LINCOLN — There he stood, mugging for the cameras in a 1962 Nebraska football jersey that fit Ndamukong Suh in more ways than one.
When you watch Suh play, that's exactly what you see: a Husker throwback.
There are times he plays with the relentless pursuit of Rich Glover, makes like a bulldozer the way Danny Noonan used to, flashes the athletic moves of Neil Smith and shows the heart of Christian or Jason Peter.
If he could ever put it all together, what would we have?
The greatest defensive tackle ever at Nebraska?
It's an interesting question. How do you judge a defensive tackle, anyway? We rank our quarterbacks by championships and numbers. Running backs and receivers by statistics and theatrics. Linebackers by the number of bloody pelts on their wall.
But how do you rate the greatest defensive interior linemen? By the number of tackles? Sacks? Double teams? Offensive linemen sent to the hospital?
Nobody knows, but most experts seem to think that Suh might show us this season.
“If he plays as well as he can, I'd put him in the top four or five, along with Glover, (John) Dutton and Neil Smith,'' said Larry Jacobson, a former NU defensive tackle and the 1971 Outland Trophy winner. “From what I've seen, Suh is strong as a bull and has great athleticism. He's a force.''
Asked to compare Suh with Glover, who many — including this writer — consider the standard for Husker defensive linemen, Jacobson said: “Rich was a different kind of player. We were in a five-man front then; they don't do that anymore. Back in the old days, there was more man-on-man. Rich was quick enough to get past the center and chase down the runner and make the play from behind. He wasn't that big. He was strong, but not excessively. He was just quick.
“I see some of that in Suh.''
Former defensive coordinator Charlie McBride sees Suh as a compilation of his greatest hits.
“If you looked at what the prototype looks like, you'd probably go with Danny Noonan or John Parrella,'' McBride said. “They both had great strength. Now, Parrella wasn't the athlete that Suh is, but he had great heart. Same thing with Danny. Danny had super quickness. Suh is probably not the athlete that Neil Smith was, but Suh has more of the pieces than a lot of them had.
“Christian and Jason (Peter) had strength, and they could run, but they had that thing underneath their sternum. You can't ever substitute heart.''
And that's the only question McBride has about Suh, whom he doesn't know but has observed from afar. Does he have that motor?
“Suh has probably more physical ability, size and power than anyone that's been here,'' McBride said. “I don't know the other things about him, because I don't know him personally. You look at him and say he can be what he wants to be. But it's an every-down thing. If you're a great player, you play every down, no matter what the score is. You play hard all the time.''
Recently, on his afternoon sports talk show in Lincoln, Jason Peter acknowledged Suh's dominance, but added, “He needs to show that high level more often. He needs to be that way all the time before we put him on a certain level.''
Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini echoed that thought at Big 12 media days. While Pelini was careful to say he didn't think Suh “dogged it,'' it was clear he thinks there's a higher ground for the senior to reach.
Suh was the first interior lineman to lead NU in tackles since 1973, when middle guard John Bell did it. He returned two interceptions for touchdowns. He scored as a fullback. But it's the things that don't make headlines that Bo and Carl Pelini are after.
“They (opponents) have got to think about him on every play they call,'' said Carl Pelini, NU's defensive coordinator. “He has got to be in that offensive coordinator's head. They have to worry about where he's lined up on pass downs, run downs, running away from him. When you get an offensive coordinator thinking about a defensive tackle, and not what coverage you're in, you're in good shape.''
Suh's mission: be that bull in the china shop every play. Carl says Suh “plays hard.'' But last year, he struggled at times adjusting to how the Pelinis want the game played.
“He feels it now,'' Carl Pelini said. “He plays his butt off. The thing about him, he can do outstanding things. You'd just like to see him do it more often.''
Suh doesn't take offense at that. Under the Bill Callahan regime, Suh might have thought that he was playing hard. He found out that he was wrong.
“I understand what they're talking about,'' Suh said. “There are certain instances where I may have felt tired and didn't think I could do it. You learn from the mistakes.
“Coach (Bo) gave us a story this week about a situation that happened to him (as a safety at Ohio State), where if he had done something different, he would have saved a touchdown. He says he wants to make sure we're always going hard and to the limit, because you never know what might happen.''
Suh will be double-teamed. He will be held. Teams will run away from him. A lot of his success may be determined by how well tackle Jared Crick plays and whether end Barry Turner returns to form.
But the thinking at Memorial Stadium is that Suh is in charge of his own destiny — and legacy. His senior-year project: history.
“It would be a great honor to be ranked with them,'' Suh said. “Do I see myself as being ranked with them? No, not at all. I see them as great players, and I'm working to get to that level. I don't think I've reached it yet.''
Yet.
Contact the writer:
444-1025, tom.shatel@owh.com
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