Nebraska Football Chat: Recruiting, Off-field headaches, and fall camp preview

Good morning, Husker fans. Welcome back to the Husker Big Red YouTube channel. We're here for another Nebraska football chat

We've got, you know, lots of things to talk about here today. Nebraska Big Ten Media Days

Unfortunately, some not so great news coming out last night about Bob Wager

And as you said, Danny, it's just there's always something kind of going on with this program

And once again, right before the season starts, we get, you know, not a bombshell, I'm going to say

But some fairly significant news about Bob Wager. So I'll go ahead and let you take it away

But basically, Bob Wager resigned yesterday from a DWI. And so, yeah, you kind of wrote up some stuff yesterday

But what are your thoughts on this whole debacle, I'll say? Not a good look

Not a good look for Bob Wager. A good on Matt Rule for not letting this fester in the program

and immediately hiring a replacement in Josh Martin, which we'll talk about in a little bit

But, I mean, it is always something around here. We can't have one week without drama

whether it be on Twitter or actual program stuff. You know, and it's just..

I'm happy this was taken care of swiftly. I would have liked to have seen what Wager would have done

you know, here. But, obviously, anything that he does off the field

especially in a situation like this, outweighs what he could do on the field. And I agree with Andrew. It was a good decision by the coach. We're doing well, Andrew. We're doing well. Always some news to report. So, I mean, and the thing that was interesting to me was that the police report was dated in the month of February

There was a two on the police report, not a seven, obviously indicating July

So I know we talked about this a little bit off air, but I'm wondering what your thoughts are in regards to that, because I was a little confused at first

Yeah, that was confusing. So I saw I think I think I think at this point that must have been a typo because Amy just, you know, the Lincoln Journal star

Yeah, I think that's what it's called. One of the newspapers. At any rate, she reported, I know other people had said it was Wednesday that this happened, that he was actually cited on Wednesday, which I believe would have been the 26th, right

And that was the same date. So I think that all makes sense. The only other thing that I thought that could have been potential is if it happened in February or something and Wager just denied the breathalyzer test or whatever

I think I don't I don't know I'm just totally guessing but I think that you then I think they

go to like the hospital and they have to get a warrant basically like test your blood type thing

and so I don't yeah I don't know if they were like waiting for something like that that was

my only other thought if it if the initial initial arrest happened in February if they had to wait

for a blood test although that seems like a long time for I'm sure I'm sure they have to be faster

than that I don't know I've ever had to take a blood drug test or anything but I've never had to

take a blood i mean a drug test you know but a blood test they can usually tell the results within

like 24 hours so that would be a long time but okay i mean unless you could unless there was

like some appeal process or you get like get like retested which i don't with employment stuff it

probably there probably is something like that you know because you probably have to be like

for sure for like 100 for sure but it's it just seems like it seems like that was just in maybe

a typo on the thing which you know which is kind of a big typo honestly i mean i don't know

i don't know because because i was thinking back on it now if this was you know february like the

police report said you know carter nelson and all those tight ends still committed knowing this and

somehow you know the star or whoever didn't get wind of it and you know say hey we'll throw a

couple bucks cash in order to get this scoop out or something like like if that happened in february

Like, I'm pretty sure we would have heard about it, you know, by now, you know, honestly

Yeah, I think enough people are connected. I mean, it would have been out there somewhere. I mean, that's just pretty hard to keep under wraps at a place like Nebraska

But, I mean, you never know. Maybe it could have been. But it does seem like, you know, the reporting around it suggests that it did happen Wednesday

And regardless, you know, Bob Wager is out. I don't know. There is some interesting things, though

I know, like Sean Callahan, you know, he did kind of a show with Sipple

And I noticed some things that were retweeted that he said I didn't watch it, but about how like, you know, Wager didn't really do that that much or didn't get, you know, didn't get out to Ainsworth to see Carter Nelson

And I don't know. He seemed to mention he said like it felt off and maybe it wasn't a great fit

I'm not really sure what happened, but Sean Callahan. Let's be honest. Sean Callahan loves to sensationalize things and create drama

So while that may be true, I don't want to give him the benefit of the doubt here

and I kind of had a hard time believing that a little bit just like because you know Carter

Nelson also had other you know really strong offers so I'm thinking either you know if that's

true maybe somebody else picked up the slack in his recruitment for example and you know I don't

know I mean you know situations like these are not even just like this but any situation that

causes drama around Husker Nation, Callahan lives for. So, you know, this was his time to shine last night

and he certainly had some takes that, you know, lived up to his reputation

Yeah, and then, you know, I love my guy Steve Sipple. I think he's – but I don't necessarily agree with him that tight end's an easy

position to coach, you know. So, there's a lot that goes into it

I do think, you know, Josh Martin, I do like this, you know, this addition

um you know he's coached tight ends that you know he's been a full-time assistant at smu at

at arizona state they had him he was being like a special teams yst and you know we all know

this tight ends play a lot of special teams because they can block they can they just have

that body type for it so i think that's kind of a good um you know transition he sent guys to the

nfl before um you know at smu he's got ties to texas so i mean in terms of filling this void i

