Husker Football Tickets

Ohio State to mark historic occasion in Lincoln

Anytime you get a chance to witness history, like fans with Husker football tickets will get to do Saturday when Nebraska faces Ohio State, it's a really big deal.
Interest in the Huskers' first-ever Big Ten home football game – and the first-ever trip to Lincoln for Ohio State –- is at a fever pitch heading into Saturday night's matchup at Memorial Stadium. And football fans are going to be in for a treat as two of college football's titans knock helmets in this Big Ten showdown.
The Buckeyes come into Saturday's matchup with a 3-2 record. Like Nebraska, Ohio State lost their Big Ten Conference opener, dropping a close 10-7 decision to Michigan State at home. They also lost at Miami (Fla.) 24-6, and own wins over Akron, Toledo and Colorado.
And while Ohio State has been near the top of the ratings for much of the last decade, this year's team is one of transition and turmoil.
Last year, Ohio State players were found to have traded memorabilia for such items as tattoos and money, which is a violation of NCAA rules. Coach Jim Tressell originally distanced himself from the issue, saying he had no knowledge, but reports surfaced that an OSU alum had actually notified the coach of the violations several months earlier. Eventually five players –- including All-American quarterback Terrell Pryor –- were suspended. The coach was suspended, and later resigned, as a result of the allegations.
Those problems have continued for Ohio State this season. In fact, three Buckeye players – including last year's leading rusher (Dan Herron) and returning receiver (DeVier Posey) were ruled ineligible for Saturday's game with Nebraska as a result of taking too much money for too little work in their summer jobs. Both players have yet to play this season, as they were among the players who were suspended for the first five games of the 2011 season. An offensive lineman, Marcus Hall, was also suspended for Saturday's matchup between the Huskers and the Buckeyes.
As far as the on-the-field events, Ohio State will bring in an offense that, even with the two suspended players in the lineup, is not nearly as potent as it was last year. The Buckeyes rank 111th in the FBS division in passing yards per game and a middle-of-the-road 54th in rushing. They are also low in points scored, averaging just under 24 points per game.
Defensively, however, is another story. The Buckeyes have always taken pride in their ability to drive opposing offenses crazy, and Ohio State is among the nation's best in points allowed per game, giving up just over two touchdowns per contest.
That should make things interesting as Nebraska looks to bounce back from a subpar performance in last week's Big Ten debut, a 48-14 shellacking at the hands of fourth-ranked Wisconsin. Nebraska has averaged more than 37 points per game so far this season with an offense that is ranked in the top 10 in rushing yards per game (249.8). Defensively, however, the Huskers are still a work in progress. They sit in the middle of the pack in points per game among FBS schools, and Ohio State will test the Nebraska secondary with its passing game when they meet for the first time in Lincoln on Saturday.
This will be the first time Nebraska and Ohio State have faced one another since the 1955 and 1956 seasons. Both games were played in Columbus, Ohio, and in both games the Buckeyes were nationally ranked while the Huskers were deep in the heart of a 20-year case of the doldrums. Consequently, the Buckeyes won both games, 28-20 in the 1955 matchup and 34-7 the following year.
However, this will be Ohio State's first-ever trip to Memorial Stadium, where the Huskers will play before their 317th consecutive sellout crowd, a streak that dates back all the way to November of 1962. More than 84,000 fans are expected to witness history in Lincoln, as Ohio State gets the honor of being the first Big Ten team to play a conference game on the Huskers' home turf.
You can be a part of this historic occasion. Great seats are available for Saturday night's showdown between Nebraska and Ohio State. Get great tickets for this Big Ten showdown now at Ticket Express -- where no Husker football game is ever sold out.

