Friday, October 29, 2010

Bay Area Husker ENews 10/29/10

Happy Halloween Bay Area Husker Fans!

Sorry to get this out so late...hope you get it before the game tomorrow.

Last Saturday's game was an offensive slug-fest for the Huskers and Cowboys with 92 points scored by both teams. Fortunately the Huskers came out on top. This Saturday's battle against the Mizzou Tigers is probably for all the Big 12 North Division marbles, with the winner eventually facing Oklahoma in Texas Stadium for the conference championship. Lets hope Mizzou gets the Halloween tricks and the Huskers get the treats. Should be a good game to watch.

The Volleyball team stubbed their toe last Wednesday in a 4 set loss to Texas, but they look to get back on the winning side tomorrow against Iowa State. The Soccer team has had a great year and have the most wins in a season since 2005. They face the Buffs today on FSN.

A couple of other good articles below...enjoy.

Go Big Red (White and Blue),
Carl

Watch Parties:

The Mizzou game will be broadcast on ABC Regional TV and for those of us on the west coast and outside the over the air broadcast area (see map below) it will be available on ESPN/ESPN HD. Athough you may be able to watch it at home, it will be a lot more fun to share the experience with other Husker fans at our Bay Area Watch Sites in San Francisco, Concord, Fremont and Monterey (see www.BayAreaHuskers.org for info and directions). So get there in time for lunch and grab a good seat for the game. Hope to see you there!
















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HUSKERS AND TIGERS SET FOR SATURDAY CLASH...

THE MATCHUP

Nebraska returns to Memorial Stadium for a Big 12 North showdown with the Missouri Tigers on Saturday afternoon. The winner will take a major step toward representing the North in the Big 12 Championship Game in early December. Kickoff between the Huskers and the Tigers is set for 12:30 p.m. (PDT) with the game televised on ABC.

The Huskers go into the game with a 6-1 overall record and a 2-1 mark in the Big 12 following an impressive 51-41 victory at No. 17 Oklahoma State. Nebraska trailed late in the second quarter in a back-and-forth offensive affair, before the Huskers took control with an outstanding all-around second-half display. The victory represented the highest ranked team Nebraska has defeated since 2001, and helped the Huskers stay at No. 14 in the AP poll and move up to 12th in the coaches poll.

Nebraska will face its second straight unbeaten and nationally ranked foe when Missouri comes to town. The Tigers are ranked seventh in the AP poll and eighth according to the coaches. Mizzou is one of the nation's seven remaining unbeatens after its 36-27 win over BCS No. 1 Oklahoma last Saturday night in Columbia.

A Nebraska win would pull it even with Missouri in the Big 12 North standings, while the Tigers could forge a two-game lead with a win. Either Nebraska or Missouri has represented the North in the last four Big 12 title games.

THE SERIES

Nebraska holds a 64-35-3 all-time edge between the two schools, including a 33-15-1 advantage in Lincoln. Missouri snapped a 15-game NU winning streak in Lincoln in 2008, before Nebraska rebounded last season with its first win in Columbia since 2001. The Tigers have not won back-to-back games in Lincoln since 1976 and 1978.

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HUSKERS WIN SHOOTOUT WITH COWBOYS...

Stillwater, Okla. - In an old-fashioned shootout that may have rekindled memories of Nebraska-Oklahoma State games of the late-1980s, the No. 14 Cornhuskers outyarded, outlasted and outscored the unbeaten and No. 17 Cowboys in a 51-41 win at Boone Pickens Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Nebraska amassed 542 total yards, including a career-high and NU freshman record 435 total offense yards from quarterback Taylor Martinez that included career bests of 323 passing yards and five passing touchdowns. The Huskers got some huge special teams plays from Alex Henery and Niles Paul to improve to 6-1 overall and 2-1 in the Big 12, while notching their sixth straight road win.

NU bounced back from its first loss of the season last week against Texas to hand OSU its first loss of the year and improve to 37-5-1 all-time against the Cowboys. OSU slipped to 6-1 overall and 2-1 in the conference with the loss.

The two teams combined for 92 points - the most during the Bo Pelini-era at Nebraska, and the most since NU and Kansas State combined for a 104 points on Nov. 10, 2007. That game included a school-record seven touchdown passes by NU's Joe Ganz, the only player in Husker history to throw more touchdown passes in a game than Martinez's five-TD effort on Saturday.

The Huskers and Cowboys also joined forced for 1,037 total yards.

It was the third-highest scoring game in the history of the NU-OSU series, trailing a 63-42 Husker win between a pair of ranked teams on Homecoming in Lincoln on Oct. 15, 1988. The next year in Stillwater, the two Big Eight brethren mustered 71 points in a 48-23 Husker win. The second-highest scoring game in the series came with a 65-31 Husker win in Lincoln during NU's 1970 national championship season.

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HUSKERS FOCUS ON UNBEATEN TIGERS...

Lincoln - Coach Bo Pelini and the Huskers met with the media at Memorial Stadium on Tuesday to discuss Saturday's Big 12 North battle with unbeaten Missouri.

The No. 14 Huskers will take on the No. 7 Tigers at Memorial Stadium with a 12:30 p.m. PDT kickoff scheduled to be televised live regionally by ABC-HD.

Nebraska (6-1, 2-1 Big 12) will be hoping to hand their second straight undefeated foe their first loss of the season. Last week, the Huskers gave Oklahoma State its first setback with a 51-41 victory in Stillwater.

The game between the Huskers and Tigers has major implications in the Big 12 North standings, with an NU victory pulling Nebraska even with MU atop the division standings.

Nebraska Coach Bo Pelini downplayed the big-game implications of the match-up.

"It is the next game and it's a big football game," Pelini said. "To me they are all big when you get to this point of the season. You've got to win, and they create a great challenge and obviously there are some things at stake. But you can pile all of those things up on top and it comes down to execution and playing football, and the team that makes the most plays is going to be winning that game."

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HUSKERS FINISH PREP FOR TIGERS...

Lincoln - The Nebraska football team practiced for just less than two hours Thursday inside the Hawks Championship Center as the Huskers finished preparations for Missouri on Saturday. After practice, Head Coach Bo Pelini addressed the media about this week's match-up with the Tigers.

"I thought it was a good week of practice, I really did," Pelini said. "I thought the attention to detail was pretty good. There are still a couple of things to clean up, but I thought it was a good week."

Pelini expects defensive end Pierre Allen to be healthy this week and contribute on the defensive side of the ball. While he has been sidelined, Jason Ankrah and Josh Williams have seen playing time at the position.

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HUSKER-IOWA STATE GAME SET FOR ABC REGIONAL BROADCAST...

The Big 12 Conference announced on Monday that Nebraska's Nov. 6 game at Iowa State in Ames will be televised regionally on ABC with kickoff set for 12:30 p.m. PT.

The game will mark Nebraska's fourth straight game televised on ABC and the fifth overall this season on that network. Nebraska has already appeared on the network in games against Washington, Texas and Oklahoma State, while this week's contest with Missouri is also set for an ABC telecast. Additionally, Nebraska's Nov. 26 regular-season finale with Colorado will be televised nationally on ABC.

Game times and television information for Nebraska's Nov. 13 game with Kansas and its Nov. 20 matchup at Texas A&M will be announced six to 12 days in advance.

Other Big 12 games selected for telecast on Nov. 6 include Baylor at Oklahoma State (9:30 a.m., FSN), Oklahoma at Texas A&M (4 p.m., FSN), Missouri at Texas Tech (5 p.m., ABC) and Texas at Kansas State (5 p.m., ESPN2).

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MARTINEZZ EARNS MORE HONORS...

The honors continued to roll in for Taylor Martinez on Monday, as the redshirt freshman was announced as one of 16 semifinalists for the 2010 Davey O’Brien National Quarterback Award, in addition to earning a pair of player-of-the-week honors.

Martinez is the only freshman among the Davey O’Brien semifinalists and is one of four quarterbacks from the Big 12 Conference to make the list. He is the first Husker to be a semifinalist for the award since Eric Crouch, who won the award in 2001. The Davey O’Brien Award also features a fan vote that accounts for five percent of the voting total. Fans can vote for Martinez by visiting www.voteobrien.org.

A native of Corona, Calif., Martinez has led Nebraska to top-20 national rankings in rushing (fifth), scoring offense (10th) and total offense (17th). He has completed nearly 60 percent of his passes while throwing for 1,046 yards and eight touchdowns. On the ground, Martinez has rushed for 870 yards on 100 carries, scoring 12 times.

Martinez needs only 130 rushing yards to become just the third freshman in NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision history to both run and pass for 1,000 yards. Martinez is also 223 yards away from posting the highest rushing total ever by a freshman quarterback. Among the individual NCAA leaders, Martinez ranks in the top 10 nationally in rushing yards per game (9th) and scoring (t-10th) and is among the top 25 individuals in passing efficiency (20th) and total offense (23rd).

In addition to being a Davey O’Brien semifinalist, Martinez was also honored as the Big 12 co-Offensive Player of the Week and the Rivals.com National Freshman of the Week. The Big 12 honor marked Martinez’s second honor in the past three weeks, while he was named the national freshman of the week for the fourth time this season. On Sunday, Martinez was also selected as the Walter Camp Foundation National Offensive Player of the Week.

Martinez was honored with those awards following an outstanding performance in Nebraska’s 51-41 win at previously unbeaten Oklahoma State last Saturday. Against the Cowboys, Martinez completed 23-of-35 passes for 323 yards and five touchdowns, with each of those totals setting a Nebraska freshman record. He added 112 rushing yards on 19 carries to become the first Husker and only the fifth freshman in NCAA history to pass for 300 yards and rush for 100 yards in a single game.

Martinez’s 435 yards of total offense set a Nebraska freshman record and ranked third overall in Husker history. Through seven games, Martinez has already set Nebraska freshman records for season passing yards (1,046), longest rush (80 yards, twice) and consecutive 100-yard rushing games (3), along with tying Ahman Green’s freshman record of five 100-yard rushing games.

Martinez has also set Nebraska freshman game records for rushing touchdowns (4), passing touchdowns (5), passing yards (323) and total offense (435), and he also owns the Nebraska quarterback record for most rushing yards in a game (241).

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CRICK NAMED LOMBARDI AWARD SEMIFINALIST...