I don't think that Matt Rule could have done a better job in terms of having somebody on the staff that, you know, he could pop into that role already

Well, you just kind of mentioned it. Josh's father, Joe, is the executive director of the Texas High School Coaches Association

So, I mean, that's still a pretty big tie for the state of Texas in terms of recruiting

And, you know, you look at Josh, he mentored Kylan Granson, who was named to the Bolikanoff Award Watchlist in 2020

And, you know, he recorded, you know, 14 receiving touchdowns, 1,257 yards and 78 receptions in two seasons for, you know, for the program

And he was selected by the Colts in the fourth round of the NFL draft in 2021

And then at Arizona State in 2014 you know the Sun Devil offense had a 91 percent conversion rate on red zone trips which ranked 12th in the country and a national ranking of you know 16th overall with 37 points per game And you know he served a lot of roles there he was the senior offensive yst at Arizona State and in 2015 he was an assistant coach that you know had a focus on running backs

and tight ends and then you know prior to that in 2014 he was an offensive graduate assistant so

this guy does not lack experience this wasn't a shot in the dark hire you know just somebody to

fill the spot quickly. I believe that Martin, between his Texas ties and his success, getting

somebody drafted into the NFL, I don't care. That is a notch in his belt, no matter what

if you recruit him or not. If you can get a tight end drafted in the NFL, that's a win in my book

So I think this is a really good hire. He has a solid resume and we don't lose that Texas tie

in recruiting, which I think is very important. Yeah, I like that too. And I'm just having the

experience, you know, I realized that, you know, it's not, it's not the most ideal situation

but I feel like, you know, he can step in there and kind of, you know, fill into that role

you know, as best as possible. So, you know, we'll kind of see how that goes. It's not ideal with

you know, fall camp starting, sorry, my screens are just getting blasted out by sunlight in this

room. But at any rate, yeah, it's not the best timing, obviously, for Nebraska. But I don't think

that, you know, it's something that, you know, is going to have a huge impact on the season

The one thing I do miss about Wager and that I liked about him especially is, you know, that he

had that head coaching experience. And I thought that that was something that, you know, was what

was really worthwhile. I mean, just you never know with like game management situations and stuff like

that having all that experience but um you know I definitely feel like uh you know that they're

going forward um you know in the right direction and um hopefully this isn't something that's

really gonna you know impact their season going forward you know and I think um having Martin

as a backup plan so to speak you know I don't know if it will affect their season too much

you know you hate to see something like this but I I wouldn't worry about it I mean this was a rule

that Matt Rule had to make and set the tone of, hey, this behavior is not going to be accepted in our program

and that was something that has been missing in previous staffs, quite frankly

Definitely. I mean, yeah, there was not very much accountability from the head coach on down with previous staff

So, you know, Ethan Piper kind of talked about that at Big Ten Media Days

you know, how Matt Rule runs a tight ship, and that's really something that Nebraska's needed

So at any rate, you know, if anybody else has thoughts on, you know, Bob Wager, I mean, go ahead and enter into the chat

We've got a few people kind of joining us here. Andrew and Justin, you know, making some join in the chat

Justin said we made some bad takes there, but didn't really explain himself. So we'll see if he says anything else or whatever

I know everybody doesn't agree with all of our takes, but we're not here to fight you. We generally we we genuinely want to, you know, have a discussion with you

So feel free. I mean, you know, we love when you guys, good or bad, just try to add to this chat

It makes it fun. And, you know, I hate doing all the talking. And I know Chris probably doesn't like doing all the talking either

So we like when you guys come in, good or bad, and leave your comments here

Because, you know, I think this is going to be – this is already proving to be a whirlwind season and we haven't even started

It is great. And it's just fun to talk Nebraska football, just like if we were, you know, like hanging out and having a drink

so you go ahead and he says well yes there sean isn't always the greatest i don't think he had a

great day reporting this he didn't say tight ends are easy to coach he said it's an assistant job

that easy to replace he takes advantage of controversial controversial situations i'll say

that i don't think he had a great day reporting this at all but he's never afraid to throw out a

hot take in order to get the views and clicks that he wants um yeah i mean i i definitely you

know for i like him either by the way yeah i mean i like sean callahan for the most part and um you

know i find him to be fairly you know a fairly accurate uh reporter and i just i saw somebody

clip something from simple so i mean obviously it was a shorter uh you know thing i thought that's

that's what he said that um but yeah it could be an assistant job easy to replace i could have

definitely um then and you're probably right on that aspect of it i mean it's not like you're

losing like an offensive coordinator or somebody in terms of you know that part of it so no I think

