Husker Revival

Just when it seemed like things were turning, coming off an appearance in the 2006 Big 12 title game, and just when it looked like the crazy, blow-up-the-system plan was going to work, Nebraska decided to stop playing defense and the offense went into the tank. Now, the program is starting from scratch by going back to the comfortable and familiar.

Oh sure, the Bill Callahan offense ended up cranking out huge numbers with a passing attack that when it was clicking, was unstoppable. Problem was that it wasn't consistent. It died during the critical middle part of the year and couldn't keep up with a defense that was one of the worst in the long and storied history of Nebraska football. No, the Callahan experiment didn't work, but even with four years to change things around, he never really had a chance.

Callahan had to make the Nebraska Cornhuskers a monster again, and while former athletic director Steve Pederson actually had the right idea in wanting to give the program a makeover and a fresh paint job, it happened while maddening the Husker nation. So will pandering to the fan base by bringing back Tom Osborne to run the show and getting more marginally talented walk-on farm kids make Nebraska a national powerhouse again? No, but it makes everyone feel more comfortable again. What's going to change things around will be 1) better coaching, 2) better players, and 3) better schemes.

Nebraska can win with its old running style, but it needs the defense to be able to hold its own, and it needs to get a few superstars from elsewhere to operate around the homegrown try-hards. Yeah, build the base by getting Nebraska kids who'll run through a wall for the program, but that's a given. All new head man Bo Pelini needs to do is open his door and he'll be flooded with them. It's getting the guys who'll make the engine go that'll be the hard part.

Tommie Frazier was from Florida. Steve Taylor was from California. Turner Gill was from Texas, and Irving Fryar and Mike Rozier were from New Jersey. Nebraska has to be a place where a top talent can go and believe he can be a superstar, and Pelini, eventually, should be able to do that. But first, he'll work on the defense.

Nebraska will be instantly better with stronger coaching making the D more aggressive, better at tackling, and leaner. Last year's group got bigger, but it didn't improve. Offensively, there won't be as many fireworks, but it should be a better running, even more efficient and consistent attack.

No, Nebraska isn't going to be a superpower overnight, but it shouldn't take that much to get back to a bowl game. After all, last year's team, as bad as it was, still went 5-7. Call this a stepping stone season, but at least things in the Big Red world appear to be back on the right track.

What to watch for on offense: More power running. Marlon Lucky is one of the nation's best all-around backs, and there's good speed and promise behind them. The line gets four good starters returning to go along with a little bit of depth, so while the passing game won't be abandoned, the offense will revolve around the ground attack. It'll have to with a mediocre receiving corps unlikely to scare anyone.

What to expect on defense: A tackle. The defense didn't exactly give up as it was allowing 46 points per game over the final seven games, but it wasn't exactly effective. The talent in the back seven is down compared to last year, but the coaching staff will make it more aggressive, lighter and faster. The line should be far more productive with all four starters returning and great depth.

This team will be much better if ... The defense forces a turnover. The offense gave it away 28 times, which wasn't all that bad, but the defense came up with 11 takeaways. 11! Marshall, which forced seven turnovers, was the only team to come up with fewer than the Huskers. The Pelini-led defense should get off the bus and force more than the three fumbles it cranked out last year.

The Schedule: The Pelini era kicks off with three winnable, but potentially problematic non-conference games against Western Michigan, San Jose State and New Mexico State. No Husker fan will expect anything less than a 3-0 start, but that'll be tougher than it looks. There's a week off before a killer three-game stretch of Virginia Tech, Missouri and at Texas Tech. At Iowa State and home against Baylor will be relative breathers before a second brutal three-game run (at Oklahoma, Kansas and at Kansas State) to close out the string of eight games in eight weeks. There's a week off before the Friday game against Colorado.

Best Offensive Player: Senior RB Marlon Lucky. Lucky went from being an oft-injured star prospect with all the talent in the world, to a phenomenal all-around back who led the team in receiving while running for 1,019 yards and nine touchdowns. He's not going to have to carry the entire workload with some decent backups ready to take away carries, but he'll be the focal point of the offense.

Best Defensive Player: Senior DE Barry Turner. While the defense was horrific, and the line was awful, Turner came up with a decent year making 29 tackles with three sacks. While that might not seem like much, the 6-3, 260-pounder has a non-stop motor who forces offenses to adjust. Under the new coaching staff, he could blow up and be a major-league star.

Key player to a successful season: The entire linebacking corps. Steve Octavien, Bo Ruud, and Corey McKeon were supposed to form a talented, veteran corps that was going to be the backbone of Nebraska's resurgence. The line didn't provide any help, but overall, the linebackers stunk. Now it'll be up to a less talented group, but with a better scheme, to make big improvements. It's a patchwork corps with a former running back (Cody Glenn), a guy who was 270 pounds going into the offseason and is now down to 238 (Phillip Dillard), and a total unknown who had one good spring (Tyler Wortman).

The season will be a success if ... The Huskers win eight games. That might seem like a low goal, but for a team with so many problems, and in a league that'll be as good as the Big 12 will be, just getting its head back above water should be good enough for now. There can't be any mistakes in the non-conference schedule before dealing with Virginia Tech, and there has to be an upset (yeah, it would be an upset) over a Missouri or a Kansas along the way.


OFFENSE
Lost in the shuffle of last year's nightmare season was an offense that really did work. Yeah, it died for a stretch midseason, but once it started humming, it was a yardage machine. Now, all the key parts are back everywhere but wide receiver, which will be the team's Achilles heel with Maurice Purify gone. Nate Swift and Todd Peterson are serviceable, but hardly anything special. Steadying the quarterback situation is Joe Ganz, a good, accurate passer who'll make the receivers better. Fortunately, the coaching staff wants to run the ball more, and with Marlon Lucky, one of the nation's most versatile backs, and a good, veteran line that should blossom into something special, the ground game will be better.

