One win in a row, do I hear two?

Well that week is out of the way.  Or is it?  That is the question that will cloud the rest of this Husker season.  Can Nebraska weather an interim athletic director that is “not here to fire anyone” during a football season that seems to be a little more intense that it needs to be?  Can Mike Riley get it going in a season that started with so much promise, but with three pick sixes and some poor judgement by the starting quarterback, that has turned into a house fire?

Let us start with the addition of Dave Rimington as the Interim Athletic Director.  We all know Rimington’s story as an All-American, two time Outland Trophy winner that has his own trophy named after him.  What we don’t know is how much Rimington will be in communication with Mike Riley about expectations and the “compete” narrative from University Administration.  Riley, in my opinion should probably be kept one more season beyond this, barring an utter disaster this weekend or followed by getting trounced the next two weekends.  If that happens, then all bets are off.

So how does Riley keep the train on the tracks during this turmoil and uncertainty?  I think he found that answer last weekend in the second half against Rutgers.  After another Tanner Lee pick six and with the boo birds making their appearance, Riley held strong, sent Lee back out there and rode the Devine Ozigbo-Mikale Wilbon train to victory.  The defense played another strong game as well.  Riley may be able to squeeze enough out of the running game and defense to make this season salvageable.  I believe that is what Riley has to do.

I’m one of those people that thought if Tanner Lee was ever going to be benched for a series or a game, it was after his latest touchdown pass to the other team.  I thought Patrick O’Brien should have gotten into the game that next series.  Lee, outside of his first few drives a game, has looked like he should be playing Division II football at best and possibly NAIA at worst.  This time though, patience paid off for Riley.  Lee coolly marched the team down the field on a 97 yard 17 play drive that put Nebraska in the driver’s seat.  It’s clear that Tanner Lee is a long way in front of O’Brien for playing time and it’s also clear, like it or not, the Huskers season is going to rely on Lee, no matter what.

That’s a dangerous place to be, especially if your head coach is feeling the heat.  It’s no secret that football coaches are often tied to the athletic director that hires them, and Shawn Eichorst getting fired certainly turns up the thermostat.  I’m all for Riley sticking around though, outside of losing eight or nine games and getting blown out consistently the rest of the season, I think he should get another shot in 2018.

For anyone that thinks that Scott Frost is the cure for the malaise that has become Husker football, I urge a little patience.  If you fire Riley for going 5-7 or 6-6 you will have the third recruiting class in six years hurt by changing coaches.  That can be a program killer when then the margin for error is so small.  Nebraska has played 12 first time career starters this year already.  Nebraska has lost arguably their two best defensive players in Josh Kalu and Chris Jones and their best offensive weapon in Tre Bryant.  Throw in Stanley Morgan, David Knevel and Marcus Newby missing time and its clear Nebraska has been playing a team that is spotted with inexperience.  Topping it off, nearly 2/3 of Nebraska’s roster is either a freshman or sophomore.

As much as it pains me to say this, this year could be a year of total rebuild.  It should be rock bottom for Nebraska for the foreseeable future.  If some staff adjustments are made after the season and the defensive staff continues to improve the team week to week, I think it’s worth the investment to see it through into 2018.  If Nebraska can hammer a super inexperienced Illinois team this Friday and keep a top 15 recruiting class intact, I think Riley should be given another season.  Unless Nebraska completely implodes, our new athletic director along with University President and Chancellor, should give Riley that opportunity.  Of course this is all subject to change and that is why Shawn Eichorst is gone.

ON WITH THE REWIND…

Our previous score prediction for the Rutgers game was Nebraska 36 – Rutgers 14.  The actual score was 27-17 and the game was much closer than it probably should have been.  Another pick six by Tanner Lee made a brilliant game for the Blackshirts into more of a circus than it needed to be.  Nebraska settled down though, ran the football effectively and held on.  Hell, we even saw a victory formation this last weekend.  We get a few of those going and life will improve immensely in Lincoln.

Quick Notes:

Devin Ozigbo gets it going…  Mikale Wilbon played really well too, but Ozigbo gives the Huskers a punch that other teams don’t want.  He is big, he is powerful and after a “break” to start the season, seems to be running with a purpose that the team thrives on.  I hope he keeps clean of whatever landed him in the doghouse to start the season.  Mike Riley’s job may depend on it.

