Nebraska Football: 5 Players Who Surprised Us, 5 Who Need to Step Up

Nebraska came into the season with high hopes of winning the Big Ten Championship their first season in the conference. The Cornhuskers got off to a good start, winning 7-8 games to start the season.

Usually Nebraska finishes the season strong, but that was not the case this year; Nebraska went 2-4 coming down the stretch.

As Nebraska prepares for its bowl game, Huskers fans will begin thinking about next year.

Nebraska will lose some key players at the end of the season, and the biggest losses for the Cornhuskers will be on the defensive side of the ball. Nebraska will lose defensive tackle Jared Crick, linebacker Lavonte David and cornerback Alfonzo Dennard.

Although the talent situation going into 2012 might look bare, if you take a closer look you will see that there is talent on the 2012 Nebraska football team.

Some players stepped up this season and surprised Cornhusker fans; these players will have to continue to play at a high level next season. Other players were expected to play well this year and did not. These players will have to step up their game in 2012 to make Nebraska a contender for the Big Ten championship.

Here is my list of five players who surprised Cornhusker fans in 2011 and five players who need to step up their game next season.

Surprise: Brett Maher

No player on Nebraska’s team surprised Cornhusker fans in 2011 as much as Brett Maher.

Coming into the 2011 season, Nebraska fans wondered how Nebraska could replace the most accurate kicker in NCAA history, Alex Henery. The battle for the starting position was between walk-on Brett Maher and scholarship kicker Mauro Bondi.

Maher won the job and never looked back.

Maher led the Big Ten Conference in field goal kicking and in punting average. He made 19-of-22 field goal attempts, averaged 45 yards per punt and was awarded the Bakken-Anderson Kicker of the Year Award in the Big Ten Conference.

Although Maher was not a finalist for the Lou Groza (award for nation's best kicker), I believe Maher will be on the list in 2012.

Surprise: Ameer Abdullah

Everyone knew Nebraska had three good freshman running backs on the team coming into the 2011 season.

The question was, who would rise from the group and take over the backup running duties for starter Rex Burkhead?

Ameer Abdullah became the primary backup to Burkhead, but that is not where he surprised Cornhusker fans.

Adbullah showed how good he was every time he returned a punt or a kick. For most of the season Abdullah led the Big Ten Conference in kickoff return average and punt return average. As teams became aware of his ability to return kicks, opposing teams began to kick the ball away from Abdullah. He ended the Big Ten regular season with a 30-yard average per kickoff return, good for No. 2 in the conference.

Surprise: Kenny Bell

Nebraska came into the 2011 season with questions about their wide receivers. Senior Brandon Kinnie would start on one side of the ball, but who would replace Niles Paul and start on the opposite side?

For most of the season the wide receiver who started opposite Kinnie was freshman Kenny Bell. If you told most Cornhusker fans that a freshman would start at wide receiver in 2011, the majority would have said it would be freshman Jamal Turner. Turner played well in the 2011 spring game, but Bell is the wide receiver who stepped up when the games counted.

Bell ended the Big Ten regular season leading the Cornhuskers in receiving with 29 receptions for 408 yards and two touchdowns. He will need to continue his success as a wide receiver for the Cornhuskers to take the step to the next level in 2012.

Surprise: Will Compton

Nebraska played most of their games in the Big 12 Conference using the peso defense. This defensive scheme did not rely on the use of multiple linebackers, so Nebraska could use linebacker Lavonte David as their sole linebacker to make plays defensively.

The move to the Big Ten Conference forced the Cornhuskers to become a more physical team. No longer could they rely on David to make all of the plays; they needed another linebacker to step up.

Will Compton was that player.

Compton finished second to David on the team in total tackles. Compton had 77 tackles, six tackles for a loss and one fumble recovery.

With David graduating this year, Compton will need to step up in 2012 to become the leader of Nebraska’s defense. If he plays as well as he did at the end of the 2011 season, I think he will have no problem becoming the leader the Cornhuskers need.

Surprise Andrew Green

The secondary for the Cornhuskers was the weak link of Nebraska’s team at the beginning of the season. With All-American defensive back Alfonzo Dennard out with an injury, Nebraska was forced to play some young players at the cornerback position.

