Nebraska Football: Secret of Huskers' Defensive Resurgence Revealed

(One of the 20 Blackshirts finally handed out by Bo Pelini, solving the mystery of Nebraska's suddenly-reappearing defense. Image originally located here.)

Welcome to another installment of the Husker Hotwire, the sometimes-weekly, sometimes-funny look at Husker athletics!

Maybe he's a wizard, possessing magical powers. Or maybe he's just really good at his job. Regardless, Bo Pelini seems to have done it again, turning a struggling defensive unit into one that dominated the then-11th-ranked Michigan State Spartans. Nebraska allowed Michigan State only 101 rushing yards, 86 passing yards and three points.

The Hotwire staff wasn't about to ask Pelini about the wizard bit, even though he seemed in an awfully good mood at his Monday press conference. But the thought of success coming just as a result of talent and hard work was challenging for the Hotwire staff to accept, so further investigation was required. And, by "investigation," we mean "relatively aimless Google searches."

And then the Hotwire came up with the answer. Pelini finally handed out the much-valued Blackshirts to his defensive starters—at least 20 of them—including for guys like Justin Blatchford, P.J. Smith and even Stanley Jean-Baptiste, who has been playing defense for about as long as Kim Kardashian was married.

Seems like a lot, the Hotwire staff buzzed, but otherwise inoccuous. And then the staff put the puzzle pieces together.

How did a Nebraska defense that couldn't catch a cold suddenly shut down the new favorites in the B1G Legends division? How did a defense that let quarterbacks like Fresno State's Derek Carr and Wyoming's Brett Smith have field days shut down an all-conference contender in Kirk Cousins?

Twenty guys on the field. Brilliant.

Can't get coverage on deep throws? If you've got 20 guys to their 11, your chances improve dramatically. Can't stop the run? Stuff 14 guys in the box and you slow the other team down quite a bit.

It was an amazing plan, both in its boldness and its execution. Because going back and watching the tape, the Hotwire staff couldn't find more than 11 Nebraska defenders on the TV screen. But the officials had trouble counting how many players were on the field all game, so maybe Pelini knew he had an arithmetically-challenged official crew he could take advantage of.

Still, it's hard to imagine that trick working twice. Not only has the Hotwire broken the news of Pelini's secret, but the guys playing for Northwestern seem to be pretty smart. Well, maybe not all of them.

BEEONEGEE Conference Update

At the Husker Hotwire, we are committed to provide you with ongoing coverage of Nebraska's new home in the B1G Conference. Over at Grantland, home of the self-important, "we're far too literary to worry about article length" writers, a new piece was posted criticizing the Big Ten Network for covering Nebraska as part of the B1G.

Apparently, according to Grantland writers, the BTN airing shows about the history of Nebraska—the newest member of the B1G—is an attempt to be "airbrushing someone into history" and is "vaguely Stalinist." Surprisingly enough, the Grantland writers didn't get all that upset when the BTN ran shows about Joe Paterno's 409 career wins, even though some of those wins weren't (gasp) B1G Conference games!

Still, Grantland is working hard to be artsy and literary. After all, where else would you expect a wildly inappropriate, hyperbolic and factually inaccurate attempt to link a show about the storied history of a conference's newest member to the mass murder of thousands of people?

The website is only a set of cheesy black-and-white cartoons away from being the New Yorker, or a page of borderline-pornographic personal ads from being the Village Voice. The Hotwire would suggest readers don tweed jackets with leather elbow pads and smoke unfiltered cigarettes to get the full effect of reading any future Grantland articles.

Around the Hotwire Network

Illini Hotwire reports that Illinois state representative Bobby Rush got some attention by saying that "I think you would comparte the NCAA to Al Capone and the Mafia" in attempting to describe the corruption of the organization. Which makes perfect sense, given the amount of contract murders, protection rackets and prostitution rings the NCAA organizes.

Hmm, Rep. Rush makes a wildly inappropriate, hyperbolic and factually inaccurate statement in a feeble attempt to get attention for himself and sound more intelligent and educated than he likely is. Does he write for Grantland?

Big East Hotwire reports that the conference is likely to offer membership to six additional schools in an attempt to remain as a viable, BCS automatic-qualifying conference. The invitations are reported to include such far-flung schools as Boise State, SMU and Houston. Big East Hotwire reports that the conference did not deny reports made up by Big East Hotwire that the name of the conference would be changed to the "Big East of California Conference, sponsored by Travelocity."

Mountaineer Hotwire reports that West Virginia has filed a lawsuit against the Big East Conference in an attempt to get out of the 27-month waiting period and begin play in the Big 12 10 9 ?? 12 Conference next year. Because, you know, the last time West Virginia filed a lawsuit about football things went so well. No word yet on when the angry YouTube videos from inebriated and infuriated Mountaineer fans will begin to emerge.

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