As its editor, I'm proud to introduce the inaugural issue of 'A Sea of Red 2008', a Nebraska yearbook that should be available now in stores throughout Nebraska and Western Iowa. I have not yet received a specific list from the publisher, but you should be able to find it now where you'd find other football pre-season magazines, i.e., convenience stores, gas stations, Barnes & Noble, Borders, yada yada.

To order online:  Purchase the book at Maple Street Press or at Huskerpedia. Should be up on Amazon in the near future, but ain't there yet apparently.

The purpose of 'A Sea of Red' is to provide Husker fans with a full pre-season guide to the 2008 Nebraska Cornhuskers. That includes a review of how we got to where we are, and a healthy dose of Husker history. Below is an overview of the contents.

Letter from the Editor

Section: 2008 Nebraska Football

Meet the New Nebraska Coaches 
by Brandon Vogel

2007 Individual Statistics for Returning Players

2008 Offensive Preview
by Jon Johnston

2008 Husker Roster

2008 Defensive and Special Teams Previews    
by Jon Johnston

Nebraska Schedule Analysis
by Matt Hinton

The Nebraska Offense
by Steve Sipple

Why Callahan Failed: Arrogance, NFL Methods & Cultural Misunderstanding Led to Demise at NU
by Darren K. Carlson

2007 Season Review: High Expectations, Low Return
by Mike Jaixen

Meet the New Husker Recruits
by Brandon Cavanaugh

Section: State of the Husker Nation

The Return of Tom Osborne
by Mike Jaixen

2008 Nebraska Schedule

The Nebraska Way: The Complete Meaning or Lack Thereof
by Brandon Cavanaugh

Nebraska's Walk-On Program: Fantasy, Reality, Practicality
by Jon Johnston

Is Nebraska Unrivaled?
by Brandon Vogel

Are Nebraskans "The Greatest College Football Fans"?
by Mike Jaixen and AJ The Husker Hater

The "Greatest Fans" Signs--Should They Be Removed?
by Jon Johnston

Running: A Way of LIfe
by Roger Aden

Section: Husker History

Heroes In the Trenches
by Mark Fricke

Written in Stone: An Iconographic History of Memorial Stadium
by Brandon Vogel

All the Bills Have Failed: (Or "Why It's Better to Have a Nickname If You're Going to Coach at Nebraska")
by Jon Johnston

Legends, Workhorses & Vagabonds: Huskers in the NFL
by Jason Siffring

The Big 12 media poll has been released. It's a thing of beauty. Everyone got together and did the safety dance on this one.

NORTH
1. Missouri, (51) 306
2. Kansas, 234
3. Nebraska, 183
4. Colorado, 181
5. Kansas State, 108
6. Iowa State, 59

SOUTH
1.Oklahoma, (49) 304
2. Texas, (2) 230
3. Texas Tech, 227
4. Oklahoma State, 140
5. Texas A&M, 118
6. Baylor, 52

Conclusions:

Everybody loves Missouri! I guess I can't blame 'em. Mizzou has much assets returning including the best returning quarterback in the conference, and perhaps the best in the nation. Kansas is in second place only because no one knows what the hell's going to happen between the other four teams.

You could not vote Nebraska in the top two unless you are deluding yourself and hoping the best hope you have that everything will go the way we want it. Yea, I know that's not sunshine-pumping enough for a lot of you, but that's where we are right now. Between Kansas and Colorado, instead of on top of both of them. That's what the combination of Steve Pederson, Bill Callahan, and Kevin Cosgrove left us.  Want respect? Earn it back. Win all the games you're supposed to and maybe one or two you shouldn't.

In the South, out of 51 people, not a single damned one of them voted for Texas Tech, but two voted for Texas. How safe can you get? Seriously, not one of you guys voted for Tech, and we all know why. Because they've never won the big one. They're not named Oklahoma or Texas and their offense is a gimmick.

It's kind of like the Big 12 college baseball media, every year, just vote for Texas because it's safe and they have Augie Garrido. It's also pretty damned boring.

Corn Nation has been asked to participate with some Big 12 bloggers in choosing a pre-season Big 12 team. The first part of the process has been to nominate the players from Nebraska that we'd like everyone else to consider. The second part involves us ranking the best players from the conference with the exception that we cannot pick a player from our own team. The results will be compiled by the guys at the Ralphie Report for presentation later. For the quarterback position we were asked to rank two players.

