9/8
9/15
9/22
9/29
10/6
10/20
10/27
11/3
11/10
11/17
11/23
› The Husker Faithful BLOG
april 21, 2012 07:57am
Former Husker Dennard arrested for assaulting an officer
Alfonzo Dennard, the former Husker cornerback, was arrested early this morning after an altercation outside of a Lincoln bar resulted in him hitting a police officer. He was charged with 3rd degree assault on an officer and resisting arrest. Projected as a late second round draft pick in the upcoming NFL Draft, Dennard will undoubtedly fall into the third or fourth round as a result of this latest incident. Fresh in the minds of NFL scouts was how Dennard's college career came to a close, duking it out with South Carolina's Alshon Jeffery in the Capital One Bowl. Prior to that, Alfonzo was a potential first round to early second round pick. Poor timing for the Rochelle, Georgia product to have a chip on his shoulder. Let's hope he gets his NFL chance and channels this energy on the field, rather than off.
april 15, 2012 05:42pm
Going through Spring Game withdrawal? Check this video out...
april 14, 2012 01:38pm
Update: Spring Game has been canceled
UPDATE: Bo Pelini said there are too many logistical issues with players' schedules to hold the Spring Game on Sunday. Therefore, this will be the first time since 1950 that there hasn't been a Red-White Spring Game. Thanks to Husker Max for that tidbit.
ORIGINAL: Tom Osborne announced shortly after 1pm on Saturday that the annual Red-White Spring Game would not be played due to inclement weather. There is a chance the game will be played Sunday, however. University officials will decide Sunday morning. Regardless, Rex Burkhead is our Spring Game MVP.
april 02, 2012 11:43am
Husker Faithful's Spring Giveaway!
Over the next two weeks leading up to the Spring Game, we will be giving away a t-shirt each day to the first right answer of our Husker football trivia question. We'll post a new question each day on our website as well as links to the question on our Facebook page and Twitter account 15 minutes before the question is live. Winners will be notified via email, so please provide a valid email address. Only one winner per household during the two week Spring Giveaway. Thanks for being a fan of Husker Faithful and good luck!
march 11, 2012 02:59pm
East Stadium expansion and Pinnacle Bank Arena construction photos
We posted some photos showing the progress being made on both the East Stadium expansion as well as the new downtown Pinnacle Bank Arena. You can view these either through our Photos page or via our Facebook page.
march 10, 2012 08:21am
Check out this time lapse video of the East Stadium expansion
february 01, 2012 04:37pm
Huskers miss out on Peat, but get Valentine, Moore and Curry
Heading into signing day, the Huskers 2012 recruiting class stood at 14. DT Aaron Curry of Keller, Texas picked the Huskers over Iowa in his announcment this morning making the total 15. Four-star athlete Alonzo Moore became the 16th member of the class and Vincent Valentine rounded out the 2012 class at 17.
But it was the one who got away that will get much of the attention. Andrus Peat, a 5-star offensive lineman, who has a brother already at Nebraska and a cousin on the way, decided to take his talents to Palo Alto and play for the Stanford Cardinal. Nearly every recruiting expert thought Peat would join his family members and become a Husker. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be.
Devian Shelton is the other big name who got away, wooed by a very late USC offer.
The loss of these two recruits takes the shine off what was set up to become a very good class. Still, it ended up being a pretty good class, depending on which recruiting service you fancy.
The Huskers were ranked #32 in the country by Rivals heading into Signing Day. Getting three out of their final five targets moved them up to #24 with a 3.35 average star rating. Fellow Big Ten members are ranked as follows: Ohio State (#4), Michigan (#6), Purdue (#34), Michigan State (#40), Iowa (#41), and Penn State (#50).
Here's a look at the Huskers 2012 class...
By position:
QB - 1
RB - 1
WR - 1
TE - 1
OL - 2
DL - None
DE - 2
DT - 2
LB - 4
DB - 1
P/K - None
ATH - 2
By state:
Arizona - 1
California - 3
Colorado - 1
Georgia - 1
Illinois - 2
Louisiana - 1
Missouri - 1
Nebraska - 1
Ohio - 2
Texas - 2
Utah - 1
Virginia - 1
By Rivals.com stars:
5 stars - None
4 stars - 6
3 stars - 11
1 star - None
By player
Jared Afalava
Linebacker
South Jordan, UT (Bingham H.S.)
6'3" 220 pounds
3 stars
Signed LOI
LeRoy Alexander
Athlete
Toledo, OH (Whitmer H.S.)