HOUSTON - October 28, 2010 - Nebraska defensive tackle Jared Crick (Cozad, Neb.) was named one of 12 semifinalists Thursday evening for the 2010 Rotary Lombardi Award.

Crick has anchored a Nebraska defense which ranks in the top 20 nationally in scoring defense (17.9 points per game, 17th) and total defense (305.9 yards per game, 18th) and has held five of seven opponents under 300 yards of offense this season. He has totaled 31 tackles this season, including six tackles for loss and a team-high 3.5 sacks for 40 yards

Crick was one of 10 defensive players among the 12 semifinalists, and one of three Big 12 players, joining Oklahoma's Jeremy Beal and Texas' Sam Acho. The 2010 winner will be announced on December 8, in Houston.

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HENERY ADDS TO IMPRESSIVE HAUL...

Lincoln - Nebraska special teams standout Alex Henery received a pair of honors Friday, as he was named a Lou Groza Award semifinalist, as well as earning a spot on the Ray Guy Award watch list. The senior place-kicker/punter is the only player in the country on both award lists.

Henery, who is a Groza Award semifinalist for the second straight year, has been one of the nation's top specialists over the past four years, holding school records for single-season (24 in 2009) and career field goals (59) while going 174-of-175 on career extra points. He also holds the NCAA record for most games with four field goals or more with six.

He is among the active NCAA leaders in career points (351, second), extra points (174, second) and field goals (59, fourth) and has connected on 59-of-66 career field goals, a rate of 89.39 percent. He is currently ahead of the all-time record for NCAA career accuracy (87.8 percent by Florida's Bobby Raymond during the 1983-84 seasons).

This season, he is perfect on all 44 kicks, going 35-for-35 on extra points and 9-for-9 on field goals, including a season-long 52-yarder at No. 17 Oklahoma State. He has three games with multiple field goals, including a 3-for-3 effort against the Cowboys last weekend.

The Groza Award will announce three finalists in November and they will be honored at the Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Awards Banquet on Dec. 7 in West Palm Beach, Fla., with the winner being announced on the Home Depot College Football Awards show on Dec. 9.

Henery, who was also on the Guy Award watch list in 2009, is in his second season as NU's starting punter and ranks seventh nationally in punting with an average of 46.29 yards per punt. He has placed nearly 40 percent of his punts this season inside the 20-yard line and has 11 kicks which have gone at least 50 yards.

The Ray Guy Award will announce its 10 semifinalists on Nov. 12 and three finalists on Nov. 22. The winner will be announced at the Home Depot College Football Awards show on Dec. 9.

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TWO HUSKERS NAMED QUARTERFINALISTS FOR LOTT TROPHY...

Senior cornerback Prince Amukamara and junior defensive tackle Jared Crick were two of the 23 defenders named quarterfinalists for the Lott Trophy, the Pacific Club IMPACT Foundation announced on Wednesday.

Nebraska, Oklahoma and LSU were the only schools with more than one player selected to the list. Named after NFL Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott, the Lott Trophy is presented annually to college football’s defensive IMPACT player of the year. The Lott Trophy is the only college football award to equally recognize athletic performance and the personal character attributes of the player.

Semifinalists for the award will be announced on Nov. 3 and four finalists will be announced on Nov. 24. The winner of the 2010 Lott Trophy will be announced in early December.

Amukamara, a native of Phoenix, Ariz., is widely regarded as one of the nation’s top cornerbacks. One of five defensive backs among the quarterfinalists, Amukamara leads Nebraska with seven pass breakups this season, while totaling 24 tackles, including 10 solo stops. He has helped Nebraska lead the nation in passing defense and pass efficiency defense.

A native of Cozad, Neb., Crick was one of 10 defensive linemen on the list of quarterfinalists. From his defensive tackle position, Crick ranks fifth on the team with 27 tackles. He is also tied the team lead with five tackles-for-loss, while ranking second with 2.5 sacks and five quarterback hurries

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FINAL BATTLE FOR THE BELL...












In this October 2004 file photo, Nick Clatterbuch (left), keeper of the bell for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Innocents Society, Rob Edwards from the University of Missouri and Bob Peterson lay out score plaques on the Victory Bell. Scores of the rivalry hadn't been updated since 1954, Peterson's class. (LJS file)

See the bell

The Victory Bell will be on display at the Wick Alumni Center, 1520 R St., during the Nebraska Alumni Association's Football Fridays event, which starts at 5:30 p.m. Friday. The free event also will feature NU volleyball coach John Cook, and former Husker football players Matt Davison and Tommie Frazier.

More from Husker Extra

Watch the Husker Extra Game Day pregame video series here.

Get Nebraska-Missouri game updates and chat with other fans here.

Look for NU-Mizzou game photos here.

Look for fan photos here. Send yours to yourpics@journalstar.com to be featured.

Saturday's Memorial Stadium matchup isn't just the last time the two football teams will meet as members of the Big 12 Conference.

It's also the final Battle for the Bell.

The Victory Bell, stolen from a church in Seward by two fraternities in 1892, has gone home with the winner of the Nebraska-Missouri football game every year since 1927. The Big Red claimed it last year after beating Mizzou 27-12 in Columbia.

Should the 14th-ranked Huskers win Saturday, all is good in Corn Country. The bell stays here, no questions asked.

But what if the No. 7 Tigers should leave Lincoln with their perfect record still intact?

"It's not an ideal situation if Missouri wins," said Jack Ehrke, a University of Nebraska-Lincoln senior and keeper of the bell for the UNL Innocents Society, the honor group that exchanges the trophy with Missouri's similar QEBH Society.

Regardless of the outcome, both schools will get commemorative bells ordered by the Innocents Society.

If the Tigers win, the plan is for them to take the real Victory Bell home on loan, Ehrke said.

"It's a fun thing for them," Ehrke said. "They should be able to take it home and enjoy that."

It's not clear -- should Missouri win -- when, or if, the real Victory Bell will return to Nebraska.

The bell belonged to a pair of UNL fraternities for 30-odd years before the start of the Missouri-Nebraska tradition.

Alex Ruppenthal, a Missouri senior and QEBH president, said he isn't heart-set on withholding the bell from the Huskers.

"We definitely do understand that it all started there."

He described the commemorative bells as "a gracious move."

QEBH hadn't given much thought to the bell this year before the Innocents contacted them, Ruppenthal said. The Missouri group was more interested in the game itself, he said.

A month ago, Ehrke said, he didn't expect this last game to be much of a battle at all. Back then, Nebraska was considered the clear favorite to win. Now the Huskers appear to have a real contest on their hands.

"It makes it a little more exciting," Ehrke said. "A little more interesting."

Reach Zach Pluhacek at 402-473-7234 or zpluhacek@journalstar.com.

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Big 12 suspends Nebraska LB for helmet hit - College Football - Rivals.com

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/news?slug=ap-t25-nebraska-martinsuspended

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ATHLETICS:
REGENTS APPROVE EAST STADIUM UPGRADE AND INDOOR PRACTICE FACILITIES FOR BASEBALL AND SOFTBALL...

At its Friday meeting, the University of Nebraska Board of Regents approved the Nebraska Athletics program statement and $55.5 million budget for improvements to the East Stadium in Memorial Stadium as well as a proposed capital improvement expenditure of $4.75 million for a new baseball and softball indoor practice facility at Haymarket Park.

The East Stadium proposal calls for funding to come from athletic private donations and bond revenues generated from the new seating. The Indoor Practice Facility will be paid for through athletic private donations. No state appropriated funds will be used for either project.

"We are pleased that the Board of Regents has given us approval to move forward on expanding Memorial Stadium with the East Stadium Improvement Project and also for us to work with NEBCO to build an indoor baseball and softball practice facility at Haymarket Park," Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne said.

The expansion plan will increase Memorial Stadium's attendance to more than 90,000 by adding approximately 5,000 new seats.

Plans are still being developed for the baseball and softball practice facility, but the indoor complex is expected to feature batting cages, as well as room to work on defensive and team drills.

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VOLLEYBALL:
HUSKERS LOOK TO BOUNCE BACK AGAINST CYCLONES...

No. 3 Nebraska (19-2, 11-1) vs. No. 12 Iowa State (9-3, 16-4)
Saturday, Oct. 30 • NU Coliseum • 7:30 p.m. Centrak

TV: NET Lincoln - (Time Warner: SD-12/HD-112
DirecTV: SD/HD-29
Dish Network: SD/HD-12)
Omaha - (Cox: SD-12/HD-712
DirecTV: 379
Dish Network: 26)
Radio: Husker Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and KTWI 93.3 FM in Omaha, and on Huskers.com
Web Video: Huskers.com (Free Video)
Live Stats: Huskers.com

Following its first conference loss of the season on Wednesday night at Texas, the No. 2 Nebraska volleyball team (19-2, 11-1) will get back on the court Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. when it hosts the No. 12 Iowa State Cyclones (16-4, 9-3) at the NU Coliseum.

The Huskers sit atop the Big 12 Conference and will be in search of their 10 straight win at home this season, while Iowa State enters the night on a five-match winning streak, including four sweeps during the run.

Nebraska has won the last three meetings between the two programs, including a 3-1 win in Ames earlier this season to open Big 12 play.

The match will be carried statewide on NET and a free live video stream will also be available on Huskers.com.

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VOLLEYBALL:
HUSKERS FALL TO LONGHORNS IN FOUR...

Austin, Texas - The No. 2 Nebraska volleyball team dropped its first match of the 2010 Big 12 season on Wednesday night to the No. 10 Texas Longhorns, 1-3 (15-25, 19-25, 27-25, 25-27).

The Huskers (19-2, 11-1) were their own worst enemy on the night as they tied a season high with 30 errors. After hitting over .300 the last three matches Nebraska struggled to find its rhythm and hit a season low of .160, the first time this season the Huskers have hit below .200.

Hannah Werth, Brooke Delano and Lindsey Licht all topped double figures in kills, while Werth added 12 digs to chart her ninth double-double of the season.

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SOCCER:
HUSKERS CONCLUDE REGULAR SEASON AGAINST BUFFS ON FSN ROCKY MOUNTAIN...

Game 19: Nebraska (12-5-1, 5-3-1) at Colorado (7-9-2, 3-5-1)
Date: Oct. 29, 2010
Time: 4 p.m.
Location: Prentup Field; Boulder, Colo. (map)
Capacity: 2,000
Series History: NU leads, 7-6-2
Television: Fox Sports Rocky Mountain (DirecTV 683, Dish Network 414)
Live Stats: cubuffs.com

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SOCCER:
HUSKERS EARN 2-1 SENIOR DAY WIN OVER KANSAS...

