Husker Football Tickets

Pennsylvania linebacker commits to Huskers

Pennsylvania prep standout Shawn Bodtmann has announced that he has committed to play his college football at Nebraska.

The 6-foot, 205-pound talent from West Scranton High School is a hard-nosed player who plays both on offense and defense. In addition to his defensive talents, he played running back and rushed for 1,452 yards for a team that went 12-2 last year.

Bodtmann was very impressed by what he saw at the University of Nebraska, particularly the turnout of fans for the recent Red-White Spring Game.

"The stadium was filled for basically a practice," he told the Scranton (Pa.) Times-Tribune. "The fans are incredible. The coaches are great. The players are great. It was amazing. Just to walk in and see the trophies and awards winners was unbelievable. The tradition and pride in that program is mind blowing."

Nebraska opens 2008 season on Aug. 30

Nebraska kicks off the 2008 Husker football season at home on Saturday, Aug. 30, and you can get tickets for all the games at Ticket Express.

The season starts with the Huskers playing host to an up-and-coming team from Western Michigan. The following week is the first of back-to-back contests against WAC teams. San Jose State visits Nebraska on Sept. 6, while New Mexico State Aggies comes to town for a meeting with the Huskers on Sept. 13.

The Huskers hit a challenging stretch of the schedule after a week's vacation. They'll face a national title contender on Sept. 27 when they play host to  Virginia Tech and will follow that up with their Big 12 debut against defending North Division champion  Missouri on Oct. 4. Both teams should be preseason top 10 teams, so it will be a great opportunity to see how far the Huskers have come from last year's 5-7 season.

Nebraska goes on the road for the first time on Oct. 11, as they travel to Lubbock, Texas to meet Texas Tech in what could be a high-scoring battle. The following week, the Huskers are back on the road again to meet old rival Iowa State in an Oct. 18 matchup.

The Huskers host Baylor for Homecoming on Oct. 25, then are on the road again on Nov. 1, facing traditional rival Oklahoma in what should be a key matchup for the Huskers.

Kansas comes to Lincoln on Nov. 8, which should be an entertaining game after the Jayhawks ran up the score for 76 points against Nebraska last year. That game is followed by the Huskers' last road game of the year at Kansas State on Nov. 15, and they will finish the regular season the day after Thanksgiving, facing Colorado on Friday, Nov. 28.

Ticket Express is your source for all Husker football tickets, both home and away. Get your Husker tickets now at Ticket Express -- where no Husker home game is ever sold out.

A lot of optimism, but how good will the Huskers be?

The spring practice schedule is complete and the pads will sit quietly for the next three months. Coaches will analyze what they've seen, players will finish classes for the spring semester and about 15 weeks will pass before the start of fall two-a-days in preparation for the 2008 football season.

So what DID we learn from the past month or so about the Nebraska football team? A few items we saw include:

-- Quarterback. Joe Ganz is undoubtedly the man at quarterback next year. He looked solid in the Red-White Spring Game, throwing a pair of touchdown passes, and has a solid grasp of things heading into the season. His health is going to be very important, though. While he proved a more than capable backup to Sam Keller when Keller went down with a season-ending injury last year, it's questionable at best to assume there is somebody who could step up if Ganz goes down.

-- Go-to guys at receiver. Seeing Curenski Gilleylen getting behind the secondary and hauling in a 77-yard touchdown pass was certainly good to see, and with guys like Nate Swift already in the fold it looks like Ganz will have a number of capable targets to rely on in the passing game. Some of the younger guys need to develop more consistency (too many dropped balls Saturday) and the Huskers will need people to block as well.

-- Offensive line going to be BIG. A lot has been said about the depth of the offensive line, and that certainly made its presence felt Saturday. The Huskers are going to have one of their better offensive lines in a number of years, and that's good news for an offense that already has the tools to be very productive.

-- Dee-fense. Dee-fense. Dee-fense. After last year's debacle of a defense, we're hesitant to refer to the Nebraska defense as Blackshirts. That's always been a name that has to be earned, and until this group can prove that last year's disaster was a one-time event, we're going to avoid that name for now. The good news, though, is that the two defenses combined to force four turnovers. Considering that last year's representation of a defensive unit forced 11 turnovers ALL SEASON, getting four in one game is a very nice thing to see. There are still questions to be answered, most notably at linebacker, but hopefully the effort Saturday is a big step in the right direction.