that totally does good Justin you're all good no no no worries at all I'm glad you explained

yourself and we're not mad or anything we just wanted to figure out what what you were trying

to say and I agree you know if it came off as I said that he had a great day in reporting this

that's not what I meant at all I mean I just think that he thrives on you know certain situations in

order to get clicks sometimes as a lot of reporters do yeah unfortunately um as the you know

this program gives them the moments to do them so it's not like it's not like i can fault them

all the way this program there's never a dull moment around here yeah man just like how how

frustrating to i mean for matt rule just to you know you you get to big big 10 media days um you

know this everything's really positive you know you're starting fall camp this weekend and then

boom, you just have this distraction. But, you know, I know he'll move on quickly

and they'll get everybody refocused and moving forward. But, yeah, it's just like – and I understand the – you know

everybody's done this. I've done it before. I'm not going to sit here and act like hypocritical

like I've never taken a drink and driven before. You know, I really try not to anymore because it's just ��

there's so many other options too. I mean, it's like you can't tell me that Bob Wager ��

I mean, I'm not saying he's rich beyond measure or whatever, but, like, the dude's making six figures in Lincoln, Nebraska

So like, why can't you just call a freaking Uber, dude? Like, why do you have to do like, it just makes no sense

Why put yourself in that position? Not that I want to go off on this topic, but that's just one thing I don't under, you know

these guys that are like very, very wealthy, they have the money

Like if there's nothing wrong, having a drink or relaxing or whatever, just get an Uber

park your car and have someone else drive you home, buy a cab. It's like 40 bucks, man

Like you make 250 K like, come on. Yeah. I never understood that, especially with professional athletes as well

Just get an Uber, you know, I mean, even even the not athletes, I'd rather spend two hundred dollars on an Uber to get home safely than to, you know, drive drunk or, you know, have some have one of my friends drive drunk and, you know, pass away or something like that

You know, I'd rather pay for Ubers, you know, even if they're a crazy price than, you know, to do to drive under the influence of alcohol

And I'm not trying to be a preacher. It's just, you know, like you said, but the type of money Bob Wager makes, I don't get it

Yeah. Now you I mean, you now you're now he's out of jobs. So unfortunately, you know, that is disappointing

But at any rate, we don't have to spend our entire, you know, chat on Bob Wager

I mean, this is the biggest piece of news. It was a big piece of news. People want to keep talking about it, but I don't know

I'm interested too. And, you know, this weekend, it's a big recruiting weekend

Shoot, I'm trying to remember how many guys Nebraska's got busy. I think it's like 30

I know it's over 30. It's like, I think yesterday it was 34. Let me look

Yeah, I saw some people said it was 33, but I think they weren counting Devoe to Otaga because he actually visited Friday Because I believe that there 15 guys from 2024 and come in and like 19 And actually there more cause I saw Quinn Clark put on Twitter yesterday

that he's coming and he wasn't listed on, you know, from on three when I counted up and did my article Friday morning

I'm totally forgetting almost what day it is, but almost, almost all the commitments, not all of them

but a good chunk of the commitments are coming in for what they've termed the cookout

Matt Rule's calling it the cookout. People have the barbecue and whatnot. Caleb Benning's coming on Monday too, so that's interesting

which we kind of knew a little bit last week that he was coming

We just didn't know what day. So I'll be interested to see what happens with Benning

Justin, add another question. Do we know if Nebraska has a ride program like the Raiders do

I don't know that. I probably – I wouldn't think so for a university

That doesn't seem – I mean, maybe. I'm not sure, though. I can't comment on that. That's a good question, though, because it is important

especially when you talk about young kids and college kids and things like that

So that is a very fair question. I'll have to look into that. There might be. There's probably something in terms of, like, the school for students

I would think. I would hope. I don't know. If not, there probably should be. um but just yeah give people give if you give people an option to choose that i feel like most

of the time they will so but everybody makes mistakes nobody's saying that we're not perfect

by any means is a bad person or anything like that he made a mistake it's just it's unfortunate

because you know just when you have that much to lose you think that you know you would be a little

bit smarter about it because you know one one mistake especially nowadays with the media and

all that it's hard to you know 20 years ago that might have just got glossed over you know what i

I mean, he might not even have been fired, you know, and that's not that's not saying anything about anybody

I know, you know, it's just it's actually the media and Lincoln, though. They're very. Yeah. As if you couldn't tell, I'm not always the biggest fan of the media and Lincoln

But I mean, you know, I just hope I just hope everything works out and wager lands on his feet somewhere