Quarterbacks: After finishing seventh in the nation in passing, mostly to keep up with all the points and yards put up by opposing offenses, the game has changed. No longer will the quarterbacks be asked to carry the team; now they're supposed to be a part of it. Being efficient and effective, while letting the running game do its thing, will be the task, and at that, senior Joe Ganz should be strong. He won't get any all-star credit in a big year for Big 12 quarterbacks, but he'll have a great season. There will be an ongoing battle for the number two job between senior Beau Davis and sophomore Zac Lee. The 6-2, 210-pound Lee was a star scout teamer last year with a strong, accurate arm with just enough quickness to run for a first down now and then. The 6-4, 180-pound Davis has been a career backup, mostly an emergency, No. 3 sort of quarterback, but he knows what he's doing.

Running Backs: The situation is excellent as long as Marlon Lucky stays healthy. There's good depth, excellent speed and athleticism, and some great upside, but Lucky is the marquee star who needs to carry the offense through the rough patches. It won't be back to the good old days of the Big Red Machine rushing dominance, but the ground game will average far more than last year's 144 yards per game. Lucky is the franchise back, but he'll get even more help this season. The backups, 245-pound Quentin Castille, speedy Marcus Mendoza, and spring star Roy Helu, are good enough to carry the running game from time to time.

Receivers: It'll be a different type of year for the receivers. Now they'll have to block more, and this group should be able to do it. They'll have to be reliable to keep the chains moving, but they won't have all the pressure on them to blow up and carry the attack. Nate Swift and Todd Peterson are good, Menelik Holt, Curenski Gilleylen and Niles Paul should be better, and the tight ends have the potential to be really good. Swift has always been a good No. 2 and Peterson is more like a decent No. 3 man. Who's going to step up and become the guy who keeps defensive coordinators awake at night? TE Mike McNeill could be the team's biggest breakout performer.

Offensive Line: The line did a great job last year considering there was almost never the same starting lineup two games in a row. If everyone stays healthy and there's some consistency, this should be one of the Big 12 North's better front walls. It might not be as good as the Oklahoma, Oklahoma State or Texas lines, but it'll be strong with good starters, some more talented backups, and a coaching staff that'll want to pound the ball more. With all the shuffling done on the line last year, there's experience and depth for just about every spot, and mostly, there's good versatility with players like Matt Slauson, Jacob Hickman and D.J. Jones able to slide around where needed.


Defense
The Nebraska Cornhuskers allowed 477 yards per game, 232 rushing yards, and 38 points per game — the Nebraska Cornhuskers! Bo Pelini, and his brother, defensive coordinator, Carl, are going to change things up in hurry. Everything starts with the line that did absolutely nothing last year to get into the backfield and was a marshmallow against the run. Now it's leaner, meaner, and chock full of good veterans and depth. If the line isn't fantastic, it's uh-oh time with a potentially awful back seven that needs everything the Pelini brothers can put together. There's no depth whatsoever, marginal talent in the linebacking corps, and decent, but not great defensive backs. If nothing else, the defense will be far more aggressive and unlike last year, it should be able to tackle.

Defensive Line: Expect a night-and-day improvement. All new coaching staffs say they need to get their players in better shape, but this one actually did it with the front four that will be far more aggressive and far better. This won't be the Big 12's worst line against the run again — there's no way, no how the line does that under this coaching staff. It's wrong to say the line gave up last year, but once the floodgates started to open up, the tackles did nothing to close them. Ndamukong Suh, Kevin Dixon, Ty Steinkuhler and Shurkee Barfield should form one of the most improved groups of tackles in the Big 12.

Linebackers: Uh oh. While the coaching staff should be able to put the players in places to succeed, if there's any one area on the team that could melt down and become an absolute disaster, it should be the linebacking corps. Then again, last year's corps appeared poised and ready to be one of the best in the Big 12, and it stunk. Pelini and his staff will make up for the lack of experience and proven production with a scheme that'll get everyone moving and make everyone swarm around the ball. There won't be a whole bunch of reading and reacting to do. There are good athletes and decent prospects, but replacing the trio of Steve Octavien, Bo Ruud, and Corey McKeon won't be easy. Basically, Nebraska's starting three will be made up of a former running back (Cody Glenn), a backup who lost about 40 pounds (Phillip Dillard), and an afterthought of a reserve (Ty Wortman) who has come from out of nowhere.

Secondary: This was supposed to be a strong, productive defensive backfield last year, but it didn't happen as injuries and problems with the pass rush hurt the overall numbers. It didn't help that the Husker secondary had to spend so much time cleaning up the messes against the run. Now this could be a trouble spot with a decent starting foursome, but little proven depth and no real standouts other than, possibly, Armando Murillo. A lot of pressure will be put on this secondary to produce.

Special Teams: The special teams weren't all that bad across the board last season, and they should be decent this year. The punting game, with a great coverage team, needs to shine again, while the kickers need to build on a strong 2007. The key will be to get a bit more pop out of the returners. The placekickers didn't get too many opportunities, but they came through when they got a shot with sophomore Alex Henery hitting all eight of his field goal attempts, with all coming inside the 40, while sophomore Adi Kunalic nailed the one 46-yard attempt he had. These two will get far more work this year, especially Kunalic who has range from just inside of the stadium. Senior punter Dan Titchener is an experienced veteran who averaged 41.3 yards per kick and put 14 inside the 20. He has a decent leg, but not a big one, but he's good at placing the ball. He might not be special, but he's not going to get the team beat.

Courtesy Pete Fiutak-Foxsports.com