9/14/18 | Paul Koch
Excerpted from Chapter 52, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Mary Lyn Wininger, Part 2 Continued…. Q: What time did you usually begin your workday? MLW: It was usually 8 o’clock in the morning and sometimes we had summer hours, 7:30-ish or whatever. And then it always wasn’t a…
Head coach Scott Frost said after Thursday's practice that Adrian Martinez has been improving all week but that a decision on Saturday's quarterback might not come until minutes before kickoff against Troy. He also spoke about the Huskers' efforts to schedule a 12th game. Refresh this page for the latest updates. • Troy week reports: MON | TUE |…
Nebraska football defensive end Freedom Akinmoladun was recognized Thursday for his work in the community as he was named to the 2018 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team®. Akinmoladun was one of the 11 football student-athletes from the FBS ranks, as a total of 22 players were selected from the FBS, FCS, Division II, Division III and NAIA ranks from 169…
Excerpted from Chapter 52, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Sharing the limelight may mean working behind the scenes – in effect, not getting any “light” at all. Team players… handle a myriad of other things required for accomplishment of a team’s task. -Glenn M. Parker, Team Players and Teamwork, 2008 …
This is the multiple-angle video Nebraska submitted to Big Ten and Pac-12 officials after the Sept. 8 Colorado-Nebraska game. Husker freshman quarterback Adrian Martinez was helped off the field after the fourth-quarter play and did not return. Colorado officials said there would be no player suspensions as a result of the play. • Coverage: OWH, LJS, HV, H247 •…
By losing to Colorado Saturday and having the Akron game canceled the week before, the Huskers find themselves right behind the eight ball especially when it comes to being bowl eligible this year. And losing Husker freshman QB Adrian Martinez late in Saturday's game with Colorado and potentially for parts of the season, could put a further damper on Nebraska's…
Offensive coordinator Troy Walters said after Wednesday's practice that it's still looking like a game-day decision as to whether quarterback Adrian Martinez will play Saturday against Troy. QBs coach Mario Verduzco said he doesn’t expect Nebraska to call the game any differently if Andrew Bunch is the starter. Refresh this page for the latest updates. • Troy week reports: MON…
Excerpted from Chapter 51, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Terry Connealy, Part 3 Continued… Q: Any memorable off-field occasions worth sharing? TC: (laughs) The ‘worth sharing‘ is the tough part there. All kinds of great off-field memories. Gosh, you didn’t just spend your days on the practice field.…
Assistant coaches said after Tuesday's practice that Nebraska's defense needs to do a better job creating turnovers. There were zero against Colorado. "Fifty passes, we should have some takeaways," said defensive backs coach Travis Fisher. Quarterback Adrian Martinez didn't practice and was seen wearing a compression sleeve on his right knee. Head coach Scott Frost said on the Big Ten…
Excerpted from Chapter 51, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Terry Connealy, Part 2 Continued... Q: Speaking of goals, it seems earlier on there wasn’t as much of a focus on winning the national championship than there was in later years. Does that ring a bell? Do you recall…
Nebraska head coach Scott Frost said at Monday's game-week press conference that Adrian Martinez might play Saturday against Troy, but no decision is likely before game day. The play on which the quarterback was injured is being reviewed by conference officials. Also, Blackshirts have been issued to a number of players on the Husker defense. Refresh this page for the…
I hate Colorado. For so many reasons. I don't care if it affects our status as "college football's greatest fans." They deserve every bit of hate. They would've deserved all the hate, even if they hadn't stolen a victory that Scott Frost & the Huskers rightfully earned. They would've deserved the hate if they hadn't tried to blatantly hurt Adrian…
Excerpted from Chapter 51, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch It is in games that many men discover their paradise. -Robert Lynd As you wend your way through a vast sea of wildflowers, switchgrass & big bluestem, past the windmills and scattered clusters of Black Angus on the gently undulating plains…
And so the Scott Frost era begins with an unlikely double false start. Nebraska showed tremendous potential and made some absolutely killer first-game mistakes, while Frost became the second man in more than a half century to lose his first game as Cornhusker coach. CU came from behind in the final two minutes Saturday to edge the Big Red, 33-28,…
This week’s Pregame Perspective looks back at some Big Eight and Big 12 nostalgia and forward to future Cornhusker football schedules, which include Colorado (2018, 2019, 2023, 2024) and Oklahoma (2021, 2022, 2029, 2030). I surveyed 100 Husker fans Saturday morning before the Colorado game, mainly north and west of Memorial Stadium and in the Haymarket. I asked them this…
Excerpted from Chapter 50, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Lee Barfknecht, Part 2 Continued…. Q: Any particular visiting press box location other than that game stand out to you? I know you’re supposed to be neutral in the press box, but was there ever any occasion where that…
