer has seen the fans almost want the offense off the field so they could watch the defense play. Excitement was in the air.......

POSITIVES
In the middle of the third quarter, this writer wondered if he had ever seen a Nebraska quarterback throw as accurately as Joe Ganz. He was evasive and mobile and was throwing the ball as good as Vince Ferrogamo, David Humm, Turner Gill, or Tommy Frazier ever threw it. Then he had a tipped pass and just had a bad throw for interceptions but he finished the day 20-36 for 345 yards and four touchdowns. He didn't have many balls dropped and he threw some balls away but he had a really good day overall.

Dreu Young made the best catch that this writer has ever seen by a Nebraska receiver. Junior Miller and Johnny Mitchell caught memorable passes but this reception was unreal. Young couldn't have been defensed any better. Ganz's pass was perfect also. That catch will be on highlight reels for a long time.

Nate Swift stood out. He had a great day with five receptions for 121 yards and two touchdowns. It was great to see. Melelik Holt also was impressive. The reivers had a fine day. Marlon Lucky and Mike McNeil both caught touchdown passes.

On defense, the linebackers had a good day they will also be mentioned in my "concerned" section also. They were all over the field. Cody Glenn will have a lot of turnovers with his aggressive play. Phil Dillard caught a receiver from behind and saved a touchdown. Tyler Wortman, well you know this writer is high on him.

Most of the day NU played with three cornerbacks and only two linebackers. Whenever there are three or more receivers on the field for the opposition, there will usually be this setup on defense. NU played Eric Hagg, Prince Amukamara, and Anthony West exclusively at cornerback and Larry Asante and Matt O'Hanlon at safeties. Very few reserves played at all in the defensive backfield.

The defensive line played very well. This writer was very impressed with Tyler Steinkuhler. N. Suh had a good game also. Barry Turner recorded the first sack of the year. Terrance Moore, a reserve had two sacks. Jared Crick put in a good performance and with Dreu Young made the Cozad Haymaker fans proud.

Let's not forget Alex Henery as a highlight. Wow! Four FG's of 44,43,44, and 44 yards. That will come in very handy as the season goes on.

CONCERNS
Where was the running game? The offensive line should be a strength this year but even with Western Michigan playing the run, NU should have been more of a force in this department.

The concerns with the linebackers is their pass coverage on the tight ends. Brenden Ledbetter caught nine passes for 123 yards and one touchdown. That was a third of their entire offense. Too many times he was wide open. What happens when Chase Coffman of Missouri lines up as a wide receiver? Hopefully by then we will improve in this area. With the tremendous desire of the linebackers, they WILL improve.

WHO WE DIDN'T SEE ON SATURDAY
Armando Murillo, our best corner, sat out the game due to injury. Ricky Thenarse got hurt early in the game and he was absent after that. Lydon Murtha didn't play. Major Culbert either didn't play or he didn't play very much. This writer thought we might see the corners Leverson, Dennard, and Thorell play some to spell the first unit. The defensive line was shuffling players all night long.

The offensive line also had a lot of kids play. The replacements did very well. They didn't have penalties. That has been a problem in the past.

The game management during the game was really pretty good. Probably as well as this writer has seen in a few years. Really good when you consider this was this coaching staff's first game.

It was a beautiful evening with a perfect breeze to watch the game. The game was very entertaining. If we could have stopped the game at the end of the third quarter this writer would have come away feeling better because the 4th quarter seemed to be too ugly.

If the biggest improvement during a football season is between the first and second games then next week could really be fun.


OTHER GAMES
What in the world happened to Texas A & M getting beat by Arkansas State 18-14?
It is my understanding they just got outplayed and it wasn't a fluke.

#9 Clemson was beaten at Clemson by Alabama 34-10. This writer has always heard how hard it is to win at Clemson. Is Alabama that good?

Virginia Tech looks overrated but Skip Holtz is a heck of a coach at East Carolina as they beat Tech 27-22.

Bowling Green whips Pittsburgh.????!?!?

That's college football!!!!

Jake Gdowski starts for Colorado State tonight.

Last night we saw a fine performance by Londen Fryer, Irving Fryer's son, for Western Michigan. Tonight Jake Gdowski, the son of former Husker Tom Gdowski, starts for Colorado State. He is #58. Gdowski was asked to walk-on at Nebraska but was never offered a scholarship.

