Blackshirts seek a lew good linebackers
■With Stella and Polk gone,
Shanle and Burrow step up to
teach a young defensive squad.
BY.IFfFSHFl DOW
Husker linebacker Scott
Shanle knows what is expected
of his position.
"When people look at the
Blackshirts, they look at the
Blackshirts as a dominating
defense,” Shanle said. "But also,
they look at the linebackers, as a
group, as a dominating unit”
However, the graduation of
All-American middle line
backer Carlos Polk and the
recent indefinite suspension of
starting weak-side linebacker
Randy Stella will make it diffi
cult to fulfill these lofty expecta
tions.
The task of rebuilding an
imposing linebacking corps
begins with Shanle, the only
returning player who started
multiple games last season.
Shanle, a former walk-on from
St Edward, Neb., started nine
games in 2000 and will be
looked to for leadership and
stability at his strong-side spot.
The leading candidate to
replace the suspended Stella is
Mark VedraL The senior-to-be
was slated to start at weak-side
linebacker last season but was
suspended himself until his
acquittal in a sexual-assault
case last September.
He appeared in NU’s last
nine games. Ironically, his only
start last season came while
Stella served a one-game sus
pension against Kansas.
In an effort to develop some
depth at the positibn, sopho
more T.J. Hollowedhas recently
been moved from strong-side to
weak-side linebacker, Bohl said.
In die middle, Jamie Burrow
seems to be ready to step in for
Polk. Burrow will not only be
called on to create havoc for
opposing offenses but was cited
by Bohl as someone that would
be counted on to provide lead
ership for his young teammates.
“I really feel good about
Jamie Burrow right now,” Bohl
said. “There’s no doubt that he’s
got some big shoes to fill, but
he’s played a lot, and we feel
really good about where Jamie’s
at for us.”
The starters, however, can
not afford to be comfortable
with their spots. This season’s
linebacking corps is full of tal
ented up-and-comers who
seem to be ready to challenge
for a Blackshirt this fall
Jason Richenberger and Ira
Cooper, as well as Hollowell, fit
into this category. All three will
be examined closely by the
coaching staff this spring, Bohl
said.
Versatility may play a role in
deciding who gets playing time
this hill. Bohl said while it would
be ideal to enter in fall camp
with players set in one position,
there still may be some changes
that would be made.
"We’re (coaches) trying to
settle in on a position for each
guy, be we still have to be open,”
Bohl said. "We’re trying to settle
into the spring without bounc
ing around too much.”
Shanle was encouraged by
the spring progress made by his
younger teammates.
"All the young guys, they’re
really good athletes,” Shanle
said. "It's a lot of mental work
right now. Once they pick the
things up mentally, they’ll be
able to show their abilities
physically.”
Something both Bohl and
Shanle agreed on was the fact
that while promising, the line
backers still had much work in
front of them to be able to live
up to expectations this falL
"I've got mixed feelings,”
Bohl said, referring to his line
"We’re trying to settle
into the spring
without bouncing
around too much.”
Craig BoM
Nebraska Defensive Coordinator
backers’ play in Saturday’s
opening scrimmage. “At times,
we showed we tackled well, but
at other times, we were still
unsure about what we were
doing.”
Shanle agreed that improve
ments were still needed.
“Overall, as a defensive unit,
we know that we have a long
way to go before we get to where
we want to get to,” Shanle said.
“We want to be dominating. I
don’t think that there is any
body on the defense right now
that feels that there is nothing
we can’t work on.”
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Troy lifts
golf team
to sixth
After his performance over
the past two days, it is hard to
believe Jim Troy finished 70th
two weeks ago in the Louisiana
rbatif
The sophomore from
Clarendon HOIS, HL, shot a final
round 76 to end with an eight
over-par score of224 and finish
. tied for fourth at tee Colorado
Stevinson Ranch Invitational in
Stevinson, Calf. The sixth-place
finish was’Boy's second top-ten
finite of his two-year career
Boy helped the Huskers to a
sixth-place team finish, higher
than they finished in any tour
nament last spring.
NU ended eight strokes
ahead of Southwest Missouri
State and Illinois, who finished
tied for seventh, but were 21
strokes behind Tulsa and
Pacific, who tied for fourth.
Kansas won tee team title
with a score of 899. The
Jayhawks’ Travis Hurst claimed
the individual tide with a three
under-par 213.
Junior Seth Porter ended
tied for 16th after he fired a last
round 78 to finite the invitation
al with a 229.
Sophomore Rob Arthur shot
a three-round239, good enough
for a tie for 39th place.
Sophomores Ryan Cooley and
Blake Humbles ended tied for
61st and 63rd, respectively.
Competing as an individual,
Marty Smite rallied with a final
round 76 after scores of 88 and
84 yesterday to finish in 70th
NU men work
even durin
offseason
CONDITION from page 10
and Steffon Bradford's brawn
fainkto
“We need everyone to get
biggerjust to be more effective as .
individual players,” said Collier,
acknowledging that key players
like Brian Conklin do need to
size up before next season.
Yet, Collier is also quick to
point out the improvements
players have already made. For
Conklin, it's his outside shooting
touch and skilled passing.
Collier’s hard-working style
has made believers out of play
ers. >
“lean almost guarantee he
will be winning quite a few
games at Nebraska before too
lonfr* fnrhran said nff/iftier
If players continue to
improve on Collier’s implement
ed system, Cochran said things
could change as soon as next
year
"It's our second year with the
system now,” Cochran said.
“When a team buys into a sys
tem and people put their ego in a
box at the door and play togeth
er, that team is going to win
games.”
!■/ S%
Join the Husker
Football Recruiters
Students, help the Husker Football,
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Call Ten at 472-5963 by April 11th
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| W.C.’s Downtown»1128 ‘P St. » 477-4006 |
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Defense ready to push
beyond average status
TMKUH6 from page 10
said. “Maybe guys just weren’t
wrapping up, but that all comes
with technique, and that comes
with discipline. The coaches
have really focused on us being a
lot more disciplined this spring.”
The root of the problem
could be a number of things,
Bohl said.
“Some of it goes back to just
teaching the fundamentals of
tackling, and we’re doing that
right now,” he said.
The problem was evident to
coaches throughout last year.
But working on tackling drills
during the season is something
teams shy away from because of
the threat of injuries, Bohl said.
“You're working on different
schemes and adjustments then
and tackling is fundamental
stuff you work on in spring and
fall camp,” he said.
Nebraska Coach Frank
Solich said it may be too early in
spring workouts to tell just how
his team had adjusted in the
tackling department. The
Huskers practiced in sweats for
die first two days of practice and
had only gone through live
scrimmage situations once.
In reference to Nebraska's
first session of contact in last
Saturday's one-hour station
scrimmage, Solich said more
time was needed to keep work
ing on tackling.
Nebraska defenders did reg
ister four sacks in the scrim
mage but allowed an average of
4.1 yards per rush.
“We didn't score every time,
so they tackled somebody,1*
Solich joked. “But ids too early to
tell. We'll continue to work that
phase of the game throughout
spring and also throughout fall."