Scott Frost said after Thursday's practice that "these guys are as ready as they can be, and as prepared as we can make them" for Saturday's game against Colorado. He said he was "a little antsy last Saturday going through that Tunnel Walk and everything for the first time. It's good we got that out of our way, because it's…
Excerpted from Chapter 50, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch I don’t agree with everything they report, but in general find (reporters) to be people who do their homework and try to be fair. I can honestly say that there are very few sports reporters, local or national, that I don’t like…
Talk about a hangover. We were all drunk on the emotions of Nebraska football, only to wake up with a hangover that included no football. I might be mixing metaphors just a bit because the Cobcast crew had to find a way to cope with Saturday's game being cancelled, and that included actually getting drunk. So that's why everything is…
For fellow Nebraska football fans, Saturday night's cancellation of the Husker-Akron game was like Christmas morning-only the gift you'd been shaking for weeks, was snatched away just as you were getting ready to untie the ribbon on the box. It was Lucy Van Pelt grabbing the football just as Charlie Brown was getting ready to kick it. You get my…
Excerpted from Chapter 45, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Milt Tenopir, Part 2 Continued…. Milt Tenopir: The (offensive line) were aggressive football players and our whole offense was built around them. It didn’t center around the receiver or center around the quarterback, necessarily (even though it’s nice to…
Excerpted from Chapter 49, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Our entry song started playing, our fans erupted and the stage was set. Miami’s players looked around in a daze. After all, this was their home stadium.”You aren’t supposed to upstage our entrance.” The 60 minutes of football that followed was a…
The long wait for the start of the Scott Frost era seemed to have ended — and then it didn’t. The Akron game will be remembered as the night the football team put in a lot less work than the event management staff. Frost led his team onto the field with the crowd at a fever pitch, the Cornhuskers won…
After Akron's opening kickoff went through the end zone, lightning caused a halt to the game and conditions only got worse. After more than two and a half hours, the game was called off. Then came a report from Fox TV that the game would be replayed Sunday morning. That turned out to be premature. The Huskers' season opener will…
I walked through Lincoln Saturday afternoon, talking to Cornhusker football fans several hours before Scott Frost coached his first Nebraska football game, and one thing immediately became clear: they’re virtually unanimous in their belief that Frost has started to do exactly what he said he would do — rebuild the culture of Nebraska football. Something else immediately became clear: Nebraska…
At 11 a.m. on November 11th, 2018, the world will mark the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended the hostilities of World War I. To commemorate this event, Memorial Stadium has designated a special POW/MIA chair. Each game this season, a veteran of U.S. military service will take his or her post next to this unoccupied chair in honor…
Nebraska has the unenviable task of replacing placekicker Drew Brown. The four-year starter leaves Lincoln ranked second in program history in field goals made (59) and fourth in points scored (355). True freshman Barret Pickering and redshirt freshman walk-on Cole Frahm went head-to-head this offseason. Special teams coordinator Jovan Dewitt revealed Pickering won the job coming out of fall camp. The Alabama native will…
Change is coming to Nebraska's beloved Tunnel Walk. It appears that "Sirius" by the Alan Parsons Project (by way of the Chicago Bulls) is on its way out and something new will be pumped over the speakers Saturday night. But what is that new song? Athletic Director Bill Moos wouldn't say, only hinting that it goes with NU's theme of "Honor…
Head coach Scott Frost and Nebraska Athletic Director Bill Moos met with reporters after Thursday's practice for the Huskers' game Saturday against Akron. Frost said Adrian Martinez's confidence has grown since he learned Saturday that he would be the starter at quarterback. Frost also said team captains are likely to be decided game by game. Refresh this page for the…
The Husker secondary was tough to watch last season. Cornerbacks consistently played 10-12 yards off the ball while allowing anything to be caught in front of them. Former coordinator Bob Diaco's strategy of trying to avoid the big play forced fans to watch their teams death by a thousand cuts. The secondary - and defense as a whole, seemed to…
Excerpted from Chapter 48, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Cory Schlesinger, Part 3 Continued…. Q: What drove you and motivated you in the weight room? CS: I never even dreamt of getting that (Lifter of the Year) award. I guess my teammates saw me differently…they saw how hard…
In a Big Ten Network interview, Adrian Martinez describes his emotions ahead of his historic start under center for Nebraska against Akron on Sept. 1. After winning the quarterback competition against Tristan Gebbia, Martinez on Saturday night will become the first true freshman to start a season opener at QB for the Huskers. …
