Steven M. Sipple: Freshmen's fearlessness bodes well for NU
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Nebraska junior wideout Menelik Holt rattled off names of impressive true freshmen in the Husker camp.
He mentioned P.J. Smith, Tim Marlowe, Khiry Cooper, Kody Spano, Steven and Courtney Osborne.
“One thing I see in the freshman class that I didn’t see from my freshman class is a lack of fear,” Holt said. “Since Day One, I haven’t seen them nervous or afraid to be hit.”
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Vidcast: Crystal ball segment - 11.13.08
Steven M. Sipple and Brian Christopherson share their predictions (and some picks from the audience) on the games this week, including Nebraska&n...
That fearlessness bodes well for Nebraska’s future. So does Husker coach Bo Pelini’s firm resolve to use as few true freshmen as possible — a philosophy former NU coach Bill Callahan obviously deemed unimportant, for better or worse, and I’m guessing it was the latter for many of the true freshmen Callahan turned loose on Saturdays.
If all goes as expected, Pelini will redshirt 20 of the 22 scholarship freshmen in the 2008 recruiting class. The exceptions are Mason Wald and Alfonzo Dennard, both of whom are contributing this season on special teams. NU apparently will seek medical redshirts for Sean Fisher and Cameron Meredith, who have appeared in one game apiece.
By contrast, Callahan, in his first season at Nebraska (2004), played seven of the 16 true freshman scholarship players. Last season, he played exactly half of the 20 true freshmen on scholarship. Of those 10 players, only four arguably would fit into the “impact player” category — cornerback Anthony Blue, place-kicker Adi Kunalic and running backs Quentin Castille and Roy Helu.
We’re stretching the term “impact” in regard to Helu. He carried 45 times for 209 yards in seven appearances. Imagine the hard-charging Helu playing this season as a redshirt freshman with three years still left to develop ...
“I think it’s probably better for true freshmen to stick around and develop rather than have them go out in a game for a play here and there,” said Holt, who played “here and there” as a true freshman in 2006. He said he wishes he could have redshirted.
Callahan always felt if a player was ready to contribute, why wait? Callahan obviously was confident in his staff’s recruiting ability. Pete Carroll adheres to the same philosophy at Southern California, figuring the most talented players will bolt early to the NFL anyway.
Of course, Nebraska hasn’t recruited the amount of NFL-level players USC has in recent years. Which means player development and overall maturity could become crucial as the Huskers try to return to national prominence.
Steven M. Sipple's cram session
The no-huddle
These games are key
THE OBVIOUS: No. 3 Texas at Kansas. After watching Nebraska’s front four harass Kansas last week, it’s hard to believe the Jayhawk offensive line has much of a chance against the Longhorns’ powerful defense, which ranks third nationally with an average of 3.4 sacks per game. KU’s defensive line isn’t exactly a powerhouse, either.
THE NOT-SO-OBVIOUS: Notre Dame at Navy. The bowl buzz is that Notre Dame (5-4) will need a couple wins in its last three games to solidify an invitation to the Jan. 1 Gator Bowl. If the Irish stumble against Navy (6-3), and Nebraska prevails this weekend, the Huskers’ Gator Bowl chances become all the more realistic.
Heisman watch
THEY’RE IN THE MIX
QB Graham Harrell Texas Tech
QB Colt McCoy Texas
QB Sam Bradford Oklahoma
QB Tim Tebow Florida
WR Michael Crabtree Texas Tech
KEEP AN EYE ON: Crabtree. His Heisman stock has climbed dramatically in recent weeks. He provided the “Heisman moment” of the season with his game-winning reception against then-No. 1 Texas. He followed up with a three-TD night against then-No. 9 Oklahoma State. His numbers are all the more amazing when you consider he’s been playing with a nagging foot injury since mid-October.
TRACKING MR. TEBOW: Tebow threw for 171 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 88 yards and two more scores last week as Florida dominated Vanderbilt. The Gators have won five straight games, averaging 48.6 points along the way, since losing to Ole Miss.
Crunching numbers
6.9. Sophomore I-back Roy Helu leads Nebraska in rushing yards with 566 this season while averaging 6.9 per carry. If Helu were to finish the season averaging 6.9 yards, it would be the best per-carry average by a Husker in seven seasons. In fact, no Husker back with at least 100 carries has finished a season averaging more than 6 yards per carry since Dan Alexander (6.3) and Correll Buckhalter (7.1) in 2000.
The ups and downs
(Thumbs up) To Bo Pelini for his calmer sideline demeanor against Kansas. (Tired subject alert!) Hey, nobody’s asking him to become a choir boy. That said, a former Husker told me that Bob Devaney always said he approached a game as if it were a chess match, not a fistfight. Devaney said it was important to pick the right times to show emotion, lest it became ineffective. Nice wisdom.
