LINCOLN, Neb.—Bo Pelini isn’t about to try to engage in the scoring contests that have become weekly fare in the Big 12.
At Nebraska, it’s all about defense.
“I ultimately believe that there are a lot of people that have lost sight of what it means to play great defense,” said Pelini, a defensive coordinator at Nebraska, Oklahoma and LSU before returning to Lincoln last year for his first head coaching job. “It’s not about the scheme. It’s not about tricking somebody. It’s about dominating somebody.”
To ask a defense to dominate in the offense-rich Big 12 is to ask a lot. But with the Cornhuskers breaking in a new starting quarterback, the defense is going to have to be pretty good if they’re going to live up to their billing as Big 12 North favorites.
There were positive signs during last year’s 9-4 campaign. The Huskers allowed 350 yards a game, 126 fewer than in Bill Callahan’s last year as coach, and the defense finished strong in a 26-21 Gator Bowl victory over Clemson.
The return of nose tackle Ndamukong Suh is a big reason why many believe the Huskers will be playing for the conference championship in December.
The Big 12’s preseason defensive player of the year came back for more seasoning after flirting with the idea of turning pro.
“Another year can always help you,” Pelini said. “He just felt like he had unfinished business. He felt that he wanted to be instrumental in where the program’s headed, and he wants to finish off his career at Nebraska the right way.”
How important is Suh to the Huskers?
Last year, he made 76 tackles to become the first lineman to lead the team since 1973, and his total was the most by a lineman since 1992.
Suh anchors a strong defensive line that returns starters in Pierre Allen and Barry Turner. Jared Crick is set to move in at tackle, and Terrence Moore figures to get significant playing time.
The secondary has eight players who have started, including strong safety Larry Asante, cornerback Anthony West and a rising star in nickel back Eric Hagg.
The biggest questions are at linebacker. Blake Lawrence, who plays the weakside spot, has appeared in 18 games the last two years. There is a big drop-off in experience after that, and much is expected of young players such as Will Compton and Sean Fisher.
Zac Lee, who has attempted only two passes in his career, headed into fall camp as the front-runner at quarterback. The situation behind him is tenuous. Redshirt freshman Kody Spano, projected to be the top backup, re-tore the ACL in his left knee and is out for the season.
The strength of the offense is at running back, where Roy Helu Jr. and Quentin Castille return. Helu led the Huskers with 803 yards and seven touchdowns, and his 6.4-yard-per-carry average was the best at Nebraska in seven seasons.
Receivers Menelik Holt, Niles Paul and Chris Brooks will get more opportunities after being overshadowed by Nate Swift and Todd Peterson the past couple years.
The Huskers’ first road game is at Virginia Tech, and they have to travel for Big 12 North games against Missouri and Kansas. They get Texas Tech and Oklahoma at home.
Helu said the Huskers are happy to be picked to win the North, but they don’t want to stop there in Pelini’s second season.
“We’ve seen programs like Alabama and Oklahoma in their second year just take it to a whole new national level,” Helu said. “Building off the confidence of what happened in the Gator Bowl, we’ve carried it on and then there has just been this wave of momentum through training. We’re really excited to go into the season because looking at the schedule and everything, we believe that it will be real competitive, but we know there’s the potential to have a good record.”