Bob Diaco may be figuring it out…. Outside of the first drive by Rutgers, the Blackshirts held the Knights to one field goal the rest of the way.  If you could tell me that Nebraska will give up less than 20 points per game the rest of the way, save Ohio State and maybe Penn State, I think the entire state would take that and be satisfied.  Diaco is rotating players everywhere, starting new guys each week and challenging the other teams with different looks each game.  He also seems more comfortable than the first week.  Now that the Big Ten schedule has gotten up and running it is Diaco’s time to shine.

Tanner Lee…the season continues to ride with him… No matter how you look at it, Lee is the starter for the foreseeable future for Mike Riley.  Riley and Danny Langsdorf were able to run the ball effectively against Rutgers and it seemed to help Lee out.  I’m not going to bag on the kid anymore this week, his starting X receiver was walk on Gabe Rahn, other receivers continue to drop passes and the tight ends haven’t been able to block or catch.  Lee is suffering from a lack of big time help and it shows.  Hopefully Stanley Morgan being back this week gives Nebraska the ability to take the next step.

Score Prediction: Nebraska 31 – Illinois 21

I think Nebraska is more talented than Illinois.  I think Nebraska has better players in the trench than the Fighting Illini.  I think Nebraska will run the ball at Illinois with success.  So why will this game be close until the end again?  I feel like Nebraska is continuing to find itself a little more each week.  I thought I would see consistency at the start of the season from the offense.  We started to see some of that last week.  I think Nebraska takes another step in that direction this week.  It will probably still be a tight game into the third quarter, but Wilbon and Ozigbo should start to push the game open in the fourth.  Nebraska must win two in a row.  Go get’m and GBR!!

Change was Made, What’s Next?

Every week this season seems to be its own one act play. This week is no different, yesterday a bombshell was dropped with the firing of Athletic Director Shawn Eichorst.  Nebraska football is at a crossroads again, but this time we are all left wondering what the next scene will be.

I’ve been someone who wasn’t in Eichorst’s corner very often.  I felt like when he was hired it was mainly to be the guy that fired Bo Pelini.  When it didn’t happen after one of Bo’s multiple flair ups in 2013, I couldn’t help but wonder, what is the AD doing?  Bo had torched every bridge he came upon and yet Eichorst let him coach one more season and it felt like a lame duck year.  It had a huge detriment on recruiting and it drew the fanbase into a split of Bo-leavers and Bo-lievers.  Had Eichorst came out and discussed the situation with the press and let the fans know where his thought process was, it would have made everyone a lot more comfortable with the process.

Eichorst followed suit last season with basketball coach Tim Miles, basically leaving him and the program dangling on the hook during a rough season.   Miles should have been given a vote of confidence earlier if they planned on keeping him, instead Eichorst basically waited until the Big Ten tournament to give him a vote of confidence and a lot of hand wringing was done for nothing.

Take us back to last week, after a disaster against Northern Illinois (more on that later) Eichorst came out in a CYA (cover you’re a**) moment trying to tell everyone that the outcome of the game was not acceptable.  Well, I hate to tell you, everyone that has ever cheered on the Big Red already knew this was unacceptable and it was happening on your watch.

On top of that, throw in a crazy situation with Connie Yori and women’s basketball two years ago, along with the one man search committee for hires that have been made for the athletic department, it simply came down to one man being in over his head.  The new chancellor and the new president of the university reviewed the situation and decided we needed different, better leadership.

So where does that take us with Mike Riley?  Unless this season devolves into a 3 or 4 win season, I’m on board with keeping Coach Riley another year.  That of course would be under the premise that some changes be made on the coaching staff.  I feel like the time is now to finish the purge of the Oregon State ties to the program for Coach Riley.  Offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh and Offensive Coordinator Danny Langsdorf need to look for employment elsewhere.  If Nebraska can somehow right the ship and get to a bowl game, this recruiting class could be salvaged and hopefully this defensive staff will gel and look like we have the start of something really good.

Last week’s game was a disaster, not much you can say about it otherwise.  Was that the reason Shawn Eichorst was fired?  No, it wasn’t, but it was the impetus for the firing to happen when it did.  The first half against Northern Illinois was the worst half of offensive football I’ve ever witnessed at Nebraska.  That includes the Oklahoma State game during Bill Callahan’s last season and the 23-0 drubbing in the Orange Bowl against Miami while Tom Osborne was roaming the sidelines.

