Red report: D-linemen's success surprises coach
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By The Lincoln Journal Star
Opening Statement
“Shoot, this is awesome. Nebraska-Oklahoma. Ohio State-Michigan. Those are the two games when I was growing up that I would never miss. ... That’s why (players) come to the University of Nebraska, right? To play in games like this.”
— Carl Pelini
D-line surprising coach: Even Carl Pelini is surprised at the numbers Ndamukong Suh and Jared Crick are putting up from their defensive tackle positions this year.
Suh and Crick are tied for the team lead in tackles (49) and tackles-for-losses (13). Crick has 8.5 sacks and Suh 5.
What makes those numbers even more amazing?
“I don’t believe our scheme lends itself as much to it,” said Pelini, the Husker defensive coordinator. “Our No. 1 challenge to our D-linemen is to keep guys off the linebackers, let them make plays. So the fact that they’re putting up these numbers is somewhat surprising to me, honestly.”
Pelini said it’s the constant effort of Suh and Crick that is so impressive.
“I mean, you watch us play, and they’re putting up tackle numbers within the tackles,” the coach said. “But you’re also seeing Suh and Jared making plays 10 yards downfield.”
Crick said this week it’s a bit “awkward” being singled out for his performance against Baylor (13 tackles and a school-record five sacks).
Asked about Crick’s personality, Pelini laughed and said: “Jared Crick is like, you ever see the Geico caveman commercials? Just one-word answers. He’s monosyllabic. One syllable. He gets beyond one syllable, he’s stretching it. Once in a while, he’ll open up, but not very often. Pretty much a ‘Yup’ is all I’ll get from him most of the time.”
Crick and Suh hope to make a huge impact Saturday against Oklahoma. The Sooners may be favored, but the matchup between NU’s defensive line and Oklahoma’s offensive line seems to slant severely in favor of the Huskers.
Oklahoma is starting a redshirt freshman, Ben Habern, at center. At left guard, the Sooners list the starter as Brody Eldridge, who actually started four games at tight end and one at center this season. He played three seasons at fullback. At right guard, OU starts sophomore Stephen Good.
Despite that inexperience, Pelini said it’s “probably the best test for us this season.”
Crick discusses Baylor, Oklahoma
Fast and furious: Oklahoma’s offense likes to switch speeds throughout games.
Last year, Nebraska had trouble stopping OU at any speed in a 62-28 loss. But the Huskers looked really off-balance against OU’s fast-break offense.
“We didn’t do any of it well last year in terms of their tempo,” Pelini said. “It’s something we’ve prepared hard for this week. You just can’t ever fall asleep. They use the tempo to their advantage when they’ve got the momentum and they start speeding things up.”
While Nebraska coaches and players would like to distance themselves from last year’s game, Pelini said they do have to pay some notice to the past as they get ready for Saturday’s game.
“I don’t like to revisit how it went,” he said. “But there’s a lot of things that went on in that game that we have to get corrected.”
A hot ticket: Much has been made about the close relationship between Bo and Carl Pelini and Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops.
All are natives of Youngstown, Ohio, and attended Cardinal Mooney High School.
How many people from Youngstown do Carl Pelini think are coming to the game?
“Most of the city,” he said. “All I know is that I ran out of tickets for this game about a month ago.”
About coaching against a friend, Pelini said: “You know, it’s funny. You give him a hug before the game, and then you lock in and you don’t even think about who’s on the opposite sideline. It’s all about the game.”
Practice meter
“It was a good mental day for us,” Carl Pelini said of Wednesday’s effort. “It was a good practice all the way around — I think both sides of the ball.”
— Brian Christopherson
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