Husker Football Tickets

Lucky tabbed by Big 12 media for preseason honor

Husker running back Marlon Lucky was the lone Nebraska player selected by the media in their preseason All-Big 12 Conference picks announced Thursday.

It is the fewest number of Huskers ever named to a preseason all-conference poll in recent memory, but Lucky is certainly a deserving pick as he is the top returning back in the conference from last year.

Missouri had seven players and Oklahoma had six on the all-conference first team. Missouri had five named on offense, led by quarterback Chase Daniel, the preseason Offensive Player of the Year selection.

Auston Elgish leads the six Sooners named to the first team, and he was tabbed the preseason Defensive Player of the Year.

The selections are as follows:

Offense
WR - Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech
TE - Chase Coffman, Missouri
OL - Duke Robinson, Oklahoma
OL - Phil Loadholt, Oklahoma
C   - Jon Cooper, Oklahoma
OL - Louis Vasquez, Texas Tech
OL - Colin Brown, Missouri
OL - Cedric Dockery, Texas
WR - Jeremy Maclin, Missouri
QB - Chase Daniel, Missouri
RB - Marlon Lucky, Nebraska
RB - DeMarco Murray, Oklahoma
PK - Jeff Wolfert, Missouri
KR - Marcus Herford, Kansas
 
Defense
DL - Auston English, Oklahoma
DL - Ian Campbell, Kansas State
DL - George Hypolite, Colorado
DL - Brian Orakpo, Texas
LB - Sean Weatherspoon, Missouri
LB - Joe Mortenson, Kansas
LB - Joe Pawelek, Baylor
DB - Nic Harris, Oklahoma
DB - William Moore, Missouri
DB - Jamar Wall, Texas Tech
DB - Jordan Lake, Baylor
P   - Justin Brantly, Texas A&M
PR - Jeremy Maclin, Missouri

Where's Khiry?

One of the biggest recruits for the Husker football and baseball teams may never make a single play in a Nebraska uniform.

Khiry Cooper is a 6-foot-2, 180-pound receiver from Shreveport, La., who is not only a gifted wide receiver, but a pretty darn good outfielder as well for Calvary Baptist High School. So good, in fact, that he was drafted in the fifth round by the Anaheim Angels.

Players report for fall camp on Aug. 3, and the big question right now is whether or not Cooper will be in that group of young men who will strap on the pads for the Huskers this fall.

According to the Omaha World-Herald, the coaches at Nebraska think Cooper will be in Lincoln a few weeks from now. He has attended summer school at UNL the past few weeks and has been seen training with the team and taking a few swings in the Hawks Center batting cages.

Cooper is one of two of the Angels' top 10 picks who has yet to sign a minor-league contract. Cooper turned down an initial offer of $200,000 from the team, but the team is expected to make another offer to him before major league baseball's Aug. 15 signing deadline.

Whether or not that offer is enough to take Cooper away from Lincoln remains to be seen, but it appears for now that Cooper will be in camp when the Huskers begin preparations for the 2008 season in a few weeks.

Sporting News picks Huskers fourth in North

The preseason football publications are now on the newsstands, and The Sporting News has listed the Huskers fourth in the Big 12 North Division heading into the 2008 season.

Nebraska is picked to finish behind Missouri, Kansas and Colorado in the division this year, with Kansas State and Iowa State rounding out the division. Oklahoma is the favorite in the South Division, followed by Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and Baylor.

Only one Husker was named to the publication's preseason All-Big 12 team. Marlon Lucky was tabbed along with Mike Goodson of Texas A&M at running back.

Nebraska did get some mention in the publication's other best-of picks, though. The magazine picked Nebraska's fans as the best in the conference, and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh was tabbed "biggest underachiever."

The magazine tabbed the Sept. 27 game against Virginia Tech as the game to watch on the Huskers' schedule this season. "When a major non-conference opponent visited Lincoln last season, USC toyed with the Cornhuskers," the publication said. "This is a line-in-the-sand kind of game for Nebraska."

The Sporting News projects the Huskers to play in a lower-tier bowl this season, picking them to play in the Independence Bowl.

