Nebraska...not feeling Frosty anymore

[Hannibal]

I was thinking the ice cream truck guy but pizza delivery works too.

[entropy]

Brady Hoke is far more concerned with Alabama than Nebraska, right at the moment. In the long run, though, the latter will loom more important than the former, for the Wolverines achieving their goal of a Big Ten championship.

That's why it's good for Michigan that at least Hoke has been at the center of the storm in Lincoln before. In fact, he nearly pulled off the impossible there.

Hoke took his 2007 Ball State squad into Memorial Stadium and gave the Cornhuskers the scare of their lives. Nebraska had to hold on to win, 41-40, in a game Hoke remembers vividly.

He can even cite chapter and verse about the coverage on key plays, ones that might have made the difference in the one-point shocker. Guaranteed, he'll not be afraid of taking a much more talented Michigan squad into Lincoln and competing, especially since the Wolverines pummeled Nebraska in Ann Arbor last year, 45-17.

That, of course, could work against the Wolverines in Lincoln this season. The Cornhuskers will certainly be geared up for a team that embarrassed them like they've rarely been embarrassed.

Either way, Hoke smiles at the thought of going back to Lincoln.

"It's a great atmosphere," he said. "You talk about people who are passionate. Wow. It will be all red, that sea of red. It's a great facility, an intense place. They'll have a great football team, and Bo [Pelini] does a great job. It will be fun, walking through the crowd to the field. That's really cool."

"In 1989 and '90, I was at Oregon State, and we came out two years in a row. It was a place where the people really respected good football. They knew football, and they respected good football. Going back there in '07, that was fun."

It was almost a lot more fun, for Hoke and Ball State. Had Nebraska not scored with 3:31 remaining on an 11-yard pass from Sam Keller to Maurice Purify, the Mid-American Conference school would have experienced pure magic.



It wasn't a fluke that day, either. Hoke's team out-gained the Cornhuskers on the ground, 188-114, and played to a near standoff in the air, throwing for 422 yards to Nebraska's 438. Overall, Ball State posted a 610-552 edge in yardage.

In the end, the Cardinals succumbed. Hoke isn't afraid to go back to Lincoln, but he knows it will represent one of the toughest tests among a host of them.

"We're playing 10 bowl teams," he said. "We're playing five of those bowl teams on the road. Playing on the road always has a uniqueness about it. You don't have 114,000, where maybe 112,000 are rooting for you."

That day, the Wolverines will have more than 80,000 rooting against them. They'll be in a venue in which 2011 Legends Division champion Michigan State got crushed, 24-3, a year ago.

None of that will matter when Hoke leads the Wolverines into Memorial Stadium. He'll be focused on the here and now, but also remember when Ball State nearly pulled off the unthinkable.

[lineygoblue]

Hoke will have the guys ready, but the Huskers are going to be tough to beat in Lincoln.

Good article. I especially like how he describes Husker fans and the difference in atmosphere from another "red" team we all know ...

[THE_WIZARD_]

The 2007 Huskers were probably the worst Nebraska team in the last 50 years. Ball State went bowling in 2007. Nebraska didn't. At the time the score of that game was a shocker...but not so much now. A few weeks later Okie State went into Lincoln and lead us 38-0...AT THE HALF. So thumping your chest about losing to that team 41-40 is rather silly.

[iam416]

I certainly defer to Husker fans on matters of the Corn and, generally, matters of sucking. And there's no doubt that any team that got run 76-39 by Mangino and 65-51 by the Buffs sucked. But I thought the 2004 team was a giant back of suck, too. Wasn't that the year of the 70-10 loss to the crazy pirate of Lubbock?

[THE_WIZARD_]

Correct. 2004 was the second worst NU team in the last 50 years. Callahan owns the two worst seasons at NU since 1961.

fuckin' Callahan

[entropy]

LJS

It was just a year ago when Alonzo Whaley was called into Bo Pelini’s office. A talk was necessary.

A few days prior, Whaley had been notified he wouldn’t be part of Nebraska’s 105-man roster for fall camp. This can be tough on any player, but it especially comes like a mule kick to the gut to an upperclassmen on scholarship.

Now, Nebraska’s head coach had a question for the linebacker.

"He downright asked me if I wanted to be here. And he gave me an opportunity, if I wanted to get out, to transfer,” Whaley said.

Do you want to be here?

