Steven M. Sipple: Henry keeping emotions in check
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Nebraska junior right guard Ricky Henry evidently has a decent handle on his on-field emotions, which at times have gotten the best of him over the years.
Jacob Hickman sees progress in Henry all the time, especially since late August.
“He’s come a long way, and I’m proud of him for that,” said Hickman, a senior center and the leader of the Huskers’ offensive line. “It’s one of those things where he’s found a way to store it. He didn’t have that capability before. It’s a maturity thing for him.
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“He’s still crazy,” Hickman added. “But he just kind of knows when to use it rather than just flying off the handle, which you can’t have.”
An example of Henry’s progress occurred against Arkansas State last weekend. A Red Wolves’ defensive lineman jumped offsides and smacked Henry in the process. Henry just looked at Hickman and smiled.
So, Henry is doing a good job these days of storing his emotions. At some point, however, he has to release them, right?
“It’s not like he has to wait very long,” Hickman noted. “There’s 40 seconds until the next play.”
Henry, who sat out last season after transferring from a junior college, has for the most part played well this season, as has the Nebraska offensive line. The Huskers are averaging 492 yards through two games.
“We’re definitely doing a pretty good job — a little better than I expected early on — just because I didn’t know how some of the younger guys would react,” Hickman said. “They’ve all reacted the way we were hoping.
“It gives us a good idea what to expect against Virginia Tech (Saturday in Blacksburg, Va.). But at the same time, we have to go play against a pretty good defense in a very hostile environment. We just have to calm down and respond the right way to that, too.”
Hickman remembers well Nebraska’s 35-30 loss to Virginia Tech last season in Lincoln. So does Henry. OK, maybe not. He head-butted teammate Hunter Teafatiller in the moments before the game. Trouble was, Teafatiller was wearing a helmet, Henry wasn’t.
“He cut his head open,” Hickman said, smiling. “That’s Ricky for you.”
Steven M. Sipple's Cram Session
Behind enemy lines
Some more on Virginia Tech
Tech senior defensive tackle Cordarrow Thompson speaks with passion in his voice about widely respected Hokies defensive coordinator Bud Foster.
“We have a coordinator who has a knack for the game, like he’s still playing it,” Thompson said. “His emotions run through us. We feed off him, off of how he coaches and expects us to play. When you have a coach like that, you don’t want to disappoint him.”
The Hokies usually don’t disappoint Foster. Their defense has finished among the top seven nationally each of the past five seasons.
The 6-foot-2, 310-pound Thompson is among seven returning starters from a 2008 defense that ranked seventh in average yards allowed (279.4) despite having to replace seven starters from the 2007 unit.
Tech’s defense this season is led up front by junior end Jason Worilds, who last season produced 181/2 tackles for loss and eight sacks.
Like Nebraska, the Hokies are relatively young at linebacker. But their two sophomore starters — Jake Johnson and Barquell Rivers — lead the team in tackles.
“Jake had a few misreads in there (last week) against Marshall, but he goes at it full-speed, I’ll say that,” Tech head coach Frank Beamer said. “I think Barquell’s been pretty steady.”
Will Virginia Tech once again produce a top-10 defense? The Hokies (1-1) faltered in their opener against Alabama in Atlanta, allowing 498 yards in a 34-24 loss. But Marshall managed only 252 yards last week in Tech’s 52-10 triumph in Blacksburg, Va., where the Hokies are 31-4 since 2004.
“It’s a different lifestyle, a different atmosphere here,” Thompson said. “We’re in the mountains. We just hope Nebraska’s ready.”
The no-huddle
These games are key
THE OBVIOUS: No. 19 Nebraska at No. 13 Virginia Tech. The Huskers haven’t won a road game against a top-15 team since 1997 and were 0-for-3 against ranked teams last season in Bo Pelini’s first year as head coach. Two of those losses were blowouts. This game looks like a nail-biter.
THE NOT SO OBVIOUS: Texas Tech at No. 2 Texas. I have to say this: Mack Brown is the nicest guy in Texas, and maybe the world. Or so it seems. He said this week he’s not talking about revenge with his players. “Some people use it, but it’s not my personality,” he said. That said, UT will get some revenge with an easy win.
Heisman watch
They're in the mix
QB Tim Tebow Florida
QB Colt McCoy Texas
RB Jahvid Best California
QB Max Hall BYU
RB Joe McKnight USC
KEEP AN EYE ON: Tate Forcier. OK, this may be a bit of a stretch. But you can’t deny the Michigan freshman quarterback’s popularity. After leading the Wolverines to a dramatic upset of Notre Dame last week, Forcier received 1,600 friend requests on his Facebook account — and reportedly sorted through all of them.
The ups and downs
Thumbs up to Jim Tressel. And here I thought the Ohio State coach was basically an automaton. Was surprised this week to see his pointed comments regarding angry Buckeye fans who e-mail him. “They’ve got to be some of the most unhappy people in the world, and I feel bad because we just made them less happy, and I hate to be part of making someone less happy,” he said. “I mean, they’re already miserable.”
Thumbs down to Tressel. His conservative play-calling — he makes most of the play calls even though he has an offensive coordinator — works well in the mediocre Big Ten. But Tressel’s play-for-field-position approach isn’t playing particularly well on the national stage, where he has dropped six straight games to top-10 opponents.
Crunching numbers
106. The number of yards ex-Husker running back Quentin Castille gained last weekend — on 18 carries — as his Northwestern (La.) State squad dropped a 38-17 decision to Grambling State. Castille had an old bugaboo crop up when he lost a fumble that was returned for Grambling’s first score.
Going to the (e-)mailbag
Q: “The one item that is really worrying me is our defense. Specifically, what is going on with the rhythm? In both games, several times, the defense wasn’t even set.”
A: It’s a germane question this week because Nebraska defensive coordinator Carl Pelini said, while watching video of Virginia Tech, he notices “defenses scurrying to get lined up, so I assume there’s some hurry-up (offense) going on there. I know they check to the sideline some, so you’ll see some no-huddle. If not no-huddle, you’ll see some audible systems going on from the sideline, so we have to prepare for all that. It’s something we’ve been working on since preseason camp started, so I’m not too worried.” Pelini was asked if his team has been getting lined up on time. “For the most part,” he said. “There were a couple times in the first game we weren’t. But that was on me. Our communication system went down and they were waiting on a signal. I got signals in late. When we’ve had signals in on time, our guys have done fine.”
Five to go
You hear it from coaches constantly: One game at a time, the next game’s the biggest game, et al. But the human element can’t be ignored, which is why these five teams might be ripe for an upset (or at least a letdown):
1. Southern Cal. Trojan players — every one of them — were jumping and woofing on the sideline all game long last week at Ohio State. Doubt they’ll be doing the same Saturday at Washington?
2. Ohio State. The Buckeyes face Toledo on Saturday in Cleveland. Yes, the same Rockets that roared up and down the field in blasting Colorado last week.
3. Michigan. The Wolverines, following a dramatic triumph against Notre Dame, face an Eastern Michigan squad that nearly upset Northwestern last week.
4. UCLA. Last season, the Bruins followed their upset of Tennessee by getting jackhammered 59-0 by BYU. This year, UCLA gets a tamer follow-up test — Kansas State.
5. South Carolina. Steve Spurrier’s outfit fell just short between the hedges last week. How long will the Gamecocks let Florida Atlantic hang around this week?
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