Yardbarker: Nebraska Cornhuskers

Big 12 power rankings

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:15:48 -0500

1. Mizz Won't be satisfied unless they claim school's first conference title in 39 years. 2. OU Defensive playmakers needed if Sooners have three-peat hopes. 3. Texas Tech Highest expectations on the South Plains since Steve Sloan's tenure there. 4. Texas Mack Brown has got to be loving playing the underdog card -- for once. 5. Kansas Jayhawks could be better than last season -- even if their record won't reflect it. 6. OSU QB Zac Robinson might be the Big 12's most underrated player. 7. Texas A&M Conference's best set of backs might be running behind greenest line. 8. Nebraska Bo Pelini promises to pump passion, energy into underachieving defense. 9. Colorado Hopes hinging on quick development by freshman TB Darrell Scott. 10. KSU Juco infusion on defense could determine Ron Prince's job status. 11. Baylor Killer early schedule could wreck season before conference play begins. 12. Iowa State Too many questions to pick them from crawling out of the cellar.

IBB Preseason All America Team Defense

Mon, 04 Aug 2008 09:58:24 -0500

Today we finish our Preseason All America Team with the big uglies on Defense. There are some definite high caliber players that will be playing on Sundays very shortly. Once again leave a message if you agree or disagree with the team.

College Football's Best Stadiums - Part 2

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 01:08:09 -0500

Last week I began a four-part series on some of college football's best stadiums. This week we move to the Midwest where more of the best stadiums in college football are located. I'm really enjoy reading the histories of these great stadiums and I'm hopeful you're enjoying it too.

Who Has The Toughest Schedule in College Football?

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:47:49 -0500

I want to make it clear that every list you'll see regarding the most difficult schedule for the 2008 college football season is entirely subjective. I took into account where those tough games take place - at home or on the road. Ultimately, I ranked the teams based on the total number of pre-season Top 25 games on the schedule and how many of those games are at home or on the road.

Big 12 Fantasy Preview

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 08:09:57 -0500

Athlon continues to preview the 2008 college fantasy season with a look at the Big 12. This conference boasts a plethora of starting quarterback options, but several intriguing running back battles are worth watching in the fall.

Florida Football: Is Meyer an Urban Legend or Urban Liar?

