SB Nation - Sam Keller

SB Nation 2009 Big 12 Preview: Nebraska Cornhuskers Team Capsule

Jon Johnston — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 02:32:52 -0000

The SB Nation Big 12 preview will post on Friday at The Ralphie Report. The following is the Nebraska team capsule for the conference-wide preview piece in conjunction with CBS Sports.

Expect the Blackshirt defense to be much improved in Bo Pelini's season. They should carry Nebraska to a Big 12 North win this season. Photo by Dennis Hubbard

The Outlook

Anything less than winning the Big 12 North will be a disappointment. The success of the 2009 Husker offense will depend on Nebraska establishing a firm ground attack, providing time for Lee and the receiving corps to develop into a balanced attack. If the Huskers find themselves one-dimensional, they'll have to rely on their defense to carry them to the Big 12 Championship game, but the margin for error will be very thin.

Offense

In 2009, the offense begins with I-backs Roy Helu Jr. and Quentin Castille. In 2008, Helu was bothered by a shoulder injury at the start of the season, but emerged as a star in November, rushing for 510 yards and five touchdowns in the final four games. For the season, he averaged 6.4 yards per carry, which is the highest of any returning back in the North division. Castille was the third back most of the season, but rushed for 125 yards in the Gator Bowl.

Replacing Joe Ganz at quarterback will be junior Zac Lee. Lee, who played sparingly last season, might be Nebraska's most talented quarterback since Eric Crouch. At San Francisco City College in 2006, Lee threw for over 3400 yards and 35 touchdowns. Lee is mobile as well, with 4.6 speed.

Nebraska's top returning receiver is tight end Mike McNeill, who'll probably be the best tight end in the conference not named Jermaine Gresham. Menelik Holt and Niles Paul look to be the top two wide receivers in 2009. Holt was hampered by a knee injury that caused him to miss most of four games last season. Paul's biggest contributions to date have been on kick returns, with an 85 yard touchdown return against San Jose State last season. A group of inexperienced but talented receivers will fight for playing time and to fill out the remaining positions.

Three starters return up front, including honorable mention all-Big XII center Jacob Hickman, who may move to guard this season. Juniors Keith Williams and Mike Smith return to anchor the left side of the line. If Hickman moves to right guard, sophomore Mike Caputo will take over at center. Other candidates for the right side include tackle Marcel Jones and guards D.J. Jones and Ricky Henry.

Defense

The defense is lead by pre-season All-American defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, who is also a top-ten NFL draft prospect. The defense will be dependent upon Suh to make plays or occupy enough blockers to make them better. Expect sophomore Jared Crick to start alongside Suh, with redshirt freshman Baker Steinkuhler in the rotation.

Defensive end Barry Turner returns this season after breaking his leg in early 2008. Pierre Allen did an excellent job filling in his position last season. Between Suh, Crick, Turner and Allen, Nebraska's defensive line should be one of the best in the conference this season.

At linebacker, no fewer than ten players are fighting for three starting positions. Phillip Dillard returns as the most experienced of the bunch, but after a lackluster spring must fight his way back into the starting rotation. Pelini has so far refused to name starters to keep the competition going, but you could expect redshirt freshmen Will Compton and Sean Fisher to win some starts, along with sophomore Matthew May.

The secondary returns with much more depth than the previous season. Prince Amukamara and Anthony West return as starters at the corners. Anthony Blue returns after sitting out 2008 with a knee injury. Lance Thorrell should reprise his role in the dime package. Larry Asante is the top returning starter at safety, and should make the All-Big 12 list by the end of the season. Eric Hagg should keep his spot as the other starting safety, splitting time with Matt O'Hanlon. Rickey Thenarse must have a good fall camp to fight off redshirt freshmen Courtney Osborne and P.J. Smith. The defensive secondary had too many break downs last season, but that should be much improved this year.

In a single season, Bo Pelini turned around a defense that finished near the bottom of the nation in several categories, and had them playing well enough to finish as one of the top defenses in the Big 12 by season's end. With a year of understanding Pelini's system behind them, expect the Blackshirt defense to become the bright spot for Husker fans this season.

Special Teams

Alex Henery returns as one of the most accurate kickers in the nation. In 2008, Henery went 18-21 in field goals and made 56 of 57 PATs. The Huskers will have to replace holder Jake Wesch and long snapper T.J. O'Leary, who have handled those duties over the past three seasons.