I've been mulling over this subject ever since the story broke on Monday. Of course I'm talking about the departure of back-up quarterback Tristan Gebbia. In case you've been living on the Planet Gorga the past week, you might not know that Sunday, Husker head football coach Scott Frost announced that true freshman Adrian Martinez will be the starting quarterback…
A matchup of two of college football’s winningest programs for four straight years and a return of Iowa as the opponent in the regular-season finale are among the highlights of Nebraska’s 2022-25 Big Ten football schedules. The conference office announced schedules for upcoming seasons on Wednesday afternoon. Nebraska and Michigan will square off each season from 2022 to 2025, with…
Nebraska fans attending Saturday night’s season opener against Akron will see several new features and game-day enhancements.New features at Memorial Stadium this fall include new stadium lights, enhanced lighting and video screens in the tunnel walk area, additional concession stands and restrooms in the North Stadium, and improved historical displays in the lobby of the Osborne Athletic Complex.Below is a…
Quarterbacks coach Mario Verduzco said after Wednesday's practice that Tristan Gebbia's decision Sunday to transfer was a reversal from what the player had told him the day before. “He answered me when we talked on Saturday (about his second-team status) like the champion and the great teammate I thought he was. That was it. Then he called me Sunday and…
If Nebraska wants to field a defense that pays respect to the Blackshirt tradition, they will need the front-seven to become a strength. Erik Chinander, Barrett Ruud and Jovan Dewitt have commented all offseason about needing depth throughout the defense. Because of the offense Frost runs, this defense will typically play 10-15 or more snaps a game than most teams.…
Excerpted from Chapter 48, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Cory Schlesinger, Part 2 Continued…. Q: What could you tell me about Coach Solich? CS: Well, what I liked about him? For being a smaller in stature he was very intense. He could definitely get very intense. That’s one…
A brand-new season of Cornhusker football is just a few days away. It’s not just a new year, but also a new era with native-son coach Scott Frost at the helm. Expectations outside the program are tempered, but Nebraska players believe they have a legitimate shot to challenge for the Big Ten West title -- if not more -- in…
Defensive coordinator Erik Chinander said after Tuesday's practice that no Blackshirts will be issued before Saturday's season opener against Akron. He said there are currently too many "ands" and "ors" on the depth chart and that the defense's finish to the 2017 season warranted a go-slow approach to the Nebraska defensive tradition. Head coach Scott Frost also commented after practice…
The defensive line is a fascinating position group. On paper, it looks as deep as any position on the roster, yet it seems odd to label it a strength until it proves it can be leaps and bounds better than a season ago. You all remember last year, right? With all of the optimism going around, it might feel like…
Excerpted from Chapter 48, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch You have to play this game like somebody just hit your mother with a two-by-four. -Dan Birdwell When most folks hear the name ‘Cory Schlesinger’ they recall the vision of a muscled, dirtied and grass-stained number 40 tumbling for six points…
Mario Verduzco provided vital input. Troy Walters gave his opinion. In the end, though, the only vote that counted belonged to Scott Frost, and he cast his ballot over the weekend. In the campaign that grabbed the attention of Nebraska fans all summer long — the battle for No. 1 quarterback — the margin apparently was narrow, but decisive. Adrian…
Head coach Scott Frost and several players met the press Monday in the Huskers' first game-week press conference of the 2018 season. Frost said redshirt freshman Tristan Gebbia, recently named No. 2 in the competition for the starting job at quarterback, was not at Monday morning's practice. Gebbia reportedly plans to transfer and is no longer enrolled at UNL. The…
Nebraska's offensive line was one of the more criticized position groups on the team last season, and for good reason. It was a leading reason for the program's downfall under Mike Riley. The 2017 Husker line paved the way for only 107.5 rushing yards per game, ranking 120th nationally. On a per-carry basis, the line only gained 3.5 yards per…
Game. Week. And there it is, everybody. It's no longer a question of how many weeks until the Frost Era begins at Nebraska. It's matter of days. And soon, it will be a matter of hours, minutes and eventually seconds. Tweedy and I got into a whole bunch of things in this week's podcast, including surprises on the depth chart,…
Frost and his staff inherited a talented quartet of receivers and supplemented the group with a strong recruiting class. Heading into the season, it appears the Huskers have the best receiving corps in the Big Ten. The room is definitely talented, experienced and loaded with speed. Frost has repeatedly stated his inaugural Husker team has the potential to be dangerous…
The depth chart for Nebraska's game against Akron was released Sunday, and Adrian Martinez will make history Sept. 1 as the first true freshman to start at quarterback for the Huskers in a season opener. At running back, junior Greg Bell and senior Devine Ozigbo share the No. 1 spot, backed by freshmen Maurice Washington and Miles Jones. Get more…
