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December 31st, 2009
Husker defense stakes claim as one of the best
The 33-0 trouncing of Arizona in the Holiday Bowl capped what will go down in Husker lore as one of the most dominating defensive seasons on record. The Blackshirts will likely finish the year ranked as the #1 scoring defense in the country, a pretty impressive feat in Bo Pelini's second season as head coach. Limiting a Wildcats team, who was an overtime loss to Oregon away from winning the Pac 10,
to 109 total yards and six first downs, cements Pelini as one of the brightest defensive minds in college football. Surprisingly, the Huskers shutout of Arizona was the school's first in a bowl game. After the game, a defiant Bo Pelini said "Nebraska's back and we're here to stay."
Perhaps a bigger storyline than the play of the defense (we've come to expect that, right?) was the Huskers' offensive production, accounting for all of NU's 33 points. Rex Burkhead and Zac Lee carried the load for the offense, with Niles Paul adding perhaps his best game of the season. Paul hauled in a 74-yard touchdown pass from Lee in the third quarter and racked up decent yardage in the return game. Burkhead excelled in the "Wildcat" (we need a Huskerized name for this, don't we?) and took over for Roy Helu, who pulled himself out of the game early on with a knee inury (not serious). Lee ran the ball as effectively as we've seen all season, although he stills looks tentative. After the game, we found out Zac has suffered from an extensive tear to the flexor tendon in his lower right arm, which occurred during the Arkansas State game on September 12th. Let me be the first Husker blogger to edit my previous remarks about Lee's throwing ability. Hats off to the guy for not wanting to use an injury as an excuse, but it would have taken a lot of heat off the entire offense and coordinator Shawn Watson.
Alex Henery continued to prove he's one of the best kickers and punters in the country. How he wasn't in the running for either the Ray Guy or Lou Groza is beyond me. Hopefully next year those in the know "discover" Alex. Next to Suh, Henery was clearly the most valuable player for the Huskers in 2009.
Biggest disappointment this season...Suh didn't get to carry the ball. Granted, they did have him go out for a pass in the third quarter of the Holiday Bowl, but he was double-teamed. Imagine that...Suh, who was double-teamed all year long on defense, garners a double-team as a receiver too. Not only is Ndamukong a terrific player, but he has represented Nebraska about as well as anyone I can remember. Maintaining humility at that level is very uncommon.
NU's coaches believe next year could be big, as in a Big 12 Championship and a potential national title run. Who can blame then? After coming within a second of a Big 12 Championship and a BCS bowl game, the Huskers lose only one offensive starter (center Jacob Hickman) and they return a lot of experienced defenders for 2010. Losing Suh, O'Hanlon, Asante, Dillard, and Turner will hurt, but the likes of Cameron Meredith and Baker Steinkuhler are ready to reload the defensive line. Couple all of this with a schedule that shapes up nicely for the Big Red and anything is possible.
Speaking of that schedule, NU's first big challenge will be a trip to Washington to face Jake Locker and the Huskies. UW struggled this season, finishing 5-7, but they managed to upset Southern Cal (#3 at the time), they beat Arizona, and finished their season with a win over California (#19). The Huskers should finish their non-conference season at 4-0. NU's big conference tests will be at home versus Texas and on the road against Oklahoma State and Texas A&M. This is assuming that Turner Gill doesn't turn Kansas around in one season and that Missouri and Colorado continue their slides.
In the meantime, it will be interesting to see if any coaches leave the program in the off-season. I don't anticipate any changes on the offensive side of the ball though after NU's performance in San Diego.
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