Ready for Some Football?

I know I am. I have been invited by John to write some posts this year for the Nebraska Sports Journal. My name is Todd E. Jones, and I run Collegefootballtopten.com. Why would he ask me to post? I don't know. If you find, out let me know. He made some nice comments about wanting a non-biased opinion about Nebraska football. Well, I guess I could throw my opinion your way.

What do you need to know about me? I grew up in rural Arkansas, but I live in Fort Worth, TX now. Now, I think there are a lot of similarities between Arkansas and Nebraska. Folks in both states are hard working, people of character, salt of the earth type of folks. When I was a kid, I use to love watching the Nebraska vs. Oklahoma games. They were classics. I was always impressed by Tom Osbourne. He just seemed like a great coach and great person. Coach Osbourne was like the Tom Landry of college football. I was excited for Nebraska and Coach Osbourne when they finally won the National Title. Coach Osbourne was a good Christian guy and deserved everything he won.

I have been blogging college football for the past two seasons. I started with the Toddler Top Ten. I kept my own top ten for Division I A which they now call Bowl Championship Subdivision. It was fun. The next year I decided to get my own domain and continue. It was rather awkward as I kept some of my info on my own site and domain while keeping my top ten and commentary on my blogspot. Last year I struggled to keep up with a top ten last year because there were so many upsets. I changed much of focus to a commentary. Then, I decided to change how I did my blog during the offseason. I installed Wordpress on my domain and put everything on my domain. After making this move, starting in April I kicked everything up a notch or two. I became more intent on making it a top level blog. I checked out other sites and even contacted some including Brian at In the Bleachers.

I did play football in high school, but I was always intrigued with the strategies and schemes in football. I like to make up plays, etc. I like to evaluate what I see on TV or in person. Last night I watched a high school game here in Fort Worth and, subsequently, wrote a summary of the game at Pegasus News where I will be writing some articles this fall. My best writings were this summer when I broke down the offense, defense and schedules of TCU, SMU and the University of North Texas for my site. Most of those were also published by Pegasus News.

I plan on catching a couple of Nebraska games, checking stats, watching some footage and tell you what I think about the job Bo Pelini is doing. I think the biggest question Nebraska fans have to wonder is, "Was Pelini a better choice than Truner Gill?" I really like Gill, and he is doing a great job at Buffalo. Did you catch the score of their game with UTEP? John clued me in on that. I look forward to visiting with you this fall. And please, check out Collegefootballtopten.com!

First game will be here Saturday night.

Finally the first game is here! Should be a fun game and really it won't be a gimmee. Nebraska's offense will go against a defense that beat Iowa last year and has eleven starters back. Nebraska's offense should be improved with a strong defensive line and the return of Joe Ganz. NU has a lot of depth at running back also.

Look to a closer game than most expect! Also the game may be somewhat low scoring. NU 27-Western Michigan 10. What is your prediction for the score????

The Big 12 has some interesting non-conference games coming up. NU plays it whole non-conference schedule at home which is huge. Its big game is Virginia Tech at home. Missouri also plays their non-conference schedule at home.

Here's the non-conference schedules for the other Big 12 schools.

Baylor
@ Wake Forest
Northwestern State
Washington State
at Connecticut

Iowa State
South Dakota St. (Don't say anything. We play them next year)
Kent State
at Iowa
At UNLV

Colorado
Colorado St.
Eastern Washington
West Virginia
@Florida State

Missouri
Illinois
SE Missouri St
Nevada
Buffalo

Oklahoma
Chattanooga
Cincinnati
@ Washington
TCU

Oklahoma St.
@Washington State
Houston
Missouri State
Troy

Texas
Florida Atlantic
@UTEP
Arkansas
Rice

Kansas
Florida International
Louisiana Tech
@South Florida
Sam Houston St.

