Mediocrity and Nebraska Cornhuskers football are generally not put in the same sentence. This is the school that has produced three Heisman Trophy winners in Johnny Rodgers, Mike Rozier, and Eric Crouch. Nebraska has also been home to some of the legendary head coaches in college football history as Dana Bible, Bob Devany, and Tom Osborne coached at Nebraska en route to being inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. For current Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini, he understands and embraces the tradition at Lincoln, Nebraska.
Pelini took over a Nebraska football program in 2008 that was coming off of only their second losing season since 1968. Pelini quickly restored order for the Cornhuskers as he led the team to a 9-4 record in his first season that culminated in a Gator Bowl victory. 2009 and 2010 both saw Nebraska win the Big 12 North, but they were unable to get past Texas and Oklahoma respectively in the Big 12 Championship Game.
Nebraska is now entrenched as a member of the Big Ten Conference and they are on the cusp of big things. Last year saw the ‘Huskers win the Legends Division of the Big Ten only to be throttled 70-31 by Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game.
In two seasons in the Big Ten, Nebraska has shown that they can hang with the heavyweights of the conference in Michigan and Ohio State as they have compiled a conference record of 12-4. Nebraska can compete in the Big Ten, but the people in Lincoln are hungry for a championship.
Prior to becoming the head coach at Nebraska, Pelini was the defensive coordinator at LSU. In 2007, LSU’s defense was ranked third in the nation as they won the BCS Championship. In 2009, the Cornhuskers had the seventh overall defense in the nation as they were led by first-team All-American defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. Since then Nebraska’s defense has fallen a little as they were 35th in the nation last year. For the ‘Huskers to win the Big Ten Championship this season, the famed “Black Shirts” defense must return to the form that has helped this school win five national championships.
Pelini lost his top five tacklers from last year’s defense and he only has two seniors in his projected defensive starting lineup in defensive end Jason Ankrah and defensive tackle Thad Randle. The unit isn’t heavy either as only defensive tackle Vincent Valentine tips the scale at over 300 lbs. The lighter defensive unit will allow them to fly around the football field in the effort to contain all of the spread offenses in the Big Ten.
Pelini will rely on his senior quarterback Taylor Martinez to lead this team. With 2,871 passing yards in 2012, Martinez had his best passing season and he is poised to improve on those numbers in his final season at Lincoln.
At 6’1″, 185 lbs., junior wide receiver Kenny Bell is a speedster. Bell will benefit from Martinez’s running ability as he is a logical candidate to finish the season as an All-Big Ten wide receiver.
If Nebraska can get past UCLA on September 14 in Lincoln, the road is setup for them to pull off a string of victories within the Big Ten. The only stumbling block on the year could be a November showdown with Michigan. This season Nebraska will travel to Michigan where they were thoroughly beaten 45-17 back in 2011 which was their only trip to Ann Arbor as a member of the Big Ten.
Nebraska has the ability to be a top-tier football team in the Big Ten which has been illustrated by their success in their first two years. However for Nebraska to reemerge with the nation’s elite, they must be able to get to Indianapolis on the first Saturday of December and return to Lincoln with the Big Ten Championship hardware in their possession.
Sources: Cfb-stats.com, cornnation.com
Leave A Comment