Excerpted from Chapter 47, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Tom Osborne, Part 2 Continued…. Q: I talked to Al Papik recently and he talked about coaching against you when you were a college player. I told him I would love to see some of that game film. (laughs)…
Nebraska has work to do at running back. The team didn't rush the ball well last year, to put it nicely. The Huskers are coming off a season in which it ranked 120th nationally in rushing yards per game (107.5) and 112th on a per-carry basis (3.5). Nebraska had just one run by a back that covered more than 30…
Excerpted from Chapter 47, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch In addition to all the engineering and business courses, I also studied four years of psychology and abnormal psychology ….I’m not being facetious when I say that these were probably the most valuable courses of my college career. -Lee Iacocca, Iacocca: An…
Following spring, I did an extensive write-up about the impending quarterback competition. If you missed it or would like to browse it again, you can do so here. Really, not much has changed since then. We have long suspected it would be a two-horse race between redshirt freshman Tristan Gebbia and true freshman Adrian Martinez. Halfway through fall camp, Scott…
Head coach Scott Frost didn't have the quarterback announcement that fans were hoping for Friday, but there was news that running back Tre Bryant is retiring from football because of chronic knee issues, and three walk-ons have been placed on scholarship. Also, 2018 wide receiver signee Dominick Watt will have to go the juco route. Be sure to refresh this…
Excerpted from Chapter 46, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Mike Babcock, Part 3 Continued…. Mike Babcock: And this was the worst moment for me: I was two weeks into my working at the paper… and about two weeks into it Nebraska had a scrimmage, the last major scrimmage…
Nebraska football offensive coordinator Troy Walters and other assistants and players provided updates on the progress of the Husker offense after Wednesday morning's practice. Walters said the offense wasn't up to standard Wednesday and that no decision has been made on who will start quarterback in the season opener. A situational scrimmage Thursday may help clarify the situation. He said…
Excerpted from Chapter 46, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Mike Babcock, Part 2 Continued…. Q: As a sportswriter, what was your main aim? Was it to inform, to entertain, to set policy? How did you envision the main gist of your role as writer? Mike Babcock: My aim…
with contributions from the Wolf and Tollefsen families Everyone is familiar with the NU fight song “Hail Varsity” that is played by the Cornhusker Marching Band at every Huskers game. “Hail Varsity” was composed in 1936. The lyrics were written by Joyce Ayres, a 1930 Nebraska graduate, and the music was composed by Wilbur Chenoweth. However, “Hail Varsity” was not…
Excerpted from Chapter 46, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch On the trail of another man, the biographer must put up with finding himself at every turn; any biography uneasily shelters an autobiography within it. -Paul Murray Kendall For any journey other than the usual neighborhood streets and thoroughfares of daily…
(This week we have guest blogger Joe Canale again) SOCLOSESOCLOSESOCLOSESOCLOSESOCLOSE!!!! I know I did the whole Christmas eve thing last week , I should have saved it for this week, or actually next week come to think about it. But I was wrong about Christmas. Because Christmas (or birthday or anniversary or whatever) comes once a year. What we are…
Nebraska football defensive coordinator Erik Chinander and other defensive assistants and players provided updates on the progress of the Husker defense after Monday morning's practice. Chinander said starting spots remain up for grabs in the final two weeks before the Sept. 1 season opening against Akron. Monday also marked the start of fall semester classes and the inclusion of players…
Excerpted from Chapter 45, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Doug Colman, Part 3 Continued…. Doug Colman: I can’t remember, it might have been ’91 or ’92 and you were there at the time, but I think it was after the Scotty Baldwin thing where Coach Osborne actually called…
The BTN Bus Tour stopped in Lincoln for the Huskers' fall camp practice on Saturday, Aug. 18. The pace, energy and organization of the session impressed the network's analysts, with Gerry DiNardo remarking that only the colors of the uniforms looked familiar compared with the crew's visits of previous years. DiNardo also said the team's athleticism, unlike in years past,…
Excerpted from Chapter 45, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Doug Colman, Part 2 Continued…. Doug Colman: (On joining the coaching profession) For me, I had that opportunity and went on and started doing the high school thing after the pros, and my next job after the freshman job…
Head coach Scott Frost confirmed after Friday's Nebraska football scrimmage that the race for the starting job at quarterback is down to redshirt freshman Tristan Gebbia and true freshman Adrian Martinez. He said both QBs would deserve to play if there were a game this weekend but that he prefers not to rotate quarterbacks. Be sure to refresh this page…