Nebraska fans, whether people think we are hicks or not, know what effort looks like.  That’s really at the crux of all the issues faced in the athletic department right now, the fire, the desire to compete at a high level, all the time, every time, seems to be missing right now.  We don’t ask for national titles every year, or even a conference title every year, but by all that is holy, we ask that you look prepared, you play hard and you don’t get beat by being stupid.  Against Northern Illinois, the offense looked tepid, uninspired and when the chips were down, the offensive line simply panicked or didn’t give effort.  That to me is unacceptable.  

This week, Nebraska will be missing at a minimum 9 starters from what they imagined their opening day roster would be.  I understand, the injury bug is going to bite and we have to overcome that, but this staff has not done a good job preparing the team out the gate.  That needs to change, I don’t care if your grandmother is playing linebacker, she better come ready to compete.  If Mike Riley truly wants to coach at Nebraska past this fall, he needs to find a way to get to that point, or he will follow Shawn Eichorst out the door.

ON WITH THE REWIND…

Our previous score prediction for the Northern Illinois game was Nebraska 28 – Northern Illinois 24.  I sensed that the game would be close, NIU had a lot of strengths where Nebraska was weak and after watching the team the first two weeks I felt like it could be a trap game.  I thought Nebraska would hold on, but they simply played uninspired.  That can’t happen this week.  Period.  

Quick Notes:

Injuries happen, so who steps up?  From Josh Kalu to Matt Farniok, from Chris Jones to Tre Bryant, this team has had some bad breaks again for injuries.  The problem has been, whoever comes in to replace them, often looks unprepared and unsure of what they are doing.  Nebraska has too many kids that were recruited by a lot of schools for that to happen.  Our offensive line needs to step up this week.  Injuries can be an excuse, but effort should happen regardless.

Tanner Lee needs a good game. I keep expecting Lee to break out, but when?  He has had the smoke beat out of him this season, he looks tentative and is starting to bail out and make bad throws when I feel like there is only phantom pressure.  That will happened when you are getting nailed every time you drop back.  If Tanner Lee is ever going to be the player we see in practice, the line simply has to give him a pocket.  If they don’t this week, I’m afraid we may never get to see the kid flourish, which is too bad.

Score Prediction: Nebraska 36 – Rutgers 14

Call me crazy, I have a feeling that the team will come to play against a Rutgers team that it simply can’t afford to let stick close.  I think Nebraska will run the ball consistently and I feel like the defense will have some big takeaways this week, in fact I predict at least one defensive score.  Mike Riley needs this, the kids need it, you could say the entire state of Nebraska needs it.  It will be blowout city this weekend.  It will calm the waters…for at least a week.  GBR!!

Nebraska Needs to Bounce Back…Again.

It's Game Day!

When I started writing this blog for Cornhusker Memes, I knew it wouldn’t be easy, everyone always tells me I’m too much of a sunshine pumper.  Heck, I even saw the good things in Bo Pelini the entire time he was here, even though I did feel like they held on to him one year too long.

I mention this, because I feel like I need to take a step back from the Tanner Lee hype train for a minute. Against Arkansas State, I felt like Lee played really well, in fact with the defense being the whipping horse for a great deal of the game, I didn’t really even think much about Lee playing poorly in the fourth quarter, overthrowing wide open receivers and generally not being very efficient.  

Carriker Chronicles

Against Oregon, the defense again was atrocious, at least in the first half, but Lee looked like he was going to keep us in a game like all the great gunslingers do.  Quick slants, easy go routes and some basic passes up the middle to tight ends on seem routes look to be his cup of tea.  Then in the fourth quarter, something happened we weren’t expecting.  The defense kept making stops and the offense kept shooting themselves in the foot.  But why?  It wasn’t because guys weren’t open, even though Nebraska couldn’t seem to get good separation much of the day.  It was because when a throw needed to be on target, Lee simply had too much on the ball and resembled Tommy Armstrong more than Aaron Rodgers.

I know, Lee isn’t in the same category as Rodgers, but my point is, he shouldn’t be in Armstrong’s category either.  Whether or not you liked Armstrong, Tommy was a running quarterback.  He wasn’t recruited to play in the NFL and when Tommy was healthy, he passed just enough to make great plays once in a while, but he certainly was no sure thing.

