Weekend Wrap: Barfknecht Yanking Husker Fan's Chain

I see Lee Barfknecht of the Omaha World-Herald is at it again, with some critical thoughts about Husker football. Barfknecht's contrarian commentary on Husker football is nothing new, having voted for Michigoon as national champions in 1997 or slamming Husker recruiting in 2001 (and praising Colorado's Marcus Houston and Craig Ochs as players that would haunt the Huskers for years). This year, he points out that while Nebraska running the table in the Big XII North is a step forward to the program, you shouldn't read too much into it since Baylor also went undefeated against the North.

I almost hesitated to even mention Barfknecht's past history with Husker football, but I did it to at least dismiss the common perception from some that he's "anti-Callahan". What he really is trying to do is go against the grain by providing balance to counteract folks that just assume that all is well in Lincoln. Is he right or wrong? Who knows at this point...but I will say that we'll start finding out for sure in 6 days when the football season finally gets started.

Let's face it, folks have analyzed, predicted, and fabricated just about everything and anything they can from the vapors that occasionally get released from the program. This Saturday, the curtain goes up on the 2007 Huskers, and finally we'll have something definitive to analyze. I must say I find myself more intrigued with this season than the last few.

The Journal-Star is reporting that Armando Murillo may have unseated Andre Jones at corner, which probably shocks the folks who think that Cortney Grixby is too short to play. While fans might think Grixby is too short, his technique, physical presence, and leaping ability more than make up for it. The lack of depth at corner last season forced Grixby to play hurt at times and other times play soft. Depth should not be a problem at corner in 2007.

The Journal-Star also reports that freshman kicker Adi Kunalec is leading the race for kickoff duty, but that it's still unclear who will handle placekicking: Kunalec or Alex Henery. In any event, word of Kunalec putting the ball in the endzone regularly from the 30 yard line is welcome news.

Also, someone has noticed that the Huskers now list Zac Taylor as a graduate assistant football coach at huskers.com. Not sure how that works, as I thought that college football was limited to 2 grad assistants, but perhaps some additional reorganizations are forthcoming.

ABC has announced the coverage maps for this Saturday, with Big XII areas as well as the Rocky Mountain areas getting Nebraska-Nevada. West Coast gets Washington State-Wisconsin, and the east coast getting either WSU-Wisconsin or Boston College-Wake Forest. According to ABC, the Husker game will NOT be shown in HD.