Nebraska...not feeling Frosty anymore

[THE_WIZARD_]

prick

[entropy]

fucker..

[entropy]

Every Monday during the season, Sam McKewon breaks down NU football news. Here's his roundup after the second week of practice.

* * *

LINCOLN — Bo Pelini doesn't have much of a presence in last week's Sports Illustrated college football preview. But if you read the main story about Alabama coach Nick Saban and his plan for success, you saw echoes of the Husker head coach.

Andy Staples wrote about the “The Sabanization of College Football,” and how coaches like Florida State's Jimbo Fisher and Florida's Will Muschamp want the “blueprint,” as Muschamp puts it, to winning national titles as easily as Saban has.

Saban calls his formula “The Process.” Sound familiar?

Staples writes: “Saban's holistic Process is less susceptible to gimmicks and schematic ingenuity. Saban finds the most talented players with the best mental makeup; trains their mind, body and soul; and then unleashes them.”

In 2006 and 2007, Alabama finished a combined 13-13. NU finished 14-13. Since then, Bama is 48-6. NU is 38-16. Ten wins. Two national titles. One stadium statue.

Is Saban a saltier defensive coach than Pelini? By a smidge. Maybe. Not nearly enough for 10 wins. Does Saban have better assistants? Perhaps, but Saban's defensive coordinator, Kirby Smart, is 36 — two years older than Pelini's defensive coordinator, John Papuchis. Does Alabama have better financial, administrative, academic or fan support than NU? No.

So what are the key sources of Saban's process? I'll pick three. In order:

SEC recruiting. It's easier to recruit to Alabama than it is Nebraska because of the proximity of players in and around Tuscaloosa. But, more important, SEC rules made it easier to oversign at Alabama when Saban returned in 2007. And Saban more than took advantage.

According to Rivals.com, Saban signed 85 scholarship players in his first three recruiting classes. He turned over the roster that fast. Pelini signed 70 in his first three classes. Expand it to the first four classes, and Saban signed 111. Pelini signed 90. That's 21 players. Not all of them academically qualified — for either team — but in that margin you're going to find a few difference makers.

Clear offensive identity. Alabama plays Rust Belt football. Big Ten football. Power sets, play-action passes, a heavy emphasis on the running back and an efficient quarterback who doesn't make mistakes.

Since 2008, here's the average Tide quarterback: 63 percent completion rate, 2,593 yards, 16 touchdowns, five interceptions. Nothing flashy. The high number of attempts in a season? 328. The low number? 313. In each year, the No. 1 tight end had between 25 and 34 catches. In 2009 and 2011, the national title squads had more than 2,780 team rushing yards, but fewer than 3,020.

Getting the picture? Year after year, Alabama is the same offense — steady, so the defense can be spectacular. It's not an NFL passing offense. It's not a spread running offense. It does not try to incorporate the kitchen sink, as LSU coach Les Miles tried last year. It's old-school, Big Ten football.

Killer turnover margin. As in plus-45 since 2008.

Consistency of method, explosive, turnover-creating plays, and a giant head start in roster development. That's the process — on Bama protein pills.

Now, the recruiting steam train has slowed down. Saban only signed 75 players in the last three classes, and the 2013 Crimson Tide class may max out at 20. It will make it harder to win 12 games every year in the SEC.

But Alabama has so many of the other, process-oriented pieces in place, that it essentially turns into plug-n-play. You know, as it did for Nebraska in the 1990s.

It's intriguing to see that Pelini has much the same methodology as Saban. They even give it the same name. Saban is a Bill Belichick disciple; Belichick visited Pelini this spring. Saban built his team with aggressive recruiting; now you see Pelini engaging the recruiting game in ways he did not when he arrived.

But I come back to the repeated explosive plays on defense. And the balanced consistency on offense. Two hallmarks of Alabama's recent dominance. Two things Nebraska must produce to the same degree to win multiple Big Ten titles.

On with the rewind.

Quick takes

• If the two-gap scheme is really losing its luster at NU — defensive line coach Rick Kaczenski told columnist Tom Shatel that he doesn't even try to use the term — it tells me Pelini is willing to risk a little bit of his core beliefs for the reward of more explosive defensive plays against the run. Getting Big Ten teams “off schedule” — forcing some average passers to throw to average receivers on second-and-long — is a winning formula in 2012.

• I've seen the players and talked to enough folks connected with NU's program to know that, star ratings be damned, this is the best crop of Husker defensive line recruits in the Pelini era. None of the four — defensive ends Avery Moss and Greg McMullen and defensive tackles Vincent Valentine and Aaron Curry — needs to gain 40 pounds just to play, or spend two years in the weight room to prepare for the Big Ten.