Kickoff specialist Adi Kunalic returns after finishing fifth the nation in touchbacks last season, giving the Huskers a formidable weapon in the kicking game. Henery may pull double duty and handle punting duty, a task for which he was originally recruited.

Nate Swift was the team's primary punter last season and must be replaced after having moved on this season. Niles Paul showed some promise returning punts, and should be more consistent this season. Newcomers Rex Burkhead and Antonio Bell will be considered as will redshirt freshman Tim Marlowe.

Niles Paul looks likely to replay his role as a kick returner after having a decent year in 2008. Two of the top five plays last season were Paul kick returns, including a 85-yard touchdown return against San Jose State. Alfonzo Dennard was one of only three true freshman to play last season and should handle return duties again this season. Sophomore Curenski Gilleylen and newcomers Burkhead and Antonio Bell may get their chance as well.

Kickoff coverage must get better as Nebraska finished 105th in the nation in last season. Watch for Bo Pelini to include some talented newcomers to the coverage team this season as the Huskers look for every edge possible to win the Big 12 North.

Key Losses

Joe Ganz, QB - The former bench warmer that nobody believed in until Sam Keller injured his collarbone. He came in and promptly put up three straight 400 yard games and showed a gritty resolve that endeared him to Husker fans. He leaves after setting 23 school records, including season records for passing yardage.

Nate Swift, WR - Departs as the Huskers record holder for career receptions, and ranks second for yards receiving all-time. Some might consider him a "possession" receiver, but he also had decent speed. In his senior season, he ranked 2nd in the Big XII and eighth nationally in punt returns.

Todd Peterson, WR - Along with Swift, gave Joe Ganz two dependable receivers. The pair combined for 125 receptions and over 1,700 yards.

Marlon Lucky, IB - The former five-star recruit never quite lived up to the hype from his high school days, but was a versatile weapon in all facets of the passing game.

Matt Slauson, OL - The anchor of the Husker offensive line the last few years, Slauson was drafted in the 6th round by the New York Jets, where he'll be reunited with Jets offensive line coach Bill Callahan.

Lydon Murtha, OL - Murtha was an enigma for the Huskers, as he had all of the measurables to be an impressive offensive line prospect, but never developed the consistency to be that dominant lineman that some projected. The Detroit Lions were impressed enough to take him in the seventh round of the NFL draft.

Zach Potter, DE - Potter became a dominant end in his final two seasons, showing a knack for deflecting passes and kicks. Last season, he blocked three kicks and deflected two passes to Ndamukong Suh, who returned both for touchdowns.

Ty Steinkuhler, DT - Steinkuhler was a bit of an unsung hero until the Gator Bowl last season. His presence prevented offenses from double-teaming Ndamukong Suh, as Clemson quickly learned.

Armando Murillo, CB - Nebraska's lone loss in the secondary, he was the Huskers most consistent performer in the secondary.

Dan Titchener, P - Three year starter who averaged 39.9 yards per punt in his career.

Newcomers

Pelini has already shown his penchant for retaining redshirts, so you shouldn't expect to see a lot of brand new faces this year.

Baker Steinkuhler, DT - Another Steinkuhler, the departing Ty's little brother. Should see plenty of playing time this season.

Will Compton, LB - the most likely middle linebacker of the future for the Blackshirt defense.

Sean Fisher, LB - having a break-out fall camp, should be expected to get a lot of starts this season.

Rex Burkhead, RB/KR/PR/? - Burkhead was a ‘do everything' guy in in high school, playing running back, quarterback, receiver, returning punts and kicks, along with taking out the trash. Truly a versatile player, probably too skilled to remain on the sideline this season as a true freshman.

Antonio Bell & Brandon Kinnie, WR - A pair of young wide receivers that should make some contributions and break into the starting rotation by the end of the season.

Big 12 Projected Order Of Finish:

North

Nebraska
Kansas
Colorado
Missouri
Iowa State
Kansas State

South
Oklahoma
Texas
Oklahoma State
Texas Tech
Baylor
Texas A&M

2009 Opponent Previews

Atlantic Owls
Arkansas St. Red Wolves
Virginia Tech Hokies
Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns
Missouri Tigers
Texas Tech Red Raiders owa St. Cyclones
Baylor Bears
Oklahoma Sooners
Kansas Jayhawks
Kansas St. Wildcats
Colorado Buffaloes

Mizzou Links, 8-4-09

Bill C. — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 10:43:12 -0000

Yeah, I have F*@%ING JURY DUTY today. Bleh. BLEH.

A couple of J-E-T-S links kick things off today. First we've got Brad Smith working with a new assistant coach (whose name you may recognize) to become a better receiver...