One of the young players who stepped up was cornerback Andrew Green.

The season was not always good for Green; he was picked on at the beginning of the year and made some freshman mistakes. As the season progressed, though, so did Green. By the end of the year he was making plays and looking more and more like the player who will step in next year for the departing Dennard.

Step Up: Jamal Turner

Coming out of the spring game, the talk in Lincoln, Neb., was about the great athlete the Huskers had in freshman wide receiver Jamal Turner. Turner led all Cornhuskers with four receptions for 93 yards and a touchdown in the spring game.

Turner began the season seeing time at wide receiver. As the season progressed, though, he was phased out of the offense and spent most of his time on the bench.

The reason why Turner's playing time was reduced was because of his lack of knowledge of the offense, according to Coach Pelini in a press conference following the Northwestern game.

Turner showed in the spring game that he has the skills to be a good player. Nebraska will need him to step up in 2012 and become the receiver most Cornhusker fans expected.

Step Up: Tyler Moore

Nebraska's offensive line struggled at times in 2011.

Quarterback Taylor Martinez was often running for his life, and the lack of blocking had a lot to do with injuries and young players rotating into the starting positions. Nebraska had a hard time finding the right combination of players who could work together on the offensive line.

One of the players who was young and forced to start was offensive tackle Tyler Moore.

Moore was a highly rated recruit coming out of high school. He played well at times this year, and the lack of blocking on the offensive line was by no means his fault. If Nebraska wants to become a dominating team by running the ball, the Cornhuskers will need Moore to step up his game in 2012.

Nebraska could have their offensive tackle spots locked up for years if offensive tackle Jeremiah Sirles and Moore step up their game. I think they will, and Nebraska will once again be a power running team.

Step Up: Chase Rome

Nebraska's defense in 2011 was not the same dominating defense coach Bo Pelini had in previous seasons. The main reason why the 2011 Nebraska defense struggled was because of their inability to generate a pass-rush from their front four linemen.

When All-American Jared Crick went down with an injury, young players were forced to see significant playing time

And one of these players was Chase Rome.

Rome made some big plays this year, but he was not consistent enough to be considered an elite defensive tackle. Rome is only a freshman and was not expecting to be as involved in the defense in 2011 with Crick and Baker Steinkuhler still on the team. Rome battled through injuries and ended the regular season with 10 tackles and one sack.

Nebraska will need more production from Rome next season if Pelini wants to have a dominating defense as he has had in the past.

Step Up: Sean Fisher

The position that Nebraska will need the most help next year is at linebacker. When Lavonte David graduates, a huge hole will be left in the middle of Nebraska’s defense. Will Compton will be one player who will be expected to help fill the hole, but he cannot do it by himself.

Sean Fisher was expected to play a big role in Nebraska’s defense in 2011. He struggled at the beginning of the season and was replaced by Alonzo Whaley. Next season Fisher will be a senior, and Nebraska will need his senior leadership to help out a young defense.

Nebraska is looking all over the country to try and recruit a stud linebacker who can step in and play. They recruited linebacker Deion Jones from Louisiana to come in and start immediately, but earlier this week he decommitted to Nebraska and is now on his way to LSU.

If the Huskers are not able to find a linebacker on the recruiting trail, Fisher will need to step up and play next year. Nebraska fans have been waiting for three years to see the player from Lincoln star in their defense. Maybe next year will be the year.

Step Up: Stanley Jean-Baptiste

Nebraska needs a playmaker on defense, and the player who needs to step up is Stanley Jean-Baptiste.

Jean-Baptiste came out of nowhere to help lead the Cornhuskers to a victory over Ohio State. He began the season as a wide receiver, but because of his skills and Nebraska’s poor play in the secondary, Pelini moved Jean-Baptiste to the cornerback position.

Standing at 6'3", Jean-Baptiste is the largest cornerback in the Big Ten Conference. If he is able to learn the position and make plays like he did against Ohio State, Nebraska will be one of the best pass-defenses in the conference.

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