(Thumbs down) To a change on the Nebraska Football Show on Sunday nights. Pardon my nitpicking here, but what happened to Pelini making comments as quarter-by-quarter highlights from that’s week’s game are shown? The highlights are now shown accompanied by clips from the Husker Sports Network radio broadcast. I think a lot of people (myself included) enjoyed trying to read crazy things into the coach’s usually innocuous comments.
Going to the (e-)mail bag
How and when did the Blackshirt tradition begin?
Nobody seems to know exactly when the tradition took hold. However, according to Husker historian Mike Babcock, the Blackshirt roots can be traced to George Kelly, defensive line coach for Devaney’s teams from 1962-68. Kelly was the first to assign black pullovers to the No. 1 defensive unit during practice. The pullovers were distributed by trainer Paul Schneider.
Behind enemy lines
Some more on Kansas State
Ian Campbell’s work ethic carried him to heights at Kansas State that most walk-ons can only dream about.
A two-time first-team All-Big 12 selection, Campbell this season leads the Wildcats with 4½ sacks through 10 games.
“I think Ian Campbell represents a lot of kids who grew up in this state who want to be able to play big-time college football but aren’t necessarily highly recruited,” Kansas State coach Ron Prince said. “He was tall and lanky, from what I understand, when he came here in 2004. But he did his time on the scout team and worked hard.“
Prince took over at Kansas State in December of 2005. During the 2005 season, Campbell, a native of Cimarron, Kan., appeared in 10 games and made seven tackles. However, Prince said, Wildcat coaches felt Campbell “was ready to take the next step. We put him on scholarship and he hasn’t disappointed at all. He plays with a tremendous motor.“
Indeed, the 6-foot-5, 255-pound Campbell enjoyed a breakout season in 2006, finishing third on the team in total tackles with 67 while leading the Wildcats in both tackles for loss (17½) and sacks (11½). His numbers dipped some in 2007, as he finished with 45 tackles, including 4½ sacks. He has 37 total tackles this season.
“I think he’s developed to where he’s now the guy people focus on and slide their protection to or game-plan for,” Prince said. “That’s given guys like (freshman DE) Brandon Harold an opportunity to have some success.
“But I think Ian’s biggest contribution right now is the fact he’s been able to block two kicks this year. What we do in the kicking game is very important to us and really the foundation of where we start with things. I know he’d like to have more tackles for loss and sacks and those things, but at 20 (sacks) — which is where he is for his career — that’s pretty significant.”
Kansas State will bring a record of 4-6 overall and 1-5 in the Big 12 into its home game Saturday against Nebraska (6-4, 3-3). Prince was fired last week, effective at season’s end.
“I think the thing for us is, we really haven’t been able to control the line of scrimmage,” Prince said. “When it comes to the run, we’ve been very inconsistent. On first down, if you give up runs of any note, then that really gives the offense an opportunity to be very, very versatile on second down.
“One of the things that has been most frustrating is when we’ve had a positive (defensive) play on first down, then sometimes on second- or third-and-long, we haven’t been able to generate the kind of pass rush you might want, and we’ve let people shake loose in the secondary to get the (first-down) conversion. We’ve had our moments and we’ve done some nice things, but we just haven’t been able to do it consistently enough.”
Five to go
Nebraska coach Bo Pelini this week discussed the possibility of Husker nose tackle Ndamukong Suh leaving school a year early for the NFL. A total of 10 Huskers have bolted for the NFL before using up their college eligibility. Here are the last five, with position and year they were drafted:
1. Brandon Jackson, RB, 2007. Second-round selection by the Green Bay Packers. Currently listed No. 2 on the depth chart behind Ryan Grant, Jackson has carried 21 times for 107 yards this season and has 24 receptions for 154 yards.
2. Josh Bullocks, S, 2005. Second-round pick by the New Orleans Saints. Has started 45 games in his NFL career but only two this season. Currently listed No. 2 on the depth chart behind veteran Kevin Kaesvihorn, Bullocks has seven tackles this season after averaging 71.6 the previous three seasons.
3. Fabian Washington, CB, 2005. First-round pick by the Oakland Raiders. Traded in April to the Baltimore Ravens. Has 16 tackles this season, including four in the Ravens’ 41-13 victory Sunday against the Houston Texans.
4. Toniu Fonoti, OG, 2002. Second-round pick by San Diego Chargers. Cut by Carolina Panthers before this season and apparently no longer in the league. Played in 40 games and started 33 over six seasons for Chargers, Minnesota Vikings and Miami Dolphins.
5. Dominic Raiola, C, 2001. Second-round pick by Detroit Lions. Raiola had started every game since the 2002 season opener — a streak of 104 straight — before missing this past Sunday’s game against Jacksonville with a broken right thumb.