If we were to predict the outcome of the 2008 season now, using what we've seen so far as our basis for prognostication, we see the Huskers being, at worst, a 6-6 team. The Huskers have a very tough stretch fairly early in the season, with Virginia Tech and Missouri at home and Texas Tech on the road in consecutive weeks. There is also a road game at Oklahoma and home dates with Kansas and Colorado that won't be easy. The Huskers have six winnable games (Western Michigan, San Jose State, New Mexico State, at Iowa State, Baylor at Kansas State), and if they can win half of the other six, we would be of the opinion that a 9-3 finish would be quite an impressive effort.

There's a honeymoon thing going on with the new coaching staff, one that we can vividly recall when the former coach was debuting his team, so Husker fans will need to temper their expectations. Remember, this is essentially the same team that gave up more points, yards and first downs than any in Nebraska's long and storied history. Winning a national championship is a very unlikely occurrence. Winning the Big 12 title is also going to be a tall order. A North Division title would be a fine accomplishment for this bunch, but at this point our expectations for success needs to be put into perspective . . . this will be a better Husker football team in 2008, but it's going to take some time for Bo Pelini and his staff to build this program back into the perennial championship contender it was during its heydey.

It can happen -- see Oklahoma's team from about a decade ago as a prime example -- but it's not going to happen overnight.

Huskers perform well in Spring Game

A sellout crowd of over 80,000 at Memorial Stadium got to see a great game as the Red-White Spring Game showcased the first team coached by Bo Pelini.

The Red beat the White 24-14, and some great efforts were seen on both sides of the ball in front of the biggest crowd ever to witness a Red-White Spring Game.

"I thought it was a pretty special atmosphere," Pelini said after the game. "That kind of turnout and passion and enthusiasm for the spring game, I thought that was something special."

On the first play of the game, Pelini was hoping to give a nod to the past by running the classic Husker option. Unfortunately, the play got snuffed out as Tyler Wortman broke through and knocked the ball out of Patrick Witt's hands as the quarterback tried to make the pitch. The Red team recovered and scored three plays later on a 1-yard run by Marlon Lucky.

One of the offensive highlights was made by quarterback Joe Ganz, who threw a beautiful 77-yard pass to redshirt freshman Curenski Gilleylen, who got behind the defense and outran everybody into the end zone.

Ganz completed four passes for 131 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and he was happy with the team's performance.

"It went pretty good," he said. "It was special for everybody, but for those younger guys who've never really played on the field and never seen the sea of red, it was really special for those guys."

Pelini liked what he saw from the defense, and said there is still a lot of work that needs to be done.

"They're starting to learn the concepts and principles of what we're asking them to do. It's coming, but it's not there yet."

The Huskers will start fall drills in early August to get ready for the 2008 season, which kicks off Saturday, Aug. 30 when the Huskers host Western Michigan.

You can get your Husker football tickets for 2008 now at Ticket Express -- where no Husker home game is ever sold out.

Huskers' football schedule kicks off Aug. 30

The 2008 Husker football season will be here before you know it, and now is a good time to secure your tickets for the Huskers' 2008 matchups with Ticket Express.

The season kicks off Saturday, Aug. 30, when the Huskers face Western Michigan. The Broncos are an up-and-coming team in the MAC Conference and could give the Huskers a good first test for coach Bo Pelini.

The following week, the first of two Western Athletic Conference schools come to town as San Jose State visits Nebraska on Sept. 6. After that, the New Mexico State Aggies make the trip to Nebraska for a Sept. 13 battle.

The big game on the non-conference schedule comes two weeks later when Virginia Tech visits Memorial Stadium for a Sept. 27 matchup. The Hokies were a top 10 team last year and reached the Orange Bowl, and will have a very talented team back to contend for a national title.