Mizzou's Chase Daniel is the overall favorite Big 12 quarterback, unanimously chosen by myself, Husker Mike and Blankman. He's a senior (experienced), he's put Missouri on the college football map if only for a year so far, and he's got an astounding cast going into this season. With him ride the high hopes of the Mizzou faithful (who are only now coming out of the woodwork).

It'd be a damned shame if the expectations came crashing down when Mizzou doesn't win again in Lincoln on October 4th. Nearly as bad would be if Daniel is seen on national TV going after another booger - people would start to question his leadership skills. Still, is there another choice for the best Big 12 quarterback?

Chase Daniel as a Fathead. Some might consider that as redundant.

My second choice would be Graham Harrell of Texas Tech. Graham Harrell is going to be overlooked by everyone because every Texas Tech quarterback puts up wild numbers, part of the 'system' label that he will not shake until the Red Raiders win a championship in something. You could say that he's immediately replaceable and you may be right, but if there's one offense I've always enjoyed watching it's the gimmick that is Mike Leach.

Graham, Graham, he's our man! If he can't do it, then he'll be replaced by another guy who will throw for a bazillion yards! (Well, maybe he's not the best choice for the #2 quarterback.)

The reason I would not choose Bradford is because of sophomoritis. Colt McCoy looked like a superstar coming into 2007, then fell flat on his face. It's not that he had a horrible, horrible year, it's that everyone expected superstardom and they got average. That's typical of most freshmen phenoms.

There's quite a change that happens between your freshman and sophomore year. Freshmen are wide-eyed, and not entirely aware of what they've gotten themselves into. Freshmen phenoms moving into their sophomore year tend to be shakier because they're suddenly very aware that they're on the high rope with over 50% of the crowd cheering for them to fall. This is the only reason I wouldn't choose Bradford. I'm on of that over 50% that expects him to fall.

I'm biased of course - I'd like to see him fall the hardest when the 2008 Cornhuskers show up in Norman, a place that got picked as one of the ten best places to live in the nation. Who the hell did they bribe for that?

Sam Bradford - if there was a pick for the Big 12 'name' quarterback most likely to let everyone down, he's my guy.

I'm not going to overrule my colleagues, so Corn Nation's two top nominees for pre-season Big 12 quarterback of the year are:

• Chase Daniel, Missouri
• Sam Bradford, Oklahoma

I, of course, reserve my right to 'I told you so' (as if that's a one-way street), but it's fitting that the winner between Bradford and Harrell will be settled on the field. The Oklahoma - Texas Tech game will most likely determine the Big 12 South winner. Given it's July and the game seems about a thousand years away, I have the feeling I'll be rooting for Tech at that time, if for no other reason than it's time someone else besides Oklahoma or Texas ruled the South.

This weekend I dug out the 1996 Fiesta Bowl game and got that digitized as well.  We ended up getting our ticket request denied, so on Christmas Night, we were busy discussing what our plans for watching the game were going to be, when suddenly the story broke that there they had just added 1500 seats in the end zone bleachers for the Fiesta Bowl, and they'd go on sale the next morning.

Well, we immediately began our planning.  Back in those days, there was no Expedia or Orbitz to use.  Travelocity was some rudimentary command line interface.  How the heck are we getting to Phoenix if we get tickets?  Well, we called the travel agent I used the year before to see what might be available.

We hit the gold mine... a charter still had a few seats and tickets left, and was marking them down.  It still was a little pricey...and there was one minor detail.  The flight was a Red Eye that left at 2 am after the game.  But we took it, and didn't look back.

The hotel was actually a very fine resort that had just been completely remodeled, complete with a heated pool.  Only the crazy Nebraskans dared jump into the 90 degree water, since the high temperatures in Phoenix were only in the 60's.

Oh... and the game wasn't half bad...

It was tough to edit this down without capturing the feeling of that night in Tempe.  Especially touching was Kent Pavelka's tribute to Brook Berringer, who would die in a plane crash just four months later.

After the game, we had just enough time to find the ESPN GameDay set where I got to yell at Lee Corso and Craig James "Wrong Again!"  Then it was off to the airport for a quick nap before the 2 am departure.  The flight was by far the worst part of the trip, as the last people to get tickets got stuck in the last row of the plane...the ones that don't recline.  What a wonderful red eye flight.  Not.

But what a night for Cornhusker football, and I was so lucky to witness the coronation of the greatest college football team ever.

One of my favorite lines was from David Letterman the next night:  "Oh, and Nebraska scored again!"