6'2" 190 pounds
3 stars
Signed LOI
Zaire Anderson
Linebacker
Riverside, CA (Riverside C.C.)
6'1" 220 pounds
4 stars
Signed LOI
Tommy Armstrong
Quarterback
Cibolo, TX (Steele H.S.)
6'2" 210 pounds
3 stars
Signed LOI
Thomas Brown
Linebacker
Gardena, CA
6'2" 215 pounds
3 stars
Signed LOI
Sam Cotton
Tight End
Lincoln, NE (Southeast High School)
6'4" 240 pounds
3 stars
Signed LOI
Imani Cross
Running Back
Gainesville, GA (North Hall H.S.)
6'1' 220 pounds
3 stars
Signed LOI
Aaron Curry
Defensive Tackle
Keller, TX (Fossil Ridge)
6'3" 298 pounds
3 stars
Signed LOI
Greg McMullen
Defensive End
Akron, OH (Hoban)
6'5" 255 pounds
4 stars
Signed LOI
Alonzo Moore
Athlete
Winnfield, LA (Winnfield H.S.)
6'2" 170 pounds
4 stars
Signed LOI
Avery Moss
Defensive End
Tempe, AZ (Corona Del Sol)
6'4" 245 pounds
3 stars
Signed LOI
Michael Rose
Linebacker
Kansas City, MO (Rockhurst)
6'0" 230 pounds
3 stars
Signed LOI
Mo Seisay
Cornerback
Eastern Arizona Community College
6'2" 200 pounds
4 stars
Signed LOI
Paul Thurston
Offensive Lineman
Arvada, CO (Arvada West)
6'5" 274 pounds
4 stars
Signed LOI
Vincent Valentine
Defensive Lineman
Edwardsville, IL
6'3" 300 pounds
3 stars
Signed LOI
Jordan Westerkamp
Wide Receiver
Lombard, IL (Montini)
6'2" 190 pounds
4 stars
Signed LOI
Corey Whitaker
Offensive Lineman
Murrieta, CA (Vista Murrieta H.S.)
6'5" 270 pounds
3 stars
Signed LOI
january 10, 2012 11:24pm
Very few teams maintain superior play year-in and year-out
The stat about Nebraska finishing in the Top 25 for the third season in a row and joining only seven other teams to accomplish the same feat got us thinking. How many teams have finished in the Top 10 in each of the last three seasons?
Only Alabama and Boise State have managed to finish in the Top 10 in each of the past three seasons. We all know how Boise State does it, by playing a weak schedule for the most part, typically stepping up to face one tough non-conference opponent a year. Alabama has done it the old fashioned way, by earning it.
Some Husker fans aren't happy with Top 25 finishes for their team. Urgent memo...there's nothing wrong with consistently finishing in the Top 25. As evidenced in our previous blog post and above, not many teams are up to the task. Let's consider it a starting point, a foundation if you will. Something to build on. Does it add hardware to the trophy case? Not the crystal kind Husker fans want, but the great Nebraska teams of the past didn't just jump up and snag a couple trophies without first having established a foundation.
Husker fans want championships. They feel entitled. But college football has changed dramatically since Tommie Frazier and Scott Frost were running and passing at will against SEC teams in national championship games. Scholarship limits have flattened college football. The days of one or two teams dominating a conference for decades on end are over. Coaching turnover, a bad recruiting class and rules violations are just several of the potential roadblocks for one team running roughshod over an entire conference for an extended amount of time.
We should be happy our team has finished the last three seasons in the Top 25. We should also understand that neither Bo Pelini nor his staff or players are satisfied with that result. This year got away from them as did last year. It's something that needs to be corrected yesterday if Nebraska wants to return to the elite level.
Alabama had one penalty in the entire game last night against LSU and it wasn't on the offense. Even though Nick Saban and the Tide had the game in the bag when the penalty took place, Saban was furious. He's a perfectionist and his team nearly pitched a perfect game. Bo could do more to prevent the undisciplined play we've seen from the Huskers all too often, especially in big games. Too many penalties and turnovers. The great teams don't do that. The fixes aren't complicated and the team isn't that far away. If Bo can close out the 2012 recruiting class with a few key pieces, they very well may be on their way. Only hindsight is perfect.
january 10, 2012 12:22pm
Huskers finish season ranked 24th in polls
Coming off a Capital One Bowl loss to South Carolina, the Huskers finish the season ranked 24th in both polls. Nebraska is one of only eight teams who have ranked in the Top 25 in the final AP poll the last three seasons. The other seven are: Wisconsin, TCU, Alabama, LSU, Oregon, Virginia Tech, and Boise State.