Defense, special teams hang on

If you have had Husker football tickets over the years, you know about the passion fans have for the Blackshirts defense.
Defense and special teams came through when Nebraska needed them to in Saturday's 51-41 win at Oklahoma State, and they'll be called on again this week for a key Big 12 North Division showdown against Missouri at Memorial Stadium.
Nebraska gave up 495 yards to the Cowboys on Saturday, the most since allowing more than 500 to Oklahoma two years ago. But Nebraska's defense overcame missed tackles and made several key plays to prevent the Cowboys from mounting a comeback.
Special teams also played a huge role, including kicker Alex Henery, who pulled off a huge fake punt on the Huskers' first possession of the game. His 27-yard run off the fake – which came on a fourth-and-8 at the Nebraska 22-yard line – helped set up the Huskers' first touchdown and get the scoring fireworks started.
You can see Nebraska take on Missouri in what should be a fantastic matchup of two of the nation's top teams. Get your Husker football tickets now at Ticket Express – where no Husker football game is ever sold out.

2010 Huskers: Defense

Husker Football Tickets is taking a look at the 2010 Nebraska football team. This time around, let's talk about the defense:

Defensive Line

In most years, losing a standout All-American, Lombardi and Outland trophy winner and finalist for the Heisman like Ndamukong Suh means a year of rebuilding.

The thing is, Nebraska's defense will miss Suh's dominating presence up front, but have some great talent coming back that should minimize the pain brought on by the graduation of arguably the best defensive player in college football in a generation.

Junior Jared Crick and senior Pierre Allen will anchor a talented returning front four for the Blackshirts. Crick had a breakout year last year with 9.5 sacks and first-team All-Big 12 honors. He had 73 total tackles last year and will be a player to watch. Allen will be a three-year starter and has 10 career sacks, giving Nebraska a great 1-2 punch defensively.

Sophomore Baker Steinkuhler is a legacy (his dad, Dean, was a standout on the offensive line in the 1980's) and made a name for himself with a great freshman campaign. He should be a starter at defensive tackle after learning from Suh and Crick. The other defensive end position should come down to junior Jay Martin and sophomore Cameron Meredith, and Terrence Moore is a two-year letterwinner who should contribute at the tackle slot.

Linebackers

Defensive coordinator Carl Pelini is looking at a two-linebacker setup to take advantage of Nebraska's returning depth in the secondary. Last year, Nebraska showed a lot of setups with just one linebacker, breaking away somewhat from the traditional 4-3 base defense.

Will Compton and Sean Fisher both performed well at linebacker last year. Compton was a starter at the Mike spot and had 40 total tackles, while Fisher saw some starting time as well in 2009 and finished with 35 tackles.

A number of other athletes are expected to contribute here, including senior Thomas Grove, junior Mathew May and sophomores Matt Holt, Eric Martin and Grahm Stoddard. Alonzo Whaley had a good spring campaign and could see time here as well.

Secondary

Nebraska will be solid in the secondary this year, with a wealth of talent returning that includes All-American candidate Prince Amukamara.

The 6-foot-1, 205-pound senior had five interceptions and 11 pass breakups last year to lead the Nebraska secondary, and he'll anchor one of the cornerback positions for the Husker defense. Junior Alfonzo Dennard should take the other cornerback slot.

After that, there are several players who can step in and help shut things down in the defensive backfield. Three year senior letterwinners Rickey Thenarse, Eric Hagg and Anthony West should be in the mix, as well as juniors Anthony Blue, Austin Cassidy and Marcus Mendoza. Some good young talent is back, including sophomores Justin Blatchford, Jase Dean, Courtney Osborne and P.J. Smith.

Nebraska opens the 2010 season at home on Saturday, Sept. 4 against Western Kentucky. Get your Nebraska football tickets now at Ticket Express -- where no Nebraska football game is ever sold out.

Wistrom being inducted in College Football Hall of Fame

This weekend is a special weekend for Husker football fans, as one of the program's all-time greatest players is being enshrined in the National College Football Hall of Fame.

Grant Wistrom was a Lombardi Award winner, a two-time unanimous All-American and Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and was part of a program that won 49 out of 51 games and three national titles. He went on to win a Super Bowl with the St. Louis Rams and play in a second Super Bowl with the Seattle Seahawks before retiring a few years ago.

Wistrom said he "was born with my motor running" in a recent interview on Huskers.com. He certainly had his motor in overdrive during his playing days at Nebraska, as he and the Peter brothers, Jason and Christian, led a Blackshirts defense that terrorized the college football landscape during the mid 1990's.

