Nebraska Football Tickets

First day of practice is Monday

The long, cold, dark and dreary offseason ends in just two days for Husker football fans.

The first day of fall practice is scheduled for Monday as the Huskers prepare for their 2008 season opener on Saturday, Aug. 30 against Western Michigan. The Huskers will practice from 3:45 p.m. to 6 p.m. on the first day, and coach Bo Pelini and some of the players will talk with the media after that first day's practice.

The team will work out twice a day on six days between now and the season opener. Two-a-day practice sessions will be at 9 a.m. and 3:45 p.m. and will be held between Aug. 9 and Aug. 22.

The Lincoln Journal-Star reported that the Huskers will practice six days a week during the month of August, taking Sundays off.

Nebraska's invasion of Texas continues

Texas has a long and storied history for being a hotbed of recruiting activity in college football, and it appears Nebraska is getting serious about invading the Lone Star State for future recruits.

Evidence is the recent commitment of Emerson Evans, a defensive end from Houston, to play football for Nebraska in 2009. The 6-foot-1, 235-pounder at Alief Taylor High School is the fifth Texas senior-to-be to say yes to the Huskers and the eighth verbal commitment coach Bo Pelini has received from the Class of 2009.

Evans had 87 tackles and 16 quarterback sacks last year and had offers from Utah, Texas-El Paso and Ole Miss. Big-name schools like Ohio State, LSU and Texas A&M were also looking at Evans, according to the Lincoln Journal-Star.

Evans is an explosive player with good technique, according to his high school coach, Trevor White. Evans was sold on the Huskers' tradition and the fact that their head coach knows a thing or two about defense.

Evans is the fifth Texas recruit to commit to Nebraska and the third in the past week. Other Texas recuits include offensive lineman Jess Coffey of Denton, quarterback Cody Green of Dayton, defensive tackle Thaddeus Randle of Galena Park and running back Dontrayevous Robinson of Euless.

Overall, eight players have verbally committed to Nebraska. The other recruits planning on coming to Lincoln include linebacker Shawn Bodtmann of Scranton, Pa.; defensive tackle Cole Pensick of Lincoln, Neb.; and fullback C.J. Zimmerer of Omaha, Neb.

Nebraska's first two games will be on pay-per-view

Athletic director Tom Osborne announced Friday that Nebraska's first two games of the 2008 season will be shown on a pay-per-view basis.

The Western Michigan game on Saturday, Aug. 30 will kickoff at 6 p.m., while the game against San Jose State on Saturday, Sept. 6 will start at 11:30 a.m. A start time for the New Mexico State game on Saturday, Sept. 13 will be announced at least two weeks prior to the game.

You can get tickets for all the Nebraska home football games now at Ticket Express -- where no Husker home game is ever sold out.

Huskers Fan Day set for Aug. 17

Husker football fans will be able to meet the Husker players and coaches during a special Fan Day event at Memorial Stadium.

The event will be on Sunday, Aug. 17 beginning at 2 p.m. Fans can meet the players and coaches, who will be on hand to sign autographs and pose for pictures with Husker football fans.

The Huskers Authentic store will be open that day and fans can pick up posters and media guides at the store.

The Huskers kick off the 2008 season on Saturday, Aug. 30 when they host Western Michigan. Get your tickets now at Ticket Express -- where no event is ever sold out.

Nebraska gets another Texas recruit

The Nebraska football team is adding to their list of verbal commitments for the 2009 recruiting campaign, and they got a big one earlier this week when Jesse Coffey III announced his intentions of signing with the Huskers.

Coffey, a starting right tackle at Guyer High School in Denton, Texas, isn't big on recruiting lists. He is listed as the No. 80 prospect among Texas football players by rivals.com.

But he is big on some numbers that are more important -- he is 6-foot-7 and 290 pounds, scored a 28 on his ACT test and is the top student in his class of 500 students.

And according to the Lincoln Journal-Star, the young man isn't done growing yet.

"I have a lot of room to put on a lot of weight, a lot of muscle," he told the Journal-Star. "As it is, I'm 290 and I'm pretty quick on my feet, and that' simportant for O-lineman in today's college football."

Coffey is the seventh player to verbally commit to the Nebraska football program, and the fourth from the state of Texas. Of course, verbal commitments don't mean anything until signing day in February 2009, but this has the potential to be a huge pick-up -- literally and figuratively -- for coach Bo Pelini and his staff.

Huskers third in North according to media

The media that covers the Big 12 Conference have spoken, and they like a repeat of last year's conference championship game to take place this December.

Both Missouri and Oklahoma were runaway choices of the conference media members to win their respective divisions this year. Missouri was a unanimous selection while Oklahoma received 49 of the 51 first-place votes.

As for the Huskers, the media have Nebraska sitting in the No. 3 slot in the North Division, finishing behind the Tigers and Kansas. Colorado is fourth, followed by Kansas State and Iowa State.

In the South division, Texas received the other two first-place votes and is second behind the Sooners. Texas Tech is picked third, followed by Oklahoma State, Texas A&M and perennial doormat Baylor.

Media vote totals, with first-place votes in parenthesis, is as follows:

NORTH DIVISION
1. Missouri (51)              306
2. Kansas                        234
3. Nebraska                    183
4. Colorado                   181
5. Kansas State               108
6. Iowa State                    59

SOUTH DIVISION
1. Oklahoma (49)           304
2. Texas (2)                    230
3. Texas Tech                 227
4. Oklahoma State          140
5. Texas A&M                  118
6. Baylor                          52

Lucky named to All-Big 12 team by media

Husker running back Marlon Lucky was the lone Nebraska player selected by the media in their preseason All-Big 12 Conference picks announced Thursday.