For the better part of the spring and so far in training camp, he has been included in the three-wide receiver sets along with Jerricho Cotchery and Chansi Stuckey. With Laveranues Coles gone, the Jets are looking for answers at wide receiver. Rex Ryan didn't discount Smith sliding up the depth chart when he raved about him Saturday.

"This is a tough guy," Ryan said. "I don't know how many touchdowns he has scored in college as a quarterback, but I think it was over 100 that he was responsible for. This is a competitive guy. He is tough. He has great size and he can catch and do everything. I don't see why he cannot be an excellent receiver. He will be given every single chance to be that guy."

...then you've got Brock Christopher fighting for a job. Literally.

So being that yesterday was Monday, we've got...CASE OF THE MONDAYS!!

Moe Options: Now that Sheldon Richardson is spending his August in Visalia, Calif., the most intriguing incoming freshman might be O’Fallon’s T.J. Moe, who was originally projected as safety but enters camp as a wide receiver. By all accounts, the former prep quarterback is a player that needs the ball in his hands. Can he crack the WR rotation immediately? What about a formation or two with Moe lined up behind center? The possibilities are tantalizing.

And speaking of weekly features, Like Father, Unlike Son is back as well! The season is just around the corner!!

To recruiting, where Rivals.com's preseason Missouri Top 30 has been released. A relatively deep MO class this year (seven 4-star guys, another 13 3-stars) considering that Mizzou really hasn't offered just a ton of in-state guys. They're in good shape with #'s 1-3, and it wouldn't surprise me if Don Shumpert or Josh Mattes eventually got offers as well. Don't know if we're too late jumping in on Shumpert, but I figure we could have Mattes if we wanted.

Meanwhile, on the basketball side of the equation, 4-star TX guard Rickey Scott likes Mizzou and will visit. It doesn't look like Keith Dewitt has or will qualify, which means Mizzou will probably have four scholarships to give--assume they'll take three guards (Ricky Kreklow, a point, a 2) and a big man. Scott and Mardracus Wade appear to be the top guys for the 2-guard spot, while Phil Pressey is clearly the top guy at point. Not sure who the favored big is at this point.

And speaking of basketball...don't you think "Mizzou, Norm Stewart part company" is a bit of a harsh headline?

Border ~~War~~ ~~Skirmish~~ Slapfight tickets go on sale Friday!

Oh, and Mizzou fans? Don't even get your hopes up about Blaine Gabbert. His ego will crush the whole team, and Gary Pinkel's too weak to deal with it. BG's easily as bad as Rhett Bomar and Sam Keller. So says a guy who has probably spent about five minutes around him.

The Post-Dispatch discusses what should be one of the bigger pre-season issues of the day: the fact that the coaches' poll actually has any power whatsoever. They don't take it seriously, and they can sway the rankings to help themselves. But it's the computers that everybody always complains about...makes total sense.

An era ends...

Finally, you owe it to yourself to peruse a pair of great Andy Staples (SI) columns about a) the best recent names in football recruiting (god bless Iris Macadangdang), and b) the best high school nicknames (I've always actually been partial to the Elk City Elks. Simple, straight-forward.).

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe // 07.23.09

Seth C — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:02:06 -0000

Odds and Ends

Suing the NCAA and Having a Chance

Suing the NCAA isn't anything new, but it appears that the current lawsuit filed by former UCLA Bruin Ed O'Bannon has some fairly serious legs. I've always wondered, to myself, how the NCAA was able to continue to utilize and profit from images and likenesses from players no longer in college, and along with Nebraska QB Sam Keller's suit against EA Sports, we might just find out. I'm surprised this suit hasn't happened earlier and I'll be following this, although it will probably take years, throughout the process.

Texas Tech Football

Running Backs Carrying the Load

ESPN's Tim Griffin has an interesting look at how the "workhorse back" has essentially disappeared from the Big 12 and last year, your very own Shannon Woods led his team and the Big 12 in the percent of carries of all Big 12 running backs. Naturally, the evolution of offenses is part of the reason, and like most NFL teams, having two running backs seems to be the way lots of college teams are rolling. Next year, the tandem of Baron Batch and Harrison Jeffers / Aaron Crawford should be a big part of the Texas Tech offense, although I would expect that Batch gets roughly the same percentage of carries that Woods did last year. We might like to see Batch more than that, but I just get the feeling that this is how Leach is going to roll from this point forward, unless one of the runners proves to be unable to carry his part of the load.

