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!

Video from first day of fall camp

The four Huskers that are interviewed in this video, made on the first day of fall camp, are QB Zac Lee, WR Menelik Holt, OL Mike Smith, and TE Mike McNeill:

Video from the Lincoln Journal Star

Tim Griffin's Three Predictions for Nebraska

Tim Griffin is the Big XII blogger for ESPN.com. Below are Tim Griffin's predictions for Nebraska. He has information about each prediction at the link.

1. Roy Helu Jr. and Quentin Castille will combine for at least 2,000 yards rushing.
2. Pierre Allen and Barry Turner will develop into the North's best pair of defensive ends.
3. The turnover will return to the Blackshirts' defensive montage.

My comments on each prediction:

1. Last season Helu and Castille combined for 1,270 on 231 carries (5.5 ypc). For them to have 2,000 yards while averaging 5.5 ypc this season, they would need to combine for 364 carries. Last year the Huskers had 487 carries as a team. If Helu and Castille can stay healthy, they have a very reasonable chance at 2,000 yards.
2. According to Brian Christopherson of the Lincoln Journal Star, Barry Turner "still looked a step slow in the spring, returning from a broken leg suffered last season." If Turner can regain his quickness, Allen and Turner can have a great year. Remember Pierre Allen had 52 tackles, 10 tackles for loss, and 5 sacks last year.
3. Nebraska can only go up in the turnovers created facet of the game. Last year the Big Red forced just 17.

Unique Big XII Predictions from College Football News

I enjoy making predictions and reading predictions made by others. I came across predictions from College Football News. They are different from most I have viewed. I will put the highlights here, but check the link to see all the information. The site predicts each game of the season.

North

1. Missouri 10-2 (7-1)
2. Kansas 9-3 (5-3)
3. Nebraska 8-4 (5-3)
4. Colorado 7-5 (4-4)
5. Kansas State 5-7 (2-6)
6. Iowa State 3-9 (0-8)

South

1. Oklahoma 11-1 (7-1)
2. Oklahoma State 10-2 (7-1)
3. Texas 9-3 (5-3)
4. Texas Tech 7-5 (3-5)
5. Texas A&M 5-7 (2-6)
6. Baylor 4-8 (1-7)

Big XII Championship: Oklahoma over Missouri

Unique Notes from the College Football News Predictions:

• Nebraska loses against Virginia Tech, Missouri, Kansas, and Colorado.
• Nebraska beats Oklahoma.
• Texas loses three straight games to Oklahoma, Missouri, and Oklahoma State.
• Missouri loses twice all season (losses: Illinois and Oklahoma State).
• Oklahoma's only loss is to Nebraska.

Nebraska in Coaches Poll

Nebraska has been ranked 22 in the USA Today Coaches' Poll. Other Big XII schools ranked in the Top 25 are Texas (2), Oklahoma (3), and Oklahoma State (11). Big XII teams receiving votes are Kansas (26), Texas Tech (28), Missouri (34), and Colorado (53). Nebraska will be playing Virginia Tech who starts the year at #7.

Big XII Coaches Ranked

This post was inspired by Blaylock's comment under the Maintenance and Future Posts entry. Here are my rankings of the Big XII coaches.

12. Paul Rhoads (ISU) - The reason Rhoads is last on this list is simply because he hasn't been a head coach yet. He was the defensive coordinator at Pittsburgh from 2000-2007 and held the same position with Auburn in 2008. In the last two years as a defensive coordinator, Rhoads defense was ranked #5 ('07) and #29 ('08). Even though the season has yet to start, positive things are coming from the players about Rhoads. The only Big XII coaches with a defensive background are Rhoads, Bob Stoops, and Bo Pelini. I think Paul Rhoads is a good fit with Iowa State and the Cyclones will play with more attitude with him.

11. Mike Sherman (A&M) - In his first year with the Aggies, Sherman went 4-8 (team went 7-6 in '07). Mike Sherman is definitely on the hot seat even though he has just been at A&M for one season. If he struggles again and is last in the South, he might not get a chance at a third season.

10. Dan Hawkins (CU)- Hawkins was at Boise State from 2001-2005. He compiled a record of 53-11, won the WAC Championship four out of five years, and was voted the WAC Coach of the Year two times. He then took the Colorado job and things haven't been nearly as smooth. In his three years as a Buffalo, Hawkins record is 13-24 and he has had three straight losing seasons. He has been more known for his quotes, "Go play intramurals brother" and "10 wins and no excuses," than anything on the field while in Boulder. Colorado is looked at as a darkhorse in the North this year, Hawkins needs a good season, otherwise patience will start to wear thin.

9. Art Briles (BU) - Art Briles went 34-28 (18-8 final two seasons) as the Houston Head Coach. Even though Baylor only went 4-8 in Briles first year as head coach of the Bears, Baylor is getting noticed. Baylor was 0-3 last year in games decided by 7 points or less (28-31 against UConn and Missouri, and 28-35 at Texas Tech) and was leading at Nebraska at haftime (20-17). Baylor hasn't been to a bowl game since 1994, but are being picked by some to end that streak this season.