K-State
North Texas
Montana St
@ Louisville
Louisiana/Lafayette

Texas A & M
Arkansas State
@ New Mexico
Miami (Fla)
Army

Texas Tech
Eastern Washington
@ Nevada
Southern Methodist
Massachusetts

I give the easiest schedule to Texas Tech. It can't get much easier than that. Playing at Nevada will be their toughest non-conference opponent. Oklahoma St. has a pretty easy schedule with Washington State, away, being their toughest game. The third easiest schedule could be Oklahoma playing Washington, away. Iowa St. has a pud home schedule during non-conference but has to go to Iowa to play. Usually the underdog wins that game so Iowa State could be undefeated after non-schedule games. Texas has Arkansas at home but should win. NU has a test with Virginia Tech at home. Western Michigan won't be easy either. Baylor has one tough non-conference game @Wake Forest.

The toughest non-conference schedule in 2008 is with Colorado. They play West Virginia at home and play Florida St. away.

The Big 12 should have a 80% winning percentage after the non-conference season. Look for some lower Big 12 teams to be undefeated after the first four games.

Hey and I am not sold on Missouri YET! This writer thinks they will struggle against Illinois early. They will probably pull the game out but don't be surprised if...........they just win by a field goal.

This writer thinks Texas may be the most underrated Big 12 team and they will give Oklahoma and Texas Tech all they want in the South Division.

13 days to game time!

Nebraska plays Western Michigan in 13 days. This will be the first game on our journey to win the Big 12 North. Watch for Western Michigan to have eight men up front on defense to stop Nebraska's running offense. Nebraska will need to have a strong passing game, which they will, to win.

No real surprises so far for the team. The defensive line has had some guys out but they should be in good shape for the game.

This writer had thought that Niles Paul would return punts but he is not listed among the top four or five who are in the running. It looks like right now it could be Nate Swift. He has some experience.

The following is some of the former Nebraska players who are looking to playing in the NFL this season. The team is listed first, then the player, and then the ranking by position for their team. An example is Maurice Purify who is listed as the 9th receiver for Cincinnati. This would mean that he is on the 4th or 5th team assuming they are playing only two receivers.

GREEN BAY
Brandon Jackson-RB-Second

HOUSTON
Ahman Green-RB-First
Kris Brown-Placekicker-First

PHILADELPHIA
Correll Buckhalter-RB-Second

ST. LOUIS
Josh Brown-Placekicker-First
Richie Incognito-Offensive Guard-First
Adam Carriker-DT-First

CINCINNATI
Kyle Larson-Punter-First
Maurice Purify-WR-Ninth

BALTIMORE
Cory Ross-RB-Fourth
Fabian Washington-CB-Third (Suspended)

ARIZONA
Ralph Brown-CB-Fourth

BUFFALO
Chris Kelsay-DE-First

CAROLINA
Courtney Grixby-CB-Tenth

CHICAGO
Zach Bowman-CB-Sixth
Mike Brown-FS-First

DETROIT
Daniel Bullocks-SS-Second

KANSAS CITY
Demorrio Williams-OLB-Third
Steve Octavian-OLB-Seventh
Trevor Johnson-DE-Third

NEW ORLEANS
Josh Bullocks-FS-Second

PHILADELPHIA
Stewart Bradley-MLB-First
Correll Buckhalter-RB-Second

NEW ENGLAND
Bo Ruud-OLB-Fifth
LeKevin Smith-NT-Second

SAN FRANSISCO
Jay Moore-DE-Fourth

SAN DIEGO
Ryan Bingham-NT-Second
Carlos Polk-OLB-Fourth

TAMPA BAY
Barrett Ruud-MLB-First

If you have some other players you know about that I missed, please leave a comment and let us know the information you have.

Nebraska begins journey to win Big 12 North!

Oh yeah you think this writer is a blind NU fan that is too optimistic. NU won the North Division two years ago. What is the difference in talent and coaching from two years ago? The offense is better.

Joe Ganz is overall equal to Zac Taylor. Taylor threw a better ball but Ganz is mobile and with this offense, the Nebraska offense, it is big plus. Besides he can throw the ball too. He threw seven TD's in one game last year.

The running back position is better with Lucky, Helu, and Castille. Brandon Jackson is gone but overall we are stronger and more experienced.

The TE position is better with Dreu Young and Mike McNiel. Mike McNiel will have a great season.

The receiver positions have a lot of talent. We need a couple of younger guys to move up and show they have the home run threat. Purify is gone and hasn't been replaced yet. Look for Menelik Holt and Curenski Gilleyhen to step up this year. Hopefully Niles Paul will make some big plays too.

