New Look Husker Defense

As promised yesterday, I take a look at who's back with the Blackshirts (and Goldshirts as well). The improvement of the defense will be critical if NU will make a run for a bowl game this year, and was a deciding factor in the hiring of HC Bo Pelini.

NU returns all four starters in the line from a year ago, NT Ndamakong Suh, DT Ty Steinkuhler, Base DE Zach Potter and Open DE Barry Turner. All had their moments, both positive and negative last year, and improved and more consistent play in particular will be needed here for the Huskers to return to their traditional winning ways and go bowling. Potter at least appeared to get better as the season wore along last year, hopefully he will be a true impact end and Turner can return to the success he enjoyed three years ago when he earned All-American Frosh honors. 2nd teamers include seniors tackles Kevin Dixon and Shurkee Barfield, as well as senior converted LB Clayton Sievers and sophmore Pierre Allen at end.

At linebacker, the only player with significant playing time that returns is Mike LB Phil Dillard, who has slimmed down considerably from last year's the 270 lbs playing weight to around 235. Converted RB senior Cody Glenn get the nod at weakside, and fellow senior Tyler Wortman is listed first at the strongside 'Buck' position. Former FB (and former NE Wesleyan player) Junior Colton Koehler makes a somewhat surprise appearance backing up Dilliard, sophmore Blake Lawrence backs up Wortman and highly touted recruit Latravis Washington gets the nod behind Glenn. Depth is a concern up front in general and a lack of experience at LB may be a concern on the defensive unit. Both HC Bo and DC Carl Pelini certainly have their work cut out for them, as well as new LB coach Mike Ekeler.

The secondary returns two starters in LCB Armando Murillo and SS Larry Asante, with new starters RCB Anthony West and FS Ricky Thenarse also having some game experience, particularly on special teams. Sophs Eric Hagg and Prince Amukamara back up at corner, with Major Culbert and senior Matt O'Hanlon at safety. The loss of CB Anthony Blue to a knee injury hurts the depth at that position, it's been reported he may not be ready for the start of fall camp but that he could conceivably return in time for conference play. Amukamara appears to have the early lead in nickel situations.

On special teams, senior punters Dan Titchner and Jake Welsch return, along with soph place kickers Alex Henery and long FG and kicoff man Adi Kunalic. The kicking game should continue to be pretty solid. Speedy scat back Marcus Mendoza is likely to have an impact on the return game, as could WR Niles Paul and (possibly, it's a long shot) athletic frosh WR Tim Marlowe.

OWH on Ekeler

The OWH reports on the local boy made good, Husker LB coach Mike Ekeler. Ekeler, a fellow Blair native, played for Bill Snyder at Kansas St, got into coaching with Bob Stoops at Oklahoma, then followed Bo Pelini to LSU and eventually home to Nebraska when Pelini was hired by Husker AD Tom Osborne. Ekeler has some unconventional aspects to his personality, but was noted as a gritty competitor in high school and college. He often modified his hair cut weekly while playing at K St, was the only team captain at the school ever appointed by Snyder - and can quote pretty much the entire dialogue of the movie 'Caddyshack'.

"At KSU, Mike Ekeler carried the razor-toothed fish — named Carl Spackler, after Bill Murray's character in "Caddyshack" — around the K-State football complex, mounted it above his locker and paid homage to it before games.

Occasionally, Ekeler added to the locker room entertainment by reciting direct quotes from "Caddyshack."

"Cinderella story. Outta nowhere. A former greenskeeper, now, about to become the Masters champion. It looks like a mirac . . . It's in the hole! It's in the hole! It's in the hole!"

Ekeler knows the entire movie, Hocutt said. He showcased that particular talent last winter during a recruiting trip to Will Compton's house. The Spacklerisms from the 1980 movie likely went over young Will's head, but parents Bill and Kathy nearly hit the floor laughing."

Ekeler's antics and intensity are having quite the impact on the recruiting trail, with new NU quaterback recruit Cody Green being quoted as saying "Have you ever met Coach Ekeler? . . . He's wild. Just talking to him, he got me all fired up." when asked about why Green made the NU his choice over home state Texas A & M.

I may be off base, but I'm expecting a much improved Blackshirt squad this season, particularly with regard to the front seven.