The Husker football program has had many amazing players and seasons, but few matched the era that Wistrom played in. Nebraska was simply dominant as few programs have been in recent history. The USC teams of the mid 2000's are the only team to have come anywhere close to matching what the Huskers of the Wistrom era did on the football field.

The era almost ended a year early. After Nebraska's two-year national title run came to an end in the 1995 Orange Bowl, Wistrom seriously considered skipping his senior year to go to the NFL. Both he and Jason Peter were considered to be potential first-round picks in the 1996 NFL Draft, but both decided to come back to Nebraska for their senior seasons. The result was an undefeated season that was capped by a Big 12 Championship, a demolition of Tennessee in the Orange Bowl and a national title in the last season under coach Tom Osborne.

Wistrom's enshrinement in the College Football Hall of Fame will add to a tremendous legacy that has been built as part of the Husker football program. His contributions to the history of Husker football is one that will be hard for future stars to match.

You can see the Husker football team kick off the 2010 season against Western Kentucky on Saturday, Aug. 4. Get your Husker football tickets now at Ticket Express -- where no Husker football game is ever sold out.

Defense comes up big in 20-10 win at Baylor

The Husker football team got an early start with its offense, then let the defense finish the job in their 20-10 win at Baylor Saturday.

The win ended Nebraska's two-game losing streak and gets them on the right track heading into Saturday's showdown with Oklahoma at Memorial Stadium.

While the offense managed just one touchdown on the day, the defense did more than its share, putting Baylor's quarterback on his back often and turning a Bear miscue into six points to help Nebraska continue its historical dominance over the Bears.

Sophomore tackle Jared Crick had a school-record five sacks on Baylor quarterback Nick Florence, and his seven tackles for 28 yards in losses tied a school record. As if that wasn't enough, he had 10 solo tackles, 13 total tackles and recovered a fumble.

Justin Blatchford got the Huskers on the scoreboard with a great defensive play, picking up a Baylor fumble and racing 25 yards for a score just 91 seconds into the contest. That helped take some of the pressure off true freshman Cody Green, who got his first start at quarterback Saturday.

Dontrayevous Robinson scored the offense's only touchdown of the day, scoring on a short run midway through the second period. Alex Henery hit a pair of field goals to give the Huskers a 20-0 halftime lead and they cruised from there.

Up next is old Big Eight rival Oklahoma, who is the defending Big 12 champion and has been hit hard with injuries this season. Most notable is the loss of 2008 Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford, who injured his shoulder earlier in the year and re-injured it again two weeks ago. He is having season-ending shoulder surgery, but the Sooners are still a very tough South Division opponent and will put the still-developing Husker offense to its toughest test of the year.

It's a Saturday night game at Memorial Stadium with a 7 p.m. kickoff, and you can get tickets to see Nebraska battle Oklahoma now at Ticket Express -- where no Husker football game is ever sold out.

Huskers open Pelini era with 47-24 win

The Bo Pelini era officially kicked off Saturday night and the Husker football team didn't disappoint, opening the 2008 season with a 47-24 win over Western Michigan in front of 84,485 fans, the 290th consecutive sellout at Memorial Stadium.

The Huskers looked solid on offense and played inspired defense despite giving up some big plays and missing some assignments along the way that helped the visiting Broncos rack up over 350 yards in total offense and make the game a little bit closer on the scoreboard.

The Huskers opened the scoring when Marlon Lucky scampered in from 14 yards out about seven minutes into the game. Quarterback Joe Ganz threw the first of his four touchdown passes late in the first period, hitting Mike McNeill from three yards out to make it 14-0 after one period.

Alex Henery got a lot of practice in hitting 44-yard field goals, and he made good on four tries from that exact distance. He hit two in the second period to help Nebraska to a 34-10 halftime lead, then added kicks in the third and fourth quarter.

Ganz finished with 345 yards on 20-of-36 passing and hit Nate Swift with scoring strikes of 61 and 2 yards, as well as a 19-yard pass to Lucky, to help close out the scoring.