  

When you watch Tanner Lee at practice, you don’t ever worry about him not throwing well.  If he didn’t throw well in practice, you wouldn’t think much of his scary fourth quarter performance in Eugene.  That’s the problem, Lee is expected to be accurate, that’s why he plays over Patrick O’Brien and Tristan Gebbia, because of his ability to hit the open man.

Nebraska can’t afford Lee to play as bad as he did last weekend if they want to have a chance to win the Big Ten West.  I recognize that Oregon was loaded with playmakers and had much better coaching than a year ago, but Lee looked hesitant and bewildered last Saturday.  The Big Ten has great coaches as well and it isn’t going to get easier.  I hope that Lee isn’t overwhelmed a bit by the pressure of playing at Nebraska.  He wouldn’t be the first one to crack in Lincoln.  I have a feeling he will get it together by the end of the year, but if that fourth quarter against Oregon becomes the norm, it will be an icy fall, regardless of weather.

Cornhusker Meme Tees

ON WITH THE REWIND…

Our previous score prediction for the Oregon game was Nebraska 31 – Oregon 34.  The actual score was 42-35, Ducks, but how it ended up there was the story, not the final score.  Nebraska’s defense looked like it was a junior high team the first half.  The 42 points given up by halftime was as stunning as Melvin Gordon running wild for 408 yards up in Madison a few years ago.  The fact that Nebraska was able to shut them out the second half, no matter what or how it happened was almost just as stunning.  Had Tanner Lee hit a few more passes, Nebraska could have came back all the way.  It’s a razor’s edge sometimes between winning and losing, but Nebraska can’t be so Jekyll and Hyde or it will be a long season.

Quick Notes:

What was that defense?  I don’t even know what to think of that first half.  I quit looking at twitter before halftime, because I knew it was just going to make me more angry, and the Ducks were already doing a pretty good job of that.  Then in the second half, Oregon went into a shell and Nebraska played with their hair on fire.  It gives me hope that the coaches are figuring out their personnel packages finally and the fighting Diacos are actually ready to turn the corner.

Nebraska may not be great, but who is in the Big Ten West? Iowa was about ready to lose to Iowa State, Northwestern has already been way below their supposed expectations and Wisconsin has played some shady football.  Purdue has surprisingly looked the best in my eyes of all the teams that may be more of a challenge for Nebraska than we thought.  Ohio State even looked mortal getting railroaded by Oklahoma.  It looks like it could be a wide open year in the conference, it would be nice if Nebraska wasn’t eliminated from the conference title game by Halloween.

Tre Bryant, Josh Kalu, David Knevel all out…  When Chris Jones and JoJo Domann were injured before fall camp, I was concerned, but not to the point of panic.  When you get to your third game and three of your four most important players are all out due to injury, that is when you start to get worried.  I know that Bryant, Kalu and even Jones will be back this season, but when a team is young like Nebraska, losing big time veterans is a tough hurdle to overcome.  Let’s hope these cats make it back before Wisconsin and Ohio State come calling.

Black Friday may stay… I was a little surprised the athletic department was so quiet about the change from Iowa at the end of the season to Minnesota in 2020.  I wasn’t so broke up about not playing Iowa, although playing in Minneapolis around Thanksgiving will be worse for fans than anything else that changed.  The thing is, until Shawn Eichorst came out and said that the will work toward making sure it was a Friday game, I honestly thought that this was the Big Ten sticking it to Nebraska one more time.  Turns out, it looks like the Athletic Department didn’t realize Husker fans would come out of the woodwork to try and keep the Black Friday game.  You have to listen to your money source and stand up to your conference once in a while.  Husker fans made that point this week.

This game needs to be a blowout… Unfortunately for Husker fans, it probably won’t happen.  Under Mike Riley, Nebraska has rarely blown anyone out.  I can’t quite put my finger on the problem, but Nebraska just doesn’t put it on anyone anymore.  A blowout in this game would tell me if this team will be good or not.  If this game is close, all bets are off on the nine win mark and Nebraska will be concentrating on not finishing below 4th in the division.