Excerpted from Chapter 45, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Fletcher Christian: [to Captain Bligh] But I assure you, sir, that the execution of my duties is entirely unaffected by my private opinion of you. - Mutiny on the Bounty, Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall with Charles Lederer We…
A video showing portions of last week's talk to the team by former Blackshirts Grant Wistrom and Jason Peter was released Thursday on Twitter by Gerrod Lambrecht, Nebraska head football coach Scott Frost's chief of staff. During the Aug. 10 session, Wistrom speaks of a culture shift at one point and then says, “How bad do you want it? That's what…
Nothing looked less like Nebraska than the Cornhusker offensive line last fall. So it stands to reason that o-line coach Greg Austin had the most of any Husker assistant coach to accomplish when he moved to Lincoln last winter. Since media scrutiny has been limited, it’s hard to say with certainty just how far any position group has advanced, but…
The Nebraska football team practiced indoors Wednesday morning for the 11th session of 2018 fall camp. The first portion of practice was open to the media, and offensive players and assistant coaches were available for comment afterward. Be sure to refresh this page to get the latest additions to the coverage, video and photos. Coverage • Omaha World-Herald*…
Excerpted from Chapter 44, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Clayton Carlin, Part 2 Continued…. Q: Can you take me into some staff meetings? What was the dynamic there? CC: Well, it actually worked very smoothly. Coach Osborne at that time pretty much spent all his time on offense,…
Fans are encouraged to come to Memorial Stadium on Saturday night to meet the 2018 Cornhuskers at Nebraska Football Fan Day from 6:30 to -8:30 p.m. at Memorial Stadium. Fan Day is annually the best opportunity for fans to meet and greet the Nebraska football players, coaches and staff before kickoff. Fans should be aware of a couple of changes…
Husker defensive coordinator Erik Chinander and other defensive assistants and players spoke after Tuesday morning's practice, the 10th of Nebraska football's 2018 fall camp. It was the first media availability since the Huskers' scrimmage Sunday. Chinander said it has become clear who's in the top two units on defense, and determining the starters will be next. Be sure to refresh…
Excerpted from Chapter 44, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch If you don't invest very much, then defeat doesn't hurt very much and winning isn't very exciting. -Dick Vermeil, Football Coach of the Year at the High School, Junior College, NCAA Division I and Professional Football level. Nebraska is the second-ranked…
Excerpted from Chapter 43, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Jerry Weber, Athletic Trainer, Part 2 Continued…. Jerry Weber: (Tom Osborne) surrounded himself with great coaches and great people. He certainly led the way, set the tone as far as how you’re supposed to treat people. It isn’t just…
Nineteen days. Let me spell that out for you. N-I-N-E-T-E-E-N (space) D-A-Y-S (space) U-N-T-I-L (space) H-U-S-K-E-R (space) F-O-O-T-B-A-L-L (space) I-S (space) B-A-C-K-EXCLAMATION POINT. That excitement comes through in both our latest podcast episode, which is available on iTunes right now and on HuskerMax tomorrow morning, as well as in our weekly Facebook Live, which is available just below this paragraph…
Excerpted from Chapter 43, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch We have not lost faith, but we have transferred it from God to the medical profession. -George Bernard Shaw Bringing it all together for the full-time Athletic Training staff of the 60 & 3 era, we finish with the one man…
Head coach Scott Frost had praise for newly arrived freshman running back Maurice Washington but spoke cautiously about the progress of the Huskers' young and inexperienced corps of quarterbacks after Friday morning's practice, the seventh of Nebraska football's 2018 fall camp. Be sure to refresh this page to get the latest additions to the coverage. Coverage • Lincoln…
Excerpted from Chapter 41, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Jack Nickolite, Athletic Trainer, Part 2 Continued… Q: Do you have a favorite game? JN: I don’t think I have favorite game. I’d say they were all memorable and I enjoyed every single one of them. It’s the opportunity,…
Excerpted from Chapter 41, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch The difficult we do immediately. The impossible takes a little longer. -Motto of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during World War II Doctor Who, the long-running BBC television program about a mysterious time- and space-traveling adventurer who finds himself in the…
Coverage • HuskerMax | 110-man fall camp roster • Lincoln Journal Star | Observations from open portion of Nebraska preseason camp • Omaha World-Herald* | Nebraska releases 110-man roster; Observations from portion open to media • Hail Varsity | Notes from Nebraska's First Open Practice of Fall Camp • Omaha World-Herald* | Sights and sounds from Wednesday's practice • Husker247…
Excerpted from Chapter 40, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era, Damon Schmadeke, Part 2 Continued… Q: Any fond recollection of those games as a Student Coach? DS: I remember Lamar Thomas was one of the Miami receivers who was very proud of himself. I don’t know if you knew…