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 15:09:09 -0500

Whether you believe he's a legend in the making or a liar, Urban Meyer stokes passions on all sides. Legend advocates will cite his second-year National Championship and a sophomore Heisman Trophy winner. Liar advocates are lining up against Meyer as stories continue to build, just as bridges linking Meyer to other coaches continue to burn. Consider these recent stories from other sites and sources on Meyer's recruiting tactics. It's unlikely the following schools have Meyer on their Christmas card list. LSU: Florida was ready to take all-star corner Patrick Johnson with what they thought was a bogus test score, but he committed to LSU. How did Florida respond? "Florida flagged my scores," Johnson said. "They called the compliance office." "I'm not upset," Johnson said. "Florida made an issue about the ACT score. They're cowards. They had to go behind my back. But that's OK. We play them this year (on Oct. 11 at Florida)." FSU (posted on noledigest.com): "While Gator fans will sit and give excuses or spin the details of what is going on, there is no denying that it seems like the UF staff flat-out lies to these kids. "Here is a quote from Trent Pupello (a player they initially compared to Jeremy Shockey), who is looking to leave the program this year: 'Coach (Steve) Addazio (UF tight ends coach) told me to work on my speed,' Pupello said. 'He didn't say that my speed was slow or anything. He just said that everything (at this level) is faster. "'I need to work on speed and getting stronger, which is pretty much what we all need to work on. He said that they need me at tight end, that I'll have an early chance to play and that all of the tight ends will play on the special teams.'" Michigan site (on the recruitment of Daryl Stonum): The University of Florida stayed on the four star pass-catcher well all the way through. Things crescendoed recently after a conversation with Urban Meyer. According to Stonum, Meyer had a compelling reason why he should become a Gator. "He told me that he talked to Coach Carr and Coach Soup and that they told him that I would be a much better fit in the Florida offense than I would be in the one at Michigan," Stonum recalled. "I thought, wow, my coaches are selling me out? I confronted them about it. I asked Coach Carr and Coach Soup about it, and they said they never talked to that guy and that there was no way they ever said anything like that and that they think I should be a Wolverine. I believed them. Right then, I knew just how Florida rolled." Just Funny: You can't tell the story about Jevan Snead enough (recounted in the book Meat Market). The funniest thing I read in it concerned what Urban Meyer told Jevan Snead. Snead had watched the Outside the Lines special on Tebow, which showed Meyer and OC Dan Mullen in the stands. Problem was, Meyer had told Snead, committed at the time, that he was the only quarterback they were going after. When Snead asked Meyer about it, Meyer responded, "We are recruiting him for linebacker." I had heard that before, but got a big kick out of reading it in the book straight from Snead. More LSU from Fox 26 in Houston: "Hempstead's Terrance Toliver, one of the nation's top high school football recruits, says negative recruiting tactics by the University of Florida first had him confused and bewildered. But in an unusual move, two Hempstead High School employees went above and beyond the call of duty to help Toliver make the biggest decision of his life. "After a vigorous early recruiting rush, it came down to LSU and Florida for Toliver, considered by many the No. 1 high school recruit in Texas and the best wide receiver in the nation. He ended up signing a letter-of-intent with LSU on National Signing Day Wednesday, but not before Florida coaches took several shots at LSU, leaving Toliver unsure what to do next. "'Every time (Florida recruiters) came, they just said LSU doesn't qualify their players,' Toliver told FOX 26's Mark Berman Wednesday. 'About (how) their academics are not all that. It kind of had me confused.'" "Eventually a bewildered Toliver asked his football coach Rick Sargent and Hempstead instructional coordinator Tina Johnson to go to Baton Rouge to find out the truth about LSU. The two went last weekend. 'They went and checked (LSU's) academics out and their facilities,' Toliver said. 'They just came back and told me whatever Florida was saying about the academics wasn't true.'" Notre Dame Blog: When Meyer recruited Justin Trattou he did so by the cover of night. Not that it's illegal, but he told Trattou not to tell anyone he was talking with Florida. Keep in mind that Trattou was committed to Notre Dame at the time. Amongst other things, Coach Meyer talked to Trattou about how the 3-4 defense was not a good fit for him and his football future (read: NFL, which is garbage—the Cowboys, Patriots, and Chargers all use the 3-4). Former Gators assistant coach Greg Mattison's favorite topics about Notre Dame (with several recruits), despite his previous love for the school, included how the weather sucked and the social life suffered. Case in point No. 2: Omar Hunter, same deal as before. Omar was snookered into lying to everyone from Notre Dame coaches and players to likely even his parents, especially his father, who wanted him at Notre Dame due to the academics. Hunter said that he was not talking to other schools, when in fact he was—Florida included—while being a Notre Dame commitment. In the end, Hunter was a fraud himself, but he was not the one who was truly taken for a ride. Coach Mattison recruited Hunter. He had an ax to grind with Notre Dame after leaving South Bend on not so good terms, and he definitely took it to another level with Hunter. Mattison, you see, had an assistant coaching job lined up with the Baltimore Ravens long before this past National Signing Day came around. So when Hunter switched his commitment to UF after initially deciding to attend Notre Dame, Mattison and Meyer did what came naturally. They lied to Hunter about the entire situation, telling Hunter that Mattison was not leaving Gainesville. Just by complete and total coincidence, Mattison ended up taking a job with the Ravens right after National Signing Day. Shocking! And oh yes, Notre Dame assistant coach Bill Lewis, who recently retired as a football coach, told Hunter what was about to happen. Hunter did not listen and signed with the Gators. Urban continues to build the best talent base not located in Southern California. Success certainly breeds enemies, but so does recruiting. Urban Legend or Urban Liar?

Jason Peter Would Like To Spit In Lou Holtz's Face

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:39:10 -0500

I love when athletes hold certain grudges against harmless media people. It's even funnier when that person is the crazy, and usually random, Lou Holtz. Ex-NFLer Jason Peter has a bit of a grudge against Lou and he's pulling no punches in his new book. From the South Bend Tribune via The Wiz of Odds....