Welcome to the Internet. You’re hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t know at least one little thing about Star Trek. Whether it’s a debate on who the better superior officer was or just what the hell a tribble is the Internet is slathered with Trekkies like a horrific layer of mayonnaise. As you can imagine "interstellar life" also has a take on Nebraska football.

One Nebraska message board poster known as "The Vulcan" was amongst a host of Huskers who were asked what their current expectations are of Bo Pelini and the 2008 season. Like most Vulcans in the celebrated television series this one worked hard to back his ideas up with deep thought but sometimes he seemed highly illogical.

For me, this is more about possibilities than expectations. I am not into predictions, but what do I expect? Like Clubber Lang would say, "PAIN"!

When you’re starting your explanation out with a Rocky reference featuring Mr. T you know you’ve struck gold.

I've said it before, I'll say it again. I just can't see Bo putting on the field a defense ranked only in the top 50, I think he will get it into the top 20 or at least VERY close. I know, I know, that would be a jump of some 80 positions, but so what? Last year was an anomaly. There was too much talent on this team for the defense to give up their shirts and land beyond 100, and we all knew it. That was the shock, not what Bo can do.

Guys like Suh and Turner played far below their expectations, not to mention our LBs who were expected to be the B12's best and most experienced last year. Even Carriker underachieved at NU, he talked about how he was 'cut loose' and allowed to be more aggressive in the pros after leaving Coz's system.

Forget logic we’re going on a full blown leap of faith at first.  Hey, I can’t stomp on optimism but I ain’t exactly gonna stop Vulc if he wants to reign things in a bit.  Two reminders, bud:  Secondary, Defensive Line.  As for Adam Carriker underachieving wasn’t he that guy who got drafted in the first round by the Saint Louis Rams? (Called it)

 Underachieving big time last year does not mean anything to Bo and here's why.

The bar’s so low it’s actually in the sand!...Wait, no?

Bo was hired to turn around this defense, and BO KNOWS defense

 Well Bo knows OF defense to be sure.  Still looking back at 2003 makes me a bit cautious. Losing to Missouri, Texas and Kansas State by scores of 42-21, 31-7 and 38-9 don’t exactly put a lot of confidence in me nor does a snoozer of a "defensive battle" against Michigan State. Still the same rule of thumb rings true in college football: Winning begets talent and talent begets winning.

Okay, so Bo was gone as of ’04 and Oklahoma was his new home. They went on a tear before being plunked 55-19 by USC for the National Title, so hey, we’ll call it a mulligan. Bo then went to the home of po’boys and Death Valley as the LSU Tigers looked to revamp their image a bit. It seemed that the further South Bo went the better his defenses got. Sheer coincidence I’m sure.  Regardless the only losses Pelini’s 2006 troops had on their shoulders were a 7-3 loss to #3 Auburn and a 23-10 loss to #10 Florida.  Now we’re talking

Come 2007 Bo was in full stride and we all know the story of LSU’s National Championship let alone Bo’s trip here so hey, maybe Vulc’s got a point.  Then again he did head North…

Bo can MOTIVATE big time, something we have not seen since TO, players will play BEYOND their abilities

 I think superpowers are being implied here.

Bo has NEVER produced a defense ranked outside the top 20

Nebraska NEVER gave up 76 points to Kansas before either, buddy.

Bo has a simpler, much more aggressive, disruptive scheme than Coz; faster, more hitting, less thinking

Touche

 Bo will emphasize turnovers which alone will jump our D in rankings a lot

Question: Doesn’t every coach emphasize turnovers?  Isn’t that the point of a defense?  To get the ball back I mean.

If OL and running game improve as expected, that will rest and assist our D, adding to their improvement

Paradox: If the OL and running game improve that much won’t the defense be playing more as Nebraska will be scoring more?  You can't have it both ways, space man.

Bo knows the spread, Coz just plain didn't

 Perhaps but Bo did know Brad Smith and that was bad enough.

Say goodbye to Big Ten defensive strategies that got ripped in the B12

 Say hello to new strategies like "effort"

Better S&C, not sure why that was off last year, but expect slimmer, faster players on the field

Nebraska had different S&C coaches last year.  May have contributed but still unsubstantiated rumor.

SPEED KILLS: Bo will put more speed on the field, both by design and by S&C

I think this goes under the superpowers plan again.  Vulc and I do agree here, though.  Speed is essential; however speed is just like any other strategic weapon: If you live by it you can and most likely will eventually die by it a few times.