It is the fewest number of Huskers ever named to a preseason all-conference poll in recent memory, but Lucky is certainly a deserving pick as he is the top returning back in the conference from last year.

Missouri had seven players and Oklahoma had six on the all-conference first team. Missouri had five named on offense, led by quarterback Chase Daniel, the preseason Offensive Player of the Year selection.

Auston Elgish leads the six Sooners named to the first team, and he was tabbed the preseason Defensive Player of the Year.

The selections are as follows:

Offense
WR - Michael Crabtree, Texas Tech
TE - Chase Coffman, Missouri
OL - Duke Robinson, Oklahoma
OL - Phil Loadholt, Oklahoma
C   - Jon Cooper, Oklahoma
OL - Louis Vasquez, Texas Tech
OL - Colin Brown, Missouri
OL - Cedric Dockery, Texas
WR - Jeremy Maclin, Missouri
QB - Chase Daniel, Missouri
RB - Marlon Lucky, Nebraska
RB - DeMarco Murray, Oklahoma
PK - Jeff Wolfert, Missouri
KR - Marcus Herford, Kansas
 
Defense
DL - Auston English, Oklahoma
DL - Ian Campbell, Kansas State
DL - George Hypolite, Colorado
DL - Brian Orakpo, Texas
LB - Sean Weatherspoon, Missouri
LB - Joe Mortenson, Kansas
LB - Joe Pawelek, Baylor
DB - Nic Harris, Oklahoma
DB - William Moore, Missouri
DB - Jamar Wall, Texas Tech
DB - Jordan Lake, Baylor
P   - Justin Brantly, Texas A&M
PR - Jeremy Maclin, Missouri

Cooper's future at Nebraska uncertain

One of Nebraska's top recruits could have a tough decision on his hands in the next few days -- a full-ride scholarship to play college football or a six-figure contract to play minor league baseball.

Khiry Cooper of Shreveport, La., is a very gifted young man. He is a standout wide receiver and also is an outstanding center fielder for Calvary Baptist High School. His athletic efforts have led to him accepting a scholarship offer from Nebraska, and last month he was selected in the fifth round by the Anaheim Angels in major league baseball.

Cooper rejected a $200,000 offer by the Angels to play minor league ball, which leads many in the Nebraska football community to believe he'll be in the Huskers' locker room when fall practice begins on Aug. 3.

But as ESPN's Lee Corso would say -- not so fast my friends.

The Angels have until Aug. 15 to sign Cooper, who is one of two players among 10 the Angels drafted who have yet to sign a contract. Cooper has already rejected one offer from the team, but don't think the Angels won't sweeten the pot some in an effort to lure Cooper away from football and into the Angels organization.

Cooper is also expected to play baseball at Nebraska, and school officials who have talked to him have told the local media that they feel he's well aware of his situation and is going to stay at Nebraska. He has already taken summer courses at the school and worked out with some football players, as well as taken some batting practice in the Hawks Center.

Look for the Angels, between now and early August, to make another offer to Cooper and give him something to think about before he makes his final decision. If what coaches are telling the local media are correct, though, he'll be wearing the Huskers' colors instead of the Angels'.

Sporting News praises Pelini hiring -- sort of

It might not be the most ringing endorsement in history, but The Sporting News gave the Nebraska football program props for last winter's hiring of Bo Pelini as head coach.

In ranking the 16 coaching hires in Div. I football over the winter, Nebraska's hiring of Pelini came in at No. 7. Pelini, who served as Nebraska's defensive coordinator under former coach Frank Solich in 2003, came back to Nebraska after one year at Oklahoma and three at LSU, where he helped the Tigers win last year's national championship.

"No head-coaching experience and a little quick tempered," the magazine said of Pelini. "But Dr. Tom Osborne loves him. We'll take his word for it."

Pelini's hiring was the publication's second best in the Big 12, finishing just behind Baylor's choice of Art Briles. The top five were all high-profile hirings, led by Georgia Tech's Paul Johnson. The other top five hires were Rich Rodriguez by Michigan, Rick Neuheisel by UCLA, Houston Nutt by Ole Miss and Bobby Petrino by Arkansas.

Five coaches the publication said are on "the hot seat" for 2008 are Tyrone Willingham of Washington, Mike Stoops of Arizona, Kirk Ferentz of Iowa, Greg Robinson of Syracuse and Ron Prince of Kansas State.

Huskers land prime quarterback recruit

One of the top quarterback recruits in the country, Cody Green of Dayton, Texas, announced Wednesday that he has verbally committed to play football for the Huskers.

Of course, verbal commitments are nothing until letter-of-intent signing day in early February. However, coach Bo Pelini seems to have landed a young man that is being touted by many recruiting experts as one of the best quarterbacks in the Class of 2009.

Green is a 6-foot-4, 220-pound senior-to-be, and is being chased by a number of schools, including Texas A&M, LSU, Baylor, Alabama, Oklahoma State, Texas Tech and Miami. He put up some impressive numbers as a sophomore, passing for 1,429 yards and 19 touchdowns while completing over 60 percent of his passes. He also rushed for 689 yards on 95 carries and four touchdowns. Last year, he missed most of the season due to torn ligaments in his ankle.

His high school coach says he's about 85 percent healthy, and when at full strength he has 4.57-second speed in the 40-yard dash. Green is a student of the game who spends a lot of time watching game film, and his high school coach calls him a "high-character kid" who will be a class act.

Green is the sixth verbal commitment coach Bo Pelini has received from the Class of 2009. Other verbal commitments have come from Shawn Bodtmann of Scranton, Pa.; Thaddeus Randle of Galena Park, Texas; Dontrayevous Robinson of Euless, Texas; and Nebraska standouts Cole Pensick of Lincoln Northeast and C.J. Zimmerer of Omaha Gross.