I don't wish anything bad on him. You know, I just it's just like you said, unfortunate timing

and especially after coming off the high of Big Ten media days

Yeah, I did like Big Ten media days, though. I liked what Matt Rule is

I always do. I always enjoy what Matt Rule has to say

And there was just, man, the line that he really got me was

he was talking about learn from the past, prepare for the future

live in the present. That's how he's going to fix this program

And I just, you know, his win every day mentality, I know all those things are really corny

and all that, but they're sayings for a reason because they work

and the teams that really practice and preach that type of stuff and build the cultures and all that stuff, they really win

and that's why I feel very confident in the long-term future of this program

with him as the head coach. Well, they're corny based on who's delivering it, right

If a coach with no success and a poorly run program is delivering win-the-day slogans, then that's not the best

But with Matt Rule, I truly do think it means something. You know, he's focused on building up the program to the best, you know, best that it can be

And, you know, he said he wants to earn respect back. And I think he'll be able to do that

You know, I just thought it was really interesting. I know Jeff Sims mentioned that Xavier Betts and Malachi Coleman were the fastest guys on the team

which Betts caught my ear because he's been out of football for a little bit

So, you know, I guess he hasn't lost any speed, which is good to hear

Yeah, I mean, he's one of the guys that I'm watching, you know, in camp

in terms of like, you know, if I was to make a prediction about fall camp

you know, in terms of like players that are going to stand out, he's one of them. I definitely think that he's going to be starting with Nebraska, you know

week one when we line up against Minnesota. I think he's going to be, you know, one of the first wide receivers to try it out there on the field

And I mean, I just think about, you know, that, that touchdown that he scored against Penn state

which I think it was like an end around or whatever. And he took that, you know, and 86 yards

Yep. I mean, just that speed. He had another play like that. And, you know, you just, you can't teach that stuff

And he, you know, Matt rule gave him an opportunity. And I think, you know, he showed that, you know

he was grateful for that with the way that he performed in the classroom because he had some work to do, you know

to get back in to get himself eligible. And, you know, he met all those, you know, kind of demands or requirements

And so I'm really high on what Xavier Betts can do this season for the Huskers

Sometimes all you need is a second chance, right? And, you know, I think Betts is, you know, sometimes when you get second chances, you know, the first chance you don't really realize what you have

Then the second chance you're like, OK, I got to do this. I have a really great opportunity in front of me

You know, let's make this work. And I think Betts is committed to doing that. We've heard it from Garrett McGuire

McGuire has been impressed with what Betts has been able to bring to the table on and off the field

So I'm really glad to see him seizing this opportunity once again. You know, because I was really disappointed initially when he was no longer a part of the program

You know, he is still one of the remaining holdovers from the 2020 class

and a class that, quite frankly, was not good. So to have Betts back, I think is going to be really, really solid

And, you know, I kind of always thought that while he fit decently in the Scott Frost offense and during the Scott Frost era, I think he'll fit a little bit better, you know, especially with the focus on speed and a Marcus Satterfeld led offense

And I trust this coaching staff to put him in positions to succeed and not just throw him out here because of, you know, you know, the speed and not knowing what to do with him

So Justin commenting on the offensive line, sounds like O-line is big improvements according to multiple guys

from Big Ten media days, even though it's biased. It's definitely promising hearing that

Yeah, definitely. For sure. Yeah, I think just the fact that it's interesting that Ethan Piper

has been one of the guys that made it to Big Ten media days because you would think he's going to be a starting player

So maybe that's some insight on what the offensive line does look like. You know, I think there is going to be, I think, a little bit of a competition, maybe at left tackle with Turner

You know, is Turner Corkman going to start and play there? Because he might, you know, we don't really know that much about the health of Teddy Prajaka

They've said he's basically 100% ready to go, but can he make it through fall camp

Can he make it through the season? And really, it's hard. You're starting five or your preferred five

You're never going to play a whole season with those guys, you know. I mean, that's just the way that football works

So even if Ethan Piper is not starting the first game, I'm sure he's going to play quite a bit

I mean, there's some other guys I think that are starting caliber. But really, you know, if you look at those, I feel like inside Ben Scott

you know, and then if you've got Corcoran inside, Noreen Nadelli, or I'm totally mispronounced his name, but you guys know who I'm talking about

I think you're right. Noreen Nuali, I think. Yeah, okay, yeah. I guess it wasn't that bad

But yeah and then with Piper Leptoski so I think those three inside positions I feel pretty good at tackle And so if Bryce Benhart can just be a solid right tackle feel really good there and then you got you know Teddy and and possibly you know Corcoran to move

out to left tackle if he gets hurt so I do feel optimistic about the offensive line but I felt

optimistic last year too and and they they weren't as horrible maybe at times as we all gave them

credit for but they weren't obviously as good as they need to be so in the Iowa game they were

really really good uh you know i think that was probably the best performance all season but

um you know matt rule considered you know said in the spring that bryce benhart could be an nfl

level player so i trust his evaluations and believe me i've absolutely destroyed bryce

benhart on multiple occasions on this you know podcast here but you know if matt rule sees

something in him i trust him and the staff to be able to develop pieces of the line that maybe

weren't as strong last year. You know, that's their calling card. And I really, and I really hope that, you know

they can get the line to even semi-decent because last year was bad

If we can get to semi-decent, then I mean, we laugh, but I mean, if we can get to semi-decent

and, you know, at least, you know, not let Jeff Sims get hit 75,000 times a game

then I'm optimistic. I'm optimistic too. And it is, yeah, we laugh, but it wasn't funny

probably for Casey Thompson or Anthony Grant last year at times. But it also, you know, you have to know your personnel too