Score Prediction: Nebraska 28 – Northern Illinois 24

I don’t know how Northern Illinois is going to score 24, but I’m not 100% sure how Nebraska will score 28.  With Tre Bryant ou this week, that is a lot of responsibility to put on Mikale Wilbon at the I-Back position.  Wilbon is explosive, but he is prone to killing Nebraska with fumbles and missed blocks.  If Devine Ozigbo ever gets out of the doghouse, maybe Nebraska will be able to run the ball.  Northern Illinois has a really good defense and they can get to the quarterback.  Nebraska should be able to put points on the board early, but I don’t know if they can run the ball to shorten the game once they have the lead.  This game will be closer than it should, let’s just hope there are no more injuries to worry about heading into the Big Ten play.  All I can say is GBR!!

Will the Huskers get their Ducks in a Row?

Football is BACK!  At least that is how I felt going into last Saturday.  Nebraska was taking the field for a night game against an opponent that they should be able to put away and I was looking forward to watching Tanner Lee play his first game for the Big Red.  At the end of the game, my palms were sweaty, my voice was gone, half the stadium was empty and the Arkansas State fan in front of me looked like he was about to float out of the stadium he was so high.

“Whew”, is all I felt as the Blackshirts held on the final drive and an overthrown pass sailed into the back of the endzone.  It felt more like relief than victory at that point.  Special teams play, a big problem in 2016, almost came back to bite the Huskers in the butt.  It’s hard to reconcile the great kickoff return from JD Spielman when the Huskers gave up a punt return touchdown and a looked like a peewee team trying to cover onside kicks.  I expect some first game issues, but man, that was a bit disheartening.

On the flip side though, I felt like the offense looked really good.  There were some cleanup moments, some whiffs by the offensive line and some hurried throws, but when you can run and pass for 463 yards and keep the rushing and passing even, in my book it’s a good game.  Nebraska put up 43 points and it didn’t feel like they were scoring often.  In fact it almost felt like they left a lot of points on the board, especially in the 4th quarter when it felt like they could put the game on ice.

On the problem side, the defense gave up 497 yards including 415 through the air.  I’m not going to belabor the fact that Nebraska was in a bend but don’t break coverage for the entire game, but it was disconcerting that Nebraska wasn’t able to get any pressure on the quarterback, until almost the final drive of the game.  Quick passing teams will dink and dunk you all the way up the field if they can, which from the sounds of it, was what new defensive coordinator Bob Diaco planned on.  The issue became that no sacks or dropped passes made the game much closer than it needed to be.

I understand that with a quick throw it’s hard to put pressure on the QB.  On the flip side, it would be nice to see some disruption plays every series that makes what the defense is doing seem like you can stop the offense.  I expect that we kept it pretty vanilla, just to get the players more time in the base defense, but it almost put Nebraska in the ugly position to have to worry about overtime.  Arkansas State will probably have a very good season, but Nebraska gave them confidence that they didn’t need.

ON WITH THE REWIND…

Our previous score prediction for the Arkansas State game was Nebraska 35 – Arkansas St. 21.  The actual score was 43-36 and while the offense put plenty of points on the board, the game was too close for comfort.  Nebraska, to my surprise, only changed up coverage a few times to these untrained eyes and I felt coaches left the outside linebackers susceptible to break downs.  When the outside linebackers have to cover passes after making sure it’s not a run, it makes them reactionary, rather than aggressive.  I have never liked that kind of play, I like aggressive downhill defense, but maybe in the modern day game of pitch and catch, that defense simply won’t work anymore.  A win is a win, and that is what is most important.

Quick Notes:

Young Players Step up.  You start naming names of players that we aren’t used to seeing on Saturday and there were a lot!  JD Spielman got the Huskers off to rocking with a 99 yard kick return and Tanner Lee played turnover free football.  Tyjon Lindsey, Avery Roberts and Deontre Thomas all played as true freshman.  Luke Gifford looked like he will be the leader at linebacker.  All in all, with Nebraska fielding a younger team, it was nice to see those young players step up right away.

Offensive Line Gets a C+… I might be a little generous on this.  They didn’t block well on the goal line carry that resulted in a safety and there were too many times when Arkansas State send multiple defenders up the same gap and the O-Line simply missed them both.  That’s unacceptable, and should be fixed at Oregon.  If not, it could be a long season and I hope Tanner Lee has good health insurance.  I say all of that, but Tre Bryant had plenty of room to roam, in fact he looked like he could be a huge weapon for the Huskers.  If the line continues to give him that many holes, this grade will be adjusted easily from last week.

