Castille Dismissed

Joe Schad reported that Quentin Castille has been dismissed from the Nebraska program. Bo Pelini stated Castille violated unspecified team rules.

It will be interesting to see if someone develops to play with Roy Helu Jr.

AP Top 25

Nebraska sneaks into the poll at #24. The other expected North contender, Kansas, is #25. Other Big XII teams in the top 25 are Texas at #2, Oklahoma at #3, and Oklahoma State tied for #9. Big XII teams receiving votes are Texas Tech (#31) and Missouri (#48). Virginia Tech, who the Huskers play in Blacksburg September 19, are ranked #7.

Sports Illustrated Article

Sports Illustrated has an interesting article on Nebraska. Coach Bo Pelini mentioned during media days how the attitude of the team needed to change when he first came to the Huskers. The article by Sports Illustrated gives specific quotes from last season before the Virginia Tech game about where the attitude was at that time. My only input is the quote is something a Nebraska fan would never expect to hear from a current or former Husker. Here is the article.

Thanks Brent for sending this to me. Also, Sports Illustrated has their Big XII Predictions here.

Strengths of Nebraska's Opponents

One advantage of scouting an opponent is learning what they do well and designing a game plan to counteract the strength. Here are the strengths of the teams Nebraska will be facing this season:

Florida Atlantic:

QB - Top 2 quarterbacks return including Rusty Smith, the career leader at FAU with 8,197 yards passing.
WR/TE - Top 7 in receiving yards return, including Cortez Gent, the all-time FAU leader with 2,083 yards receiving.
Coach - Howard Schnellenberger won a National Championship with Miami in 1983.

Arkansas State:

QB - Corey Leonard, the #2 career passer at Arkansas State, also ran for over 500 yards last year.
RB - Return top 6 rushers, including the top 3 who combined for 2,285 yards last season. The backup running back last year, Derek Lawson averaged 7.2 yards per carry on 97 attempts (695 yards).
DE - Alex Carrington, Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year last season.

Virginia Tech:

Offensive Line - Return 90 career starts.
Defense - Return 7 players from a defense that allowed only 16.7 yards per game last year.
Coach - Frank Beamer, 177-89-2 in 22 years at VT.

Louisiana-Lafayette:

Offensive Line - Return 113 career starts.
Linebackers - Last year's top 2 tacklers for Louisiana, Daylan McCoy and Antwyne Zanders, both return.

Missouri:

Offensive Line - Phil Steele ranks this unit tied for #2 in the Big XII with Nebraska and Oklahoma State.
Sean Weatherspoon - Linebacker who lead the NCAA with 155 tackles last year. He also had 18.5 tackles for loss.
RB Derrick Washington - 1,036 yards last year.

Texas Tech:

QB - Taylor Potts hasn't even played, but since he is a Red Raider and Mike Leach is still the coach, this position will be very productive again.
WR - Yes Michael Crabtree is gone, but remember the name Dentron Lewis, he had 76 catches for 913 yards with Crabtree on the field. How much more will he produce with Crabtree gone?
Coach - Mike Leach, he is 76-39 with TT.

Iowa State:

Compared to other teams in the Big XII, Iowa State is not great at one unit on either side of the ball.

Baylor:

It isn't the units at Baylor, it is the players.
Robert Griffin - Had the most rushing yards out of any Big XII QB last season with 843 (4.9 yards per carry including sacks).
LB Joe Pawelek, 128 tackles and 6 interceptions last year.
FS Jordan Lake, 97 tackles and 3 interceptions last year.
DT Phil Taylor - Big XII Media Newcomer of the Year (Transfer from Penn State).

Oklahoma:

Every position except offensive line. A few of the big names, QB Sam Bradford, RB's Chris Brown and DeMarco Murray (combined for 2,222 rushing yards and 34 TDs last year), TE Jermaine Gresham, DT Gerald McCoy, and LB Travis Lewis (144 tackles last season). Oh and a guy named Bob Stoops (109-24 at OU).

Kansas:

QB Todd Reasing, the career passing leader at Kansas with 7,578 yards.
WR - Return the top four players in receptions from a year ago including Dezmon Briscoe (1,407 yards) and Kerry Meier (1,045 yards).
DB - Experienced unit. Best of the unit, Darrell Stuckey (98 tackles and 5 interceptions last year).

Kansas State:

Won't amaze at any position, however WR Brandon Banks could have a breakout year (1,049 yards receiving last season).
Coach Bill Snyder - If anyone can resurrect KSU, it is him (136-68-1 at KSU).

Colorado:

RB - Return top 6 leading rushers from last year including Rodney Stewart (most hyped player at CU).
LB - Top 2 tacklers from 2008 both return, Jeff Smart (118 tackles) and Shaun Mohler (97 tackles).

I'm Back

The week I have been without the internet has felt like a month. I am ready to get started again and am even more excited about the upcoming season. Nebraska plays in 19 days and college football begins in 17 days. It is almost here! Now that I am back, I plan on making at least three entries a week. I will be fighting for time, listen to my last week:

Starting student teaching (about 240 students who expect me to know their names).
Started basketball workouts for players who don't play a fall sport.
Started coaching junior high football.

This blog isn't about what I do, it is about football. Within an hour or two I will have a relevant post up.

Moving Day

I am moving today and might not have internet until the end of the week. When I'm back online I will give strengths and weaknesses of Nebraska's opponents, give my game by game prediction for the Husker season, and start releasing my BCS conference predictions.

Thanks for viewing!

26 Days Until Nebraska vs. Florida Atlantic

Links

Here are a couple fun links out today:

Tim Griffin (ESPN Big XII blogger) gives his Big XII Preseason Power Rankings.

Mark Schlabach of ESPN ranks the top 8 conferences in FBS football.

Enjoy!