As much as he previously failed in demonstrating a clear answer to that question, Whaley didn’t struggle in that moment to reply.

The linebacker looked Pelini in the eyes and told him yes.

Words are one thing, actions another.

“You’re going to have to show me,” Pelini told him. “You’re going to have to prove you want to be here.”

Without getting into specifics, Whaley said his priorities had gotten out of line.

“I was doing it backwards,” he said. “I was thinking that if I took care of football I didn’t have to worry about everything.”

“It was nothing bad, it was nothing criminal,” said linebackers coach Ross Els. “He just kept showing up on lists, little things after little things. You couldn’t count on him. And we just said, ‘Hey, we can’t count on you.’ ”

Look-in-the-mirror time.

That can be tough when you don't like what's looking back.

“It really made me realize that this is not promised because it can be taken away just like that,” Whaley said. “And I was in a position thinking that, ‘Oh, I’m a scholarship player, I’ll figure it out. I’ll eventually come around.’ I also made the mistake by not criticizing myself, (and instead) saying, ‘Oh, he’s against me, she’s against me, they’re against me,’ instead of looking at myself and seeing what I needed to fix.”

The fix-it-process began.

Whaley focused on his religious faith and started thinking about putting things in his life in the right order.

He worked harder in the classroom. It showed in his grades.

Football? He played last year. Not a ton. But he played in every game. Had 11 tackles.

Coaches never came up to Whaley and talked about his transformation, but then, that made sense.

"You know what that tells me, is that's what they expected from me,” Whaley said. “It's not a surprise because they knew I had it all along and that's their job, to get the best out of me."

But it was clear coaches had recognized Whaley’s efforts when he was presented with a blackshirt in the days before the Iowa game.

And during this past offseason, he was named to the Unity Council, a clear sign that he is seen as one of the team leaders heading into this 2012 campaign.

“He’s such a joy to have around,” Els said. “And he’s such a good leader to the young guys. And the thing I like about him is he can take these young guys aside and go, ‘Hey, I’ve been where you are … and it almost lost me a scholarship. I turned my life around and if you just continue to work hard, good things are going to happen.’ He teaches those kids, he gets on them. He’s a great leader, he really is.”

Just a year after not participating in these camp practices, he’s currently considered the No. 1 WILL linebacker. A footnote last August, reporters circled around him after Monday's practice to ask about his trip through these past 12 months.

It’s a journey Whaley’s sure he took for a reason.

“I truly believe it was part of God’s process was to build me up to this moment, to take me through whatever I needed to get through to be on this big stage,” he said. “And now I have to glorify him and show people what it’s like to glorify God. That’s why I think I’m in this position.”

As for the football?

He’s a lead candidate to start now. But the native of Madisonville, Texas, knows depth chart projections in early August guarantee you nothing.

There are plenty of hungry young dudes behind him with talent — David Santos and Zaire Anderson come to mind.

Whaley knows they’re eager, and he’s glad they are.

“I do my best to try to coach them up,” Whaley said. “It’s not my job to just turn my back and walk away from them just because they’re competition. Also, I have to coach them up. It helps me sharpen my game. Hey, I’m getting pushed. Competition, you gotta love it.”

Whaley has found the answers off the field. Now can he find them on it?

One year left to seize the moment.

How’s that feel?

“No pressure now,” he said. “Watch out now.”

He’s smiling as he says it.

This is the fun part.

Lessons learned. Burdens lifted. Watch out now.

[iam416]

Hoss and Entropy hate Pelini. True story. At least as far as I recall.

[entropy]

hoss does

[iam416]

Hoss hates Pelini. Hoss speaks for Entropy. Entropy hates Pelini. QED.

[Optimus Prime]

Hoss loved nearly everyone but don't dare get him drinkin'.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Hoss was peaceful by nature but sudden when riled.

[Optimus Prime]

No stranger to drunken debauchery & watersport, apparently he loved to go swimming with bowlegged women……

[Rob F]

who doesn't?!

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=10&ved=0CHQQFjAJ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fottobelden.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F11%2Fswimming-with-bowlegged-women.html&ei=KgwjULLsCqrMyQHqt4G4CA&usg=AFQjCNFQOTztwBrcaxINoxwC-W0EDlsfAQ

[entropy]

Location of Nebraska recruits... So far.

The kid from Lincoln actually just moved from college station Texas.