Lincoln - Junior Jordan Jackson and senior Colleen Goetzmann scored in each half as Nebraska (12-5-1, 5-3-1) survived a late scare in a 2-1 win over Kansas (5-12-0, 1-8-0) on Friday afternoon at the Nebraska Soccer Field. With the win, Nebraska has its most wins in a season since the 2005 team finished 14-8-1 and qualified for the NCAA Tournament.

The Huskers were in control from the kickoff, outshooting the Jayhawks 17-7 with a 7-3 shots on goal advantage. Nebraska took a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute when sophomore Morgan Marlborough sent a corner kick through the KU defense to the far post. Jackson received the ball and calmly knocked in her 10th goal of the season from four yards out.

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RUCKER JOINING MU FRIENDS FOR LAST GAME; WISTROM STAYING HOME WITH THE KIDS...

Randy York's N-Sider

For Mike Rucker, Saturday's last scheduled game in the longstanding Nebraska-Missouri football series is a homecoming of sorts.

The former Carolina Panther is flying to Nebraska from Charlotte, N.C., to hook up with his high school buddies. He says 90 percent of them are Missouri fans, and all will celebrate this rivalry like they always do ... together and with fervor.

For Grant Wistrom, Saturday's NU-MU game is important and historic, but not enough to move a recent College Football Hall-of-Famer from his Springfield, Mo., home where he's gearing up to spend Halloween with his family.

"My daughter's going to be a Berry Fairy and wear strawberry wings, and my son is going to be a robot," Wistrom said. "That's our priority for the Nebraska-Missouri weekend, and I don't want to miss anything."

So Wistrom will watch the Huskers and Tigers on television from home, reflecting on a series that was always lopsided for him and for Rucker, his college teammate and understudy.

Lopsided, that is, until one incredible 1997 afternoon in Columbia.

You remember that day. A 29-point favorite, Nebraska had to cover 67 yards in 62 seconds without a timeout to tie the game, 38-38, before winning it in overtime, 45-38, on a 12-yard run by quarterback Scott Frost.

"Corby Jones (Mizzou's quarterback) had his way with us that day," Wistrom recalled. "If Scott's pass doesn't come off Shevin's ( Wiggins) leg and into Matt's (Davison) arms, we lose. My career would have ended on a bad note because Missouri would have pulled off one of the biggest upsets of all time."

Wistrom, Rucker Never Lost to Mizzou

Fortunately, that did not happen, and Nebraska went on to win its third national championship in four seasons. It also meant that Wistrom and Rucker - two of the Huskers' greatest recruits ever from the Show Me State - never had to endure the indignity of losing to their home-state university.

You might recall that Wistrom and Rucker came to Nebraska in the same 1994 recruiting class. Rucker redshirted that fall as a freshman, but Wistrom played and lettered on Tom Osborne's first national championship team.

"We played each other twice in high school, and I was fortunate enough to catch Nebraska's eye when we beat Grant's team as sophomores in St. Joe," Rucker said.

"They cheated that year," Wistrom said, referring to St. Joseph Benton's upset win over his Webb City High School team. "They knew we were faster, so they watered up the field, got the tractors out and took away our speed."

Rucker laughs at the explanation. "Grant never would give us credit for beating his team once," he said. "Of course, we went to Webb City as seniors. They beat us in the state semifinals and won the state championship."

That was an important game because it enhanced Wistrom's football version of a trifecta - two state championships in high school, three national championships in college and a Super Bowl title with the St. Louis Rams.

Wistrom and Rucker, who also started in a Super Bowl with the Panthers, became legendary Husker defensive ends, but they had different opinions about Nebraska before they landed in Lincoln.

Rucker Dreamed of Playing at MU; Wistrom Didn't

Rucker dreamed of playing at Mizzou, and Wistrom never even gave MU a thought in the recruiting process.

"All of my friends wanted to go to Mizzou growing up, and so did I," Rucker said. "If I hadn't had a good game against Webb City as a sophomore, I don't know if I would have even thought about Nebraska. That's when Coach (Ron) Brown and Coach Osborne started recruiting me."

The year before Wistrom and Rucker arrived in Lincoln, Nebraska just missed a national championship when a last-second field goal sailed wide in an 18-16 Orange Bowl loss to Florida State.

In his first three games against Mizzou, Wistrom was a key part of 42-7, 57-0 and 51-7 wins, so there were solid reasons why he and his teammates didn't envision the Tigers rising up and knocking off the Huskers in that '97 overtime thriller.

The year after Wistrom left for the NFL, Missouri gave Nebraska another battle before losing 20-13 in Lincoln. Rucker was a senior that season and remembers how all of his high school friends had remained Mizzou fans but also became accustomed to watching Nebraska dominate the national stage with a close friend in the lineup.

"They always rooted for Mizzou, but they rooted for Nebraska, too," Rucker said.

Both Little Brothers Became All-Americans

There is one more interesting corollary between two Missouri natives who became legendary rush ends at Nebraska as well as in the NFL.

Both Wistrom and Rucker have little brothers who not only followed in their footsteps, but played in sizable spotlights of their own.

Tracey Wistrom, Grant's brother, became a First-Team Academic All-American after becoming Nebraska's all-time tight end receiving yardage leader - a record that coincidentally now belongs to another Missouri native, Mike McNeill.

And Martin Rucker, Mike's younger brother, ended up at Mizzou where he became a First-Team All-America tight end.

"With my brother in Columbia, there was a stretch there where I would root for both Nebraska and Missouri, just like my friends have been doing for years," Mike said, leaving no doubt where his heart will be Saturday when he joins at least a dozen Mizzou friends for a pre-game tailgate party.

"The script could not have been written any better at Nebraska," Rucker said. "I had great coaching and a great experience, and my life before, during and after football could not have gone any better than it did."

Not only that, Rucker said, "but Lincoln was closer to home than Columbia was."

Wistrom Has Only One Small Regret

Wistrom agreed that Lincoln was and still is the most solid decision a student-athlete can make.

"I loved going to Columbia and watching games when I was in high school, and I loved playing there in college, but I never once thought about playing at Mizzou," Wistrom said.

"When I was in high school, Missouri wasn't very good at all, but they're a lot better now," he said. "My mind was set on winning national championships, so once Nebraska started recruiting me, I never wavered. I'm glad I chose Nebraska. It was one of the biggest and best decisions I've ever made."

Wistrom figures there's only one way his Nebraska experience could have turned out better. "I guess," he said, "we could have won four national titles in four years instead of just three."
 
Visit our Bay Area Huskers website for additional Husker information, Links, Upcoming Events, Past Events, Watch Sites, and the Schedule of Games. Also order Merchandise online, and get information on Husker Scholarships. Check out the History of the Huskers and meet our Directors. Say hello today, email us, sign up for our newsletter, and become a member of the Bay Area Huskers Alumni Chapter.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Bay Area Husker ENews 10/22/10

Hey Bay Area Husker Fans!

This is going to be a quick one...kinda crunched for time. Last week was a big disappointment for the players, the coaches and the Husker Nation. Lots of hype probably didn't help, but it appeared the team played almost as flat as they did against SDSU a few weeks ago. Lets hope they are properly motivated for the OSU Cowboys tomorrow.

Go Big Red (White and Blue),
Carl

Watch Parties:

Kickoff for the NU-OSU game will be at 12:30 local time. Although the game tomorrow is televised on ABC, its a regional broadcast that WILL NOT BE SHOWN ON THE WEST COAST unless you have paid for the ESPN sports package (see map below). All of our watch sites have the ESPN and FSN packages and will be able to pick up the game....so if you want to watch the Huskers tomorrow you had better head out to your favorite site and join the rest of the Red Clad Clan who will be cheering on the team. Get there early for a good seat and cheer loud!

Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (ABC/ESPN)















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HUSKERS LOOK TO BOUNCE BACK AT OKLAHOMA STATE...

Game 7: Nebraska at Oklahoma State
Oct. 23, 2010/Boone Pickens Stadium
Stillwater, Okla. /12:30 p.m. PDT

Huskers Record: 5-1, 1-1
Rankings: Coaches-13; AP-14
Last Game: lost to Texas, 20-13
Coach: Bo Pelini
Career/NU Record: 25-9/3rd year
Vs. OSU: first meeting

Game Information
Television: ABC-HD Ron Franklin, Play-by-Play Ed Cunningham, Analyst
Jeanine Edwards, Sidelines
Radio: Husker Sports Network
Sirius Channel 113, XM 102 (Nebraska)
Greg Sharpe, Play-by-Play Matt Davison, Color Lane Grindle, Sidelines
Sports USA Radio Network Rich Cellini, Play-by-Play Gary Barnett, Analyst

Series Record: Nebraska leads, 36-5-1
Capacity: 60,218
Surface: Football Pro

Cowboys Record: 6-0, 2-0
Rankings: Coaches-15; AP-17
Last Game: def. Texas Tech, 34-17
Coach: Mike Gundy
Career/OSU Record: 42-27/fifth season
Vs. NU: 2-0

The Matchup

Nebraska looks to rebound from its first loss of the season on Saturday afternoon at Oklahoma State, as the Huskers take on the undefeated Cowboys at Boone Pickens Stadium. The game will be televised to a regional audience on ABC with kickoff set for 2:30 p.m. (CDT).

The Huskers head into the contest with a 5-1 overall record, and a 1-1 mark in the Big 12 following a 20-13 loss to Texas in Lincoln last Saturday. Nebraska dug itself an early 10-0 deficit against the Longhorns and were unable to rally for a victory. The setback denied Nebraska its first 6-0 start since 2001 and dropped the Huskers to 14th and 13th in the AP and Coaches polls, respectively. NU had risen to No. 5 in the AP and No. 4 in the Coaches poll prior to the Texas setback.

Nebraska will have its hands full in trying to get back in the win column. Oklahoma State is a perfect 6-0, including a 2-0 record in the Big 12 Conference, following a 34-17 victory at Texas Tech last Saturday. The Cowboys own one of the nation's most potent offenses, averaging 49.5 points and more than 535 yards per game. OSU has scored at least 34 points in each of its six games this season.