Top Game of 2008

I don't think there was ever any question that the 2008 Texas v. Texas Tech game was voted by the Big 12 official site as the game of the year:

If the 2008 season was the greatest so far in Big 12 history, it started to tilt toward tremendous on the fulcrum of Texas Tech's scintillating 39-33 victory over Texas.

If you've been following the countdown, the best game of 2008 was an obvious choice. The media voters who selected the top 10 games were unanimous in their selection of the No. 1 game.

There's little to argue with the voters' decision. The Nov. 1 game in Lubbock had a buzz that reverberated through West Texas. An ABC prime-time national television audience plus a raucous Red Raiders crowd watched a game of mood swings that was decided on the signature play of the '08 season.

Harrell "Injures" Himself Doing Absolutely Nothing, to Injured List

It appears that QB Graham Harrell will have to wait a bit before starting his CFL career as he has promptly been placed on the Saskatchewan Roughriders injured list, which means that he's apparently out for at least nine games and his salary does not count against the team's salary cap:

And therein lies the key to the Riders' surprising move. According to a source who does not believe Harrell is hurt, the Riders are using the nine-game injured list to their advantage.

Harrell had an offer in excess of $100,000 if he started for the San Francisco franchise of the fledgling United Football League scheduled to start in the fall.

The Riders could not afford to attract Harrell with the $600 a week salary alloted to players joining a team's practice roster. It's believed he has a base pay of about $70,000, which is the going rate for rookie players of his stature and position, with incentives to increase the overall amount, hence the move to keep him on the team and not have it impact on the cap.

Mr. Crabtree, No Diva

San Francisco 49er WR Michael Crabtree talks with FanHouse's Calvin Watkins about all of the rumors that were flying around leading up to the draft. Crabtree apparently did every interview while at ESPN, did not cry after head coach Mike Singletary told him to get off the field and has never been late for a meeting. Is it just me, or is it weird that so many things are said about Crabtree that aren't true? Am I the only one that really wants Mr. Crabtree to focus on football and not anything else for quite some time?

2009 Top Cupcakes

ESPN's Tim Griffin ranks the tastiest cupcakes on the schedules of the Big 12 and in at #4 is Texas Tech vs. North Dakota:

4. North Dakota at Texas Tech, Sept. 5: The Fighting Sioux were a Division II team last year. They are transitioning to Division I-AA status and this game will be their first battle in modern history against an FBS opponent. That won't help them in an opener as Mike Leach tries to build confidence in his retooled offense quarterbacked by first-year starter Taylor Potts.

Texas Tech Basketball

Big 12 Schedule Released

The Big 12 has released their schedule for the 2009-2010 year and the Red Raiders start conference play on January 9th against Oklahoma St. in Lubbock. I haven't had the time to look at every match-up, but there is a three game stretch starting on Wednesday, January 27th, where Pat Knight and his Red Raiders travel to UT, TAMU and OU. That's a tough three game trip, especially in the middle of the season and might be a really good indicator as to how the season will play out.

Recruiting Stuff

I don't get into recruiting much, but I did see that Pat Knight attended a fairly significant high school tournament in Las Vegas, NV and a number of players are profiled in this linked article. I thought that this is something to remember, perhaps we'll see if Knight is able to sign anyone of these recruits. And I wonder too if it would be a fair statement that there's no way in hell that Bob Knight would be at an event like this, perhaps one of the many reasons why BK was done with coaching.

Ex-Nebraska QB Sues NCAA, EA Sports In San Francisco Court

Fooch — Fri, 08 May 2009 06:49:21 -0000

At the moment this has nothing to do with the NFL, but I think it's interesting enough to open up for discussion. Former Nebraska QB Sam Keller has filed a lawsuit against the NCAA and EA Sports for the "blatant and unlawful use" of student-athlete likenesses in video games.

The suit states that among other things EA:

"intentionally circumvents the prohibitions on utilizing student athletes' names in commercial ventures by allowing gamers to upload entire rosters, which include players' names and other information."
....

"With rare exception, virtually every real-life Division I football or basketball player in the NCAA has a corresponding player in Electronic Arts' games with the same jersey number, and virtually identical height, weight, build, and home state. In addition, Electronic Arts matches the player's skin tone, hair color, and often even a player's hair style, although this last characteristic can be highly variable over even a single season."

The suit is a class action filed on behalf of all college athletes depicted in the NCAA Football and NCAA Basketball games.