Two concerns that came from Saturday's game was the defense and the lack of a running game.

Nebraska's ground game was expected to be more of a contributing factor this year, yet the Huskers didn't reach the 100-yard mark until the fourth quarter and finished with 138 yards on 31 carries. Part of the problem was injuries to a couple of starters on the line (Lydon Murtha, Jalvorio Burkes), and Western Michigan did a good job of stacking the line and forcing Nebraska to beat them through the air (which, obviously, they did).

Another concern was the defense. There was good effort and a lot of passion, but several missed assignments allowed for Western Michigan to pick up a number of big plays and finish with over 350 yards. On the bright side, the Broncos could only gain eight yards on the ground on the night as the Huskers shut their ground game down completely.

The Huskers are back in action Saturday with an 11:30 a.m. matchup against San Jose State. You can get your tickets now at Ticket Express -- where no Husker home game is ever sold out.

Steinkuhler still a question mark

The defensive line was already somewhat precarious before the departure of Kevin Dixon. After his dismissal, there were concerns being raised about the Husker football team's depth up front on defense.

For the past few days, Ty Steinkuhler has been out of action dealing with a bad back. He still wasn't on the practice field Thursday as the team went through its fourth day of practice in preparation for the 2008 season.

Coach Bo Pelini told the media that Steinkuhler's absence is not a major concern to him at this point, noting that the senior probably could have practiced yesterday, but he felt it better to not rush him back on to the field so quickly.

A number of players are seeing action in Steinkuhler's absence, including freshman Terrence Moore. It remains to be seen how healthy Steinkuhler will be as the days wind down before the season opener against Western Michigan on Saturday, Aug. 30.

Practice begins Monday for Huskers

The long, cold, dark and dreary offseason ends in just two days for Husker football fans.

The first day of fall practice is scheduled for Monday as the Huskers prepare for their 2008 season opener on Saturday, Aug. 30 against Western Michigan. The Huskers will practice from 3:45 p.m. to 6 p.m. on the first day, and coach Bo Pelini and some of the players will talk with the media after that first day's practice.

The team will work out twice a day on six days between now and the season opener. Two-a-day practice sessions will be at 9 a.m. and 3:45 p.m. and will be held between Aug. 9 and Aug. 22.

The Lincoln Journal-Star reported that the Huskers will practice six days a week during the month of August, taking Sundays off.

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.

Defense should be improved

Here's a look at the Huskers' defense and special teams for 2008.

To say last year was a bad year for the Husker defense would be an understatement. But there is hope that things will be better in 2008, especially with a defensive-minded guru like Bo Pelini as the head coach.

Up front, injuries and inexperience killed the team last year. They should be in better shape this year, led by tackles Ndamukong Suh, Terrence Moore and Ty Steinkuhler. On the ends, Zach Potter should have a breakout year and Barry Turner looks to be lighter and better coming into the season.

The big question for the Huskers on defense will be at linebacker. The position was hit hard by graduations, as all three starters moved on. That leaves some opportunities for some young people to step in, and also gave a former running back a chance to contribute on the other side of the ball.

Cody Glenn made the much-celebrated move from I-back to linebacker and had a good spring, making him a likely candidate, along with LaTravis Washington, to start at the Will position. Tyler Wortman had a fantastic spring and is the likely starter at the Sam position. The Mike position looks to be Phillip Dillard, who is the only returning player with starting experience.

In the defensive backfield, the Huskers have some question marks but also have some potential for solid play from those returning from last year.

Larry Asante had some success at strong safety last year and is the one of two returning starters in the backfield. Armando Murillo also started last year at cornerback and should have a solid season this year.

Matt O'Hanlon and Major Culbert should battle for one of the safety spots this year, and Anthony West looks to be the lead candidate at the other cornerback slot.

In the kicking game, Dan Titchener will return for his senior season as the punter. The kicking duties will again be split between Alex Henery and Adi Kunalic. Henery will handle the bulk of the extra points and field goals, while Kunalic and his booming leg will handle kickoffs and some of the longer field goal attempts.