Steven M. Sipple: Pelini quickly puts Suh's wreck to rest
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Sometimes e-mailers write the craziest things.
“Why did Suh really hit three cars?” a fellow wrote. “The first car wasn’t big enough to stop him, so the second car got involved with a double team. Despite being double-teamed, Suh was still able to completely wreck the third car behind the other two ‘blocking cars,’ and when officials showed up at the scene, he was penalized for roughing the Passat.”
Ndamukong Suh, by the way, arrived solo for Tuesday’s weekly Nebraska football press luncheon. No chauffeur in sight. Just a big man dressed in black, a la Johnny Cash. How does Suh do? Well, he was his usual matter-of-fact self. He discussed a variety of subjects, including Jared Crick’s meteoric rise in Nebraska’s ridiculously potent interior defensive line.
“Jared more or less is the kind of guy who wants to do the dirty work and not really be in the limelight,” Suh said. “I don’t blame him because I don’t like being in the limelight, either.”
Not that Suh can avoid it. Crick is rising. Suh has risen. Arguably the most intimidating defender in the college game, Suh is easily Nebraska’s most high-profile player. The limelight follows Big Suh morning, noon, night and sometimes into the early morning. Especially this past weekend. He smashed his 2003 Land Rover into three parked cars early Sunday morning, and by Sunday brunch Huskerville buzzed with rumors and speculation before letting out a collective sigh of relief that nobody was hurt or arrested for DWI.
Suh learned that being a high-profile force in a storied program means a lot of folks wonder what he’s doing out at 2:20 a.m. Turns out, he visited someone’s house, had dinner and fell asleep.
“He got up and was going to his place downtown,” Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini said.
Pelini did an excellent P.R. job Tuesday in putting the matter to rest. No use letting the cloud hover. Bo opened the press conference by addressing the issue, unsolicited, “because I want (Suh) to concentrate on football.” Bo said Suh will answer no questions about the accident. The coach said Suh would face an in-house punishment, praising the player for handling the matter responsibly.
Pelini said his only disappointment was Suh being out at 2:20 a.m. Otherwise, case closed.
Nebraska fans can now resume wringing their hands over a bigger wreck — the Husker offense.
Perhaps it’s human nature to devote more energy to a negative (NU’s offense) than a positive (the defense). That said, Suh and Crick are leading a unit that has made dramatic improvement over last season.
“It’s not even close,” Pelini said.
* Consider: Nebraska ranks fourth nationally in scoring defense, allowing 11.3 points per game, after ranking 80th last season (28.5). The Huskers are ninth in yards allowed (267.6) compared with 55th in 2008 (349.9).
* Consider II: Suh and Crick are tied for the team lead in both tackles (49) and tackles for loss (13). Crick has 8 1/2 sacks to Suh’s five. It’s almost unheard of having two interior linemen leading a team in tackles.
* Consider III: Oklahoma All-Big 12 defensive tackle Gerald McCoy has 19 stops this season, but an impressive 12 for losses.
Crick obviously benefits from Suh constantly getting double-teamed.
“It’s Ndamukong Suh,” Crick said flatly. “If you don’t account for him, he’s going to make you pay.”
Suh pushes forward with a hard edge and stern demeanor. Pelini often is the same way. They rarely look like they’re having much fun. Suh seems to play angry. Bo sometimes has the demeanor of a man carrying the weight of the world. Maybe the offense’s struggle is taxing everybody. No question, it’s stealing attention from a hard-charging defense highlighted by a once-in-a-lifetime tandem of interior linemen.
Not that they mind.
“I just like to go ahead and take care of business,” Suh said. “To me, making plays is just something I expect from myself. It’s not something that’s supposed to be unusual.
“In my family, and the way I was brought up, if you do everything you’re supposed to do and work hard, you should expect success, and that’s the way I approach things.”
Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.
Suh discusses Crick, Oklahoma
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