And so I felt like at sometimes, like I've said, Mark Whipple

you know, when your offensive line is not great at pass blocking, maybe you shouldn't, you know, come out in the spread formation

with basically only one running back to help. And then you're just like, well, hope you'll do better this time, fellas

You know, I mean, it's like have some. But there was another thing that, you know, Matt Rule said that stuck out to me

And it was he was talking about recruiting. But I do think it applies to like guys like Bryce Benhart, because you look at Bryce Benhart, he's six, eight

He's like three 20 or whatever they listen. I don't know if I always buy what, you know, their their weights that they list them out

Coming from a football team, I can say that when, you know, they write they write in their weights and their heights

Some of those numbers get a little exaggerated. well i'll tell you my high school my senior year i think they had me in the program was like 5 11

220 and that was a good i was a good 5 10 170 so but uh so but i do know that i mean uh cory can't

like i talked to brian buscini you know for that article i did and he said that he put on 20 pounds

um this offseason so um i i definitely think that there's some truth to some of that stuff but my

point with uh bennard he looks like an nfl player right he looks like an nfl tackle and it's matt

rule said you know with he's he talks about speed all the time you know like he said at big 10 media

days if there's a guy that runs four three you know and long jumps you know whatever if i can't

coach that guy then i don't know how to coach and i feel like that's kind of true with bryce

bennard too if you can't coach somebody that's six eight and decently athletic how to play

offensive line then maybe you're not you know and i know we have the same offensive line coach

from last year but um I just think that that general mindset of Matt Rule like that you know

I it's up to me to get the most out of these players and their talents and I just think that

that mindset and that the way he approaches it is going to benefit a lot of Nebraska players and

because yeah it's like Bryce Benner he does as a player he does have flaws but you know there are

things that he can do well I think highlighting those and focusing and trying to bring out the

strengths instead of you know the weaknesses I think those are all really positive things that

that rule does and that's the thing if you have players that do certain things well yes you need

to do yes they need to like kind of step outside their comfort zone for the benefit of the team

but at some point you don't want to push them to the point where you know they don't even know

they've completely lost their mojo when it comes to playing football you want to try to work to

their strengths and things like that and you know I think this line will be really good in terms of

run blocking. So I'd love to see Grant get into it a little bit more. I mean, we're obviously going

to see a lot of runs. I mean, they're bringing back the fullback. So, you know, I think it's

going to be exciting to see how this coaching staff utilizes their players' strengths and

you know, how they build off of that. Because, you know, and I was talking about this on another

show. You know, if you start winning football games, right, and you feel, and you're in games

where you have a comfortable lead and, you know, things are going well, then you can give some of

your other players playing time and then you can help those players develop as well and continue

that development cycle you know while getting live action in not just developing them in practice

you know in the weight room and stuff like that but game action to allow them to see what this is

all about because there were a lot of good players in previous regimes that I felt sat on the bench

for whatever reason. So I'm curious to see, you know, if we can get, you know

many of these players live action reps in order to help development

And I believe it's three games and you won't lose your red shirt. Is that correct? Four games

You can play in four games. Yeah. So I would love to see that because if they can just keep developing

and get meaningful reps and, you know, kind of not having to rely

on one specific player for a position, then I think that's going to help as well

Yeah, you look at all the best teams. I mean, they've got, I mean, just all the really good teams

have basically two starters at every position. You know, like Georgia, if somebody gets hurt

they just throw in another guy that was like a top 100 player, you know, and he's just as, almost just as good as the next guy

And it takes time to build that. And it's, there's development and stuff too

And a big part of it is recruiting. But I think Nebraska can definitely, you know, can definitely get there

And when you're talking about, you know, with Matt Rule And just another thing he said, you know, when he was talking about the fourth quarter and, you know, he said like his goals, you know, are to rush for 75 yards as a team and to not allow the other team to score any points

And if you do those two things, then you're going to win a lot of games. And it's like, yeah, that's probably that's pretty smart

You probably will, because if you have if you have the lead, then you're probably going to be running the ball a little bit, you know, and and if you don't allow people, other teams to score

I think he takes a really interesting kind of ytical approach to the game

And I just think it's focusing on winning those little things. I think it really does help

And I think it is going to help because this programming, let's face it, we have not been able to close out games

If Nebraska could close out games, we probably wouldn't have even needed to hire Matt Rule, to be honest with you