Twelve years after he last paced the Notre Dame sideline, former Irish coach Lou Holtz still tends to inspire strong feelings in the people whose lives he crossed, even momentarily.

That list certainly includes former University of Nebraska football star turned author Jason Peter, who saves some of the strongest profanity-laced vitriol in his new book "Hero of the Underground," for Holtz.

"I still wouldn't turn down the opportunity to spit in Lou Holtz's (bleeping) face," Peter writes in the book, which hit bookshelves on July 8. "Each Saturday in the fall when Holtz makes his jovial, dumb ... remarks on ESPN, I hope he knows that there's at least one family on the other side of the screen, the Peter family, that knows what a -- -- -- he really is."

The reason for the grudge stems from Lou Holtz not ever calling Peter's brother after the ND recruit suffered a broken neck in a freak pool accident. The bother, Damien, even attended Notre Dame and was ignored by coaches and teammates. He recovered and then transfered to Nebraska. Everything turned out good for Damien, but that doesn't mean that Jason is okay with it....

"My fingers start to tense up and I get that feeling through my body, even after all these years have passed, when I see him on TV," Jason Peter said in a phone interview Thursday. "When I hear people talking about him, something goes off in my head. I carry so much anger over that and I don't know what it would take or if there's anything that can be done to make it OK.

"Out of the entire book, with all the stories that are in there, all the different phases of my life, the toughest chapter for me to write and for me to read is the part about Damian breaking his neck and the fact that Holtz never called him."

That's some hate right there. I also really wonder what (blank)(blank)(blank) actually is. If anyone has any guesses feel free to leave them in the comments, but I'm going with "Stupid Dummy Head".

Author scorns Holtz (South Bend Tribune)
Reporters' Notebooks (The Wizard of Odds)

Former Cornhusker Jason Peter wants to "spit in Lou Holtz's (bleeping) face"

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 20:09:03 -0500

Well, the headline pretty much sums it up, but former Nebraska football player Jason Peter isn't a fan of former Notre Dame & South Carolina coach current ESPN college analyst Lou Holtz. Peter says the bad-blood started when "his younger brother was a highly touted offensive lineman who committed to Notre Dame shortly before he broke a vertebra in his neck. Holtz never called or visited, though two Notre Dame assistants did, and in the fall Damien was "frozen out, ignored, discarded" by Holtz and company." That would piss me off too, but who knows if this is actually true. Either way, Holtz is a horrible analyst and I can't stand his crazy rants and awkward pep talks.

The future of Mike Williams is...

Wed, 09 Jul 2008 17:55:21 -0500

I know that if you go to a lot of the Syracuse blogs, such as The Daily Orange or Troy Nunes is an absolute Magician or Syracuse.com, you have already read over and over that Mike Williams hasn't enrolled at Onondaga Community College for the summer semester. While speculating is something that most people don't like to do, I think I will give my opinion on the following, and say that: "This means Syracuse has probably seen the last of this young man".

Missouri and Oklahoma Looks To Be The Class Of The Big 12 In 2008

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:31:46 -0500

If Missouri is going to prove that they can win the Big 12 this year, their defense will need to step up and be more physical. Seems that the spring practices were designed to do just that. I think it will be Mizzou and OU in the Big 12 title game in December.

Husker Recruit Close to a Decision, is it Nebraska?

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:41:44 -0500

4-Star Quarterback recruit Cody Green is a player a lot of Nebraska fans are salivating over. While the young signal caller has amassed over 30 scholarship offers, he recently trimmed the list of teams he's considering to two, eliminating such national powers as LSU, and Alabama. The race for Green's arm has come down to two conference rivals, Nebraska, and Texas A&M.

Former Husker Keller, Joins the Raiders

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:42:11 -0500

Sam Keller never kept it a secret, he wanted to play in the NFL. He pointed to his desire to make the Big Leagues as one of the reasons he transferred from Arizona State, and became a Nebraska Cornhusker three years ago.

Big 12 Fantasy WR Rankings

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:02:01 -0500

In a year where gunslinger quarterbacks reign supreme, the Big 12 has no shortage of fantasy receiver options either. Texas Tech's Michael Crabtree is the top fantasy receiver in the nation. In fact last season, Crabby had arguably the top fantasy season by a college receiver - ever.