Green says he's coming to Nebraska

One of the top quarterback recruits in the country, Cody Green of Dayton, Texas, announced Wednesday that he has verbally committed to play football for the Huskers.

Of course, verbal commitments are nothing until letter-of-intent signing day in early February. However, coach Bo Pelini seems to have landed a young man that is being touted by many recruiting experts as one of the best quarterbacks in the Class of 2009.

Green is a 6-foot-4, 220-pound senior-to-be, and is being chased by a number of schools, including Texas A&M, LSU, Baylor, Alabama, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Miami. He put up some impressive numbers as a sophomore, passing for 1,429 yards and 19 touchdowns while completing over 60 percent of his passes. He also rushed for 689 yards on 95 carries and four touchdowns. Last year, he missed most of the season due to torn ligaments in his ankle.

His high school coach says he's about 85 percent healthy, and when at full strength he has 4.57-second speed in the 40-yard dash. Green is a student of the game who spends a lot of time watching game film, and his high school coach calls him a "high-character kid" who will be a class act.

Green is the sixth verbal commitment coach Bo Pelini has received from the Class of 2009. Other verbal commitments have come from Shawn Bodtmann of Scranton, Pa.; Thaddeus Randle of Galena Park, Texas; Dontrayevous Robinson of Euless, Texas; and Nebraska standouts Cole Pensick of Lincoln Northeast and C.J. Zimmerer of Omaha Gross.

Williams to join Huskers this week

Josh Williams' future with the Huskers was still up in the air until last week, but he is set to join the team this week and prepare for his freshman season.

His future was in doubt after he was accused of robbing a Denton (Texas) man of $900 in early April. He faced a second-degree felony charge, but it was reduced to a misdemeanor, according to his attorney, Greg Boling.

Last week, a Denton County judge sentenced him to two years' probation, a $500 fine and 120 hours of community service. The judge allowed Williams to leave the state so he could go to college at Nebraska, but he must carry out his probation or face jail time back in Texas.

Williams told the Omaha and Lincoln papers that he was happy to get through the legal process so he could go to Lincoln and start work on the upcoming season.

Williams originally committed to Nebraska, then switched to Colorado before switching back to Nebraska. The 6-foot-4, 225-pound defensive end was a standout for Denton's Ryan High School, recording 75 tackles -- 25 for losses -- and 12 sacks during the 2007 season.

Virginia Tech not all that is advertised?

Husker football fans are getting excited about the 2008 season, and the first game everybody is really looking forward to (aside from the season opener against Western Michigan, of course), is the nonconference finale against Virginia Tech on Saturday, Sept. 27 at Memorial Stadium.

Last year, Virginia Tech was in the hunt for a national title and earned an Orange Bowl bid, losing a close one to Kansas. On paper, the Hokies were looking like a preseason Top 10 team and a formidable matchup before the Huskers' Big 12 season opener against Missouri the following week.

But all does not appear to be well on the Va. Tech front. Last week, wide receiver Brandon Dillard went down with a ruptured Achilles tendon during player-organized workouts on campus. He is scheduled to have surgery this week and will need to spend 4-6 months in rehab.

This is a huge loss to a team that has already suffered quite a bit recentlyl. Dillard was being looked at to help make up for the loss of the team's top four receivers, all of whom graduated last spring. Add to that the fact that top running back Brandon Ore was dismissed from the team and serious injuries to backup running backs Kenny Lewis (shoulder) and Jahre Cheeseman (broken fibula), and things aren't looking quite as rosy in Hokieville as they did a few months ago.

The Hokies are the defending Atlantic Coast Conference champions and should still be a formidable test for a Husker football team that has a lot of question marks of their own. But with the losses Virginia Tech has experienced, including seven of their top 10 tacklers, it will be interesting to see what kind of team Virginia Tech brings to town when they take on the Huskers on Sept. 27.

Don't forget to order your 2008 Husker football tickets now at Ticket Express -- where no Husker game is ever sold out.

Lucky, Ganz on watch lists

Two Husker football players are on the initial lists for some prestigious college football awards.

