Husker basketball

Well, the season is half over and I haven't really mentioned the Husker basketball team. To be honest, I don't really have a lot of hope for the team this season because we are just too little to be much of a factor. That said, I really like the way that Doc Sadler has the team playing. They give a lot of effort and play great defense. They half-court offense is pretty dreadful most of the time because of the lack of a presence in the middle. We usually just dribble and pass until there is about 5-7 seconds on the shot clock and then throw up a 3-pointer.

Hopefully, the addition of 6'11" Brian Diaz and 6"11 Christopher Niemann for next season will make us more of a threat on offense and in the rebounding area. With the right players, I think coach Sadler has the ability to take the Huskers far.

Huskers biggest recruit for 2009 already in class!!!

By far, the biggest gain for the Huskers for the 2009 season is the decision of star Husker defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh to return for his senior year at Nebraska and obtain his degree. Projected to go in the NFL draft in the late 1st or early 2nd round, Suh announced that he would remain a Husker for the 2009 season. Suh thrived in 2008 under the new defensive leadership of head coach Bo Pelini, Def Coordinator Carl Pelini, and position coach John Papuchis. Anyone who followed the Huskers this year could see Suh transforming from a solid defensive lineman to an unstoppable force by the end of the year. Statistically, Suh led the blackshirts in tackles(76), tackles for loss(19) sacks(7) and QB hurries(7). He also intercepted two passes, both of which he returned for touchdowns. Another year of dominance and he will easily be drafted in the top 15 of next years NFL draft.

Suh's return for '09 will anchor the d-line which proved to be the strong point of the Huskers in 2008. The Huskers lose starters Zach Potter and Ty Steinkuhler who both stepped up big time this season. Cushioning the loss of Potter will be the healthy return of DE Barry Turner who missed practically all of the 2008 season with a knee injury. At the other DE position will be Pierre Allen, who had a stellar season replacing Turner. Allen had 5 sacks and 52 tackles, 10 of them behind the line of scrimmage. Replacing Steinkuhler at DT might be his brother Baker Stienkuhler who was one of the most highly coveted players coming out of high school in 2007. Baker redshirted in 2008 and is currently listed as a defensive lineman although he has talent on the offensive side of the line as well. Jared Crick saw a lot of time on the d-line this season as did Terence Moore, who showed some disruption tallying 2 sacks in his limited action. Add redshirt freshman Josh Williams and possible JC recruits to the mix and the Huskers should be a force on the defensive line next year.

Final Rankings

Nebraska finished their football season outside of the final rankings despite the fact that they finished strong(won 6 out of their last 7 games) and beat Clemson in the Gator Bowl. Many Husker fans on Huskerpedia think this is a a travesty. Some Husker fans tend to be irrational babies at times over trivial things like this. In the AP poll, we are the 29th rated team. The Husker fans who are complaining think we should be around 24 or 25. Wow, what a big difference that would make. The only difference with that ranking is that we would actually be listed on the list instead of in the dreaded "others receiving votes" list underneath. I don't know if this is a reflection of their own self-worth or what but it doesn't seem like much to get worked up about.

HUSKERS LOSE IN SEMI FINALS TO PENN ST

All I can say is----I am SO proud of the Husker volleyball team this season and how they played together as a team and left it all out on the court every night. When you consider what they lost from last years team, it is very obvious how good of a coach John Cook is as both a tactician, and as a leader. Talent wise, I don't think there is any doubt that Penn State was the superior team last night but our ladies continued to fight even when down 2-0 in sets. Unlike the Washington match, we had NO momentum at all going into set 3 and things looked very bleak. Instead of going through the motions, the Huskers came out aggressive and, as the announcers stated, punched the Nittany Lions in the mouth. Its true that we made some mistakes at the very end but what really impressed me is that we were causing Penn State to make mistakes as well. They were a machine all season and we forced tension in them that they haven't felt all year. We are really going to miss Larson, Schwartz, and Gates but we have a lot of talent coming back and one of the best coaches in the game. I think the future is very bright for Husker volleyball.

HUSKER VOLLEYBALL

For my first real post I would like to congratulate the Husker volleyball team on making it to the final four this year with their incredible comeback victory over Washington on the Huskies home court. It truly was the best volleyball match that I have ever witnessed in my life. Down two sets to none and playing very poorly by their standards, the Husker ladies put it all together and came back to shock the Washington volleyball team and their fans, not to mention gain a small bit of revenge for the loss to the Huskies in the 2006 title game.

The Huskers were lead by sophomore outside hitter and all-around hottie Tara Mueller, who was named the Regional's Most Outstanding Player. Mueller had a career high 24 kills in the match. Despite a sub-par game from potential college volleyball Player of the Year Jordan Larson, the Huskers fought hard to overcome their early deficit. Larson, at times struggled, but still put up 21 kills and 4 blocks which tells you the type of dominating player she is to have those kinds of numbers on an "off" night.



The Huskers now move on to the final 4 in Omaha to face defending National Champion Penn State on Thursday. Penn State is not only undefeated but they have yet to lose a set in 36 matches this season. It is a tall task but if you have seen Nebraska play this year, you know they have the talent and heart to pull off this upset.

Link to NCAA VB bracket

GOOD LUCK HUSKERS!!!!!!!!