The Story:

After Tom Osborne retired in 1997, Nebraska had a four year run of top-10 play. They won a Big 12 title, finished in the top 10 a couple of times all seemed right in the world as far as Husker fans were concerned. Then Frank Solich, Osborne’s successor, began to slip and he was fired and the Huskers brought in Bill Callahan. These will forever be known as the dark ages of Nebraska football. After Callahan was fired in 2008, Nebraska brought back Bo Pelini as head coach and Nebraska seems to have righted the ship since. When Pelini took over, Nebraska had one of the worst defenses in college football. They gave up over 70 points twice in the Callahan era. Once to Texas Tech and once to perennial whipping post Kansas. Clearly things were bad. In just two years, Pelini would transform on the worst defenses in the country to the best defense in the country. That was last year, however. This year the Huskers will have to prove that they weren’t a by-product of Ndamukong Suh’s dominance. Were it not for some of the most inept offense in the nation, Nebraska could have been a one-loss team a year ago. That’s how good the defense was. This year, however, the offense must carry more weight should Nebraska have Big 12 title aspirations in its final year with the conference.

The Glaring Stat:

99. That is where Nebraska finished in total offense last year. Only 21 teams were worse. The Huskers were embarrassing, sad and pathetic on offense. And those were the good days. They lost to a terrible Iowa State team when they were -8 (yes, they were MINUS EIGHT) in turnover margin. They managed just over 100 yards against Texas in the B12 title game. They were terrible. The insiders say they will be better this year, but a) how could they be any worse?, and b) they still have the same inept quarterbacks on the roster from a year ago (more on that later).

The Outlook:

Nebraska fans are high on life entering this season. The Husker find themselves in the preseason top-10 for the first time since 2001, and the team is recruiting better than it has before at this stage of the process. Too bad the season will not play out as they wish it would.

Unless Zac Lee, Cody Green or Taylor Martinez were invaded by Peyton Manning’s spirit over the past seven months, I’m not sure this team has enough on offense to win the Big 12. They bring back nine starters on offense, but when you have an offense that can’t run the ball, pass the ball or catch the ball, I’m not sure that’s a good thing.

Lee was the starter last year, and while his numbers were terrible, many of the rose colored glasses community are blaming that on his bum shoulder. He has since had surgery, and he seems to be throwing the ball well in practice. The ever-tight-lipped Pelini won’t say who has the edge at QB, but he did say it is clearing up. We’ll see come August, I suppose. The backup options are Green and Martinez. Green was a highly touted Texan who brings up memories of the Husker quarterbacks of old. His is a fast, athletic kid who can’t throw the ball that well. Sadly for Husker fans, the third string Martinez — who is said to be even more athletic than Green — makes green look like Joe Montana. Simply put, they need Lee to have a healthy arm. If not, this team could be one of the most disappointing teams in the country in 2010.

The Huskers do have some nice things going for them on offense. Roy Helu and Rex Burkhead are two really good backs. Problem is, Helu can’t seem to stay healthy and Burkhead needs a second fiddle. Niles Paul is one of the top rated senior wide receivers, but he has issues catching the ball at times; never good when that’s your job. The Huskers do have one of the best kickers in the country in Alex Henery. His punting and place kicking will win Nebraska at least one game his year.

Defensively, Nebraska is still pretty loaded. Now, there are some — Pelini himself — who claim that this year’s defense will be even better than last year’s defense. Color me skeptical. Nebraska lost a stud safety, a stud middle linebacker and, most importantly, the best player in the country last year in Suh. I don’t see how they can lose that and get better. I really don’t. The Huskers have some stout defensive lineman in Jared Crick, Baker Steinkuhler and Pierre Allen, but losing Suh will have a negative impact. The strength of this team may lie in its corners. Prince Amukamara looks like a first round pick next year and Alfonso Dennard is a good player. Eric Hagg is also a name to watch. He plays the PESO position for Nebraska. He is a hybrid safety/cornerback who will help in run support, but also help battle the spread offenses Nebraska will face in the Big 12.

The real question is the linebackers. Phillip Dillard was the man last year in the middle. Now that he’s gone, star recruit Will Compton will need to be the general. Eric Martin will provide speed at the OLB slots, but he played mostly on special teams last year. Sean Fisher was set to start at one of the OLB positions, but the 6-foot-6, 235 pounder broke his leg in fall camp and will miss the season. In his place, star JUCO recruit Lavonte David will now be asked to play a big role this year.

The Schedule:

9-4-10 Western Kentucky
9-11-10 Idaho
9-18-10 @Washington
9-25-10 South Dakota State
10-7-10 @Kansas State (Thurs.)
10-16-10 Texas
10-23-10 @Oklahoma State
10-30-10 Missouri
11-6-10 @Iowa State
11-13-10 Kansas
11-20-10 @Texas A&M
11026-10 Colorado

The non-conference schedule is embarrassing. Washington is, at the very best, an eight-win team, and they are clearly the best team in that portion of the schedule. Nebraska has some nice home-and-home slates coming up, but this year is abysmal. After that there is the showdown with Texas and the road game with Texas A&M. Missouri is the only competition for Nebraska inside the North, and they should be very good on offense, but that’s a game Nebraska should win as it’s at home and they have more talent. When looking at the schedule, 10-2 should be the worst Nebraska does. There is only one team (Texas) that will have more talent, but this team is not a machine like Florida or Alabama. They are more like Iowa. They have talent, but they can still come close to losing to some bad teams (or actually lose to bad teams).

Prediction: 10-2

I think 11-1 is a possibility with this team based on what they have and whom they play, but this team will lose a game it shouldn’t, so 9-3 is also a real possibility. I think they cruise to the Big 12 North title and get the winner of the Red River Shootout (yes, I will always call it that) for a shot at winning the conference title before they bolt to the Big 10.

ParrishWalton

I was born in Lincoln, Neb., and went to school at the University of Georgia.I believe in college football (with or without the BCS). I love dogs, but especially the big ones and I've become a huge fan of craft beer. Recommendations are always welcome.

More Posts - Twitter