Tanner Lee, the Myth Finally Comes Alive!  I finally had to pump the brakes myself on the Tanner Lee hype train.  Lee looked relatively good, he throws the most beautiful deep ball I have ever seen a Husker quarterback throw.  On the flip side, I thought he was a bit tentative and maybe relies on his arm strength too much at times.  He was under pressure quite a bit, so hopefully it was first game rust and with better blocking he will up that completion percentage.  He didn’t turn the ball over and to me, was the best part about his day.  I’m still excited about his potential, we need him to have a big game this weekend.

Defense Will Play Better… No matter how you slice it, the defense wasn’t entirely at fault for the close game last week.  Bonehead special teams and a safety made the game way too close.  I imagine the defense will get better each week.  I guess what I’m saying is, hang tight, there will be some growing pains, but I think it will all pay off in the end.

Tre Bryant may be a stud… Coming into the game the coaches were pretty coy about who would start at running back, but most felt, and still feel like Bryant would be the man.  He did nothing to disappoint as he ran for a career high 192 yards on 31 carries.  My only hope is that he can hold up to that type of workload.  So far, so good.

Score Prediction: Nebraska 31 – Oregon 34

Yeah, I’m doing it, I’m picking Oregon.  I originally thought this game may be two touchdowns (that’s what Vegas has the spread listed) but the more I thought about it, I think Nebraska will be in this game until the end.  Last year, I really felt like the home field advantage would propel Nebraska to beat Oregon, and unfortunately, I think home field, this time for the Ducks, will be the difference maker.

Nebraska should be able to run on the Ducks, but I suspect the Ducks will be able to run on Nebraska as well.  To me, it’s all about the little things, special teams, field position and turnovers.  Generally the home team gets a lot of those breaks, especially when the crowd is juiced.  This crowd sounds like it’s as nasty as Wisconsin and that is not a fun environment.

I don’t want to predict it, but that’s what my head is telling me.  My heart though, as always, is GBR!!

Husker Predictions and Blackshirt Preview

Finally! Football Season is Upon Us!

Finally, what we have waited all offseason for, the season starts this week in Lincoln and the Cornhuskers are primed to go.  Let’s get in one last look at the new Fighting’ Diacos before the Red Wolves invade Memorial Stadium.  Before we do the defensive preview, we will change things up a bit and put our season and this week’s score prediction first, in case you don’t want to read all the other stuff…

On with the Rewind:

As we finished up with our team review this fall, I hope you enjoyed the run down, even if it’s more in depth than our normal blogs.  We will get back to the shorter stuff as the season gets going.  As far as a season prediction, so many things ride on Tanner Lee, it’s hard to get a read on the season.  I will say this, if Lee makes every start, Nebraska at worst will win 9 games.  If Lee doesn’t make at least 10 starts, then 7 to 8 wins becomes a strong possibility.  Let’s get this season going already!!

Score Prediction: _ Arkansas State @ Nebraska

The Vegas line has come down from as high as 19, all the way to 13.5 on some sources.  That is a bit of a cause for concern, simply because sometimes Vegas knows things that normal fans do not.  That being said, a night game at Nebraska simply is too much for most teams to overcome.  Arkansas State has a great season last year and may come in with some confidence, but I have a feeling Nebraska is feeling pretty confident too.  Tanner Lee will be locked and loaded and I expect Nebraska to put up some yards and points.  I don’t know what to think of the defense, Arkansas State has some playmakers on offense and could give Nebraska fits as it works its way into the 3-4 for the first time.  I think Nebraska scores early and often though, let’s go with 35-21, Huskers.  Nebraska needs to win and come out without any major injuries, that will be a big success for week one.  As always, GBR!!!

And now…the Defensive Preview:

Defensive Line:

Freedom Akinmoladun, Jr (Defensive End)

Khalil Davis, So (Defensive End)

Mick Stoltenberg, Jr (Nose Tackle)

Deontre Thomas, Fr (Nose Tackle)

Carlos Davis, So (Defensive End)

Ben Stille, RFr (Defensive End)

Damion Daniels, Fr (Nose Tackle)

Peyton Newell, Jr (Defensive End)

When defensive line coach John Parrella took over for Hank Hughes after the 2015 football season, one could only hope that a new era was dawning for Husker football.  Hughes was hired based on Mark Banker’s recommendation when Mike Riley arrived in Lincoln, but Hughes wasn’t a good fit at Nebraska and he made little to no effort to recruit.  I follow recruiting enough to know that a poor season of defensive line recruiting is almost a disaster in college football when you are trying to compete for a Power Five level championship.  What I didn’t count on was the switch to a 3-4 defense that made a position group short on depth, now surprisingly strong.