A strength of the offense is the offensive line. The overall line and the depth is better than two years ago.

On defense, Suh is an All-Big 12 player who is highly underrated. This writer thinks he is as strong a player as there is in the Big 12. Steinkuhler, Steinkuhler, and Terrance Moore will be good due to excellent coaching.

Linebackers are led by Phillip Dillard. The coaches are high on Cody Glenn but he has to show the team he is a leader. This writer thinks he will and he will have some takeaways this year. Matt Holt is showing some good things early and he is a true freshman. Wortman could be really good as he showed in the Red-White game. NU will play more nickel defense this year due to the offenses they will face so two linebackers will be used a lot during the games. So you take our weakness away to some extent. Two years ago, we had Stewart Bradley, Bo Ruud, and Steve Octavian. This writer would have to say that today we don't have these kind of players at linebackers but the coaches will make Dillard, Wortman, Glenn, and the rest very good.

Cornerbacks are pretty good again with Murillo, West, Blue, and Prince A. We also have Asante who will play safety, some CB, and probably act as a linebacker at times. That is this writer's guess after watching what Bo Pelini did with Demorrio Williams a few years ago. Asante may be that guy this year. Don't forget Ricky Thenarse, the hitter. He will make plays and cause takeaways.

Remember two years ago, we had we had Fluellen, Spain, and Brothers fighting for starting positions in the secondary. We are much stronger this year.

At defensive end, we don't have Jay Moore and Adam Carriker. We do have Zach Potter and Barry Turner. Moore and Carriker were hard to beat but Potter and Turner are close. They will need to show they are as good as those guys. It can happen.

Special teams are better than two years ago. Henery and Kunalic are better at kicking. Titchener is still our punter and has only improved from two years ago.

Overall, we have a better team than two years ago. Last year we were 5-7. Takeaways, schemes, coaching, and a renewed team spirit will win us three more games. We only had 11 tuenovers last year. We will have 1 turnovers after the non-conference schedule this year. The home games with Kansas, Missouri, and Colorado will help us win one more game. That gets us to 9-3 during the season. With better talent, we are looking at picking up another win which will get us to 10-2 with losses away to Oklahoma and Texas Tech.

The intangibles such as a renewed fan support and enthusiasm will offset the improved overall Big 12 competition.

If you don't believe me just watch!!!!

Pictured above is Lance Thorell. He is a walk-on from Loomis who will hopefully get some playing time this year and have the chance to excel on special teams!!!

Favre is traded to the NY Jets!

Fox News has reported that Brett Favre has been traded to the NY Jets. He will battle Chad Pennington for the quarterback job.

The Harlan Count Lake is now below normal elevation at 1945.61. Normal elevation is 1946. Yesterday there was 517 cfs leaving the lake and only 50 cfs of water flowing into the lake.

The PGA golf tournament, one of the four majors, starts today at Oakland Hills in Michigan. With Tiger gone so is the pre-tournament hype. Look for VJ Singh to win it all.

Nebraska gets its 10th commit!

DeAndre Byrd, who had 21 offers from schools like Arkansas and Wisconsin, committed to Nebraska tonight according to Rivals.com. Byrd is a cornerback from Tallahasee, Florida. He is 5' 10" and 170 lbs. The reason he committed to NU without a visit? The coaching staff and Bo Pelini.

Sport Shorts

The Nebraska basketball team may get a big man this season yet. The Lincoln Journal Star reports that Teeng Akol is visiting NU this week. He is also interested in Oklahoma State. Akol was born in Sudan and raised until he was 14 in Egypt. ESPN rated him the No. 42 center in the 2008 class. Akol had signed with South Florida but was not cleared with th NCAA. So there are a lot of ifs but there is a chance he will be playing for the Cornhuskers yet this year. Paul Velander would lose his scholarship if Akol comes to NU.

Who will be this year's Demorrio Williams? My guess is Larry Asante. He is 6' 1" and 210 lbs. He can play a lot of positions on defense and he would make a nice blitzer when he lines up at an end position. When Asante plays other positions, Major Culbert can play strong safety.

Linebacker Nick Covey is now a defensive end. It will be interesting to see if he can het some good quality time.