• Photo Showcase: Big 12 Media Days
• Video: Bo Pelini at Big 12 media days:
* * *
DALLAS — It says something about the Nebraska defense when head coach Bo Pelini expects it to be as good as it was last season, if not better.
And it says something to the Blackshirts when Pelini stands by that kind of statement.
“Knowing that Coach Bo has that faith in us, that we can get the job done, it gives us a little more confidence going into fall camp,” NU defensive tackle Jared Crick said. “It's nice to know that the head coach has all that confidence in you. That we can be better if we want to be.”
Better?
The Huskers must operate without Associated Press national player of the year Ndamukong Suh, two other NFL draft picks and two more defenders heading to pro camps as free agents.
And they'll be compared to a 2009 unit that led the nation in scoring defense, pass efficiency and red-zone stinginess, and ranked No. 7 in total defense.
“I like the guys we have coming back,” Pelini said Monday at Big 12 media days. “I love the guys we have coming up in the program that I think are going to add to what we're doing. And I like the fact that we're in year three in the system.”
Pelini was glad to talk about things other than the Huskers bolting for the Big Ten, the health of quarterback Zac Lee and the growing hype for Oct. 16 and NU-Texas. And given the chance, he didn't back away from previous statements about the Huskers' ability to improve on defense.
So neither will his players.
“We have a lot of great guys ready to step up,” defensive end Pierre Allen said. “You can't replace Suh ... but I feel like we can be better than we were last year. We've got great depth.”
Allen and Crick anchor a defensive line that loses Suh and Barry Turner. Linebacker is an obvious concern with Phillip Dillard gone. Two new safeties will have to emerge in place of Larry Asante and Matt O'Hanlon.
But stars remain. NU cornerback Prince Amukamara has made just about every preseason All-America team, and both he and Crick are considered top NFL prospects, although Crick is only a junior.
“We've got to take the same approach as we did last year, with a little more intensity,” Crick said. “We can be as good as we want to be — it's just we've got to take little steps every single day. If we don't do that, we could really stunt our development or our improvement, and we don't want to do that.”
The Husker defense went from one of the nation's worst in 2007 to a respectable unit that suffered from a few letdowns in Pelini's first season in 2008. The next step was a doozy: Pelini and his brother, defensive coordinator Carl Pelini, crafted NU into a unit that surrendered just 10.4 points and 272 yards per game last season.
Now it's time for year three, a significant milestone. Pelini alluded to it when he said “Nebraska's back” during the on-field celebration after the 33-0 skunking of Arizona in the Holiday Bowl.
“I wasn't saying we'd arrived or we'd won a national championship or anything like that,” Pelini said. “I finally felt the culture that we were trying to instill from the point that we got there had taken hold. And that excites me as a head football coach.”
Contact the writer:
444-1042, rich.kaipust@owh.com
* * *
• Video: The Big Red Today Show from day one at Big 12 media days, with Lee Barfknecht, Rich Kaipust and Jon Nyatawa:
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
RSS Feeds