Ekeler Confident of Young Husker LB Corps

More from the OWH on Husker LB Coach Mike Ekeler and his young charges. Mike is confident that the players will be able to perform well under the new system despite not having any returning starters. As he sees it, the challenge will simply be to get the best players on the field.

"Here's what was left for Ekeler when he arrived from Louisiana State to assume his first job as a full-time assistant:

• Not one returning full-time starter from last season, and only one player with more than a dozen career tackles.
• Just one senior, who happens to be a walk-on.
• Only five scholarship linebackers, one of whom was recruited to play safety.

For comparison, NU has seven scholarship receivers. Yet Ekeler looks insulted if you question what he has to work with during spring football practice. "We're fairly deep," Ekeler said. "We've got some good guys. We don't look at it as scholarship and non-scholarship. We just need to see who's going to rise to the top. That's what it boils down to."

NU hasn't had to replace all three positions since 1997. Mike backer Phillip Dillard has three career starts, bur has played in 24 games total and looks to establish himself as a defensive anchor. Blake Lawrence and Latravis Washington (moved from safety) seek to fill the starting spots with competition from scholarship LBs Nick Covey, Austin Stafford and walk-on senior Tyler Wortman. In addition, the current crop will recieve four scholarship recruits in the fall, including highly touted prospects Will Compton and Millar North's Shawn Fischer, as well as Micch Kriekemeier and Alonzo Whaley.

"So what makes the perfect linebacker?"A guy who is sharp, a guy who's going to play with fanaticism, play with his hair on fire and a guy who's going to just be relentless and refuse to get blocked and make plays," Ekeler said. "That's perfect to me."

Sounds perfect to me too. Good luck to Mike and his players.

Blackshirts?

Obviously, the team missed the shootout memo I issued from last week. Egad. OWH and LJS both ran articles yesterday on the woes of the Blackshirts. OWH had a nice chart whose info I've copied here.

Defensive struggles
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Nebraska ranks near the bottom of several Big 12 defensive categories.
Category Avg. Rank

Pass defense 25.1 yds/gm 9

Rush defense 190.5 yds/gm 12

Total defense 441.5 yds/gm 12

Opponent 1st downs 136 12

Sacks 6 T-11

Red zone def.
(% pts. allowed) 88.5% 10

In addition, the LJS/Husker Extra article I linked gave the historical backdrop to the defensive breakdown. NU has given up more than 40 point in three games this half of a season so far - the last time this happened at NU, it was over the course of the full 1943 season. Huskers did not allow 40 point in a game in the entire decade of the 70s and only twice in the 80s.

The yardage mark above (441) would be the most yards given up by a Husker team in the history of the program. Previous high was 379, given up in by a 1948 team that wnet 2-8. The 32 first downs given up Saturday were the most ever in a game, and the defense is on a pace to give up more points and yardage than any team in the history of the program as well.

The question is, will it get any better? While I certainly hope so, Oklahoma State has an offensive club ranking #14 in total offense, but the Huskers have historically always played well at home, even in the Callaghan era, so I'm calling this one for NU, 30-28 in a nail biter.

Huskers Name Blackshirts

via Huskers.com, the defensive coaches announced the distribution of 15 Blackshirts, including six new players awarded the honor.

"Fifteen Husker defenders took on a different look at Tuesday’s Nebraska football practice, donning Blackshirts for the first time in 2007. The coveted practice jerseys signify first-team defensive status and were placed in each player’s respective locker before they arrived on Tuesday."

The newcomers are juco transfers CB Armando Murillo and safety Larry Asante, juniors DT Ty Steinkuhler and DE Zach Potter, and sophomores NT Ndamakuh Suh and MLB Phillip Dillard.

Returning Blackshirt defendres are junior DE Barry Turner and senior LBs Bo Ruud, Cory McKeon, Steve Octavian, Lance Brandenburgh and defensive backs Tierre Green, Zac Bowman, Courtney Grixby and Andre Jones.

"Cosgrove noted that he saw some extra bounce from the Blackshirts during Tuesday’s 2 ½ hour practice inside the Hawks Championship Center.

“I think there are some guys who didn’t think they were going to get one, but we as a staff believed they earned them,” Cosgrove said. “Now it’s up to them to prove that they should keep them.” "

Congratulations to the players and all their hard work in the off season to prepare for the upcoming year.