The Series

Nebraska holds a commanding 36-5-1 edge in the all-time series between the two schools, including a 15-3-1 advantage in Stillwater. However, the Cowboys have held their own in recent years winning three of the last four meetings, including victories in Stillwater in both 2002 and 2006. In fact, NU has not won in Stillwater since 1995.

The Coaches

Nebraska: Bo Pelini (Ohio State, '90) owns a 25-9 record in his third season. Pelini has guided NU to nine or more wins in each of his first two seasons as head coach, joining Bob Devaney, Tom Osborne and Frank Solich in accomplishing that feat. Pelini is the first coach in Big 12 history to guide his team to at least a share of division titles in each of his first two seasons.

Oklahoma State: Mike Gundy (Oklahoma State, '90) is in his sixth season as Oklahoma State's head coach and He has a 42-27 record with the Cowboys. Gundy has guided OSU to four bowl appearances. He is 2-0 vs. Nebraska.

Nebraska Football

Nebraska is 832-342-40 all-time, one of just eight schools with 800 all-time victories  Nebraska has won five national championships (1970, 1971, 1994, 1995, 1997).  The Cornhuskers have won 43 conference championships.  Nebraska's 46 all-time bowl appearances rank fifth nationally.  Since 1970, Nebraska has 398 wins, 25 more than any other school.  Nebraska's 98 football Academic All-Americans lead the nation.  The Huskers have had 107 All-Americans in school history.

Noting Game 6...Texas 20, Nebraska 13

*-The loss prevented Nebraska from starting 6-0 for the first time since 2001. NU has won 11 of its past 13 games overall with the only two setbacks at the hands of Texas.

*-Nebraska allowed 20 points, marking the 14th straight Nebraska opponent to score 21 or fewer points, the longest streak in the nation.

*-Senior Eric Hagg's 95-yard punt return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter was the longest punt return in school history, bettering Bobby Newcombe's 94-yard return against Missouri on Sept. 30, 2000. It was Hagg's first career punt return.

*-Texas outscored Nebraska 10-0 in the first quarter. NU had outscored its first five opponents 38-7 in the first quarter. The game ended a streak of 13 straight games of Nebraska leading or being tied after the first quarter. The first-quarter deficit marked the first time Nebraska had trailed since last year's Big 12 title game with Texas.

*-Nebraska did not score on its opening possesion, marking just the second time this season the Huskers did not score on their initial possession.

*- Nebraska rushed for 125 yards, marking the first time NU had been held to less than 200 rushing yards since rushing for 67 yards against Texas in the Big 12 Championship Game. NU's streak of six straight 200-yard rushing games was its longest since 2002.

*-Nebraska did not score a touchdown in the first half of a home game since Texas Tech led Nebraska 24-3 at halftime last year in Lincoln. Tech went on to win the game 31-10.

*-Nebraska senior receiver Niles Paul caught six passes for 66 yards. Paul's six catches tied his career high of six receptions (three previous occasions). Paul has caught at least four passes three times this season and in six of the past 11 games since last season. Paul improved his career receptions total to 81. He also moved up two spots into a tie for eighth on the career receiving yardage chart with 1,243 career yards. He passed Irving Fryar (1,196) and tied Matt Herian (1,243) in the game.

*-Nebraska junior linebacker Lavonte David finished the game with 10 tackles, his fourth game with double-figure tackles, including three straight. He pushed his season total to 70 tackles.

*-Nebraska sophomore safety P.J. Smith had a career-high 11 tackles. His previous career high was five tackles against Idaho.

*-Senior place-kicker Alex Henery connected on field goals of 45 and 28 yards, extending his streak of made field goals to 14. He improved to 56-of-63 in his career, one field goal shy of tying the NU career record.

*-Henery also punted seven times for a 49.4-yard average, with a long punt of 60 yards, one of three punts that traveled better than 50 yards. He also downed two punts inside the Texas 20-yard line, and averaged better than 47 yards per punt for the fourth straight game.

*-Nebraska did not allow a Texas player to account for 300 yards of total offense, marking the 23rd straight game NU has not allowed an opposing player to reach 300 yards of total offense.

*-Texas passed for just 62 yards marking the fifth opponent in six games to be held to less than 135 passing yards.

*-Nebraska limited Texas to 271 yards of total offense, marking the eighth straight opponent NU has held to 315 or fewer yards, including Texas twice.

*-Nebraska dropped to 15-7 under Bo Pelini in games on or before Halloween, while holding a 10-2 record after Nov. 1.
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HUSKERS FINISH PREP FOR OKLAHOMA STATE...

Lincoln- The Nebraska football team practiced for just less than two hours Thursday inside the Hawks Championship Center and on the Ed and Joyanne Gass Practice Fields as the Huskers finished preparations for Oklahoma State on Saturday. After practice, Head Coach Bo Pelini addressed the media about this week's match-up with the Cowboys.

"I thought it was a good practice," Pelini said. "I thought we had a good week of practice. I think the kids are excited to play."

The Huskers will focus on stopping Oklahoma State wide receiver Justin Blackmon on Saturday. The reigning Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week leads the NCAA in receiving yards per game, scoring and touchdown receptions.

"You just have to play your stuff, you have to execute well," Pelini said. "He (Blackmon) has really good ball skills, he does a great job of attacking the ball down the field. You have to be aggressive down the field and you have to win when the ball is in the air. You have to compete; he's going to compete for the football. He's a good football player."

When the Huskers take the field in Stillwater, Pelini said he will look to see the Huskers play consistently.

"I want to see execution," Pelini said. "I want us to execute our football and do that for four quarters, and I want to see consistency in our play - that is what I'm looking for."

The Huskers and Cowboys are scheduled to kick off on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. PDT inside T. Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Okla. The game is available regionally on ABC.
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HUSKERS TURN ATTENTION TO NO. 17 COWBOYS...

Lincoln - Coach Bo Pelini and members of the Nebraska football team met the media on Tuesday at Memorial Stadium to discuss Saturday's Big 12 showdown at No. 17 Oklahoma State.

The No. 15 Huskers will take on the Cowboys at Boone Pickens Stadium with a 2:30 p.m. kickoff scheduled to be televised live regionally by ABC-HD.

Nebraska (5-1, 1-1 Big 12) will be looking to bounce back from its first loss of the season, a 20-13 setback to Texas last Saturday in Lincoln. Oklahoma State (6-0, 2-0) heads into the matchup unbeaten and sporting one of the nation's most explosive offensive units.

Pelini said he didn't expect to see any ill effects from last week's loss; rather, he expects the Huskers to refocus and play well.

"I think they are anxious this week to get back out there and play," Pelini said. "Most of our guys are embarrassed by how they played because we didn't play like us. We didn't coach well enough and we didn't execute well enough. This Saturday gives us the next opportunity to get it right again. I think everyone's anxious to get out there and play again, but you've got to earn it during the week."
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BIG 12 NORTH SHOWDOWN AGAINST MIZZOU TO BE TELEVISED ON ABC...

The Big 12 Conference announced on Monday morning that Nebraska's Oct. 30 matchup with Missouri in Lincoln will be televised on ABC, with kickoff set for 12:30 p.m. (PT). The NU-Mizzou game will be shown on a regional basis, but many areas not receiving the contest on their ABC affiliate will be able to watch the game on ESPN.

Nebraska and Missouri will be meeting on ABC or ESPN for the fifth consecutive season. The Husker-Tiger game in 2006 was televised by ABC, while each of the past three meetings have been national ESPN telecasts. This year's game will mark the first day game between the teams since 2006.

With the Huskers' matchup against Missouri slated for ABC, Nebraska will have at least five appearances on the network this season. Nebraska's games against Washington and Texas have been shown on ABC, and this week's matchup at Oklahoma State will be shown on a regional basis, beginning at 12:30 p.m. PT. NU's regular-season finale against Colorado on Friday, Nov. 26 will be televised nationally on ABC with a 12:30 p.m. PDT start.

Game times and television information for the Huskers' games against Iowa State (Nov. 6), Kansas (Nov. 13) and Texas A&M (Nov. 20) will be announced six to 12 days prior to kickoff.
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VOLLEYBALL:
HUSKERS OPEN SECOND HALF OF BIG 12 SLATE WITH MISSOURI...

No. 3 Nebraska (18-1, 10-0) vs. Missouri (13-7, 5-5)
Saturday, Oct. 23 • NU Coliseum • 7 p.m.

TV: NET Lincoln - (Time Warner: SD-12/HD-112
DirecTV: SD/HD-29
Dish Network: SD/HD-12)
Omaha - (Cox: SD-12/HD-712
DirecTV: 379
Dish Network: 26)
Radio: Husker Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and KTWI 93.3 FM in Omaha, and on Huskers.com
Web Video: Huskers.com (Free Video)
Live Stats: Huskers.com

The No. 3 Nebraska volleyball team (18-1, 10-0) will open the second half of the Big 12 schedule on Saturday night at 7 p.m. when it hosts the Missouri Tigers (13-7, 5-5) at the NU Coliseum.

Winners of 17 straight Big 12 matches dating back to last season, the Huskers are the only team undefeated in Big 12 player this season. The Tigers are 5-5 in conference play and are coming off consecutive wins over Texas A&M (3-2) and Baylor (3-1).

Including their win earlier this season in Columbia, the Huskers hold a 70-3-1 advantage in the all-time series and have won the lost 14 matches dating back to 2003.

The match will be carried statewide on NET and a free live video stream will also be available on Huskers.com.
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VOLLEYBALL:
HUSKERS POST 13TH STRAIGHT SWEEP OF TEXAS TECH...

Lincoln - The No. 3 Nebraska volleyball team finished the first half of the Big 12 schedule at a perfect 10-0 following a 3-0 sweep (25-14, 25-11, 25-13) of the Texas Tech Red Raiders Wednesday night at the NU Coliseum. The win marked the 27th straight win for the Huskers in the series and the 13th straight sweep.

"We challenged our players to have great serving and passing tonight," Head Coach John Cook said. "Except for maybe two breakdowns tonight, we had a great night with six aces and no errors."

Now 18-1 overall and 10-0 in the Big 12 Conference, the Husker offense was on fire all night as they hit a season best .390. Setters Sydney Anderson and Lauren Cook combined for 46 assists while Brooke Delano and Hannah Werth each put away 11 kills and Lindsey Licht added 10, with all three NU attackers hitting .400 or better on the night. Werth also chipped in 12 digs for her seventh double-double of the season.
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SOCCER:
HUSKERS OVERCOME TWO-GOAL DEFICIT TO DEFEAT MISSOURI, 4-2...

