B1G Q: Is the Future Now for the Blackshirts?

Randy York’s N-Sider

It’s been an uplifting week for Nebraska football. For the first time this season, 16 players pulled a Blackshirt over their shoulder pads and practiced all week with that symbolic jersey sitting on top of their collective hearts. Wearing a Blackshirt can be magical to the mind in a unified sense. Why? Because everyone who’s worn one knows how it produces brotherhood, promotes pride, reinforces tradition, and earns respect with teammates, coaches and yes, even with fans, who understand why a head coach and his defensive coordinator selected this week as the week to hand Blackshirts out before practice.

Timetable Depends on Meeting Blackshirts' Standard

“We’ve always had a lot of respect and admiration and understand and recognize the tradition that came before us and how good those Blackshirt defenses were,” said John Papuchis (above, exhorting his defense at Northwestern). “We’ve also always felt like the best way to honor that tradition is to hand out Blackshirts if we play at that standard and feel worthy. The timetable is a little bit different with each team.”

Two weeks of fall camp and seven weeks into the season may seem like an eternity to guarantee that experience. But for a young Nebraska team to create the path and get the opportunity to follow the trail it found in Evanston is the ultimate challenge. It is Bo Pelini’s and John Papuchis’ joint invitation for the entire defense to extend their peak performances. Saturday is the next stop when the Huskers play Rutgers for the first time in 94 years.

Season’s Best Half Spurs Spirit, Motivation, Energy

“We challenged our guys to play their best half of  the season last week, and they did in the second half (allowing only 28 yards on 26 plays),” Papuchis said. “They were really excited, and we hope that provides a little bit of spirit, a little bit of motivation and a little bit of energy going forward.” Papuchis, Nebraska’s third-year defensive coordinator, used “little bit” three times, but here’s the best news of the week – little bit is Nebraska’s one small step to meeting Blackshirt standards and Rutgers can be the second step of what can become one giant leap to an extreme Husker defensive makeover. Consider four of the players awarded Blackshirts earlier in the week and how they represent the multitude of paths each took to reach this pivotal point of wearing a Blackshirt:

Start with senior linebacker Trevor Roach.

Move on to junior defensive tackle Kevin Williams.

Continue to sophomore safety Nate Gerry.

Focus on freshman cornerback Joshua Kalu, who can wear a Blackshirt for four years ... tried, true, trailblazing hallowed ground in the spirit of the renowned Ralph Brown.

Taking Divergent Paths, Reaching the Same Destination

Talk about divergent paths to reach the same destination. Roach (No. 43 two photos above) is a fifth-year senior walk-on who never lost faith in himself despite being a career backup.  His true emergence was 18 tackles at Michigan State, including nine solos and four tackles that resulted in nine yards of losses. Williams (No. 92 above) is a junior who never stopped believing despite a litany of unexpected obstacles on his way to a Blackshirt.  With two ACL injuries, he focused on the classroom and graduated in August with a degree in Management.

Gerry (No. 25 below) is a sophomore who spent his freshman season learning the ins and outs of a young linebacker corps absorbing their share of lumps, even from teams you would not expect – a perfect primer for a safety on a high-speed bullet train to success. Kalu (No. 10 two photos below) is a true freshman who made his first career start when the Huskers opened with six defensive backs at Fresno State.  He has 18 tackles and one interception in just two starts. He's fast; he's smart; and he hits hard. His innate physicality belies his age.

Representing Nebraska, Ohio, South Dakota, Texas

I zero in on those four not just because they're your prototypical senior, junior, sophomore, freshman carving their own niche into Nebraska history at their own speed and ever-increasing rate of maturity.  Where each came from to make Lincoln home is equally interesting – Roach from Elkhorn, Neb.; Williams from Holland, Ohio; Gerry from Sioux Falls, S.D.; and Kalu from Houston, Texas. Despite their different paths and dissimilar positions, they share a challenge that Pelini-coached teams have not solved in his eight years at the helm – a full season of wearing Blackshirts and, for the most part, keeping them from fall camp to bowl game.  Friday, Papuchis was asked if he ever envisions a time when Blackshirts will be awarded during August two-a-days and continue through the season.

Veteran Line, Linebackers, Secondary Returning

“I don’t know the 100-percent answer to that, but I would say if there’s ever an opportunity to do that, maybe it’s going to be next year,” Papuchis said.  Maybe, of course, is an open-ended word...maybe yes; maybe no, so let’s give Papuchis more latitude in his thoughts about the future being now among these 16 new Blackshirts. “I don’t say maybe to get people all excited about how we do it,” Papuchis said, referring to the prospect of year-long ownership among proven performers. “We do have a very veteran group coming back a year from now. Most of the defensive line and linebackers and most of the secondary will be back, so if there’s ever going to be that opportunity to hand them out early in the year, next year might be the year.”

From Now to Rest of the Season, Winning Critical

As soon as those words flew out of Papuchis’ mouth, he followed them up with three more: ”But who knows?” That’s life, of course, for the vast majority of college football teams. But there’s no question about this: Now that the Blackshirts have delivered a truly superlative performance – one worthy of wearing those treasured jerseys in practice every day – the future really is now, followed by next weekend against Purdue, a bye week, a game at Wisconsin, a retribution game at home against Minnesota, and the regular-season finale at Iowa.  By that time, the Huskers should know if maybe can become a much stronger, more definitive word, not only for the 2014 postseason, but for the entire 2015 season and beyond. 

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