Excerpted from Chapter 40, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Harry Arms Stricken while at work in a house at Springfield, Nebr., Harry Arms, 54, said to have been Nebraska’s only one-armed paperhanger, died Tuesday. He lost his arm in a shooting accident when a youth. He had followed the paperhanging trade…
There are tons of things to address and only so much space to address them in these preview articles. So here goes: 1.) FALL CAMP HAS STARTED!!!!!! 2.) I'm back. And apparently that means these Cobcast preview articles are, too? I guess the Cobcast empire falls into disarray when I'm out of the country. So you're welcome? 3.) FALL CAMP…
Excerpted from Chapter 39, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era, Darren Schmadeke, Part 2 Continued… Q: Any other coaches stand out to you? DS: I would say Coach McBride. I’ll never forget him, the Defensive Coordinator and D-line Coach. He’d always meet with the D-line in the shower stalls.…
Excerpted from Chapter 39, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Great hopes make great men. -Thomas Fuller Heading southbound on two-lane Nebraska Highway 14 on an early summer day, airborne cottonwood seeds can be seen wafting past your windshield just a mile before you cross the Beaver Creek bridge and curve past…
First-year Nebraska head football coach Scott Frost and several players answered reporters' questions Thursday afternoon to kick off the Huskers' fall camp, which begins with a practice Friday morning. Frost made it clear that the team won't be settling for a rebuilding year in 2018 after last season's 4-8 campaign, and senior offensive lineman Tanner Farmer went so far as…
Tomorrow morning, Scott Frost will open his first fall camp as the head coach at Nebraska. Fans are undoubtedly hoping it will be the first of twenty more to come. Bright and early (8:45 a.m.) Frost and his staff will continue to lay the groundwork for this program. It's simply the next step in what has been an incredible beginning…
Excerpted from Chapter 38, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Chad Stanley, Part 3 Continued... CS: There was another Coach Osborne story: this is in the early ’90’s and Ryan Held likes to tell this one. You know they used to put these trash cans around Memorial Stadium there…
Integrity is what you do when no one is watching. I'm not here to be a white knight or point fingers or say that this or that should be a punishment. I'm not here to remind people that if you bully anyone that is weaker than you, you are a coward. I'm also not here to pretend that I haven't…
Excerpted from Chapter 38, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Chad Stanley, Part 2 Continued… Q: Can you delve a little more into the staff dynamic in the meetings? CS: That was an education for a young man who was only 25-27 years old. I consider these guys to…
Excerpted from Chapter 38, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch WANTED Young, skinny, wiry fellows not over eighteen. Must be expert riders, willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred. Wages $25 per week. -Pony Express job advertisement, 1860 Although it lasted for only nineteen months' duration from April 1860 to November…
Fellow Omahan and longtime friend Jerry Kohll recently told me a story about a friend of his (we'll call him Jacob) who had an experience he won't soon forget. Jacob is not only a big Husker fan, but he is also a well known scientist who has worked for years at a medical center in Omaha. A few years ago…
Excerpted from Chapter 37, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era, Ryan Held, Part 3 Continued… Q: Now tell me, how did you hook up with Tennessee after ’97? RH: We had beaten Florida in ’95, so the Tennessee coaches came up and became friends with the Nebraska coaches. Well,…
Excerpted from Chapter 37, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era, Ryan Held, Part 2 Continued… Q: What about Coach Osborne? RH: I remember this, (and he came in on Monday, and we always had 8 or 9 new offensive plays that week) we’re getting ready to play Colorado and…
Many Midwestern football fans regard Big Ten Media Days in Chicago as the start of the football season. It’s a sign that the summer doldrums are nearly over, and every team from the top to bottom of the conference is infused with a renewal of hope. But when Scott Frost was first coach to the podium July 23, there was…
Excerpted from Chapter 37, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch The harvest of old age is the recollection and abundance of blessings previously secured. -Maruc Tullius Cicero, De Senectute When the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 opened up the conjoined territories to settlement it allowed the new settlers to determine whether the states…
Excerpted from Chapter 36, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Anatomy of an Era: Randy Gobel, Strength Coach, Part 2 Continued… Q: Any memorable game on the sidelines stands out to you more than another? RG: Obviously the Orange Bowl against Miami stands out. It was huge. Huge, just because we finally…
Excerpted from Chapter 36, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch It was better, he thought, to fail in attempting exquisite things than to succeed in the department of the utterly contemptible. -Arthur Machen, The Hill of Dreams I’m not sure who first coined the phrase ‘speed kills,’ but if it’s true, then…