Lincoln - After falling behind 2-0 in the opening minutes the Nebraska soccer team scored four second-half goals to defeat defending Big 12 champion Missouri at the Nebraska Soccer Field on Sunday afternoon, 4-2. The Huskers (11-4-0, 4-2-0) matched last year's win total in the process and maintained its second-place position in the Big 12 standings with two weeks remaining.

The comeback marks the biggest come-from-behind win since Aug. 29, 2004 when the Huskers overcame the same deficit to down Creighton, 4-2, at the Abbott Sports Complex. On Sunday afternoon, Nebraska gave up a pair of Missouri goals in the first 11 minutes to find itself in a 2-0 hole. The Huskers created several offensive opportunities in the first half and led the shot battle (11-4) but could not get past Missouri goalkeeper Jessica Gwin, who saved three shots on goal from sophomores Jordan Jackson and Morgan Marlborough to main a 2-0 Tiger lead at the intermission.
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App developed to find crooks

University of Nebraska researchers are developing an app for iPhone and Droid which will allow police to locate sex offenders, parolees, known gang members, and people with arrest warrants; the Nebraska team is planning to combine police GIS and GPS data into a program that would instantly create maps tailored to officers' specific locations

Read more

Visit our Bay Area Huskers website for additional Husker information, Links, Upcoming Events, Past Events, Watch Sites, and the Schedule of Games. Also order Merchandise online, and get information on Husker Scholarships. Check out the History of the Huskers and meet our Directors. Say hello today, email us, sign up for our newsletter, and become a member of the Bay Area Huskers Alumni Chapter.

Bay Area Husker ENews 10/15/10

Hey Bay Area Husker Fans!

Sorry for the short fuse on this one...meant to send this Wednesday, but we've been a little busy lately. Enjoy the reading below including an article from the KC Star paper and some good info from the alumni association at the end of the email.

The Huskers really opened up a can of whoop-ass on the Wildcats last week and we all hope they saved some of the same stuff for the Longhorns tomorrow. The game tomorrow has been the focus for Husker Fans for almost a year now (following the miracle 1 second fiasco in last year's Conference Champiionship that gave Texas the win). An entire website was created for the "Red Out Around The World" effort to drum up support for the team and the University.

The Volleyball and Soccer Teams are still on a roll, with some great matches coming up this weekend (see info below). The Baseball team is playing their annual Red-White series this weekend as well.

Don't know if many of you watched the festivities at Fleet Week last weekend in San Francisco with the Blue Angels, but I couldn't let this week go by without a special salute to one of our uniformed services....Happy Birthday to the U.S. Navy (Oct 13th). Anchors Aweigh My Boys!

Go Big Red (White and Blue),
Carl


Watch Parties:

All of our watch sites will be able to show the game tomorrow. Coverage will be on ABC Sports (see map below) and kickoff is set for a little after 12:30 p.m. Pacific Time so you'll want to get to your favorite watch site early, get some great pub grub for lunch and cheer on the Huskers as they meet the Texas Longhorns one last time in conference play. The weather in Lincoln is predicted to be perfect so this should be a fun game to watch. See you there!

Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET (ABC/ESPN)
















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UNBEATEN HUSKERS HOST TEXAS SATURDAY AFTERNOON...

Game 6: Nebraska vs. Texas
Oct. 16, 2010/Memorial Stadium
Lincoln, Neb./12:30 p.m PDT

Huskers Record: 5-0, 1-0
Rankings: Coaches-4; AP-5
Last Game: def. Kansas State, 48-13
Coach: Bo Pelini
Career/NU Record: 25-8/3rd year
vs. UT: 0-1

Game Information
Television: ABC-HD (Sean McDonough, Matt Millen, Quint Kessenich)
Radio: Husker Sports Network (Greg Sharpe, Matt Davison, Lane Grindle)
Sirius Channel 125, XM 241
Series Record: Texas leads, 9-4
Capacity: 81,091 (308th consecutive sellout)
Surface: Fieldturf

Special Events: 1970 National Championship Team Reunion

Longhorns Record: 3-2, 1-1
Rankings: Coaches, AP-R
Last Game:  lost to Oklahoma, 28-20
Coach: Mack Brown
Career/UT Record: 217-103-1/27th season 131-29/13th season
vs. NU: 7-1

The Matchup

Nebraska returns to Lincoln for its Big 12 home opener taking on Texas in a rematch of the 2009 Big 12 Championship Game. The matchup of two of college football's heavyweights will be televised regionally on ABC, with kickoff set for 12:30 p.m. (PDT). Other parts of the country will be able to see the game on ESPN-HD.

The Huskers head into the contest with a 5-0 record and a 1-0 conference mark after a 48-13 dismantling of Kansas State last Thursday evening in Manhattan. Nebraska rolled up 451 rushing yards for its highest rushing total in nine seasons, and quarterback Taylor Martinez continued the explosive start to his career with four rushing touchdowns. The victory helped Nebraska move up to No. 4 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and fifth in the Associated Press poll, Nebraska's highest ranking since the end of the 2001 season.

Texas heads to Lincoln with a 3-2 overall mark and a 1-1 record in Big 12 Conference play. The Longhorns opened the year with three straight wins, but suffered back-to-back losses to UCLA and Oklahoma before taking a week off this past weekend. The consecutive losses led to the 'Horns falling out of the national rankings for the first time since 2000.

The Series

Texas owns a 9-4 all-time edge in the series between the two schools, including an 8-1 advantage since the formation of the Big 12 Conference in 1996. Texas has won all three meetings in Lincoln since 1998, with the three victories by a total of nine points. In fact, six of UT's eight wins over Nebraska since 1996 have been by four or fewer points.

The Coaches

Nebraska: Bo Pelini (Ohio State, '90) owns a 25-8 record in his third season. Pelini has guided NU to nine or more wins in each of his first two seasons as head coach, joining Bob Devaney, Tom Osborne and Frank Solich in accomplishing that feat. Pelini is the first coach in Big 12 history to guide his team to at least a share of division titles in each of his first two seasons.

Texas: Mack Brown (Florida State, '74) is in his 13th season as the Texas coach and his 27th season overall as a collegiate head coach. Brown has a 131-29 record with the Longhorns, including the 2005 national championship and a pair of Big 12 crowns. Brown has guided Texas to a 7-1 record against Nebraska.

Nebraska Football

Nebraska is 832-341-40 all-time, one of just eight schools with 800 all-time victories  Nebraska has won five national championships (1970, 1971, 1994, 1995, 1997).  The Cornhuskers have won 43 conference championships.  Nebraska's 46 all-time bowl appearances rank fifth nationally.  Since 1970, Nebraska has 398 wins, 25 more than any other school.  Nebraska's 98 football Academic All-Americans lead the nation.  The Huskers have had 107 All-Americans in school history.

Noting Game 5...Nebraska 48, Kansas State 13

*-Nebraska improved to 5-0 for the first time since 2003. The win was also Nebraska's sixth straight over Kansas State, and Nebraska improved to 6-0 in Thursday night ESPN games.

*-Nebraska won its sixth straight road game, NU's longest road winning streak since winning 10 straight road games from 1996 to 1998. NU has also won six straight road games in the Big 12 Conference, all by at least eight points. That streak is the longest for NU since an eight-game streak in 1996 and 1997.

*-Nebraska allowed just 13 points, marking the 13th straight Nebraska opponent to score 21 or fewer points, the longest streak in the nation.

*-Nebraska redshirt freshman quarterback Taylor Martinez carried the ball 15 times for 241 yards, including a 14-yard touchdown run to open the scoring in the first quarter, a 35-yard TD run in the second quarter, an 80-yard TD in the third quarter and a 41-yarder in the fourth quarter. The 80-yard run was his second 80-yard TD run in the past three games.

*-The 241 rushing yards by Martinez were the eighth-most in school history and the 34th 200-yard rushing game in NU history. He set a single-game rushing record for a Nebraska quarterback, bettering Jammal Lord's 234 yards against Texas in 2002. The 200-yard rushing day was the first by an NU player since Marlon Lucky had 233 yards against Nevada in 2007, and it is the most yards by any Husker since Calvin Jones' school-record 294 yards at Kansas in 1991 as a redshirt freshman. Martinez owns four of the top 12 rushing efforts by a Nebraska freshman, including the top four among freshmen quarterbacks.

*-Martinez's four-TD game marked the first time NU has had a player rush for four touchdowns since true freshman David Horne rushed for four touchdowns at Texas A&M in 2002.

*-Martinez also completed 5-of-7 passes for 128 yards, and a 79-yard touchdown pass to tight end Kyler Reed. The Martinez to Reed connection was Nebraska's longest pass play since Jammal Lord connected with Matt Herian for an 80-yard touchdown pass against Colorado in 2002. It was the ninth-longest pass play in school history.

*-Martinez accounted for a Nebraska freshman record 369 yards of total offense. His total offense mark surpassed Calvin Jones' 294 total offensive yards at Kansas in 1991. The 369 yards of total offense ranks in a tie for 11th in school history. Martinez has had at least 263 yards of total offense in four of five games this season.

*-Senior I-back Roy Helu Jr. rushed for 110 yards on eight carries, marking his third 100-yard rushing game this season and the 10th of his career. Helu Jr. increased his career rushing total to 2,574 yards and moved up three spots to 11th on the NU career rushing list. Helu's 68-yard touchdown run in the third quarter was a career-long rush.

*-Nebraska rushed for 451 yards as a team, its first 400-yard rushing game since putting up 413 against Nevada in 2007, and the most since posting 641 yards at Baylor in 2001. It marked NU's first 400-yard rushing game in conference play since 2001.

*-Nebraska senior Mike McNeill pushed his career receptions total to 67, setting an NU tight end record, surpassing the previous record of 65 by Matt Herian from 2002 to 2006. Although McNeill is lining up at receiver this season, he spent his first three seasons as a tight end and accumulated 61 of his career receptions at that position.

*-Nebraska junior linebacker Lavonte David finished with 16 tackles, marking his third double-figure tackle game of the season.

*-Nebraska senior safety DeJon Gomes had a career-high 12 tackles, including a TFL and also forced a fumble.

*-Nebraska had four scoring drives of five plays or less and has 17 scoring drives of five plays or less this season.

