Cornfeed to get you started on Nebraska-Virginia Tech Week

Some Cornfeed to get you started on VT week:

• Bo Pelini only intends for 5 true freshman to see playing time in 2008:

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Linebacker Matt Holt, defensive back Mason Wald, defensive back Alfonzo Dennard and linebacker Sean Fisher have all seen time, mostly on special teams. Defensive end Cameron Meredith played for the first time last week, adding depth to the line that lost Barry Turner to a season-ending injury.

…Players like Khiry Cooper, Baker Steinkuhler, Will Compton and other highly touted recruits who received so much attention in February might not contribute until next season.

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• BigRedNetwork asks if mobile QB’s are Pelini’s kryptonite:

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If you look back at Pelini’s first season in college football, his three worst losses were a 41-24 defeat to Missouri’s Brad Smith, a 31-7 loss to a Texas team that featured Vince Young, and a 38-9 defeat to Kansas State and Ell Roberson.

Pelini’s defense’s worst day in 2005 at LSU was a loss to Georgia with D.J. Shockley.

…(T)here are numerous examples of mobile quarterbacks who were stymied by Pelini (McNeal in 2003 comes to mind and Virginia Tech’s Tyrod Taylor last season). But the point is that the profile of the guys that do succeed is that they tend to be mobile. That’s of particular interest in the next two weeks as the Huskers host Virginia Tech (featuring Tyrod Taylor) and Missouri (featuring Chase Daniel).

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• A look ahead to the next 3 games for the Huskers.
• In a Nebraska State Paper piece about “Beamer Ball,” exposes some major flaws in VT:

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the Hokies are 112^th in total offense. An uncharacteristic 53^rd in total defense. Tied for 85^th in sacks allowed. The passing game, 114^th nationally, often looks like a couple diseased yaks playing catch.

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• The bye week and VT weekend could prove crucial for recruiting. Also, some good anecdotes on Bo Pelini:

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Cameron Meredith, playing defensive end as a true freshman, was considering Colorado and Oregon after the coaching shakeup last season. Bo Pelini had visited him, but he was still unsure. Pelini called him later.

“He was like, ‘Are you going to come to our school or not?’” Meredith recalled. ‘And I said, ‘Yeah, I’m going to come to your school.’ That’s when I decided because he was so straightforward. He was not trying to say, ‘Oh, we really want you’ just to be nice.”

…Gilmore said he’s seen an honest approach to recruiting from Husker coaches since he arrived here as an assistant in 2005.

“We’re not going to promise them anything,” Gilmore said. “Because in the end, you got to come in here and compete. All you can promise them is the opportunity to come in and compete. And in the end, as a competitor, that’s all you want, that’s all you can ask for.”

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• Frank Beamer sees VT-Nebraska as a no-lose situation for his young Hokies:

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While a win at Nebraska would certainly be big for the program, the stakes won’t be quite so high this week.

“That gives us a chance to nail some things down,” Beamer said. “Then get ready for a tough stretch. To be 2-0 in this conference right now and be as young as we are, I feel pretty good about that.”

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• Jim Caple of ESPN Page 2 has Nebraska’s Memorial Stadium tied for 88th place with Oklahoma’s Memorial Stadium as the most important sports venues in America:

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88 (tie). Memorial Stadium
Location: Lincoln, Neb. Opened: 1923. Capacity: 81,067.

Because “Through these gates pass the greatest fans in college football,” and that inscription on the stadium entrance might not be hyperbole.

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