This week we are joined by our good friend, Brent Pope. Brent is not only a Husker super fan but also a very famous actor. He's one of those guys who's name you don't know but you've seen his face a million times. Check him out on Casual on HULU and Pink Collar Crimes on CBS! Now to what's important. What…
Junior punter Caleb Lightbourn was named to the 2018 Ray Guy Award preseason watch list Wednesday. The award, named after College and Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Ray Guy, is presented to the nation’s top punter.Lightbourn, a two-year starter from Washougal, Wash., is one of 27 players on the watch list released Wednesday. As a sophomore, he averaged 42.1 yards…
Excerpted from Chapter 35, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Clinton Childs, Part 3 Continued… Q: Do you have an all-time favorite or most memorable play? CC: The fastest touchdown in Nebraska History. Q: Tell me about it. Refresh my memory. CC: Arizona State game, it was the only game I started down…
Excerpted from Chapter 35, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Clinton Childs, Part 2 Continued… Q: What was it like playing behind the Pipeline? CC: It was a bond between us, such a big trust there with everyone knowing their job and getting things done. We were told in the huddle that…
Excerpted from Chapter 35, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Sport, that wrinkled Care derides, and Laughter, holding both his sides. Come, and trip it, as you go, on the light fantastic toe. -John Milton, L’Allegro Have you ever wondered what it might feel like to be trampled by a raging &…
Excerpted from Chapter 34, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Dennis Leblanc, Part 2 Continued… Q: What kind of hours would you put in, Dennis? DL: Oh, I don’t know. More than I’d want to admit, probably. (laughs) Q: Surely more than you were paid for, eh? (laughs) DL: Yeah. But again, I’m…
Excerpted from Chapter 34, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch A University should be a place of light, of liberty, and of learning. -Benjamin Disraeli, Speech to the British House of Commons, March 11, 1873 The University of Nebraska leads the nation’s Division 1 colleges and universities with 65 CoSIDA First-Team…
I've been everywhere, man I've been everywhere, man Crossed the deserts bare, man I've breathed the mountain air, man Travel, I've had my share, man I've been everywhere "I've Been Everywhere" Johnny Cash Ryan Held, the peripatetic Husker running backs coach, would do well to adopt Johnny Cash's recording as his new theme song. And you wouldn't get any…
Editor's Note: We have a guest blogger this week, Joe Canale (@weaselicious). Also, in spite of what Joe says - Ryan is very smart and logical and great. My kid is four and a half. Actually it's four and three quarters. She asked me this morning how long until she turns five and I am guessing this is just going…
Excerpted from Chapter 33, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Curt Thompson, Part 3 Continued… Q: Any other personalities of the time stand out to you? CT: You know, the strength staff, I think we had a pretty good mix. Boyd, it’s no secret he had a pretty big ego. It kind of…
Excerpted from Chapter 33, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Curt Thompson, Part 2 Continued… Q: What was the biggest challenge for you in doing your job? CT: Recruiting changes. You know, I’d have stuff set up and Saturday morning would come and they’d want to change something, wanted to give a recruit…
Excerpted from Chapter 33, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch A (family is a) moving, changing collection of objects constantly in motion... Every individual is growing, changing, developing, or declining – intellectually, emotionally, spiritually, physically, psychologically. No two years, two months, or no two days is there the exact same…
Excerpted from Chapter 32, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Diane Yeutter, Part 2 Continued… DY: I have to tell you -and this is rather sad- my father was killed in 1973 in a very tragic way on the night of my brother’s high school graduation... very tragic, in a twelve car pileup.…
Excerpted from Chapter 32, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch “I didn’t even know this lady and she wrote me a letter. She was just encouraging me and giving me words of comfort, and for some reason the words that she said really touched me and opened my eyes as to what…
Excerpted from Chapter 31, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Tony Veland, Part 3 Continued… Q: Do you have a favorite game? TV: Oh, it would be the Miami game, no doubt. Because it’s amazing: when you see big competition, most people always inwardly root for the underdog. So we were that underdog,…
People tend to view Tweedy as the reactionary member of the Cobcast bunch. But I think that's a misrepresentation. A more accurate take is that we let Tweedy rant about whatever he wants to rant about, and then Joe and I react to that wildness. And since there was no Joe this week, I had to do a lot of…
Excerpted from Chapter 31, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Tony Veland, Part 2 Continued… Q: So before the switch from QB to defense, any impressions of Coach Turner Gill? TV: Old T.G. (laughs) Coach Gill was just a great individual. There were lots of people on that coaching staff who really left…
Excerpted from Chapter 31, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Look at a football field. It looks like a big movie screen. This is theatre. -Steve Sabol Any writer worth his salt will tell you that the greatest dramatic literary arches rely not in the accurate telling of the protagonist’s highest…