*-Nebraska did not allow a K-State player to account for 300 yards of total offense, marking the 22nd straight game NU has not allowed an opposing player to reach 300 yards of total offense.

*-Nebraska allowed just 135 passing yards, the fourth time in five games the Husker defense has allowed 135 or fewer passing yards. NU also intercepted a pass for the ninth straight game.
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CHECK OUT THE ESPN WEBSITE VIDEO ABOUT THE GAME...
http://espn.go.com/college-football/
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HUSKERS FINISH UP PREPARATIONS FOR TEXAS...

Lincoln- The Nebraska football team practiced for just less than two hours Thursday inside the Hawks Championship Center and on the Ed and Joyanne Gass Practice Fields as the Huskers finished preparations for Texas on Saturday. After practice, Head Coach Bo Pelini addressed the media about this week's match-up with the Longhorns.

"I thought it was a good practice," Pelini said. "I thought we had really good tempo, good attention to detail. There were still a couple of things to clean up. I thought it was a pretty good day."

Pelini was pleased with how the Huskers performed and progressed throughout the week in practice.

"I thought we had a good week of practice," Pelini said. "I thought we progressed as the week went on. Hopefully we're a better football team now than when we played Kansas State. I think we are and we'll need to be Saturday."

Pelini briefly commented on the status of linebacker Will Compton, saying the sophomore may able to contribute to NU's defense on Saturday. Compton has missed the first five games with a foot injury.

"He's available," Pelini said. "He's had a good week of practice and is feeling good."

With all of the hype and expectations around the game, Pelini has maintained the same focus throughout the entire week and his goals remain intact.

"I don't think they're any different this week than they have been any other week," Pelini said. "I hope we play better than we have every other week. I think we've practiced well, we'll find out. It's about execution on Saturday. It doesn't matter about the hype. It doesn't matter about the build-up or anything else. It matters how you execute, how you play your football. I think our guys understand that, I'm sure Texas understands that. It will be earned on the field."

The Huskers and Longhorns are scheduled to kick off on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. inside Memorial Stadium. The game is available to most of the nation on ABC with the rest of the country able to see the game on ESPN.
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PURPLE POUNDING: MARTINEZ, HUSKERS ROAR PAST 'CATS...

Manhattan, Kan. - Freshman quarterback Taylor Martinez produced the best rushing performance by a quarterback in Nebraska football history as the No. 7 Cornhuskers sprinted past previously unbeaten Kansas State, 48-13 at Bill Snyder Family Stadium on Thursday night.

Playing in front of 51,015 fans and an ESPN primetime national audience, Martinez became just the second Big Red signal-caller to rush for more than 200 yards in a game, joining Jammal Lord who accomplished the feat twice in 2002. In fact, the freshman from Corona, Calif., passed the 200-yard mark on NU's opening drive of the second half with an 80-yard touchdown run to stake the Huskers to a 24-3 lead.

Martinez finished the night with the eighth-best rushing total in school history with 241 yards on just 15 carries (16.1 yards per carry), surpassing Lord's NU quarterback rushing mark of 234 yards against Texas on Nov. 2, 2002. Martinez also had four touchdowns with runs of 13, 35, 80 and 41 yards. He completed 5-of-7 passes for 128 yards and a touchdown, compiling a career-best 369 total-offense yards to match the 11th-best mark in school history, despite leaving the game for good with more than 10 minutes remaining to give way to Cody Green. It was the most total offense yards by a freshman in school history.

The Wildcats, who slipped to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the Big 12, could not match Martinez, as Nebraska improved to 5-0 by winning its Big 12 opener and improving to 6-0 all-time in Thursday night ESPN contests.
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Nebraska romps past K-State 48-13
By KELLIS ROBINETT

The Kansas City Star

MANHATTAN, Kan. /There was no hiding the pain after this one.

Instead of proving to the country they were worthy of a national ranking, the Kansas State Wildcats got exposed by a vastly superior opponent on Thursday night.

The seventh-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers outplayed the Wildcats in every phase of the game, doing almost anything they wanted on their way to a 48-13 blowout victory.

Shortly after the slaughter ended, K-State coach Bill Snyder said he wanted his players to hurt and take some time to reflect on this loss. No problem there.

“We were taking this game as an opportunity for us to show the world how good we were,” wide receiver Chris Harper said, “and we came in and fell flat on our faces.”

Added senior offensive lineman Zach Kendall: “This one sucks. This loss sucks. We have got to come back from this.”

Doing so will require an overhaul in several areas. Nebraska was so dominant in front of ESPN’s cameras that K-State fans who had spent their morning camping out for seats headed to the exits midway through the fourth quarter, leaving a passionate contingent of Nebraska fans on hand to loudly chant “Go Big Red” in the game’s final moments.

The loss dropped K-State to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the Big 12, damaging its chances for a North Division championship. Nebraska improved to 5-0 overall and 1-0 in its final Big 12 season — and capped a 99-year-old series with Kansas State in dominating fashion. The Huskers are now 78-15-2.

Husker quarterback Taylor Martinez was the main reason for the uncompetitive evening. Despite more than a week to prepare for the redshirt freshman, the Wildcats were ill-prepared to stop his speed and looked foolish trying to tackle him. Martinez scampered all across the field for 241 rushing yards and four touchdowns — both Nebraska single-game records for a quarterback — in 15 carries. He also threw for 128 yards and a touchdown, giving him 369 yards of total offense, a freshman single-game school record.

Whether on designed runs or broken plays, Martinez hurt the Wildcats. In the first quarter he zipped 14 yards into the end zone after mishandling the snap. In the second quarter, he broke off a 54-yard run and later scored on a 35-yard run. He outran every player on the field for an 80-yard score after halftime and scored his fourth rushing TD from 41 yards out in the fourth quarter.

“When I looked up, he was already 50 yards down the field,” K-State cornerback David Garrett said. “I went to the sideline and tried to figure out what was going on and what they were doing so we could do something to stop it. It just happened so fast.”

That’s just the kind of night it was for K-State.

It was an amazing performance that will likely earn Martinez national-award recognition. Even though many fantastic running quarterbacks have passed through Lincoln — Tommie Frazier and Eric Crouch to name a couple — Martinez already has found a spot in the program’s record books.

“He made it look awful easy,” Snyder said. “He’s a tremendous athlete and obviously has excellent speed. He’s faster than we are.”

Running back Roy Helu Jr. added 110 yards and a touchdown on the ground, and several big plays broke open a game that Nebraska led 17-3 at halftime.

While Nebraska’s star player was impressing the 51,015 in attendance and a large TV audience, K-State’s star couldn’t get anything going. Senior running back Daniel Thomas, who many had suggested could seriously break into the national-award discussion with a big game himself, was held to 63 yards on 22 carries.

Thomas had entered the game as the Big 12’s top rusher with 628 yards but was supplanted by Martinez. Martinez was third in the conference before the game with 496 yards but afterward had the lead with 737.

K-State briefly tried running Thomas out of the Wildcat formation, throwing a few screen passes his way, but Nebraska’s physical defense was in position to quickly tackle him throughout the night. Lavonte David, who had 16 tackles and a sack, was often the one bringing Thomas down.

Senior quarterback Carson Coffman couldn’t get anything going to help ease the defensive pressure that Thomas felt, and threw for only 91 yards. Snyder called for backups Collin Klein and Sammuel Lamur to enter the game, and said the competition for K-State’s starting quarterback spot will be reopened in practice.

“Two weeks in a row we’ve struggled,” Snyder said. “Maybe we’re not as good an offensive football team as somebody wanted to project in some point in time. We have a lot of work ahead of us.”

After two long Josh Cherry field goals — K-State’s only points through three quarters — the Wildcats finally managed to find the end zone when Coffman hit Harper for a 2-yard touchdown pass.

Those were the Wildcats’ final points of the night, and they weren’t nearly enough.

On this night, K-State seldom accomplished anything that was.

Posted on Thu, Oct. 07, 2010 11:31 PM

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/10/07/2289742/nebraska-romps-past-k-state-48.html?story_link=email_msg#ixzz12Fwnwgbe
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NEBRASKA-OSU GAME TO BE TELEVISED BY ABC...

The Big 12 Conference has announced that Nebraska's game at Oklahoma State on Saturday, Oct. 23, will be televised on ABC. The game will be played at either 12:30 p.m. or 5 p.m. (PDT), with that announcement coming next Sunday.

ABC selected both the NU-OSU game and the Oklahoma at Missouri game for telecast, but will not determine the time slots until after the results of this Saturday's games. The 12:30 p.m. game will be a regional telecast, while the 5 p.m. game will be a full national telecast on ABC.

The selection of the Oklahoma State game for telecast on ABC will guarantee the Huskers at least four appearances on the network this season. The Washington game on Sept. 18 was televised by ABC, while this Saturday's contest against Texas will also be on the network, beginning at 12:30 p.m. PDT. NU's regular-season finale against Colorado will be a national ABC telecast with kickoff at 12:30 p.m. PT.

Game times and television information for Nebraska's games with Missouri, Iowa State, Kansas and Texas A&M will be announced six to 12 days in advance.

Other Big 12 games selected for telecast on Oct. 23 include Iowa State at Texas (11 a.m., FSN) and Texas A&M at Kansas (6 p.m., FSN).
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HUSKERS IN THE NFL - WEEK 5..

A total of 19 former Huskers were in action during NFL play on Sunday while Matt Slauson and the New York Jets take on Minnesota on Monday night

Fabian Washington had five solo tackles and four pass breakups, as Baltimore moved into first place in the AFC North with a 31-17 victory over Denver. Sam Koch helped limit Denver's field positions with four punts for a 43.5 yard average, as the Broncos started three of the four drives inside their own 25-yard line and did not have a yard on returns all day. Former Husker Correll Buckhalter had five carries for 13 yards and caught a 12-yard pass for Denver, as the Broncos fell to 2-3 on the season.

Another former Husker I-back had a big day, as Brandon Jackson rushed for a career-high 115 yards in a 16-13 loss to Washington. It was Jackson's second career 100-yard day - first since his rookie campaign - and included a 71-yard run in the first quarter.