Scott Frost would still be here. Yeah, yeah. He would have like three winning seasons in a row

And it sounds simplistic. you know 75 rushing yards closing out games in the fourth quarter but it hasn't been i mean i mean

it really has been awful and to answer justin's question really quickly uh yes this is well

actually this is actually our first full calendar year our first our first ever episode was uh

july 27 2022 so we're officially celebrating a year of youtube coverage so thank you everybody

for your support. But, you know, I think the idea of, you know

closing out games in the fourth quarter, running the football, taking time off the clock

There was a point in the Iowa game last year where Nebraska executed

to drive beautifully. It took so much time off the clock. I'm like, why didn't they do this all

season? And I don't think that's going to be an anomaly this year. I really do think that

you know, with the physical offensive style, they want to run, they'll be able to close out games

in the fourth quarter. And I think they'll be smart about it. I don't think we're going to be running spread on third and one, you know? Yeah. I liked to what he said about Jeff Sims

you know, running the ball that, that just made me think of him. You know, we, he talked about like we don't want him running we want explosive plays out of Jeff Sims I'm sure if

there's like some third and one and they've got that's that's the thing though if there's a play

where it's third and one you've got to have it having a quarterback that you can just run right

up the middle who's six four is going to be a huge huge advantage I mean I don't know how many teams

I've seen like Urban Myers teams were great at that when when when his offenses struggle he would

literally just snap it to the quarterback and run for a few first downs to get kind of get things

going and you get the extra blocker and nebraska yes they they did that with the option but it just

it hasn't been you know it hasn't been as prominent you know recently and so i'm hoping that they'll

be able to take advantage of some of those situations and i'm really excited about jeff

sims you know one thing i thought he said that was interesting you know everybody thinks i'm a runner but i'm a i'm a thrower you know so i'm excited to see him throw the football this year and we kind

of saw it a little bit during the spring game didn't we i mean he threw some absolute ropes to

I believe Gilbert and another one of the tight ends. I think it might have been Borkutcher, but I'm excited to see him play

You know, I just hope he stays healthy because I'm not too sure

and I'm not going to get into this or throw shots at anybody, but I'm really just not sure about the backup quarterback depth beyond Sims

I mean, maybe you talk about development. Hopefully not, but there is a very, you know, real possibility

But just the way the game is played, that we may get some real-time quarterback development

But in any case, I hope that I hope that, you know, Sims can stay healthy and play at a high level

And, you know, it seems like Nebraska made a solid choice for both Casey Thompson and Jeff Sims by making Sims starting quarterback

Casey got a chance to go somewhere where he could be the starter in his final season

And Sims, you know, gets to play right away. So I think, you know, it kind of stunk the way things just kind of you saw Casey transfer out, obviously, in April

But now I think, you know, things are better in terms of, you know, establishing Sims as the leader and getting a clear indication that he will be the starting quarterback

Because if you remember last year, I mean, there was even talk that Chubba Purdy may be involved in a quarterback battle heading into camp last year with Gacy Thompson

So no quarterback battles here now. Sims is the guy. And it's good that that was established early

Yeah, there was even talk last year, you know, during fall camp that, you know, Nebraska was going to kind of have like a special, not like a series of plays for Chubba

Like Scott Frost basically said, like, you know, we need to get Chubba Purdy on the field, you know, or series or two a game

And that didn't really come to fruition. And then when he did get his opportunity, he didn't play that well

But, you know, injuries really can affect. And he just did not look healthy

I'll say that he looked better this spring than he did ever last year, you know, during the season

I think they rushed him back last year. Yeah, and he just didn't look like. I mean, when he threw the football, he did not look right

You know, and he did have some good throws, but he just did not look right throwing the ball to me

so I'm hoping just by him being healthy that he'll be better and at least he's played

I think that that there's at least something to say for that like if he has to go in there and

take a snap like he's not going to crap his pants going into a Big Ten game you know he's been there

before so I do like that aspect of it and I should say since you know we'll wrap up here in a few

more minutes guys so if you have more questions make sure you throw them out there but thanks

for everybody that's been joining us for the chat and make sure live views right now so thank you

uh make sure that you guys hit the subscribe button too um you know so you don miss any of our you know future content we been doing this yeah for about a year i mean we going to keep building it up We got HuskerBigRed too So you know all of our this is just part of what we do Our YouTube channel we put out a great website

You know, it's growing really fast, one of the fastest-growing Husker fan sites out there

So, check that out, too. And then we've got, you know, our podcast on Monday. We're going to be doing these chats every Saturday, maybe a little more frequently once the season gets started

But at any rate, it's been great. And we're just trying to build a community of Husker fans that want to hang out with us

And so I think we're on a good start. Yeah, I'm happy to be able to do the website as well

Everybody's always told me I have a face for radio. So at least the website can alleviate you guys of this beautiful mug sometimes