We all know that games are won in the trenches and when Maliek Collins and Vincent Valentine were at Nebraska, we all felt like we should dominate up front.   We didn’t do that well, and part of the reason, in my opinion, was the defensive line coaching.  Flip the script and in two years, we have a starting front of mostly juniors and sophomores, but I believe with Coach Parrella, this can and will be a strength of this team.

Stoltenberg is a mountain in the middle and while he may be a bit tall for a traditional nose tackle in the 3-4, I don’t have any doubt he will be able to absorb double teams and make life easier on linebackers.  Behind him will be a true freshman in Deontre Thomas who has flashed in fall camp and basically made it impossible to redshirt him, because he has played so well.  Another freshman, Damion Daniels should redshirt, but he is a load and if he has to play, should be able to at least provide a solid backup.

The ends may have the best player on the defense.  Carlos Davis, by all accounts has had a tremendous fall camp and looks to be living up to the billing of a four star defensive tackle out of high school.  Playing defensive end in this scheme should fit his skill set.  I expect big things from Mr. Davis.  On the other side, now veteran player Freedom Akinmoladun has set up shop and actually should benefit greatly from the new scheme. He wasn’t quick enough off the edge to be more than a strong side defensive end before.  This defense should utilize him a little better, being inside of the tackles on certain plays.  Both ends can move out in a switch to a 4-3 setup if need be and both could play inside if needed on the same sets.

At the backups, Ben Stille has really come on during camp and Khalil Davis (Carlos’s twin brother) should also benefit from playing time last year and another year with Coach Parrella.

HOT TAKE ALERT: This group is going to put players in the NFL in the next two to three years.  I love Stoltenberg, and if he can stay healthy, I think he will be an All-Conference selection this year.  Carlos Davis is a Sunday type of player and I think with Freedom moving to the 3-4 could be his ticket to playing pro football as well.  This group is young and exciting, by the end of the season, I could see this group being the best unit on the defense.

Linebackers:

Chris Weber, Sr.  (Inside)

Dedrick Young II, Jr. (Inside)

Marcus Newby, Sr. (Outside, Dog)

Luke Gifford, Jr. (Outside, Dog)

Alex Davis, So. (Outside, Cat)

Mohamed Barry, So. (Inside)

Sedrick King, Jr. (Outside, Cat)

Guy Thomas, Fr. (Outside, Cat)

Tyrin Ferguson, So. (Outside, Dog)

Avery Roberts, Fr. (Inside)

This group also should benefit from a change in scheme, but I wonder how quickly it will happen?  By far what I would consider the deepest group on the defense, it may also be the most underwhelming.  In the 3-4, the outside linebackers work on the strongside (Dog) and the weakside (Cat) positions.  Nebraska has great depth at the Dog outside linebacker position, but not at the Cat linebacker spot. That linebacker position requires a great athlete, especially one that can get to the quarterback on passing downs.  

On this roster, Nebraska doesn’t have anyone that stands out at the Cat spot.  Alex Davis, certainly a very good athlete, but unproven on the field, seems to have the upper hand at this spot.  His back up Sedrick King has been relatively unknown in his time in Lincoln.  Guy Thomas, a true freshman, may be the most athletic of the bunch, but this position has so many keys and so many roles to play depending on formation, I just don’t see him getting much playing time unless it’s on certain passing downs.

This isn’t to say that Nebraska is bereft of talent at linebacker.  In fact, at the Dog position, the depth is quite good.  Luke Gifford had a coming out party during the spring game and Marcus Newby has proven his worth in game time action in the past.  Those two will patrol that side of the field.  Even third string Tyrin Ferguson should see some playing time and will certainly be a stalwart on special teams.

Inside linebacker also should be strong, if not all conference, maybe right on the cusp.  Chris Weber was recently named one of the captains and he is going to start next to Dedrick Young who has been playing and starting since he was a freshman.  They are being pushed by Mohamed Barry and true freshman Avery Roberts. Barry looks like he is going to be a really great player when he gets done in Lincoln and Roberts (who arrived last spring) was the highest rated defensive recruit in last year’s class and already is making waves.

