1:20 p.m.: Western Kentucky head coach Willie Taggart will have good reason to be friendly with at least one person associated with Husker football before his team plays heavily-favored Nebraska next week.
Taggart said Friday he plans on looking up Tommie Frazier, the former NU quarterback who preceded Taggart as the starter at Manatee High in Bradenton, Fla.
“He was a baller,” Taggart said. “As a young guy, that’s who we wanted to be. I had some big shoes to fill.”
Taggart was a sophomore when Frazier was a senior at Manatee. He then led the school to a state championship as a junior and a state runner-up finish as a senior.
Taggart also played with former Huskers Tyrone Williams and Shevin Wiggins, and is friends with Fabian Washington. NU was able to land Brion Carnes last winter as a key recruit at quarterback, but only after Carnes -- from Bradenton and Manatee -- seriously considered WKU because of his relationship with Taggart.
The Nebraska-Western Kentucky game was scheduled before Taggart took over the Hilltopper program, but he said his team will be ready for the challenge on Sept. 4.
“I inherited something really big,” he said, laughing. “It was done before I came here, but it is what it is so we’ve got to play it. We’ve got to go in and play it. And you never know.”
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