The NCAA did have a response:

Our agreement with EA Sports clearly prohibits the use of names and pictures of current student-athletes in their electronic games," said NCAA spokesman Erik Christianson, in a statement. "We are confident that no such use has occurred and that we will ultimately be dismissed from this lawsuit.

One interesting article closed with an amusing comment about the NCAA: "But while they may be okay by the letter of the law, once again the NCAA violates the spirit of protecting the student athlete with alarming ease. So long as they are getting paid."

I bring this up in part because the lawsuit was filed in San Francisco. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for how this plays out.

2009 Nebraska Football Spring Preview: Quarterbacks

Jon Johnston — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 22:12:27 -0000

Nebraska heads into 2009 spring football with coaches looking to complete the following progression:

Zac Taylor, Sam Keller, Joe Ganz, _____________

The key will be finding the guy who looks more like Taylor and Ganz than Sam Keller. Or rather, the Joe Ganz of 2008, as in 2007 Ganz experienced the growing pains that are part of any college quarterback's first year as a starter.

A little history refresher - Joe Ganz first real action began in 2007 when he replaced Sam Keller after Keller suffered a season-ending injury against Texas. Nebraska was down 28-17 and Sam Keller left the gme with a season-ending injury. Ganz hadn't played much throughout the season but finished a scoring drive to pull the Huskers within a field goal with a minute to go. Unfortunately the onside kick attempt failed, Nebraska losing 28-25.

Ganz started the next three games against Kansas, Kansas State and Colorado. He piled up record setting performances, but he also threw seven interceptions and his three against Colorado were costly as the Buffaloes won the game and kept Nebraska from a bowl game.

Enter 2009 and the Huskers will be breaking in a brand new quarterback. Of the top three prospects - Zac Lee, Kody Spano, and Cody Green - only Lee has taken snaps in a game. Regardless of who's anointed as the next starter (and there will be no starter announced in the spring) remember that there will be growing pains come fall.

Replacing Joe Ganz is a top priority for the 2009 Nebraska football team.
Photo by Dennis Hubbard

Zac Lee is the most likely choice for the starting quarterback position. Lee, a 6-2, 210 pound junior, played in two games last season. He was on the field late in the New Mexico State game where he attempted two passes, completing one for an eight yards. Against Kansas State he had two rushes for a total of 17 yards.

Despite little playing time, Lee has been around the program long enough to learn Shawn Watson's complex offense (flashback to Ganz walking on the field against Texas in 2007).

Kody Spano redshirted last season after being the sole quarterback recruit in Bo Pelini's first recruiting class. Spano was set to sign for Oklahoma State until Mike Gundy informed him he wouldn't be able to take an early scholarship. Spano felt slighted while Bill Callahan recruit Blaine Gabbert had jumped ship to Missouri leaving a position open for Spano to come to Nebraska. The rest is history, as they say, and now we'll see how the whole thing works out.

Spano seems to have largely been forgotten as a potential starter. He's stuck between Lee, the inexperienced veteran, and Cody Green, the new kid in town. From his official bio, Spano was the ninth-ranked dual threat quarterback by Rivals.com and ranked by ESPN as among the nation's top 30 quarterbacks.

Cody Green has done everything right early in his Husker career. Like Spano, Green graduated and enrolled early at Nebraska so he could get an early jump on learning the offense. Green has plenty of talent, ranked as the sixth-best dual-threat quarterback by Rivals.com, while Scout.com ranked him as the seventh best national quarterback prospect. During his his senior year, he lead his high school team to a runner-up in their division,

Could Green start for the Huskers? Doubtful. It's unreasonable to ask a kid who has yet to turn 18 to come into a nationally known program, learn a new offense, start his freshman year on campus while at the same time answer the prayers of Husker fans across the world. Hopefully a redshirt season is in store for Green, so the only glimpse of him this year might be found at the spring game in April.

(There are rumors of an injury that might keep Green out of spring practice, but at this point they are only rumors.)

What to Watch:

How much will Shawn Watson's offense change from the previous season, and how much of that will we see in the spring game? All three quarterback prospects are mobile, so they give Watson the ability to run the spread option or zone read. All three have the ability to throw on the run. The key will be their comfort running the offense and their passing accuracy that separates them. Another key may be watching to see who makes key mistakes rather than who makes the big plays.

The good news for Husker fans is that we have three talented quarterbacks heading into spring practice, and in the fall the Huskers open up against two Sun Belt conference teams at home before going on the road to face Virginia Tech. It may be their ability to take care of the ball that determines who starts when the Huskers head to Blacksburg.