It's good thing, too, because NU could need Curry and Valentine this year and all four by 2013. If Curry and Valentine are even sniffing the two-deep by Aug. 31, play them Sept. 1. Because of injuries, the Huskers' interior got far too thin by the end of 2011.

• Terrific Sunday story by Dirk Chatelain on the obstacles that safety Daimion Stafford has overcome just to get to his senior season at Nebraska. Now you know what's behind every one of those big hits.

So who starts next to him? It's senior P.J. Smith's job to lose — he's smart and a better tackler than coaches give him credit for — but whoever it is had better be able to cover. NU's front seven figures to be more aggressive in 2012 — much like it was in early 2008, I suspect — which leaves those safeties with more risk and responsibility on passing downs.

One difference: The Big Ten doesn't have wide receivers like Michael Crabtree, Jeremy Maclin or Kendall Wright right now.

• Walk-on-to-scholarship stories are fun to tell, and Nebraska develops the heck out of local kids. Pelini's upgraded walk-ons in each of his five years, including five Saturday.

If Justin Jackson wins the battle at center, NU's entire interior offensive line — guard-center-guard — will be comprised of former walk-ons.

I'll pause while you either clap or grumble at that sentence.

An interesting note: Just one walk-on — Austin Cassidy — got a scholarship before the 2010 season. And that was NU's best, most explosive roster in the Pelini era.

• Quarterback Taylor Martinez is loosening up. He was aces in a photo shoot for the World-Herald's college football preview that comes out next Sunday. But the most priceless picture: Kenny Bell in a rather iconic hat.

Lingering questions

• Can Ciante Evans play like he's been praised? When Pelini drew a comparison between Evans — a 5-foot-11, 190-pound junior — and former Husker nickel Eric Hagg, he boosted expectations for what fans can expect out of a kid who struggled last year. Evans may have benefited more from the arrival of new secondary coach Terry Joseph than any other defensive back. Joseph has a way of instilling confidence where 2011 secondary coach Corey Raymond might have simply expected it.


• Should Adidas just give up on the alternate uniform business? Critics who pounced hard on Nebraska's “Quick and the Red” look mercilessly attacked Notre Dame's “Shamrock Series” look for a game with Miami. The Irish certainly look different, with a split-personality helmet and more gold in the jersey. But I don't mind it. As I wrote on a recent Facebook blog: Adidas has a better design palette than Nike, which seemingly wants to drape every team in military colors of black, silver, gray, dark green and weird shades of yellow. Are they playing football or preparing for an amphibious assault?

Opponent watch

Iowa appears to have lost another running back. The wheel of misfortune landed on “injury” this time instead of “crime” or “alleged crime” or “immaturity” as freshman Barkley Hill hurt his knee in an open scrimmage Saturday.

“We're going to be smart from this point in,” offensive coordinator Greg Davis said. “It's a shame what happened to Barkley and hopefully he'll be fine.”

Have the Huskers ever undergone such a prolonged curse at one position?

At Northwestern, the offensive linemen have a new name, according to the Chicago Tribune: Big Cats. For more than a decade, they mooched off the Washington Redskins and called themselves the Hogs.

“Hogs go to slaughter,” line coach Adam Cushing told the Tribune. “Big Cats rule the plains; they rule the jungle. We're athletic and that's what we want to be.”

So, you know, add a few more puma sightings to Nebraska's annual list when Northwestern visits Memorial Stadium again in 2013.

Forecast

University of Nebraska-Lincoln fall classes kick back into gear Monday. Goodbye, stress-free downtown parking. As for the football team, it usually takes players a few days to again acclimate to the schedule. Especially freshmen.

[UMStan White]

So Entropy, why does each article you post appear twice? Do you belch while hitting the "Post Quick Reply" button? Just asking

[entropy]

no idea.. that was odd.

perhaps it was soo good, even this site thought it deserved a second read.

[entropy]

Due to stadium construction many parking and tailgate spots were ?relocated? for the 2012 Football Season. This includes us! This map will help you find us at our new location for the 2012 Season.

Last year we were on South Stadium Drive. ( highlighted below in green)

This year we have moved to LOT #5 which is located north of the track and practice fields (highlighted in red) We will be located in the NorthEast corner of the lot near the parking garage and Salt Creek Roadway. Hopefully, many of you will make it to Lincoln this year to tailgate with us..

[THE_WIZARD_]

You don't have much clout do you Ent...

[entropy]

No.. I don't.

[entropy]

My new smoker.. almost completed.