8. Bo Pelini (NU) - In his first full year as the Husker Coach, he went 9-4. Pelini did coach Nebraska to a win against Michigan State in the Alamo Bowl to end the 2003 season. Expectations are high to build on last years success and the fans are fully back into football after the Pederson/Callahan fiasco.

7. Mike Gundy (OSU) - His record with Oklahoma State is 27-23. Gundy's team has been improving over the four years he has been coach, going 4-7 his first year, 7-6 in his second and third year, and 9-4 last season. The expectations are very high in his fifth year as the Cowboys coach. This year's team is expected to have similar success as Texas Tech did last season. There is no arguing the success his program has had on offense, however the defensive side of the ball will have to improve for his team to take it to the next level.

6. Bill Snyder (KSU) - He has been one of the most successful coaches ever. He went 136-68-1 in his 17 years at Kansas State ('89-'05). When Bill Snyder became the head coach at Kansas State, the Wildcats had been to one bowl game. That is not a misprint, one bowl game! Snyder went to 11 bowls in 17 years with the Wildcats. If Bill Snyder was so successful, why don't I have him closer to first? Well, in Snyder's last two years, KSU went 9-13. Also, Snyder will turn 70 years old and has been away from the game the last three years. If anyone can prove me wrong, it will be Bill Snyder.

5. Gary Pinkel (MU) - Pinkel went 73-37-3 in ten years with Toledo. Since he has been with Missouri, he has gone 59-41 in eight seasons. Pinkel had losing seasons in three of his first four years, but has had four straight winning seasons since and has won the North division the last two seasons. Pinkel seems to believe his program is at the stage where they can replace talented players, we will find out if that is true this year.

4. Mike Leech (TT) - He has been very consistent with Texas Tech. His record is 76-39 in nine seasons with the Red Raiders, going to bowl games every year. In his first eight seasons, his team won 7-9 games. Then last year, his team went 11-2. He is considered such an offensive guru, that no matter who is at Quarterback, the position produces some of the most gaudy numbers in all of football.

3. Mark Mangino (KU) - He has compiled a record of 45-41 at Kansas in seven years. In his first three years KU was 12-24 (under .500 each season). Since then the Jayhawks have been at least .500 every year and are 20-6 the last two seasons. Before Mangino came to Kansas, the program had gone to eight bowl games and never more than two in any decade. Mangino has guided the Jayhawks to four bowls this decade. His KU team is expected to be a major player in the Big XII North race.

2. Mack Brown (TX) - This will be Mack Brown's 12th year at Texas, the longest tenure of any coach currently in the Big XII. Brown came from North Carolina in 1998 and has gone 115-26 with Texas. His Longhorn team has won or shared the South title six times, however have only won the Big XII Championship twice. Texas won the National Championship in 2005.

1. Bob Stoops (OU) - Nationally, Bob Stoops and Oklahoma have taken a hit because of five straight losses in BCS games (three straight National Title loses). However, Stoops' title of "Big Game Bob" still applies to his program during Big XII play. Before Stoops came to Oklahoma, Jon Blake had three straight losing seasons (3-8, 4-8, and 5-6). Stoops has been over .500 every season, has a record of 109-24 in ten years with the program, won six Big XII Titles, and a National Championship in his second season with the Sooners. In this decade (2000-2009), Oklahoma has the most wins of any FBS team.

Anyone have any different takes on how the Big XII Coaches rank? Post your rankings in the comment section.

Maintenance and Future Posts

Now viewers can post comments anonymously. If anyone notices inaccuracies, errors, links that don't work, etc., let me know.

Throughout this week and next week, I will write about the strengths of every Husker opponent, the weaknesses, home/away differential in winning percentages of Big XII teams and Nebraska opponents, and give my predictions on each game of the Nebraska season.

Before the season starts, I will give my predictions on all the BCS conferences and how I see the conference season playing out.

2 days until Husker fall camp begins

28 days until college football kicks off

30 days unit the Big Red takes the field

How important is starting experience?

Phil Steele did a great article that showed every FBS teams' career returning starters at each unit.

Here are the rankings of the Big XII teams in terms of career returning starts:

1. Baylor (9th overall) - 362 career starts returning
2. Oklahoma State (16) - 320
3. Oklahoma (34) - 294
4. Iowa State (36) - 293
5. Texas (42) - 285
6. Kansas (62) - 269
7. Kansas State (78) - 252
8. Texas Tech (80) - 251
9. Colorado (93) - 229
10. Nebraska (101) - 216
11. Texas A&M (102) - 215
12. Missouri (111) - 189

This list does a lot of talking. In the South division, Baylor seems to have even more of a case to be thinking of a bowl this year. Oklahoma State looks like they have a great chance to be at least third in the South. Even though Texas Tech only has more experience than Texas A&M in the South, the Red Raiders still have more starting experience returning than three North teams.

