B1G Opener: Inauguration, Homecoming, DPE's Debut

Eichorst Serves on NCAA Football Committee, Honors Glassford

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Randy York N-Sider

Official Blog of the Huskers

Now that Nebraska is 2-2 and two plays short of being 4-0, the most important portion of the Huskers’ football season launches Saturday afternoon against Illinois (3-1). NU’s first trip to Champaign as a Big Ten Conference member – and its first trip to Illinois in 30 years – features a bundle of storylines.

We’ve compressed our choices to the three most intriguing subplots that will set the tone for Nebraska’s goal to win the Big Ten’s West Division and play for the conference championship Dec. 5 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. They are:

1) Mike Riley's official inauguration into the Big Ten Conference.

2) Jordan Westerkamp's homecoming at Illinois' own Memorial Stadium, also built in 1923.

3) The 2015 debut of De'Mornay Pierson-El, Nebraska’s explosive All-America kick returner and electrifying wide receiver who injured his foot Aug. 19 and has remained in the same shadows with a small army of his injured teammates whose respective status is outlined later.

Big Ten Inauguration Exciting and a Little Scary for Riley

Earlier this week, Riley was asked how well he knows the tendencies of other teams in his inaugural venture into the Big Ten, a 120-year-old conference that's known as one of intercollegiate sports' most successful undertakings and home to a lineage of legendary names and an ongoing tradition of developing strong leaders. Even in its infancy, the conference established itself as the preeminent collection of institutions in the nation, where the pursuit of academic excellence prevailed as the definitive goal.

That's not my definition of the Big Ten. That's the conference's own description, and Riley understands every single word. "It’s both exciting for me and it’s a little scary," he said while acknowledging his longtime familiarity and devotion to the Pac-12 Conference. "Having been at one place when staffs stayed the same, you kind of had a pretty good idea and foundation of where to start when it came to your preparation for league games," he said. "You kind of had a book on what your history was with that team."

In fact, "You could almost look at it like a year-to-year series with a team," Riley said. "We don’t have that. We have video from the past, which is helpful, and video from their recent games, which is what we’re going to rely on. We did offseason study of these teams. We’ll basically apply all that stuff and what we learned right now to each game, game-by-game, and hopefully build up that book through the years. That’s what’s different for us as a staff."

Video: Watch Westerkamp Preview His Own Homecoming

My favorite and what likely will be the most discussed Husker storyline Saturday revolves around Westerkamp. Before you read some important stats that Nebraska's junior wide receiver/captain already has achieved in the non-conference season, click the link above and spend five minutes to watch BTN's Mike Hall interview Westerkamp. You'll see No.1 (pictured above with his teammates) wisely keeping his humility in perfect alignment with his focus. Coming off last week's career-high 11 receptions for 118 yards against Southern Miss, Westerkamp has boosted his 2015 totals to 26 catches for 351 yards and four touchdowns.

One of six Husker captains and Tommy Armstrong's roommate, Westerkamp is helping both make even stronger impressions on Nebraska's record book. Having caught a touchdown pass in five straight games, Westerkamp is now one shy of NU's school record of six consecutive games with a TD reception. Any guesses about who's the sole owner of that milestone? Congratulations for those who knew that Johnny "the Jet" Rodgers – Nebraska's first of three Heisman Trophy winners – holds that record by himself.

Westerkamp's first catch at Illinois also would help him crack into the top 10 on NU's all-time career chart. Here's the kicker that has drawn so much national interest regarding Westerkamp's Homecoming Saturday: He's played on that same Illinois turf three times while leading his high school teams to state championships. In his last appearance at Champaign's Memorial Stadium, Westerkamp caught five touchdown passes. It truly is a special place for him and here's hoping his "special connection" with Armstrong continues to apply the glue that he keeps in his hands.

Video: Watch Pierson-El's Electrifying Freshman Season

I know one wide receiver who will welcome back another Saturday at Illinois. Westerkamp and all of his teammates are eager to see Pierson-El on the field again. After Thursday's practice, Riley reconfirmed that Nebraska's fleet sophomore will travel to Illinois, as indicated earlier in the week. "We'll work him back into this thing," Riley said, knowing that returning punts "might be one of the simplest things he could do."

The statement parallels how easy Pierson-El makes things look, whether it's a 62-yard fourth-quarter punt return touchdown to bring Nebraska within four points of Michigan State last year in East Lansing or his 80-yard punt return touchdown that gave the Huskers their first lead in a remarkable comeback at Iowa. In the fourth-quarter alone of that overtime game in Iowa City, Pierson-El had two returns for 121 yards. A second-team All-American as a freshman and a preseason first-team All-American this year, "DPL" is eager to help his team.

Other Huskers expected to play Saturday after being sidelined with injuries are defensive end Jack Gangwish and linebacker Marcus Newby. Defensive tackle Kevin Williams and linebacker Michael Rose-Ivey will not play Saturday. Cornerback Daniel Davie is described as questionable. Defensive tackle Vincent Valentine is listed as "very doubtful" and linebacker Josh Banderas is "a little hopeful, but it doesn't look too good there," Riley said. True freshman defensive lineman Carlos Davis and redshirt freshman defensive lineman Mick Stoltenberg are on Nebraska's 70-player travel roster. Davis is a safety valve possibility if depth worsens and Stoltenberg's stock is rising through improved practice play.

Production Coming from All Parts of Nebraska's Roster

Nebraska has an excellent mix of experience and youth contributing to both its offense and defense in 2015. The Huskers' two-deep roster includes ample experience, with 15 seniors listed on the current depth chart. However, youth is also being served in Lincoln this season.

Junior quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. (pictured above), leads the charge. His career-high 431 yards of total offense last week against Southern Miss increased his career total to 5,952 yards. Armstrong moved past Zac Taylor (5,777) into third place on the Huskers' all-time chart. Armstrong isn't the only productive underclassman. Through non-conference play for this young Husker team, non-seniors have produced the following percentages of the overall statistics:

• Rushing: 83% (647 of 779 yards)
• Passing: 100% (1,299 of 1,299 yards)
• Receiving: 91% (1,182 of 1,299 yards)
• Scoring: 92% (133 of 145 points)
• Total Offense: 94% (1,946 of 2,078 yards)
• All-Purpose Yards: 89% (2,069 of 2,318 yards)
• Tackles: 77% (185 of 241 tackles)
• Tackles for Loss: 83% (24 of 29 TFL)
• Sacks: 90% (9 of 10 sacks)
• Interceptions: 100% (3 of 3 INT)

If Riley celebrates his Big Ten Conference inauguration, Westerkamp enjoys his own personal homecoming and Pierson-El shows at least some of his inherent All-America talent in his expected second-season debut, the Huskers' overall percentages will continue to grow ... and so will this young, eager, increasingly productive Nebraska football team.

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