[entropy]

pic #2

[iam416]

Nice. Sidebox smoker is a good way to go for tailgating.

[Optimus Prime]

Ent, I've got two boating associates (friends) Crimson Tide & Vol Army that would very much appreciate and likely purchase immediately. My Tennessee buddy parks his 100 footer next to the stadium off the Tennessee river and would love to tailgate with that "rig".

If you get some sort of referral credit, let's do it, if not should they directly contact the manufacturer via the URL?

[entropy]

I think the easiest thing to do would be for them to go to the website, contact them and mention the Husker smoker. I'm the first so they'll know who I am. Sylvia will be the one calling them back or reaching out to them. She'll take them through everything. They are out of San Antonio. Great people...

I'd appreciate it. who knows, I might get some money out of it too. Plus, it would be cool to see what they come up with..

[entropy]

one last picture..

[entropy]

Nebraska's Combined Goal: Become an International Research Model

Randy York's N-Sider

If sharing experiences, asking questions, healthy debate, constant communication, consistent deliberation, trusting intuition and distributing power are keys to successful collaboration, then Thursday’s first formal retreat bringing Nebraska Athletics together with UNL Research should build sturdy anchors for an interdependent partnership designed to become a game-changing international model for research.

Nebraska Athletic Director Tom Osborne and Prem Paul, UNL’s vice chancellor for Research & Economic Development, will address approximately 100 participants in Thursday’s six-hour retreat in West Memorial Stadium, directly across from an East Stadium construction project that will include unprecedented research facilities.

UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman will describe the vision behind the unique partnership and explain how UNL faculty and others will have the opportunity to become involved.

Building Research Collaborations is the theme of this retreat, and Nebraska Athletics and UNL Research are the team. Both anchor partners are well enough along in their emerging collaboration to invite other partners to see what’s down the road.

Key faculty and Athletic Department representatives will discuss how the Nebraska Athletic Performance Lab will be finished and why it will look like a typical training facility replete with multiple surfaces that will accommodate sport-specific activities. By next fall, the Performance Lab will include everything from a basketball floor and goal to a volleyball court and net and a strength training platform.

“This is kind of a big deal because one of the most important ideas behind expanding the East Stadium was an opportunity for our Athletic Department to make a significant contribution to the University of Nebraska’s academic mission,” Osborne said. “Our mission is to aid in recruiting by showing recruits and their parents that we’re doing everything we can to make their experience at Nebraska safer and more productive.”

Nebraska Performance Lab the Linchpin

The north half of the East Stadium addition will house the Performance Lab, which will enable research teams from multiple departments to address topics that relate to performance and health, technology, nutrition, psychology and learning. Head injuries and brain-related studies will be discussed at the retreat, and Dr. Dennis Molfese will explain how Nebraska intends to address this national concern under his leadership.

An internationally recognized expert with four decades of experience in brain studies and development, Molfese heads the Nebraska Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior (CB3), a broadly based interdisciplinary research center that has three goals. The top goal relates directly to the work his team will study in the expanded East Stadium. Molfese wants to “establish an international reputation as a pioneering, premier, world-class, interdisciplinary center that investigates the interface between social, biological, behavioral, engineering and neurological issues.” The other two goals relate to the applications of state-of-the-art imaging equipment and becoming a “trans-disciplinary hub” for cutting-edge research and innovative graduate education.

The CB3 Center will be housed in a three-story, 25,000 square-foot building inside the East Stadium, and research will range from detailed studies of social attitudes to the neurological basis of human decision-making. Molfese’s team will pursue worldwide knowledge in the study of the remediation of brain concussions among athletes. The Nebraska-based study will be done in collaboration with other institutions, including prominent fellow Big Ten Conference schools..

Other areas of emphasis on Thursday’s agenda include cardiovascular fitness, advanced equipment, software development and biomarker analysis, a pivotal area that will be addressed by the retreat’s keynote speaker, Douglas Granger, a nationally renowned expert in biomarker research. Granger is director of the Center for Interdisciplinary Salivary Bioscience Research at Johns Hopkins University. He also holds appointments at the School of Medicine, School of Nursing and Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Osborne: Collaboration Bridge between the Two

“The collaboration process will serve as a bridge between athletics and academics,” Osborne said, pointing out how the research center will use cutting-edge imaging technology to better understand the biological underpinnings of behavior and performance.

Academic programs throughout the University also will benefit from MRI research and athletic research that involve such related activities as comprehensive physicals, motion capture and analysis, saliva studies, resistance training, force plate (balance) studies, functional screening analysis, VO2 (maximum oxygen) tests, cardiac stress tests, echocardiograms, body composition tests, biomechanics (the application of physics in sports), sleep studies, concussion assessment tools, vision training, psychological evaluations and supplements research.