But no, I'm really excited to do this. I'm excited to do it. Chris, I mean, me and Chris go way back

I want to say at least three years we've known each other. So Chris is extremely dedicated and extremely hardworking

And, you know, he brings the sense of professionalism and balance to this podcast, whereas I don't

And I'll fully admit that. But I'm really excited to get things going with him again

And, you know, I'm really excited to report on a program that's delivering excitement as well

One thing. I'm reading Justin's comment right here. yeah so he's talking about sean payton listening to him and a poor sign of coaching you know pre-snap

penalties which yeah there is a ton of those last we had a ton of those last year and they kill you

they really do kill you you know you you just i mean if you looked at percentages of stuff you

know how many how many percentages of drives do you score on offensively when you have a pre-snap

penalty it's going to be lower than if you don't if you have a holding penalty you know it's just

all those little things and if you stack them up it's like yeah they don't they don't matter that

much but if you have four pre-snap penalties in a game that's 20 hidden yards and so it's just

it just seemed like all those little things for Nebraska really started to add up you know and

I think last year at times especially at the end of the year they were definitely better

you know with with uh Mickey Joseph they were definitely better for sure they were but uh you

know it's got to be a whole strategy and I just really feel like Nebraska I've said this before

but I just feel like we got super fortunate with Matt Rule and I'm glad that things didn't work out

at Carolina because, you know, it just, you know, he wanted to be back in the Big Ten and Nebraska offered him that opportunity

and I think it's the perfect fit all around. And some coaches are better, you know, just college coaches

and that's how I knock on them. It's just a better fit. And, you know, it's interesting, like you mentioned

all the, you know, pre-snap penalties for a game is bad. You're driving down the field down by three, second and three

you get a, you know, pre-snap penalty. Now it's, you know, second and eight

And that makes a huge difference. So even one in the wrong situation can be extremely detrimental

Yeah. And then, you know, not taking care of the football. I mean, missing tackles, just all the little fundamental things

Football is a, is a complicated game, but it isn't, you know, take care of the ball

tackle block, and you'll probably have a pretty decent shot of winning the game

And I think that's, that's how Matt Rule views it. I mean, it's easy to say it

It's a, it's easy to say it. It's a lot harder to do it, but it's just, it's about the everyday

stuff, you know, that that's how you get good at doing the little things. It's by, you know

winning the day, so to speak. And if you can, if you can get your players to focus on that and buy

into that, at least in my experience, the teams that buy into that type of message tend to be

pretty successful. So I'm hoping that, you know, they can do that this year, Matt rule. And it was

interesting. I mean, Matt rule said, you know, he didn't really define a winning season. He said he

wanted to win back respect but you know my thought my my thought and it is but you know i don't think

that you know how you win respect is by winning football games you don't get respect by going

three and nine and getting close that's what nebraska's done so i i really think that he said

it without saying it to me you know we're gonna win football games and that's we're not gonna say

it we're not gonna predict it but we're gonna earn respect and that's how you do it by actually

winning freaking games well that's what all these big time media days thrive off of these little

soundbites and yeah you know matt rule didn't really give too many outlandish soundbites because

we seen we we seen the outlandish soundbites before and it just so i glad we had none of those outlandish soundbites And you know I think there is a real chance that you know

this team could not only make it to a bowl game but be ��

I don't want to say win the West, but I'm trying to temper X my case here

But I'll just say it. I think there's a realistic chance that they could win the West

I truly honestly believe that. Because the West isn't that good. No, the West isn't that good

Who's that good? Wisconsin got picked to win the West, so Nebraska could win the West

We lost to Georgia Southern, so even the guarantees that we thought were guarantees are no guarantees

No. Yeah, there's not guarantees. But definitely they could win the Big Ten West

I think a team that wins, I mean, eight or nine games like we saw last year

could win the Big Ten West. So it really is wide open. I mean, the three best teams in the league are in the other division

maybe even number four because Maryland's actually pretty good. They just play in like the toughest division probably in college football

this year because the SEC West kind of dropped down a little bit. I mean, at least comparable

But at any rate, I did kind of before we wrap up another ��

I wanted to circle back to the recruiting thing this weekend. Who, who's the most important visitor to you

Who are you watching the most at either 24 or 25, either class

Who's the guy, or maybe a couple that you're really kind of interested in

Well, one is Caleb Benning. I mean, we're kind of interested to see

you know, what his decision is that as it relates to Nebraska

you know, we're also interested to see, you know, if they can land that legacy recruit

You know, Bodhi Sukup is a name that's interesting to me as well

He's from Blair, Nebraska. And, you know, I believe he is part of the 2025 class, if I'm not mistaken

And so right now, I know, excuse me, he's 2024. And right now he's predicted to go to Minnesota State

So, you know, I think that, you know, Nebraska could really make a push here

And, you know, Nebraska has evaluated some under-the-radar quarterbacks over the past couple weeks

