[personal] RE: [Husker] Could this Husker team beat... (LONG)

[Skylar Dodds]

Hello Husker Fans,

DR> How will the Blackshirts stop KSU's newfound weapons?

I think you might be overstating KSU's offense a little.  They have a
decent defense and a sub-par offense.  Freeman looked a little better
last week and their I-back isn't bad, but bottom line, I don't see
them scoring more than 20 and I don't see them holding us to less than
20.  We're an early 12 point favorite and I think that's about right
since it's in Manhattan.

DR> How will Austin's injury hurt the "rock pounding"?

I think he's going to be OK for the KSU game.  They said it was just a
'tweak' and he avoided serious injury.

DR> The press has tried to turn the team into a gridiron version of
DR> American Chopper by looking for dissention because (player's name
DR> here) didn't get a touch in (game here).All while the team unity
DR> is strong week in and week out.

I agree with this.  We've obviously seen a fluctuation in carries for
each back on a given day, but I haven't heard much squabble about it.
I think they have it right on Unsportsmanlike Conduct, I think they
get a grade every day and at the end of the week, the total score
decides who will be featured.  The players know that if they want more
playing time, they've got to earn it in practice.

DR> Now what are they going to do against KSU? The Lucky/Wilson show
DR> with a breakout from Peterson?

I dunno, Callahan has featured Buckman for two straight games and it
will be tough not to use Glenn after his game last Saturday.

My hunch is we'll see more of Lucky but Kenny seems to be the 'runt'
and I don't expect he'll wind up being used as much as the rest (but
what do I know).

So far it's been Wilson (66), Lucky (64), Glenn (50), and Jackson (49)
for carries.  Glenn and Lucky have the best average (6.3 yds/carry)
and the most TDs (6/5 respectively) and the longest runs (36 / 51
respectively) and finally the highest average / game (63.2 / 67.5
respectively).  The I-Backs have a combined 5.7 yards / carry, 17
TDs, 227.5 yards per game.

Compared to last year, (Ross, Glenn, Lucky, and Jackson) when the
Huskers had 3.6 yards / carry, 9 TDs, 108.8 yards per game.  The
Huskers 1264 yds this year already dwarfs last year's 1152 yards.

Peterson seems to be a situational guy.  He's got decent height and a
good vertical, but doesn't seem like the every down WR like Purify and
Nunn.

DR> Will Purify continue his rise and Herian will get another TD?

I know this seems like quite a statement, but I think we're just
beginning to see what Purify can do.  This kid is good.  Hopefully
he's got the head to go with it and stays out of trouble.  He's one of
those receivers that's never really covered.  You might be on him, but
that doesn't mean he's not going to catch the ball.  It would take a
pretty darn good DB to man-cover this guy.

As for Herian, I hate to say it because I really love this guy, but
he just doesn't seem like the Herian we had before.   He goes down
easy, he's covered more.  I don't know if it's still injury, but he
just doesn't seem like the Herian that tore up defenses a couple years
ago.  I hope soo badly that I'm wrong...

DR> How could Mann help?

I'm hoping Mann will be back to full force soon.  The one-play
appearance in the ISU game is hopefully a good sign.  He's one of our
better lineman and and as another senior on the O-line the experience
is always good.

I will say though, I've been pretty impressed with Byford the last few
games.  He's really come along nicely and it's good to know we have a
backup that's very competent.

DR> I don't think a freshman QB will do well against the Blackshirts.

Yeah, I got to imagine we're going to really try and confuse him,
since he's so young.  Probably throw a few different schemes against
him as well as some nice blitz packages with Shanle again.

DR> And will the Huskers ever get a cool fog-spewing inflatable helmet
DR> to run out of like ISU? :)

We can only hope.  We can only hope.

-- 
Go Skers,
 Skylar                            mailto:Sklarbodds at cox.net