“It’s important to look at a broad range of research opportunities because there are multiple avenues to secure grants, public research and provide graduate and undergraduate assistantships,” Osborne said. “Our goal is to advance the general welfare of our country and particularly our student-athletes. Prevention of concussions, cardiovascular events, improper nutrition practices and unsafe equipment will have a national and international impact and will set this University and this Athletic Department apart in terms of research and innovation. This will be a unique facility and not duplicated anywhere else.”

Osborne points out that the athletic research facility is not an extension of such areas as Nutrition, Strength and Conditioning or Athletic Medicine. “The facility will stand alone and separate from the Athletic Department, even though there will be a strong affiliation,” he said.

Participation at Discretion of Coaches, Athletes

“This new structure will not be an office space for those not engaged in active, approved research,” Osborne said, adding that “no student-athlete and no sport will be required to participate in research studies. Participation will be at the discretion of each coach and each athlete.”

The athletic research area “will be revenue neutral,” Osborne said. “Our goal is to generate enough income through space rental and grants to meet our operating expenses. It will not be a profit center.”

Osborne said the implementation of policy “will evolve and change over time, but the mission will remain constant.”

A one-hour retreat discussion of the Athletic Performance Lab will include subject matter experts Steven Krueger, a cardiologist at Lincoln’s Bryan LGH Heart Institute and Steve Kiene, the managing principal of Nebraska Global Investment. Nebraska Global is the Lincoln-based software development company that partnered with NU Athletics to deliver EliteForm, a state-of-the-art strength and conditioning product that was unveiled nationwide last spring.

Perlman Will Share Vision of Unique Partnership

During a 75-minute working luncheon, Perlman will share his vision of the unique partnership between UNL academics and Nebraska Athletics.

Deb Hamernik, interim associate vice chancellor for Research, will moderate an eight-person panel on UNL’s research strengths and needs. Panelists include Julie Honaker, Tim Carr, Tim Gay, Debra Hope, Namas Chandra, Fred Luthans, Scott Stoltenberg and Mario Scalora.
Paul will finish the day with a one-hour discussion of key observations and next steps with five panelists – Dr. Granger, David Hansen, Marjorie Kostelnik and two members of Nebraska’s Athletic staff – Brandon Rigoni and Doak Ostergard.

According to Paul, the primary purpose of the unique partnership is to “create a center for excellence in sports science that provides a unique link between our prestigious athletic program and various academic departments within the University, as well as private partners with a shared interest in improving the health and welfare of our student-athletes and the general community.”

Bottom Line: There is No Place Like Nebraska

At countless colleges, rifts develop regarding the priorities of academics and athletics, and Paul appreciates Osborne’s emphasis on academics as well as his willingness to partner with the academic side of Nebraska, where he earned a doctorate in Educational Psychology.

Paul says communication and collaboration are crucial to improve the quality of sports science, and his team is eager to work with coaches, staff, athletes and the community to research and improve best practices and to “put Nebraska on the leading edge by using the latest science and technology in the world.”

Osborne is a strong believer in the principle that says the best way to predict the future is to invent it, and, in a nutshell, that’s what the Nebraska Athletic Performance Lab will be – an invention that gives a Big Ten university in the heart of America the chance to compete at the highest level in 23 intercollegiate sports. Who else in the world will have 50,000 square feet of research space inside a football stadium with a corridor that will connect athletic performance with academic rigor?

Every Big Red fan needs to understand that the expanded East Stadium may be highly geared to football, but it will benefit every student-athlete that Nebraska chooses to recruit.

A Hall-of-Fame coach’s vision stretches well beyond the sport that made him famous, and the realization of this unique interdependent partnership between academics, athletics and private enterprise should be applauded and celebrated with the same enthusiasm as a comeback win over Ohio State.

Undying Support of Fans Deserves Kudos

Fifty straight years of Nebraska football sellouts go beyond an ongoing NCAA record that probably never will be broken. And make no mistake: The undying loyalty of Big Red football fans laid the foundation for this international model of research.

When the East Stadium’s new tenants move into their home in 2013, fans will realize how the Nebraska Athletic Performance Lab influences recruiting and how such a move aligns perfectly with the Athletic Department’s over-arching goal – Success in Academics ... Success in Athletics ... Success in Life.

The public unveiling of the Performance Lab next fall – and all the research that surrounds it – will deserve the ultimate kudo that only a Cornhusker can understand ... There is No Place like Nebraska!

http://www.huskers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=100&ATCLID=205645212