In Detroit, the Lions picked up their first win of the season with an impressive 44-6 win over St. Louis. The Lions' win was its most lopsided win since 1995, as Detroit scored on six of seven possessions to break open the game behind the play of Dominic Raiola. Ndamukong Suh made an impact with three tackles and his first NFL interception while Kyle Vanden Bosch had two tackles and a quarterback hurry in the victory. Josh Brown's two field goals accounted for all of St. Louis' points in the loss, connecting on a pair of 28-yard field goals.
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VOLLEYBALL:
HUSKERS GET BACK ON THE COURT AT KANSAS STATE...


No. 3 Nebraska (16-1, 8-0) vs. Kansas State (9-10, 3-5)
Saturday, Oct. 16 • Ahearn Field House • 7 p.m. Central
TV: None
Radio: Husker Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and KTWI 93.3 FM in Omaha, and on Huskers.com
Web Video: KStateSports.com (Free Video)
Live Stats: KStateSports.com

Following a bye on Wednesday night, the No. 3 Nebraska volleyball team (16-1, 8-0) will look add to its 15-match winning streak Saturday night in Manhattan, Kan. The Huskers are set for a 7 p.m. match with the Kansas State Wildcats (9-10, 3-5) at the Ahearn Field House.

The Huskers are the only remaining undefeated team in conference play this season, while Kansas State is tied for seventh with a 3-5 record. The Wildcats started the Big 12 season with wins over Kansas and Texas Tech, but have hit a tough stretch lately as they've been swept in their past three matches by Oklahoma, Texas and Iowa State.

Saturday night's match will mark the 82nd all-time meeting between the two Big 12 North Division programs, with Nebraska holding a 78-3 advantage in the series. The Huskers won 58 straight matches from 1975 to 1998, before Kansas State won a five-set match in Lincoln during the 1999 season. The Wildcats' two other wins came in 2003 when they swept the season series.

There is no TV coverage for the match, but a free live stream will be available on KStateSports.com.

Fans can also listen to all of the action with John Baylor and Lindsay Peterson on the 25-station Husker Sports Network, including B107.3 FM in Lincoln and Twister 93.3 FM in Omaha. Fans outside the state will also be able to catch the live audio feed for free on Huskers.com.
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VOLLEYBALL:
THREE HUSKER MATCHES PICKED FOR NATIONAL TV...


Lincoln - Husker fans across the country will have three more opportunities to watch the Nebraska volleyball team this season on CBS College Sports.

Due to an agreement between Nebraska Athletics, NET and CBS College Sports, three matches that were already set to be shown across Nebraska on NET, will now also be broadcast nationwide as well. The matches include meetings with Texas Tech (Wednesday, Oct. 20), Kansas State (Wednesday, Nov. 10) and Oklahoma (Wednesday, Nov. 17), with all matches set for 7 p.m. at the NU Coliseum. CBS College Sports will have the rights to air each match live and also rebroadcast the matches until July of 2011.

With the three additional matches on CBS College Sports, the Huskers will have been seen eight times on national TV at the end of the 2010 regular season. Nebraska has already been on CBS College Sports twice, ESPNU once and FSN once, while their match at Texas on Wednesday, Oct. 27 is also set to be shown on ESPNU.

Next up for the Huskers is a Saturday night showdown at 7 p.m. in Manhattan, Kan., where Nebraska will meet the Kansas State Wildcats at Ahearn Field House.
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SOCCER:
MACDONALD BREAKS SCHOOL RECORD IN 0-0 TIE AT OKLAHOMA...

Norman, Okla. - Senior goalkeeper Tara Macdonald broke the single-game school record with 13 saves in a complete-game shutout as the Nebraska soccer team tied Oklahoma, 0-0, in Norman on Thursday night. The Huskers are now 11-4-1 overall with a 4-2-1 record in Big 12 play, while the Sooners are 8-5-2 with a 3-2-1 league mark.

Macdonald turned in her sixth career shutout to preserve the draw as Nebraska was held scoreless for the first time in conference play. The Austin, Texas native was very effective down the stretch with seven saves in the final 30 minutes of the game, including four critical stops in the overtime periods. Her record-breaking 13-save performance broke the previous NU single-game best of 12 set by Karina LeBlanc (1998) and Erin Miller (2002).

Offensively, Oklahoma held a narrow 23-19 shots advantage after both teams struggled to create an offensive flow with only 10 total shots (OU 7, NU 3) at the halftime break.

Nebraska attempted six shots on goal, including three from sophomore Morgan Marlborough, who saw her school record of eight consecutive games with a goal come to an end. Marlborough and the Huskers took 13 shots in the second half, but were unable to put any past OU goalkeeper Kelsey Devonshire. Out of the intermission, Marlborough hit the left post from 10 yards out, while sophomore Jordan Jackson nearly gave the Huskers an overtime win but she was tripped up on her breakaway opportunity as time expired in the first overtime period.

Macdonald, a 2008 transfer from the University of Oklahoma, moved into sixth place on the NU all-time save chart with her school record 13-stop effort. It marked Macdonald's first career shutout in a double-overtime contest, as she also played a full 110 minutes three times last season in ties against Arizona State Villanova (2-2), Arizona State (1-1) and Texas Tech (3-3). She is now 6-2-1 on the season.

Nebraska stays in the state of Oklahoma this week as the Huskers head north to Stillwater this Saturday to take on No. 5 Oklahoma State. Kickoff between the Huskers and Cowgirls is set from 1 p.m. Prior to Friday's Big 12 action, Oklahoma State (13-1-1, 6-0-0) and Nebraska sit first and second in the Big 12 standings.
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BASEBALL:
WHITE TAKES 5-3 VICTORY IN GAME 1 of RED-WHITE SERIES...

Lincoln - Kurt Farmer went 2-for-3 and Nick Thune produced two RBI's to lead the White team to a 5-3 victory over the Red in the first game of the 2010 Red-White Series at Hawks Field on Thursday afternoon. Starting pitcher Dylan Vogt earned the win by throwing four innings and giving up two hits and a pair of runs, while Brandon Pierce picked up the save by pitching the final two innings and allowing a run on two hits.

The White squad used a three-run second inning to gain an early advantage as Farmer began the frame with a leadoff double down the left field line. The Columbus, Neb., native scored on the next batter when designated hitter Brian Wuest singled up the middle to bring home the White's first run of the game. Pat Hirschberg then doubled to left field to advance Wuest, who came around to score on a Nick Thune sacrifice fly. After stealing third base, Hirschberg scored the third run of the inning on a wild pitch.

Vogt kept the Red team scoreless through three innings until a Kale Kiser leadoff single in the fourth resulted in the Red's first run. Catcher Cory Burleson was walked two batters later and scored the Red's second run on a throwing error to close the White's lead to 3-2.

Red pitcher Nick Dolsky silenced the White bats in the middle innings as he struck out five batters and did not allow any runs or hits in 2.1 innings. Shortly after Dolsky left the game in the bottom of the fifth inning, the White put together another string of three consecutive hits, capped by a Patrick Tolentino RBI single to give the White a 4-2 lead.

The Red team closed the gap to one run again in the top of the sixth inning on a Tyler Niederklein RBI single, but Thune responded with an RBI single of his own in the bottom half to score Farmer and account for the final 5-3 margin.

The White team outhit the Red 9-to-5 behind Farmer's two-hit day.

Nebraska returns to Hawks Field for Game 2 of the Red-White Series on Friday at 3 p.m. The series finale is Saturday at 9 a.m.
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BASEBALL:
NEBRASKA BASEBALL ANNOUNCES 2011 SCHEDULE...

A total of 32 home games at Hawks Field and 16 contests against 2010 NCAA Tournament teams highlight the 2011 Nebraska baseball schedule released Wednesday. The 56-game schedule includes 14 home games in the month of March, including a pair of non-conference series against 2010 NCAA runner-up UCLA and 2008 NCAA champion Fresno State.

"We feel like we've put together a schedule that is going to be one of the top schedules in our conference," Head Coach Mike Anderson said. "I thought we had one of the toughest last year and I think we have a chance to do that again. We start out in Texas for a couple weekends against some quality competition and then we return home to play two California teams. It's a tribute to this university and shows that our baseball program is respected to set return dates (from UCLA and Fresno State)."

Nebraska opens the 2011 season on Friday, Feb. 18, when the Huskers begin a four-game weekend at the Texas State Tournament in San Marcos, Texas. The Big Red will take on the host Bobcats, Washington, Missouri State and Air Force before returning to the Lone Star State the next week to Huntsville, Texas for four non-conference games at host Sam Houston State.

The home segment of the schedule begins Wednesday, March 2, when Nebraska hosts Nebraska-Kearney. From March 4 to 6, the Huskers welcome 2010 NCAA runner-up UCLA for its first three-game series of the year, while 2008 NCAA champion Fresno State heads to Lincoln the following week for a three-game set from March 11 to 13. Nebraska plays eight of its remaining nine games in the month of March at Hawks Field. The only road contest during that stretch is a midweek non-conference match-up at Kansas State on Wednesday, March 16.

"A nice thing about our schedule is that we play 32 home games," Anderson noted. "We're in a cycle where the schedule can benefit us that way. Thirty-two home games can make a difference."

The end of March marks the beginning of another challenging Big 12 season, as the Huskers start conference play March 25-27 at Texas Tech. The April slate features three Big 12 home series against Oklahoma State (April 1-3), Kansas State (April 15-17) and Baylor (April 29-May 1), while the Huskers head to Kansas (April 8-10) and Oklahoma (April 22-24).

After the Baylor series concludes May 1, Nebraska hosts Texas (May 6-8) and travels to Texas A&M (May 13-15) before ending the regular season in a Thursday to Saturday series against Missouri (May 19-21).

"The Big 12 schedule is going to present strong challenges," Anderson. "We've known this for years, but there is not a week where you have a weekend off. In the Big 12 you have to play well at home and you have to figure out a way to do well on the road. Our success in the past has been when we've done well on the road, and our failures have been when we haven't."

Nebraska will match up against familiar non-conference foe Wichita State on Tuesday, April 12 in Wichita, while the Big Red hosts Iowa on Tuesday, April 26. The annual Nebraska-Creighton series begins Tuesday, April 5 at Hawks Field before the final two games are played at the new TD Ameritrade Park on Tuesday, April 19 and Tuesday, May 10.

Postseason play begins Wednesday, May 25 as Oklahoma City's Bricktown Ballpark plays host to the Big 12 Tournament, which returns to a double-elimination format in 2011. The NCAA Tournament starts on Friday, June 3, while the 2011 College World Series is set for June 18-29.
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Bronco Busting?