After that, the Big 12 Conference portion of the schedule starts, and the Huskers will kick off conference play at home against Missouri on Oct. 4. The Tigers were the North Division champions last year and will be a top 10 team nationally, so it's a chance for the Huskers to show what they're made of against back-to-back title contenders.

The Huskers then hit the road for the first time. On Oct. 11, they head south to face a potent Texas Tech offense that is capable of scoring from anywhere at any time. The following week, the Huskers head east to face Iowa State in an Oct. 18 battle of traditional rivals.

Homecoming will be on Oct. 25, and the Huskers will face Baylor on their homecoming week. They hit the road again the following week, facing old nemesis Oklahoma in a Nov. 1 matchup that will be another big test for the Huskers.

Kansas comes to Lincoln on Nov. 8, which will give the Huskers a chance to issue payback for last year's 76-point explosion in Lawrence. After that, the Huskers hit the road one last time to face Kansas State on Nov. 15, then close out the regular season the day after Thanksgiving, facing Colorado on Friday, Nov. 28.

Ticket Express is your source for all Husker football tickets, both home and away. Get your tickets now at Ticket Express -- where no Husker home game is ever sold out.

Spring Game rosters announced

The Red-White Spring Game is set for Saturday at 1 p.m., and Husker football coaches and players got together to "draft" the two teams that will wear the red and white jerseys for Saturday's game.

The first and second teams are split up, giving both sides an equal amount of talent. This should make for an entertaining game that will allow some of the younger players a chance to show their stuff, while giving the probable starters an opportunity to see where they stand as well.

The rosters for Saturday's Red-White Spring Game look like this:

Red Team

Offense

Quarterback -- Joe Ganz, Kody Spano, Beau Davis

Running Backs -- Marlon Lucky, Kenny Wilson, Marcus Mendoza

Fullbacks -- Thomas Lawson, Kevin Thomsen, Tyler Legate

Wide Recievers -- Menelik Holt, Curenski Gilleylen, Matt Donahue, Nate Swift, Ben Lester

Tight Ends -- Mike McNeill, Dreu Young, Jay Martin

Offensive Line -- Max McShane, Mike Caputo, Cruz Barrett, Keith Williams, Matt Slauson, Lydon Murtha, Marcel Jones

Defense

Defensive Line -- Ben Martin, Luke Lingenfelter, Faron Klingelhoefer, Jonathon Santin, Terrence Moore, Tyrone Fahie, Pierre Allen, Kevin Dixon, Zach Potter

Linebackers -- Latravis Washington, Thomas Grove, Joseph Camarata, Phillip Dillard, Tyler Wortman, Jeff Sayre

Defensive Backs -- Rickey Thenarse, Armando Murillo, Major Culbert, Anthony Blue, Prince Amukamara, Adam Watson, Lance Thorell

Special Teams

Kickers -- Alex Henery, Dan Titchener

Long Snapper -- Justin Baumgartner

White Team

Offense

Quarterback -- Patrick Witt, Zac Lee, Jim Ebke

Running Backs -- Roy Helu, Quentin Castille, Austin Jones

Fullbacks -- Aaron Gillaspie, Justin Makovicka

Wide Receivers -- Chris Brooks, Will Henry, Todd Peterson, Niles Paul, Wes Cammack, Xavier Rucker

Tight Ends -- Ben Tasa, Ryan Hill, Tyson Hetzer, Hunter Teafatiller

Offensive Line -- Mike Huff, Mike Smith, Jacob Hickman, Cory Iske, Mike Masin, Jaivorio Burkes, D.J. Jones

Defense

Defensive Line -- Ty Steinkuhler, William Yancy, Shukree Barfield, Taylor Escamilla, David Harvey, Clayton Sievers, Ndamukong Suh, Jared Crick, Barry Turner

Linebackers -- Blake Lawrence, Mike Hays, Nick Covey, Cody Glenn, Colton Koehler

Defensive Backs -- Larry Asante, Austin Cassidy, Shawn Sullivan, Ryan Ford, Eric Hagg, Matt O'Hanlon, Mathew May

Special Teams

Kickers -- Adi Kunalic, Jake Wesch

Long Snapper -- T.J. O'Leary

Fullbacks to play more of a role in offense

Remember when the fullback used to be an effective weapon in the Husker football team's offensive arsenal?