Both Marlon Lucky and Joe Ganz were named to the initial watch lists for the awards. Lucky is being tabbed on the Maxwell Award watch list, which is given to the nation's top player; while Ganz is on the short list for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award, given to the nation's top senior quarterback.

Both players are coming off solid seasons last year for the Huskers. Lucky ran for over 1,000 yards and caught a school-record and nation-leading 75 passes for 705 yards. He had 1,743 all-purpose yards last year and was named second-team All-Big 12.

Ganz came on late in the year and put up some stellar numbers. In just three games, he passed for 1,453 yards and 16 touchdowns, setting single-game records for passing yards and touchdowns. He threw for over 400 yards in the final three games of the year.

First three Husker games not on TV

The 2008 Husker football season kicks off Saturday, Aug. 30, but it's not likely you'll see the first three games of the Bo Pelini era on television.

The season opens when the Huskers host an up-and-coming Western Michigan, and they will face San Jose State and New Mexico State the next two weeks. Unfortunately for some Husker fans, those games won't be on television as none of the major networks have decided to go with other Big 12 games those first three weeks.

This is the latest Nebraska has gone into a season without a game on TV in some time. The last time at least one of the first three games on the schedule wasn't televised was in 1989. The first televised Husker game this year is likey when Virginia Tech comes to Memorial Stadium for a Sept. 27 battle, although it's not known which network will pick up the rights.

After that, the only guaranteed game to be on TV will be the Colorado game on Nov. 28. The Huskers do open Big 12 Conference play at home against Missouri on Oct. 4, and it's a pretty good bet that game will be on TV since the Tigers are the North Division champions last year and will be in most media's preseason top 10. The old-Big Eight rivalry game with Oklahoma on Nov. 1 should also be on most networks' radars of games to show.

But you don't have to wait for games to be on TV to see the Huskers in action. Ticket Express is your number one source for all Husker football tickets, both home and away. See the Huskers up close and personal with tickets from Ticket Express -- where no Husker home game is ever sold out.

Want a Memorial Stadium skybox? Stand in line

You say you just made a killing on the stock market and are now woth tens of millions of dollars?  You say you'd like to take that newfound wealth and get a skybox at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln to watch your favorite college football team?

Stand in line, pal -- it might be a while before one comes open for you.

A recent story in the Omaha World-Herald noted that most, if not all, of the leases on the original skyboxes at Memorial Stadium are up for renewal, and University of Nebraska officials expect most to be renewed.

The skyboxes were built in time for the 1999 season, two years after Nebraska's run of three national titles in four years. Of the 42 skyboxes, 29 were leased by what the university called "Cornerstone members" at a price of $75,000 a  year for 10 years, with first right of refusal on an additional 10-year lease.

University officials said they expect those leases to be renewed after this season at a cost of $85,000 a year for 10 years, or $90,000 a year for five years. If not, there is a list of about 10 individuals or businesses that want to get their foot in the door, so to speak.

If you can't wait to get your skybox seats, there is another option available -- you can purchase single-game and season tickets to watch the Huskers in action thanks to Ticket Express. Click here to find out more information and order your tickets to see the 2008 edition of the Nebraska football team, starting with their Aug. 30 kickoff against Western Michigan.

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Teafatiller arrested for third time

A Husker football player is in trouble with the law for the third time in less than two years.

Hunter Tafatiller was arrested early Sunday morning on a drunken driving charge after he was stopped for speeding on Interstate 180 in Lincoln, according to the Nebraska State Patrol. Teafatiller was given a sobriety test and his blood-alcohol level tested at .20, more than twice the state's legal limit of .08.

This is the third time Teafatiller has been arrested for drunk driving in less than two years. He was arrested twice during a three-month period in 2007, pleading guilty to the second charge. He was fined and sentenced to nine months probation, and also had his driver's license impounded for 60 days. He was not prosecuted in the first case.

Teafatiller's arrest puts coach Bo Pelini in a difficult situation. Teafatiller was being looked at as the starting tight end this season, as he had the most returning experience at the position. Pelini said he will face internal discipline and his playing status will be determined as the case runs through the legal system.

Teafatiller caught four passes for 34 yards last year, three of those coming against Wake Forest.