As we all know its never too early to start boning up on your college football knowledge, especially with spring ball right around the corner. With that in mind Collegefootballnews.com is running down some 2009 lookbacks and early 2010 lookaheads and I thought it'd be good for us all to join them. And to treat myself we'll continue with my favorite squad: the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
Nebraska Cornhuskers2009 Recap: While it wasn’t the official arrival of Nebraska’s return to superpower status, it was a big season to show that the program was close to being a whole lot better. The offense didn’t do much of anything, but that didn’t matter much thanks to a defense that led the nation in points allowed and gave up more than 20 just once (a 31-10 loss to Texas Tech). A heartbreaking last second loss at Virginia Tech showed the team’s potential, but it was a tough, bizarre win over Missouri that showed what kind of a strange year it was going to be. The Huskers dominated Iowa State, but eight turnovers, including four inside the Cyclone five, led to a strange 9-7 loss. The defense held Oklahoma to three points, kept ten teams to fewer than 14 points, and almost pulled off one of the biggest wins of the year keeping Texas to 202 yards and 13 points in the classic Big 12 Championship loss. To cap off a strong year, the Huskers dominated Arizona in a 33-0 Holiday Bowl destruction.
Offensive Player of the Year: RB Roy Helu
Defensive Player of the Year: DT Ndamukong Suh
Biggest Surprise: That the offense was so bad. The Husker attack finished 15th in the country in 2008 with a dangerous passing game and an effective ground attack. But there were several key replacements needing to be made and the offense never stepped up. Part of it was by design as the attack was relatively conservative to rely on the great defense to win games, but there were long stretches when nothing worked. The ground game didn’t make up for the loss of the top receivers from two years ago, the passing game was totally inefficient, and almost every positive was keyed by the defense.
Biggest Disappointment: Texas 13, Nebraska 12. In the end, there really was one second left on the clock when Colt McCoy nonchalantly flung the ball out of bounds to stop the clock, but it was still a heartbreaker for the Huskers when it appeared that time ran out but Hunter Lawrence was able to get off his 46-yard game-winning field goal. The defense had destroyed the Texas offense all day with Ndamukong Suh coming up with his all-timer of a performance with 4.5 sacks and seven tackles for loss. Unfortunately, the offense didn’t hold up its end of the bargain and couldn’t put the game away.
Looking Ahead: If you’re looking for your sleeper, or at least a team that might just outside of everyone’s preseason top five who might end up in Glendale, this could be it. Ten starters are back on offense and there’s good, developed depth to rely on, and while the defense loses Ndamukong Suh and Barry Turner off the line and SS Larry Asante from the secondary, Bo Pelini’s defense isn’t going to take a major step back with Jared Crick and Pierre Allen the stars up front. Schedule-wise, the early date at Washington will be a test, but it’s winnable for a team dreaming of a national title. Road games at Oklahoma State and Texas A&M are dangerous, but Texas and Missouri have to come to Lincoln.
Why to get excited: The schedule works out well for a team with so much experience returning. All the tough games are at home with the toughest road tests at Oklahoma State and Texas A&M; those are winnable for a team that gets almost everyone back on offense and should be fine on defense even with the massive losses up front and at safety. If the offense can do something, anything, compared to last year, this is a team worthy of giving a hard look at for the national championship.
Why to be grouchy: You don’t just fill-in the gaps when you lose Ndamukong Suh and Larry Asante. Bo Pelini’s defense will be strong no matter what, but it’s too much to ask for it to be as dominant without the superstar tackles up front. The offense might be loaded with experience, but can any of the players actually play without the defense controlling games? The jury is out.
The number one thing to work on is: Throwing the forward pass for first downs. The Huskers averaged a pathetic 16.14 offensive first downs per game, 111th in the nation, and only threw for a mere 111 first downs in 14 games. By comparison, Houston led the nation with 424 total offensive first downs. The O wasn’t awful at converting on third downs and it was decent in time of possession, but if this really is going to be a team worthy of national title discussion, the production has to start coming from both sides of the ball.
Biggest offensive loss: C Jacob Hickman
Biggest defensive loss: DT Ndamukong Suh
Best returning offensive player: RB Roy Helu
Best returning defensive player: CB Prince Amukamara
Top Five Prospects
LB Lavonte David 6-1 214 Fort Scott, KS
OL Jermarcus Hardrick 6-7 315 Fort Scott, KS
QB Brion Carnes 6-0 181 Bradenton, FL
RB Braylon Heard 5-11 180 Youngstown, OH
DB Corey Cooper 6-2 203 Maywood, IL
No comments:
Post a Comment