If you're still trying to process the Bill Callahan era, the answer would probably be no, and for good reason -- the fullback was almost a statistical non-entity during the past four years.

According to an Omaha World-Herald story, the fullback ran the ball a grand total of four time in four seasons. By comparison, the Huskers ran the ball 57 times in 2003, an average of four times per game.

In years past, names like Makovicka, Schlesinger and Rathman were called to come up with a key play from the fullback position. Look for more of that to happen in 2008, with people like Thomas Lawson stepping up to give the Huskers an extra offensive weapon.

Offensive coordinator Shawn Watson told the World-Herald that you need to be able to count on a fullback to make a play, and they are as much a part of the rushing offense as a tight end would be in the receiving department.

Watson wouldn't commit to how often the Huskers will use a fullback this season, saying that would depend on the opponents and what they do defensively. But do expect the fullback's name to be called more often than it has recently, and don't be surprised to see them step up with a big play.

Williams stepping up on offensive line

Keith Williams has impressed the Husker football coaching staff with his work on the offensive line this spring, and could very well be one of the names to watch this upcoming season.

The 6-foot-5, 310-pound sophomore saw some action as a backup last year and has battled senior Mike Huff for time with the starting unit so far this spring. With Andy Christensen a question mark due to his suspension for sexual assult, it may be an opportunity for Williams to step up in a big way and help the Husker offensive line.

Teammate Matt Slauson told the Omaha World-Herald that Williams' style reminds him of a bulldozer. His power and the way he comes off the line makes him a very difficult lineman to contains.

Offensive line coach Barney Cotton agreed with Slauson's assessment.

"He's got the mentality to be a physical guy between the whistles. That's what you're looking for, a guy that's willing to really get after somebody and be physical with them," he said.

Williams has been a solid player coming from his days in Florissant, Mo., and he should be a name to keep an eye on as the Huskers get ready for this Saturday's Red-White Spring Game.

Helu scores on big run during scrimmage

Saturday's Husker football scrimmage in the Hawks Championship Center featured an impressive touchdown jaunt by Roy Helu.

The 6-foot, 215-pound sophomore took off after getting a delayed handoff and sprinted 57 yards for a touchdown against the first-string defense. He made an impressive move on one defender to get some space on the outside and raced home for the score.

Coach Bo Pelini saw some good things from Saturday's scrimmage, and told the Lincoln Journal-Star that there is a lot of intensity in his first team's spring practices leading up to Saturday's Red-White Spring Game.

"Both sides of the football are coming along," he said. "We're doing some good things. It's very similar to how we've been practicing."

Pelini was asked if he would have the first units of both offense and defense going head-to-head at the Spring Game. Pelini said that the two sides would be "drafted" and would be a mix of the top units on each side of the field.

The team practiced Monday and will practice again Wednesday and Thursday before taking a day off to prepare for the Red-White Spring Game, scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

Glenn making an impact at linebacker

There has been a lot of talk during the Husker football team's spring practice about the move of senior Cody Glenn from running back to linebacker.

So how has the change been working out? Quite well, thank you.

Glenn has picked up the defensive schemes rather quickly and is already making an impact at Will linebacker. He created three turnovers in his first four practices on defense, and is usually one of the first guys to the ball.

"He's just applying the concepts of our defense to what we're doing," assistant coach Mike Ekeler told the Lincoln Journal-Star. "We're watching film, and we're all like, 'Gol, he's flying to the ball. He's getting into his coverages.' It's natural to him, like he's played it before."

Glenn did play some linebacker during his high school days, and made the suggestion to new coach Bo Pelini shortly after Pelini's arrival in Lincoln late in 2007. After a few practices, he made the switch and seems to be making an immediate impact -- and don't be surprised to see him one of the starting linebackers in next week's Red-White Spring Game.

Glenn got a lot of help from fellow Will linebacker Blake Lawrence, who spent time laying out the defense for Glenn. Glenn said he's still trying to grasp the system, but Ekeler noted that whenever Glenn makes a mistake, he knows immediately what he did wrong and what he needs to do to correct it.