FUNDAMENTALS: Bo will teach basics; good tackling, positioning and footwork, no more arm tackling or gaping holes

I personally look for coaches who teach poor tackling, positioning and footwork.  Standing still = national titles.  Control the offense WITH YOUR MIND.

SWARMING defense...you don't run, you don't play

You don't play, we've got cattle prods.

DISRUPTION: You don't disrupt, hit and give 100%, you don't play

First it was pubic bone problems then knee injuries and now concussions.  When will it end?

FORCED TURNOVERS: Bo will preach it, demand it, and WILL it

 Holy crap we are talking superpowers.

 INTS: Blackshirt secondary will be a holy terror to opponents this year

 All 1 ½ deep of them

HARD HITTING: Ditto

 Hard hitting’s usually a pain anyway, man.

IDENTITY: TO hired Bo to do what his teams did, be an opponent other teams DON'T WANT to play...and Bo can do

 Technically Tom hired Bo to do what Charlie McBride’s defenses did. I’m not a fan of Zach Potter running the option.

TRADITION: The Blackshirt will again have meaning, fearsome defense will again rule at NU from Bo's 1ST year, not later

 What’s that line about famous last words?

EXCELLENCE: Expect hard work, effort and intelligence again on the field in typical NU fashion

I’m all about and agree with the first two but I’m sorry, Vulc.  Tyrone Williams was not a Rhodes Scholar and he can play linebacker for me any day.

Sure there was talent on the 2003 team, but Bo put them on the map when no one else did, expect the same in 2008

 Craig Bohl didn’t have much choice, Vulc.  The guy got canned.

180 DL turnaround; Suh, Turner and Potter will be on the map this year big time

These guys, however, did not. It’s not the guys at DL I’m worried about. It’s the amount.

LBs are our biggest question mark but Bo will prevail, Dillard & Glenn will explode, and expect a surprise or two there

 A new middle linebacker is called a blessing not a surprise.

Last year's Blackshirt embarrassment will have a huge effect turning players around (Bo quietly plays that like a fiddle)

 If Missouri beats Nebraska this year, I fear for Gary Pinkel’s life.

Bo is a solid authority figure (something you see in person clearly) which is exactly what was missing last year

 Are you suggesting that our weekly group therapy sessions failed, sir?

The loudness of NU fans will intensify on D, our knowledgeable fans WILL helps turn the D around

 I’m sorry, Vulc.  I have been told too many times to sit down and I’m a people pleaser.  Also: superpowers.

We have talented players, Bo ill provide the brains and leadership to overachieve in traditional NU form

 Talent doesn’t equate to overachieving.  It’s just living up to expectations.  Given we have pretty high ones here at Dear Ol’ Nebraska U but still…

NU's great run was due to two great coaches, both showing greatness from their first season, might it not be so for Bo?

 As much crap as I give Vulc, I’m going to drink the kool-aid on this one.  I’m looking for the history to write a "bump in the road" too, my friend.  I’ll give the neck-pincher one thing: He’s optimistic and clearly has passion.  If Nebraska’s defense plays with that same intensity then everything he lists could very well happen. Personally I expect a few more bumps and bruises. You know growing pains. It’s still hard to argue against one of the most logical creatures in the galaxy even if they are fictional.

  Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione wants to celebrate the 1971 'Game of the Century' when Nebraska visits Norman on November 1st:

This is a very cool idea. Just the thing to bring the two rivals back together on good terms, especially after Callahan's gaffs in recent years. My thing about Callahan's effing hillbillies remark was this: If Billy C thought the Okies were hillbillies, what did he think of Nebraskans? Probably the same thing, especially given some of the comments he made about us.

Ah, well. We can all get together and act like we're still rivals, talk about the greatest game in college football history, and then the Sooners will probably kick our ass.... or maybe not. With a bunch of glory-day Huskers on the sidelines the Cornhuskers will have an extra incentive to win. Yeah.

You'll need to prepare yourselves by getting Michael Corcoran's 'Game Of The Century' - best book available on the subject.

And did you hear the one about two Oklahoma players getting caught for cocaine distribution? You didn't? Well, it was fake. Imagine that, some guy doing a mock-up of The Oklahoman and having it picked up as real news by two Texas radio stations. It's this  Internet thing again:

Damn you, Internet! Damn You! There were no hoaxes before you came along!!!!