Nebraska Cornhuskers Mid-Summer Report

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 08:48:26 -0500

Well, I'm back in the saddle again. Yea it's been a while since I posted a Nebraska Cornhusker article here on YardBarker. So now where to begin; well how about on the Husker recruiting trail, which is where most teams future lies so I will begin there. So far Bo Pelini has been able to get verbal commitments from 5 players that include 2 offensive and 3 defensive players. The offensive players are both in the backfield one running back and a fullback. The running back is Dontrayevous Robinson, who is a 6'1" 215 pound and runs a 4.5 40. As a junior Robinson gained more than 900 yards rushing and had 18 touchdowns for Dallas area Euless Trinity. Robinson helped lead Euless Trinity to the class 5A state championship going 15-1 last season. The second backfield recruiting member is also 6'1" 215 pounds (What is this some sort of new running back standard?) and hails from within the state of Nebraska. The newly signed fullback is C.J. Zimmerer from Omaha, who will conjure up memories of Tom Rathman, Cory Schlesinger and the Makovickas brothers from what I am told. Zimmerer is also a standout linebacker, but the Huskers want him as a fullback. Also from the great state of Texas is Thaddeus Randle a 6'1" 255 pound defensive tackle from Houston area Galena Park North Shore another Texas 5A powerhouse. Randle has been a starter on North Shore's defense since his sophomore season and his coach Bobby Reid (former Oklahoma State quarterback) uses terms such as relentless and attacking and "an excellent technician" when describing the play of Randle. With 3 recruits from Texas for 2009 already committed, Pelini is a third of the way towards the number of recruits from his first class from Texas. "We have to be able to recruit Texas to be able to have success in recruiting" says Pelini. Shawn Bodtman 6 feet 205 pound linebacker from Scranton Pennsylvania is a straight a student who runs a 4.6 40 and bench pressed 225 pounds 12 times. Bodtman was blown away by the Huskers support as he attended the spring game. "The stadium was filled for basically a practice, the fans are incredible and the coaches are great" Bodtman said. Bodtman also plays running back and gained over 1,400 yards rushing last season, but the Huskers want him for their WILL backer position. The final recruit so far is Cole Pensick, who is the son of Dan Pensick a 3-time letterman (1977-79) at defensive tackle. Cole is a 6'2" 255 pound defensive lineman and the huskers are looking for Cole to play either the D-line or maybe center. Cole by the way was the Huskers very first verbal 2009 commitment. Among other happenings in Lincoln this summer is the annual quarterback camp that attracted more than 90 soon-to-be senior quarterbacks from across the country including such blue chippers as Ted Landers from Gardena California, Bryce Petty from Midlothia Texas and Cody Green from Dayton Texas and Ron Kellogg Jr. (whose dad, Ron Kellogg Sr. was a two-time All-Big Eight basketball player from Kansas' 1986 Final Four team. At the end of the camp Kellogg surprised all by being name the MVP of the camp over his more celebrated counterparts. Kellogg will be a senior at Omaha Westside and had not received any scholarship offers, but had planned to visit Northwest Missouri State this summer. One of the top quarterback prospects is Cody Green, another Texas kid who is from my area here in Texas, Dayton to be exact, which is about 40 miles east of Houston. Green is coming off of torn ligaments in his right ankle, and is one of those specimens who make coaches drool. He is 6' 4" 220 pound and runs a 4.6 40. He can hit a receiver in stride 60 yards down field. Green has narrowed his choices to the Huskers, Texas A & M and Alabama. In a final note, some older fans will remember Jack Mildren, who was the starting quarterback for the Oklahoma Sooner in the "game of the century" in 1971 against the Huskers. Well sad note is that Mildren passed away at the age of 58 from stomach cancer. Mildren was also the former lieutenant governor and most recently hosted a sports talk show in Oklahoma City. Well that's it for now keep the faith GBR!

Big 12 Fantasy RB Rankings

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:13:41 -0500

Fantasy owners should find no shortage of roster options in the Big 12 this year and just like the quarterback position, running backs are stocked.