While many Husker fans, dare I say a majority, are not satisfied with nine win seasons, especially when the losses occur in the fashion they did this year, Nebraska is in pretty select company with that list. It's quite obvious how hard it is to maintain a high level of performance year in and year out.
Teams that aren't on this list include Michigan, Ohio State, Florida, Florida State, Miami, Texas, Oklahoma, and Penn State. Those are some big names.
So while the sting of losing yet another bowl game to a team that we had a chance to beat is very disconcerting, the team under Bo Pelini has accomplished something. With a few key additions, this team can win a Big Ten Championship and play in a BCS bowl game. Let's hope the recruiting season ends favorably for the Huskers so we have some momentum heading into spring practice. Keep the faith.
january 03, 2012 11:11pm
2011 Season Review by Eddie Ventura
By the end of Nebraska’s inaugural Big Ten season, the Cornhuskers finished 9-4 (5-3 Big Ten). Those numbers are exactly the same as Bo Pelini’s first year as head coach of Nebraska. Four losses every season is not good.
With four straight wins, the season started off great. Nebraska looked like they could be, or were, the best team in the Big Ten. The defense was supposed to be outstanding. There was CB Alfonzo Dennard in the secondary, LB Lavonte David stopping running backs from getting into the secondary, and DL Jared Crick frightening quarterbacks across the nation. New offensive coordinator Tim Beck (former running backs coach) promised more of a spread offense. Even having to play some of the top teams in the nation, the Cornhuskers were still considered the front-runner to play in the first ever Big Ten Championship.
The 2011-2012 season started off as one of the regular "big dogs" against "little dogs" games. Tennessee-Chattanooga coach Russ Huesman said, "We may have a kid or two that could get a backup role, and obviously every one of their guys could come start for us." Nebraska stomped on Tennessee-Chattanooga 40-7.
After that beat down came the Fresno State game, which gave Husker fans everywhere quite a scare. The Bulldogs led most of the game, but Nebraska came out on top with a 42-29 win. It came as no surprise to many since Fresno is typically one of the non-AQ teams to upset many BCS schools.
We could consider the next two wins (against Washington and Wyoming) "easy" and they did seem to come with ease, but there were still some wrinkles left to iron out before Big Ten play began.
The first Big Ten game for the Huskers came with a lot of excitement. ESPN’s College Gameday was down in Madison, Wisconsin and "Coach" Lee Corso even wore one of the iconic "cornheads," choosing the Huskers over the Badgers. Even after a reassuring first quarter, Taylor Martinez ended three straight drives with interceptions and Nebraska went on to lose the game 48-17.
Then came three straight wins against Ohio State, Minnesota and Michigan State. Nebraska came in a favorite against Ohio State, but apparently waited until they were down 21 points to finish the greatest comeback in Nebraska Cornhuskers football history. Minnesota was as predicted, not a blowout but a fairly easy win. Facing Michigan State, Nebraska was considered an underdog yet managed to beat the Spartans.
Nebraska became leaders of the Legends division after the win over Michigan State, then they faced Northwestern. The Cornhuskers came in favorites to the game yet lost in embarrassing fashion with many mental mistakes and turnovers.
Nebraska then went on to beat Penn State in one of the most memorable college football games in history, not because of what happened during the game but what happened leading up to it.
Nebraska traveled to Michigan the following week, a team that looked stronger, faster, and more disciplined than the Huskers. Michigan ran all over Nebraska’s defense, with Denard Robinson leading the way. The defeat of new rival Iowa made it seem like the loss to Michigan would be the Huskers' last.
Coming into Orlando, Florida, the Huskers had to face South Carolina and head coach Steve Spurrier. The previous time Steve Spurrier faced a Nebraska team he saw the back of a certain #15 jersey (Tommie Frazier’s) for three straight hours.
Steve Spurrier put that last game against Nebraska behind him and led his team to a 30-13 win over the Huskers.
Overall, Nebraska finished with a 9-4 (5-3 Big Ten) record. Even though Bo Pelini kept up with Tom Osborne's tradition of nine wins every season, so many things went wrong this season that kept Nebraska from contending for the Big Ten Championship, let alone the Legends division.
Edward Ventura is a 16-year old Nebraska Cornhuskers fanatic. He is the creator of one of the LARGEST Nebraska Football Facebook pages and is a Nebraska sports junkie.
Follow Eddie on Twitter: @EddieHusker