The article doesn't mention whether the radio stations will be in trouble for finding stuff on a message board and reporting it as fact. Apparently radio stations are incapable of perpetrating hoaxes unless they're about Martians invading and taking over the earth or something so fantastic that no one would believe it.

Take a look at this 5-7 prediction from Chip Brown of the Dallas News. He's got us winning three conference games, but then gives us two non-con losses. That would be Virginia Tech and who??? And he picks Kansas State as getting their only conference win against us. Maybe that's not so nuts since KSU seems to pull off a game they have no business winning every year. Here's his bit on Nebraska:

Apparently he has a very low opinion of this year's Cornhuskers, Bo Pelini. Just so you know, we're not replacing the back seven. We have Philllip Dillard as a returning starter at middle linebacker, experienced secondary players in Armando Murillo and Larry Asante. Major Culbert has seen the field enough to make a difference as has Ricky Thenarse. The cupboard isn't bare. There isn't as much depth as you'd like to see, but I could understand 6-6. But 5-7? Come on, Chip, geez!

Sunday Morning Quarterback previews the Nebraska - Virginia Tech game with his usual wit:

Sleeping giant. I like that. I think he has a point. Mizzou fans may not want to admit it, but there's a lot to be said for confidence level going into the first conference game of the season.

Todd Peterson will be blogging for the Sporting News this season! Or maybe he won't be blogging, per se, but will be writing for an online publication. There's a big difference, isn't there? Either way, it'll be interesting to see what he has to say. I'm sure it won't be sanitized any more than your typical World War II letter home. Other Big 12 participants will include Chase Daniel, Colt McCoy and George Hypolite of Colorado.

It's all part of a new thang from SN that will be called Sporting News Today:

Digital daily sports section? Holy cow! Sports every day? How can they do that? That's more amazing than instant coffee! Next thing you know someone will come up with an easy way for us to put our own videos online. Now, that would be interesting. Probably wouldn't fly, though. Sports news every day? Videos from rank amateurs? It's just too much.

Not really Nebraska-related.... but it is about big-time college football.  The fact that Rich Rod and the University of Michigan have to pay $4M back to West Virginia is good for college football, at least in the short term. What you hope is that athletic directors across the nation insist on huge buy-out clauses in their coaches contracts and that will slow down this damned arms race that's going on in Div IA sports. Left unabated sooner or later big-time college football will either collapse under it's own weight with catastrophic implications (ala mortgage crisis) or come under the scrutiny of the federal government. Trust me, you want neither of these to happen.

Dollah dollah bill, ya’ll, NU is seein’ nothing but Green.  Cody Green that is.  Dayton, Texas’ own has committed to the Cornhuskers over Texas A&M to play quarterback in Shawn Watson’s Nebraska (Don’t call it that other term) Offense.  A dual-threat from under center, Green is a threat to several other schools on Nebraska’s radar.  Why?  I believe Cody Green could have the same effect this year as Blaine Gabbert did last year.  The best part is we know Cody won’t lose his coach.

What’s so special about this kid?  He’s got a strong arm and gazelle-like maneuverability.  For those of you who have played the EA Sports NCAA Football title, you’ll be reminded of when your quarterback almost gets sacked but he’s mobile enough to step out of the reach of the oncoming defensive player.  That’s Green.

I will warn you though: Cody has an awkward throwing motion that will make some of you cringe.  Don’t question it.  He gets the ball there.  He’ll be fine.  He tosses both the lovely arc across the field to a speedy wide receiver or a frozen rope on a line for a seven yard gain.  Don’t worry he can also hit the feather touch and in some instances the ball pops out of his hands before you have the time to acknowledge that it’s gone.  It freaks me out like the ball’s on a string or something.

When running Cody’s vision is superb.  He knows when he’s not getting a ball to any receiver and will get you seven to ten yards on the ground in a flash.  This might excite some of you to the point of adult erotica: Green gives Watson the option to run some option.  No we’re not talking Solichesque or even Osbornian levels.  Just enough that you know it’s there.  With Cody you will see the pass and you will see the run and oh it could be fun to watch if he develops nicely.

With all of that said is Cody Green the next Vince Young?  Probably not.  Does he project well into the NFL? I don’t care and neither do you at this point.  He’s a frickin’ senior in high school.  Is he perfect for Watson’s MidWest Co-I mean Nebraska Offense?  Absolutely and he’ll make that point very clear when he enrolls early in December.  Watch out in January, Nebraska co-eds.

As an aside I felt this was appropriate:

What? I needed to get one more cash joke in.