HOT TAKE ALERT: Not so hot a take as it is reality, if Nebraska wants to become an elite Blackshirt defense again, they will have to develop or recruit the type of outside linebacker that keeps opposing coaches up at night.  Nebraska has recruited ok at linebacker during Riley’s tenure, but they are missing that truly special player right now.  Will they be able to develop that player from this current roster?  Who knows, but they need to find a star to make this defense great.

Safety:

Joshua Kalu, Sr.

Aaron Williams, Jr.

Marquel Dismuke, RFr.

Antonio Reed, Jr.

Kieron Williams, Sr.

Defensive Coordinator Bob Diaco raised some eyebrows earlier in fall practice when he said the Josh Kalu has a chance to be the best safety in the conference, possibly one of the best in the nation.  After moving from cornerback to safety for his senior season, it was a bit of a surprise to hear such high praise, but it may be the perfect fit for Kalu.  He was a solid cornerback, but certainly not all conference caliber, so if Kalu can make a major move to safety and help solidify the defensive backfield, the transition to the 3-4 may be a lot smoother than many anticipate.  

Aaron Williams continues to be the vocal leader for the defense and returns at the other safety position.  Williams is a very studious player and helps run the entire defense.  Antonio Reed is one of my favorite players, he oozes potential.  He should help with depth.  Marquel Dismuke, really the player that started the Calibraska movement for players from California, has moved up to second string on the depth chart.  He should start to push for playing time on defense, along with being a special teams player.

The biggest surprise from the depth chart released last Monday though was that Kieron Williams had been passed over by Dismuke.  Kieron led Nebraska in interceptions last season, however he seems to be a boom or bust player.  It stands to reason that some shakeup would happen with a change in schemes, but I wonder how long they will be able to hold him off the field if other guys struggle.  I expect Kieron will continue to be a big special teams player, regardless of how much time he sees on the regular defense.

HOT TAKE ALERT: Kalu finds a spot that he can excel at.  I’ve been high on his move to safety, even before it happened.  When Chris Jones suffered a knee injury this summer, I was afraid they would move Kalu back to cornerback, but I feel like he has a better skill set at safety.  The hot take…I can see Lamar Jackson making the same move in the future, despite being a starter at cornerback this season.

Cornerback:

Eric Lee, So.

Lamar Jackson, So.

Dicaprio Bootle, RFr.

Avery Anderson, So.

Chris Jones, Sr.

Jeremiah Stovall, So.

Tony Butler, RFr.

This was supposed to be Chris Jones season.  He was supposed to lock down one side of the field and allow help side defense to come over and give Lamar Jackson protection if he needed it.  When Jones hurt his knee this summer, the gas seemed to be let out of the balloon a little bit and we wondered what would happen without a potential all conference player in the lineup.

What happened next, was kind of unexpected.  Other guys started to step up.  Eric Lee, the touted recruit from Colorado, all of a sudden seems like he was shot out of a cannon.  He has locked up the opposite side from Jackson.  Speaking of Jackson, he had a really solid camp and will be a completely different player than the freshman that looked lost last season.  Not only that, but Dicaprio Bootle (already an All-Name All Star) positioned himself to be a big time player in this defense and was given a Blackshirt!  

The depth is going to be solid, if untested.  On the flip side, walk on Jeremiah Stovall has worked his way up to second string.  That came out of the blue for sure.  Tony Butler moved over from safety to cornerback, almost like a trade for Kalu and has had a great fall camp as well.  This group will probably be tested early and often, but I feel like they will be up for the challenge.

HOT TAKE ALERT: Chris Jones will be back before the October 7th game against Wisconsin.  Jones has already progressed to walking without crutches and doing light workouts.  Jones has a strong desire to come back and play his senior season and without any setbacks, I don’t see him using a redshirt year that he still has available.  If Jones makes it back to even 95% by the end of the season, I expect this unit to be humming.

Quick Notes:

Donte Williams…Coach Williams has been doing work on the recruiting trail since coming to Lincoln, but I’m more excited to see what he does with the young cornerbacks.  He has been lauded as a really strong up and coming coach, to go along with being one of the best recruiters in the country.  If he is half as good at coaching them up, Nebraska should be in good shape.