August 27, 2009

As the days till opening kickoff get closer and closer I once again Blog about certain topics today.

THE HOT LIST:

1. Husker Practice Report
2. Big 12 Preview: Missouri (Misery)
3. Special Teams: Oh Yeh its that important


1. We begin as usual talking about practice. It wasn't a stellar day on the practice field as Bo was very adamant about the team's lack of effort and focus yesterday. When your 20+ practices into hitting each other I'm not surprised that you would have an "off" day but the team and ill afford to make this a habit. Last season the team generally responded positively after having a bad practice the day before....we'll see if that's the case today. Latravis Washington announced yesterday that even though he is getting distanced by Cody Green as the #2 QB he will remain at the position despite the depth that the team has at QB. A possible redshirt is probably in order for Washington as I expect Green to assert himself as the backup to Zac Lee giving Washington a chance to redshirt, learn the offense somemore and compete his tail off again next season. I admire his heart for sticking it out...all too many times when a guy puts his mind on getting a certain spot and fails the road they go down can be a dark one....but Latravis sees this as an opportunity to continue to play the position he loves the most....QB.

2. My North preview wraps up today with Missouri or Misery as I love to call them.....There's not question that the last few seasons have been magical in Columbia winning 12 and 10 games for the first time ever in their program's history....the disappointment came when they had national championship aspirations and were crushed by Texas on the road last season (Colt and his boys but a 56-31 beat down on them last season). This year's team returns talent in Derrick Washington, arguably one of the premier Big 12 backs this season....as he rushed for 1078 yards and 17 TD's a year ago. Recievers returns Jared Perry as the top guy who hauled in only 41 passes last season to Maclin's 102. The losses of Chase Daniel, Chase Coffman, Jeremy Maclin leave Misery wondering where their production on offense will come. The notion of not redshirting Blaine Gabbert in his freshman year now appears to be the poor decision as losing a year for Gabbert to complete just 5 passes last year seems foolish for what he accomplished. He is the guy this season in Misery country and we'll get a first hand look if the former 5 star standout lives up to the hype. On defense Sean Weatherspoon will have to lead a defense with holes and question marks on all parts of the D. The schedule opens with Illinois, Bowling Green, Furman, and at Nevada who is antsy to get pay back after Missouri lit them up last year....I predict 2-2 losing at Nevada as a major upset to start the season. The Big 12 schedule opens with Nebraska at home, at OSU, Texas at home and at Colorado....all loses. The last four are Baylor at home, at K-State, Iowa State, and KU at arrowhead. Going 2-2 in those games.
2009 Prediction: 4-8 and missing a bowl game this season.

3. A great article came out in the paper about the impact of Alex Henery's kick last season against Colorado and how that kick has jump started excitement into this team for the 2009 campaign. It's amazing at how simple making a 57 yard field goal will ignite a fire you never knew you had. Nebraska no doubt has one of the top special team games this season...giving them a chance to win 2 games that people didn't think the Skers could win. I'll have my team breakdown next week and my official predicition for the 2009 season.....Special teams aren't glamours to play on but have the biggest impacts in the game.


OUT UNTIL NEXT WEEK....Laterz