LATE ADDITION (It ain't much but watch #21):

Got a second opinion?  Hit me up at blankman17@gmail.com

Recently, I upgraded my home computer to a system with multimedia capabilities, and decided to experiment with it a little today since I was home with a sick daughter.  One of the reasons why I bought this machine was that I've got a lot of VHS tapes, including some of the games from the middle 1990's, that soon will become obsolete since VHS is finally going the way of Beta.  So a little experimentation and a lot of banging my head against the wall, I finally jerryrigged it together.

Today was a warm muggy day in Nebraska... kind of like New Years 1995 in Miami.  I remember saying shortly after the Oklahoma game that "I've gotta be there" after that oh-so-close call the year before.  New Years Eve morning, I had to clear four inches of snow off the driveway to make it to the airport...the plane was late, but nevertheless, that evening, I was walking along the ocean in Fort Lauderdale.  We asked the motel manager what the best way to get to the Orange Bowl was, and he said that we didn't want to go there... just watch it on the (19" portable) TV in the room.

Yeah.  Right.  I flew to South Florida to watch this game on a blurry TV set?

Drove down the next afternoon and parked at a Dairy Queen.  The neighborhood didn't seem too bad in the daylight.  Tailgated at the "offical pregame tailgate" (expensive and kind of lame), but it was pretty much all that was available.

Then headed inside for one of the most magical moments in Husker history.

Ahh what a night.  Next day was filled with football, but I couldn't care less.  It was clear and 81 degrees in Fort Lauderdale, and the Huskers had won the National Championship.  It was beach time.  The next day, flew home and reality hit.  The low that night was -9.  Ah well...  But what a night!

It's probably not something that you in-state Husker fans hear often, but for us Nebraskans living out of state, it's something that happens all too common. You're introduced to someone, introduced as a Husker fan, and they get all giddy as if they've been staying up late at night for the chance to tell you a Nebraska joke: 

"You know what the "N" stands for on the side of the Nebraska football helmet?"

I always pause before I hit them with a comeback. It's a mistake as they take the hesitation as a sign that I’m waiting to hear the punch line. What's really happening is that I’m glancing around the area to see if no one is looking so that I could kill them and quickly dispose of the body.

And so they hit me with the punch line:

"It stands for Knowledge".

To which I normally respond,

"No, it stands for ‘Not like I haven’t heard that 300,000 times already."

Then I kill them with my bare hands. Unless they’re from Colorado. Then I kill them with my bare hands slowly.

In the 90’s, my response was:

It stands for 'National Champions'
 
but unfortunately that hasn't been the case for a while, so I've gone back to serial killing. Seems to me I need a better response, although for some reason people keep offering to become my next victim.

Ideas welcome.

Husker fans are eyeing the September 27th matchup with Virginia Tech as the first opportunity to see just how much of a difference the hiring of Bo Pelini will make.  Just looking at last year, this one looks like a total mismatch.  Nebraska went 5-7 and gave up 172 points in November alone; Virginia Tech is coming of an Orange Bowl bid and ACC Championship.

But attitudes in Lincoln are different now with Pelini in charge, and Husker fans remember last fall, when Pelini's LSU Tigers took the Hokies behind the woodshed and whipped them nearly as hard as the rest of the Big XII shellacked Nebraska last season.  But c'mon... Nebraska was simply horrible at the end of the season.  No way they can hang with the Hokies, right?

But stop and look at the Hokies a little closer.  They lose five out of their front seven on defense to graduation along with their top four wide receivers.  So that's a huge hole.

Then the offseason hit.  Running back Brandon Ore was kicked off the team.  The next two guys on the depth chart went down in spring practice:  Kenny Lewis banged up his shoulder and is supposed to miss four to six months, making him doubtful for the start of the season, and Jahre Cheeseman would be out a couple of months as well with a broken fibula.

So maybe the passing game will pick up the slack.  Sean Glennon and Tyrod Taylor might be a dynamic duo at quarterback.  And Brandon Dillard broke out in the spring game putting his speed on display.

Uh oh.  Scratch that last thought.  Dillard tore his Achilles last night, and is out for the season.

Husker fans can't afford to look past Frank Beamer's bunch.  But all those assumptions that make the Hokies the preemptive favorite in that end of September matchup are out the door.  Virginia Tech now has just as many, if not more, question marks as do the Huskers.  Any predictions for this game before mid September are based either on hunches, hope, or simply dumb chance.