Last year, without a doubt, the Cornhuskers' season was pretty much one big fumble.

This year will hopefully see the fumble recovery go our way.

Preseason camp ends today and it got off to a quick start with coach Bo Pelini kicking a bad boy off the squad the first day of practice. And he was one that was experienced and needed on the Defense. That must have gotten the players attention as we haven't heard of any of them getting into trouble.

So what's it going to be like this year?

Head coach Bo Pelini, little brother Carl Pelini, defensive co-coordinator, and the defensive coaches all say that the Huskers will tackle harder, cause fumbles, make interceptions, and have a pass rush to put the fear in opposing quarterbacks. In other words, all the things they should have done last year, but didn't. The big question here is the level of talent and its depth. Hopefully Bo, who is going to call the defensive alignments himself,  will have a defensive system in place to overcome the problems. He is recognized as one of the premier defensive coaches in the country..

Coach Watson, the offensive coordinator, will call the plays rather than the head coach Pelini. Watson was offensive coordinator last year under Callahan but didn't get to call the game time plays as Callahan did that. The offense will be Watson's version of the West Coast Offense. He assures that the running game will be established. There are at least four good running backs led by Marion Lucky who was the star runner last year. Ganz will be the quarter back. He has a great arm as he demonstrated in the last three games last year and assures that he was very embarrassed by the interceptions he threw in those games and it won't happen again this year. He also is a running quarterback. Barney Cotton and Ron Brown the line and receivers coaches both say that their players a very good and will really do a good  job of blocking for those backs. They are even going to start keeping track of the pancake blocks again.

So there was a good public relations job put out on this team by the coaches and the players. Let us hope they live up to some of it.

I was very disappointed that Doctor Tom couldn't get the first three games on public TV. Not everybody makes the salary he is making and can afford to pay the 'pay TV' fees.

I guess I will stick with my prediction of 8-4 although I am kind of standing alone out there...

What else can a loyal Big Red Husker fan do?

Offense

TE:
44 Mike McNeill*, 6-4, 240, So., Kirkwood, Mo.
80 Ryan Hill, 6-3, 245, RFr., Arvada, Colo.
LT:
76 Lydon Murtha***, 6-7, 315, Sr., Hutchinson, Minn.
65 Mike Smith*, 6-6, 285, So., Las Vegas, Nev.
LG:
61 MIKE HUFF***, 6-4, 300, Sr., Ralston, Neb.
68 Keith Williams*, 6-5, 305, So., Florissant, Mo.
C:
67 JACOB HICKMAN**, 6-4, 290, Jr., Bakersfield, Calif.
58 Mike Caputo, 6-1, 275, RFr., Omaha, Neb.
RG:
70 MATT SLAUSON***, 6-5, 320, Sr., Colorado Springs, Colo.
73 D.J. Jones*, 6-5, 305, So., Omaha, Neb. - and
RT:
72 Jaivorio Burkes*, 6-5, 325, So., Phoenix, Ariz.
78 Marcel Jones, 6-7, 310, RFr., Phoenix, Ariz.
WR (X): 87 NATE SWIFT***, 6-2, 200, Sr., Hutchinson, Minn.
4 Menelik Holt**, 6-4, 220, Jr., San Diego, Calif.
1 Chris Brooks, 6-2, 210, Jr., St. Louis, Mo.
WR (Z):
17 Todd Peterson***, 6-4, 215, Sr., Grand Island, Neb.
24 Niles Paul*, 6-1, 210, So., Omaha, Neb. - or -
11 Curenski Gilleylen, 6-0, 210, RFr., Leander, Texas
FB:
36 Thomas Lawson**, 6-0, 250, Sr., Parker, Colo.
45 Justin Makovicka, 6-1, 240, So., Ulysses, Neb.
IB:
5 MARLON LUCKY***, 6-0, 215, Sr., North Hollywood, Calif. - or -
10 Roy Helu Jr.*, 6-0, 215, So., Danville, Calif.
19 Quentin Castille*, 6-1, 245, So., LaPorte, Texas
QB:
12 Joe Ganz**, 6-1, 210, Sr., Palos Heights, Ill.
2 Patrick Witt, 6-4, 225, RFr., Wylie, Texas
3 Zac Lee, 6-2, 210, So., San Francisco, Calif.

Defense