The North division should be a battle each and every week. Missouri, who represented the North in the Big XII title game last year, returns the least amount of starts from any Big XII school. Iowa State, who had the worst conference record of all Big XII schools, has the most returning career starts out of any team in the North (and has a coach who cares about ISU, sorry Gene). Kansas has the second most career starts returning in the North behind only Iowa State. Nebraska is fifth in the North ahead of only Missouri. I was a little surprised when the college football magazines came out and Nebraska was first in the majority of them. Then, the Big XII media picked Nebraska first. Kansas will have a lot of extra fuel for a motivating fall, even with all their offensive fire power returning, they are still looked as an inferior representative of the North, nationally and apparently regionally also. Looking at this list, this year could be more open than at any time during North division play. There are four teams in the North who have a shot at going to the Big XII title game, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska.

Nebraska's non-conference opponents:

Florida Atlantic (47) - 281
Arkansas State (58) - 273
Virginia Tech (18) - 316
Louisiana-Lafayette (25) - 305

Nebraska's career starts at each position:

QB: 0
RB: 3
WR/TE: 24
OL: 61
DL: 49
LB: 12
DB: 67

Offensively, Nebraska returns 88 career starts (114 rank). Defensively, NU returns 126 career starts (63 rank). Examining the specific units closer, even though the running backs only have 3 career starts, Helu had the same amount of carries as the starter (Lucky - 125 carries), and Castille had 106 carries last year. Basically, 13 starts could be added to the RB position. I didn't realize Nebraska had 24 starts at the WR/TE position, but Mike McNeill has 12 starts, Menelik Holt has 4, and Niles Paul has 4 as well. At linebacker, Nebraska will most likely be down to 11 career starts of experience because Matt Holt is likely out for the year with a shoulder injury. Philip Dillard has 8 career starts and at this point is not expected to start (was 3rd string during spring practices), Blake Lawrence has 2 starts of experience, and Colton Koehler has 1. Needless to say, the Huskers defensive success early on will be based on the amount of pressure from the defensive line and the ability of the defensive backs to play effective coverage while the linebackers mature.

Nebraska's Top 3 Players with starting experience:

1. Ndamukong Suh - 25 career starts
T2. Jacob Hickman - 22
T2. Larry Asante - 22

Walk Ons: Huskers' Edge

Tonight I watched "Walk Ons: Huskers' Edge," a documentary on Nebraska's walk on history. There is a very interesting story in the film about Langston Coleman, the first walk on, who hitchhiked to the University of Nebraska from Washington. Another interesting segment, involved a young Steve Pederson (probably when he was a graduate assistant), and his comments about the importance of a walk on program. Ironically, when he was the Athletic Director and Bill Callahan was the coach, the walk on program dramatically decreased.

I am reading the book, "Faith in the Game," by Tom Osborne. He writes about the benefits of a walk on program, "Trev Alberts, an All-American defensive end and fist-round NFL draft choice following the 1993 season, mentioned the impact that David Seizys had on him. David wasn't big and did not have great speed. His strong desire to honor God with his play and his willingness to share that commitment were contagious. David had a significant impact on our team that greatly exceeded his physical talents. There have been many David Seizyses over the years who have served as the leaven that made the total program productive."

I had to look up the word leaven. The definition is an element, influence, or agent, that works subtly to lighten, enliven, or modify a whole.

For anyone interesting in watching, "Walk Ons: Huskers' Edge," the documentary will air two more times on NETV this week:

Thursday, August 6, 8:00 PM
Sunday, August 9, 6:30 PM

Nebraska's Top 25 Struggles

Since Nebraska beat Oklahoma in 2001, every BCS team except Duke and Nebraska have beaten a top 19 team. This is a staggering stat, think about some struggling BCS teams, Baylor, Iowa State, Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, Indiana, and Syracuse. They have all found a way. Nebraska's only win during this time frame against a team that finished in the AP Top 25, is a 24-17 win over Pittsburgh in 2004 (Pitt ended 25). Since the Oklahoma game, Nebraska is 1-24 against teams that finished in the AP poll.

Can Nebraska get off this list before Duke? Let's compare schedules against teams that have potential to finish the year in the top 19.

Nebraska's Potential Top 19 finishers

9/19 @ Virginia Tech
10/8 @ Missouri
10/17 Texas Tech
11/7 Oklahoma
11/14 @ Kansas
11/27 @ Colorado

Dukes Potential Top 19 finishers

9/19 @ Kansas
10/3 Virginia Tech
11/7 @ North Carolina
11/14 Georgia Tech
11/21 @ Miami, FL
11/28 Wake Forest

Surprisingly, Nebraska and Duke have two of the same teams on this list. For Nebraska, the only teams that should end the season in the top 19 are Virginia Tech and Oklahoma. Duke only has one team, Virginia Tech. Nebraska only has two teams on their list who will be home games for the Big Red, Texas Tech and Oklahoma. Texas Tech will almost have to pull off one major upset over Texas, Oklahoma, or Oklahoma State if they also are to lose to Nebraska and still remain in the top 19 at seasons end. Texas Tech would probably need to win against Kansas and Baylor as well. If Nebraska makes it to the Big XII Championship and a bowl game there should be one or two more chances.

Thanks Brent for sending me the article which had this chart in it. The article is called, "When will we know if Nebraska is 'back'." As Brent wrote, "it is from a national perspective." This is a good read, especially for the Husker fans who have very high expectations for this year's team.