Alex Manske is a name that comes to mind as well. So I'm interested to see if there's any movement with that

because I would like to see another quarterback in this class. And then, you know, I think the other big one for me would probably have to be, you know, to a toggle

We talked about him, you know, at the beginning of the show, but he would give us another edge rusher

And, you know, edge rushers are important in today's game. And, you know, I'll be interested to see how his recruitment plays out and when it plays out

Because, as we've mentioned before, West Coast recruits generally decide later. with the exception of the offensive lineman we picked up earlier this month

but West Coast recruits tend to decide later. So there are a lot of names

There are a lot of return faces, and that's good to see to me as well

because they still want to come and visit the campus. So Stephen comments, Stephen Costello

Manske is huge. I definitely agree with that, and I agree with you on Manske. So is Grant Bricks, and that's what I was going to talk about

Grant Bricks, if I had to rank all the recruits. Is he coming this weekend? I didn't see him on the

Yeah, he is. He's coming this weekend. He would be number one for me overall because I just think he fills a big need

I do think that Preston Tauma can play right tackle. I'm not sure about left tackle

Grant Bricks is the number five tackle in the country in the 24-7 rankings for 2024

He visited Kansas State and Oklahoma earlier this week, so this is kind of a big opportunity for Nebraska

They're getting the last visit before, you know, there's another dead period basically in August

And then there was talk of him you know Cal Sean Callahan reported that he may need to take more He may want to take more official visits before a decision which would mean like September october so i i watching to see if you know he the only guy on the june 23rd visit weekend that did not commit right and all the other guys are going to be there this weekend i

think i saw key one lacy's going to be there quinn clark um you know danny kalen's going to be there

i haven't seen from carter nelson but i know like mcmorris is going to be there so a lot of

will be there okay so almost almost every guy that was there already you know it

on that June 23rd weekend can try to reconnect with bricks and maybe

maybe you can get enough momentum going to get a, you get a commitment out of him and not make him wait that long. So that's

that's my number one guy. And then Christian Jones, I don't know if there's going to be a commitment this weekend from anybody

that would kind of surprise me, but Tyson Terry and Cain Vermont's already committed

They're coming this weekend. Christian Jones has talked about how much he respects like the in-state

recruiting push. So maybe they could, maybe they could push him over the top two

And then number three is Damon Benning. He's, I don't think he is going to commit

but Caleb Benning. Yeah. Sorry. Damon Benning. Sorry. Yeah. Caleb Benning. I just think if Nebraska comes out of this weekend as the leader

then that will kind of, you know, give us an idea where they stand in this recruitment. Yeah

And I think, you know, people bring up a good point with Brandon Baker. I mean, he

he wants to make an official visit, but I don't think we can put all our eggs in one basket for Baker

and I'm not saying any of you are saying that. It's just like you don't want to miss out on Briggs

because you make a hard push for Baker and then Baker doesn't come here

It worked out for Daniel Kalin when we made a push for Dylan Rayola

but you can never count on that in recruiting in terms of completely ignoring one recruit

while trying to make a push for another. And I don't think the staff does that quite honestly

but recruiting is crazy now. You don't know. It isn't. Yeah, Justin believes that Nebraska has a real shot at Brandon Baker

We talked about this a little before. I think they have a shot

I think that Oregon is the leader. I think there's a reason he said he wants to take a visit

but why hasn't it been scheduled yet? Maybe there's some hesitation on the Nebraska side of things

I don't know. We'll see. I just don't know if Nebraska – did they believe that he's serious

How's that going? So we'll see how it goes, but I'm not going to, with Baker, I'm not going to think he's a serious contender until that visit is scheduled and he steps foot on campus

Then I'll say Nebraska's a player. It is interesting that they're bringing bricks onto campus and basically all the top offensive recruits are going to be visiting this weekend as well

I mean, even Landon Davidson, the interior offensive lineman will be there

Jake Peters will be there. and so they're really bringing out all the stops for the offensive players and I'm hoping you know

maybe they can convince Bricks to come here and then one interesting name really quickly

is Riker Evans he's a running back he is from Elwood Nebraska and right now it looks like it's

a race between Air Force and Army I'm gonna have to do a little bit more research on him

but he's 6 feet, 170 pounds, and so far Nebraska, he has Kwon Lacy

They have pieces in the running back room right now, but they need to get some commits for the future

and I think that's important. Maybe he's not a five-star running back

but at least getting another body in the room. Moving over to my battery because my computer does not die

so sorry, everybody. This is the beauty of live, I want to say live television, but live YouTubing

But at any rate, so we better wrap up here shortly. But thanks for joining us, everybody, for another episode of this live chat

Make sure you guys hit the subscribe button. We'll be back for another podcast on Monday and join us again next Saturday

So thanks again, everybody. And as always, go Big Red. Go Big Red