ESPN's Brad Edwards has projected what the BCS standings would look like if they were released today (Oct 12th). According to his projections, consensus No. 3 Boise State would be on top -- and consensus No. 1 Ohio State would be fifth.

Team Rating
1. Boise State .913
2. Oregon .863
3. TCU .854
4. Oklahoma .8425
5. Ohio State .8421
6. LSU .782
7. Nebraska .777
8. Auburn .744
9. Michigan State .642
10. Alabama .634

For the rest of the article go to: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5673225
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A Punch to the Breadbasket as Nebraska Begins a Farewell
By JOE DRAPE

New York TImes - Published: October 6, 2010

MANHATTAN, Kan. — The Nebraska Cornhuskers have been making the two-and-a-half-hour trek due south here for nearly a century. Generations of players have looked out the bus windows at the browns and golds of the tabletop plains. They watched Beatrice, Neb., give way to Marysville, Kan., before finally arriving at the home of one their oldest rivals, the Kansas State Wildcats.








Dave Weaver/Associated Press

Taylor Martinez after Nebraska’s win over Western Kentucky on Sept. 4. The Cornhuskers (4-0) face Kansas State (4-0) Thursday.











Jeff Taylor/Reuters

Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch being tackled by a Kansas State defender in a 1998 game. The Cornhuskers lead the series, 75-15-12.
















Marty Lederhandler/Associated Press

Johnny Rodgers, a running back for Nebraska, with the Heisman trophy in 1972.

Those buses arrived here for the last time on Wednesday. This group of Cornhuskers — 4-0, and ranked No. 7 — opens its last season as a member of the Big 12 Conference against the 4-0 Wildcats on Thursday.

Nebraska is bound for the Big Ten next season, a fact that is at once heartbreaking and infuriating to anyone who grew up in America’s breadbasket in the 1970s watching Big 8 Conference foes take on the Big Red machine on black and white TVs on autumn afternoons. From its Heisman Trophy winners Johnny Rodgers (1972), Mike Rozier (1983) and Eric Crouch (2001) to its five national championships in the past 40 years, Nebraska remains the standard-bearer for the nation’s farming football fans.

“It’s sad — I think of the history and tradition that goes along with that is relative to the Big 8-Big 12 conference, I think it will be missed,” said Kansas State Coach Bill Snyder, who is good friends with Tom Osborne, the former Nebraska coach who is now the university’s athletic director.

“I hate to see them go,” he continued. “I am disappointed and saddened by Nebraska not being in the conference.”

How Nebraska’s farewell tour — through a conference that it helped build and often dominated — will play out is anyone’s guess.

“I don’t know what to expect,” Osborne conceded. “I’ve heard and expect more nasty comments in some places. There will be others that will be more respectful. I do know everyone in the Big 12 is going to want to send us out with a loss.”

If recent history is a guide, there is little doubt that breaking up is hard to do. In 2004, Boston College’s final season in the Big East before heading to the Atlantic Coast Conference, the Eagles were showered with fake money, booed heartily and mercilessly criticized on talk radio and Internet forums.

“It’s a divorce, and very few of those end up without hard feelings,” said Boston College’s athletic director, Gene DeFilippo. “The Big East fans felt jilted by Boston College, and you could feel that high emotion in about every stadium.”

Here in the Little Apple, as Manhattan is known, the bad feelings and abusive language erupted over the summer when Nebraska announced it was going to the Big Ten for, among other things, a larger amount of television revenue.

“There was a few days there, when the Pac-10 was wooing the Texas and Oklahoma schools, and it looked like the Big 12 was going to die altogether and K-State and Kansas would be out in the cold, and people were angry,” said Matt Walters, who graduated from Kansas State in 1990 and hosts “The Game,” a popular afternoon drive-time talk show in Manhattan. “It’s been calm mostly since.”

Over the years, the rivalry has been a respectful, if mostly one-sided, one. Nebraska and Kansas State are neighbors whose fan bases look and act alike — older, agriculturally based, friendly and well behaved. Nebraska leads the series, 75-15-2, but Kansas State won five of seven games from 1998 to 2004.

In television commercials, the in-game video and the game program, Kansas State officials acknowledge that this is the end of an era.

“The final chapter of a great Big 12 series,” reads the tag line of the game poster.

But they are not taking any chances, either. Kansas State’s athletic director, John Currie, sent a letter to fans on Monday, asking them to live up to their reputation as classy supporters.

“We pride ourselves at K-State on the people and how well-respected our fans are across the nation,” it read in part.

“We expect nothing less than Bill Snyder Family Stadium to be rocking Thursday night, but it is also a part of our mission as an athletics program to provide the best fan experience possible to both our fans and those visiting Manhattan.”

The Nebraska players are perhaps taking this final tour with the least concern.

None of them were born when the transcendent Rodgers returned a punt 72 yards for a touchdown to kick off the scoring in the ballyhooed Game of the Century between No. 1 Nebraska and No. 2 Oklahoma in 1971, which the Huskers won, 35-31. They were in grade school in 1998 when Kansas State beat Nebraska here, 40-30, for the first time in 39 years — since the Kansan Dwight David Eisenhower was in the White House — touching off a goalpost-toppling celebration rarely seen in Wildcats football history.

“People have been telling us that it’s going to be a lot different, but personally I don’t see how it is going to affect us at all,” said defensive tackle Jared Crick, a junior. “Usually when we go on the road, people don’t like us anyway, so I don’t really see what the big difference will be. It’s going to be a hostile environment no matter where we are playing. I don’t see leaving the Big 12 as a big factor in what we expect when we go on the road.”

Win or lose, however, there will be quite a few football fans from Nebraska and Kansas, as well as Missouri, Iowa and Oklahoma, who were part of Big 8 country and will understand what has been lost when the Huskers board the bus and rumble back through Marysville and Beatrice one last time en route to Lincoln.

One of them will be an old coach. Osborne looks forward to new rivalries being established on storied football fields like those at Michigan and Ohio State. Still, he cannot help looking back.

“I’m going to be sad,” said Osborne, 73, who joined the Nebraska coaching staff in 1964. “One chapter closes, and another opens.”

A version of this article appeared in print on October 7, 2010, on page B19 of the New York edition.
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ALUMNI eNUz...

OCT. 16 – WEAR RED. BE LOUD.

This Saturday, we’ll celebrate the time-honored tradition of a game day Saturday and the true essence of what it means to be a Husker. Whether you are in the stadium with thousands, at a watch party with hundreds or at home with just a few, we invite you to join us. WEAR RED and share in the excitement and tradition of college football.

A Night with Nebraska in California

The Nebraska Alumni Association and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln invite you to join other Husker alumni, fans and friends for an evening reception and optional golf tournament in Irvine, Calif., on Feb. 10, 2011. Chancellor Harvey Perlman, Coach Bo Pelini and former Huskers Tommie Frazier and Matt Davison will be our special guests. Member registration begins Oct. 18; non-member registration Oct. 20.


Connect with Success

Meet the 2011 Alumni Masters at a welcome reception in the Wick Alumni Center, Nov. 10, 5:30-7:30 p.m. This year’s masters include: Damon Barry, ’00; Kate Bingaman-Burt, ’04; H. Robert Douglass, ’63; John Kennedy, II, ’05; Loren Lutes, ’60, ’61; Therese McGuire, ’78; Allan Noddle, ’62; Teresa Poggenpohl, ’83; Roger Wehrbein, ’60; and Jeff Zeleny, ’96. Learn more.

Honors in KC

Honors Program Alumni: Join Professors Patrice Berger, Karen Lyons and Madhavan Soundararajan and Adviser Ann Koopmann in Kansas City for drinks and conversation Oct. 22 during the National Collegiate Honors Council Conference. A reception will be held 6:30-8 p.m. that evening in the Barney Allis Lobby of the Kansas City Marriott Downtown Hotel. RSVP to Karen Lyons by Oct. 18.

ROTC Reunion Deadline Oct. 29
The official Nebraska Alumni ROTC affiliate group has extended the deadline for its first-ever reunion. You now have until Oct. 29 to reserve your place for the Nov. 12 event. E-mail Pam Penner or call her at 402-472-8933 to register.

UNIVERSITY NEWS...

Life in the Past Lane

A special exhibit on view through September 2011 at UNL’s Morrill Hall highlights spectacular fossil finds salvaged over the last five decades through Nebraska's Highway Paleontology Program, a collaborative effort of the NU State Museum and the Nebraska Department of Roads. "Highway Paleontology: Life in the Past Lane" features rare specimens, including the remains of a six-foot-tall flightless bird, a 40-foot-long plesiosaur, a lion 25 percent larger than the modern African lion, and a giant land tortoise. Read more.

Environmentally Friendly

Parking has gone green at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. After incorporating environmentally friendly construction elements in other structures, UNL Parking and Transit Service's new 1,040-stall parking garage at 19th and Vine streets is designed to meet internationally recognized green building standards. Learn more.

Thompson Forum To Examine China's Effect on Americans



Former U.S. senator from Nebraska Chuck Hagel and Chinese Ambassador Zhang Yesui will present the Charles and Linda Wilson Dialogue on Domestic Issues, "China Rising: Good News or Bad News for U.S. Workers, Consumers and Investors?" on Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. as part of UNL's E.N. Thompson Forum on World Issues.

ATHLETIC NEWS...

Support Coach Pelini

Vote once a day through Dec. 4 for Nebraska Coach Bo Pelini for the 2010 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year. If Coach Pelini is chosen, $50,000 will go to the charity of his choice and a $20,000 scholarship endowment will go to the alumni association.

RED OUT in Brazil

After nearly six decades of watching important Nebraska football games, mostly in his home state, Dan “Hutch” Hutchison – a former Nebraska teacher, coach, farmer and school superintendent – now wears red and celebrates from Brazil. Read more.

We Need Your Help!

The Nebraska Alumni Association is working with the Husker Sports Network to survey alumni and Husker fans. The results will measure the effectiveness some of HSN’s advertisers have with promotions in Memorial Stadium, on radio broadcasts, Nebraska coaches shows and so on. In addition, survey participants will be entered to win prizes such as an autographed Ndamukong Suh photo, Nebraska Champions Club passes, Husker volleyball tickets, Husker basketball tickets and more. All answers are anonymous and confidential. Click here to take the survey.
 
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