Almost from the moment he was hired as head football coach Dec. 2, Scott Frost started talking about the need to improve Nebraska’s walk-on program, and beef up the roster. That quickly led to questions about how Title IX regulations would affect the process. Seven months later, those questions have yet to be clearly answered, but football roster numbers have…
Excerpted from Chapter 30, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Rob Zatechka, Part 4 Continued… Q: Rob, do you remember the first game you played in? RZ: It was the opening game of the ’91 season. I’d have to go look it up. One of those mildly nondescript -and I hate saying that-…
Excerpted from Chapter 30, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Rob Zatechka, Part 3 Continued… Q: Speaking of stepping stones, the Florida State game when you were a junior, any recollections of that game? RZ: We don’t talk about that, Paul. (laughs) You know what, it was one of those things where a…
Excerpted from Chapter 30, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Rob Zatechka, Part 2 Continued… Q: What about Milt Tenopir and his methods? RZ: (Laughs) You know, great guy. I truly believe that Tenopir was one of the few guys on that coaching staff who truly -honest to goodness- was one of the…
Excerpted from Chapter 30, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch “Equidistant from the atoms and the stars, we are expanding our exploratory horizons to embrace both the very small and the very large.” -Carl Sagan, Introduction to Stephen W. Hawking’s A Brief History of Time As man stumbles through the domain of…
(This week Joe Canale @weaseliscious of "The Big Red Cobcast" is our guest writer) Consistency. That is a word that used to define the Nebraska football, and not always in a good way. Before Osborne won his Natty's he was criticized for winning ten games a year, but losing the "big one". There were even rumors of him being fired,…
Pumping iron. That's what this Husker team has been doing, and it's apparently what Scott Frost has been doing. Zach Duval confirmed it for us on Twitter this week. It's also what 2/3 of the Big Red Cobcast crew has been doing. So naturally, we talked a lot about lifting weights this week, both on our Facebook Live and on…
Excerpted from Chapter 29, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Barron Miles, Part 4 Continued… Q: Tell me about meeting your wife. A Nebraska girl from …? BM: Schuyler. She was from Schuyler. I met her the first day of my math class my freshman year at 8 o’clock in the morning.…
Excerpted from Chapter 29, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Barron Miles, Part 3 Continued… Q: Do you have a most memorable play or game? BM: Yes, I actually have two. That would be the national championship game that we won against Miami, but the other one was the Thursday night game against…
Excerpted from Chapter 29, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Barron Miles, Part 2 Continued… Q: Speaking of differences, did anything about the people of Nebraska stand out to you as compared to back home? BM: Yeah, everyone was white. (laughs) That was the biggest difference, just dealing with people that aren’t like…
Excerpted from Chapter 29, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch “The more we love our friends, the less we flatter them; it is by excusing nothing that pure love shows itself.” -Jean Baptiste Moliere, Le Misanthrope If you’re the least bit familiar with the U.S. Armed Forces’ elite special ops Navy…
I'm a forum reader. I'm one of those nerdy Husker fans that scours various forums in the middle of July for that one golden nugget of info that I haven't heard yet. I don't care if it's about staff accountability, Strength and Conditioning, Coach Verduzco, or some 16 year old 2021 recruit that still wets his bed. I love it…
Excerpted from Chapter 28, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Al Papik, Part 3 Continued... Q: And the personalities of the coaching staff, who stands out to you? AP: Well, Bob Devaney, of course, was a unique individual. Bob Devaney could have been the CEO of General Motors or any major corporation. A…
Excerpted from Chapter 28, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Al Papik, Part 2 Continued… Q: I’m sure you knew better than most what was going on every Saturday, Al! I wasn’t even aware of your coaching exploits. What was your career record? AP: I don’t really have that. I was there 18…
Excerpted from Chapter 28, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Sweet are the dreams of college life, before our faith is nicked- The world is but a cherry tree that's waiting to be picked; The world is but an open road-until we find, one day, How far away the goal posts are…
Excerpted from Chapter 27, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Kevin Ramaekers, Part 3 Continued… Q: Dr. Jack Stark once mentioned a big moment may have been halftime of the Citrus Bowl, where Kenny Walker got up and gave Coach Osborne a big hug and begged him not to retire. Another…
Excerpted from Chapter 27, No Place Like Nebraska: Anatomy of an Era, Vol. 1 by Paul Koch Kevin Ramaekers, Part 2 Continued… Q: Was that team cohesiveness/togetherness encouraged by the staff, the coaches? KR: No, it was just something you did. And you always looked out for each other, whether it be on campus or at the local watering…
