The 2008 College football season is still a ways away. It is never too early to talk college football, though. Everyone knows who will be a contender for the most part this season, but being from Nebraska, I figured I'd break down why the Nebraska Cornhuskers Football team should not be cut short. Also, I listed the players I see having great years this year.
First, the reasons why Nebraska will have a good, but not great, football team this season:
1. Offensive and Defensive lines: Very deep. Bo Pelini has said several times that this may be the biggest, and one of the best looking offensive lines he's ever been around. This will be great for both the passing game and running game. On Defense, the D-line should be amazing. Under Bo Pelini's coaching, the Cornhuskers could have one of the top 5 D-lines in the NCAA. Far fetched I know, but Bo Pelini has NEVER had a bad D-line in his resume.
2. Passing game: Should be great, but toned down from the most messed up experiment in college football in the last 10 years, the Bill Callahan regime. Gone are the days of 40 passes per game, and back is balanced football. Expect Joe Ganz to shine in his 25 passes per game and throw for about 200 yards a game and run for another 50 or so. The Cornhuskers have a great set of young receivers, which should be led by Niles Paul or Menelik Holt.
3. Running game: This is the shining area of the 2008 Nebraska football team. Marlon Lucky is the lead horse in this race and should put up a 1400 yard season. Roy Helu, Kenny Wilson, and Quentin Castille should have solid years in a backup and short yardage roles. Lots of depth, and lots of talent: Add that to the experienced and large Offensive Line, and you should have a 2000 plus yard rushing season.
These are the areas Nebraska will shine in. Here are the players I forsee emerging, or staying in the national spotlight.
1. Joe Ganz- He will have a productive season. Won't be up there for Heisman presentations, but he should have a 3000 yard season in the air and another 500 on the ground. This will all depend on how Bo Pelini decides to operate the offense. Sean Watson remained on as Offensive Coordinator, but with Pelini being a defensive minded coach, protecting the ball will be priority number one.
2. Phillip Dillard- I've said it all along: Give this kid more playing time and a good coach, and he'll be a first round draft pick. He is huge at MLB at around 260, and pretty quick with a 4.5 40 yard dash. He has good instincts. If he stays healthy, he will dominate behind a solid D-Line.
3. Marlon Lucky- Last year he had amazing numbers even though he was on a 50 passes per game offense and split carries among 4 backs. This year expect him to get 30 carries a game and 130 yards a game.
4. Barry Turner- Anyone remember how dominating he was his freshman year when he earned first team all freshman honors? Expect that to be similar to this year.
The 2008 Nebraska Cornhuskers are not ready to contend for the Big XII title, but will be very competitive. Expect a couple upsets and the team to win every game they are supposed to win. Most importantly, expect the Blackshirts to crawl out of the graves and show up on saturdays again. Bo Pelini needs a few years to build a championship caliber team, but don't expect 20 point losses this year.
I'm curious as to how you see the 2008 season going. Husker fans are passionate, so lets here some good responses!
Go Big Red!
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about 1 month ago
I agree. We must get back to having the best offensive line in college football, period. That will make everything else work. Football is won and lost in the trenches and we haven't focused on our big guys in quite some time. Go Huskers!!!
about 1 month ago
I don't know about winning "every" game that we're supposed to, but we'll definitely be better than last year. Never expect too much out of a first year coach. First in the big 12 north - no way. Second in the big 12 north - maybe. Third - probably. Fourth - as likely as second. And that's just the North. The Big 12 is going to be VERY tough for the next couple of years.
*Hopefully we can pull in an '09 recruiting class that's in the top half of the big 12 (I don't think that's asking for too much).
about 1 month ago
Obviously recruiting is an essential part of any college team if they want to be successful. In Nebraska, recruiting was traditionaly a lesser known element with coaches like Tom Osborne and to even more extent, Frank Solich. If one was to base success on the field based soley on recruiting, then teams must recruit more and better talent to overcome mediocre coaching as in the case with Texas.
I believe Nebraska now has coaching that will not just be successful recruiting but also be successful at coaching and to me that is an amazing combination that can and will win the games that they should, and alot of games they shouldn't win.
Will they be a championship team next year? I don't know, but I believe we now have the coaching to at least contend for it and surprise alot of people, regardless of how they recruit, it will depend on how they coach.
about 1 month ago
I totally agree about Lucky. He was completely underutilized in Callahan's system and has the potential to be an absolute monster.
Can't say I agree about the d-line being top 5 in the country. I don't care if Pelini is Bear Bryant reincarnated, nobody goes from giving up 70+ points to a team one year to top 5 the next.
from about 1 month ago
They do when you go from a "Douche Bag Cosgrove" to a Stud like Pelini. Watch them. They have talent. We all know Cally could recruit like it was going out of style. He just can't develop players further and put them in a position to perform. Trust me: Pelini will LOVE the current defensive players. Love them.
about 1 month ago
Man what a team they have this year, pencil them in for three maybe even FOUR wins this year, whew go bug eaters!!!!!!!!!!!
about 1 month ago
I for one, would like to see us upset a good team. Other than the Alamo Bowl win against Michigan, I don't think that we ever upset anyone during the Bill Callahan era. We need to beat some of the good teams (Texas and Oklahoma) in order to get back the respect that we need to get the best recruits.
about 1 month ago
In my honest opinion, we'll win about 9 or 10 games this year. Expect at least one upset. Bo Pelini, as we all know, is a great defensive mind. Look how many times Bob Stoops in Oklahoma has pulled off wins by his defense playing balls out. There is a reason for that: The coach has lots of fire.
I think we'll beat Virginia Tech for the major upset. Top 25 finish. Nothing to exciting, but you have to start somewhere.
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