Nebraska Cornhuskers Football: Last Week of Fall Camp Is The Most Important

Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports

A week from today, all of the seats pictured above will be filled with Husker fans full of optimism. It’s a brand new season with a clean slate. The massacre that was The Big Ten Championship is in the rear view mirror and the possibility of a return trip to Indianapolis is good.

With one week of practice left before The Nebraska Cornhuskers kick off their 2013 campaign against Wyoming, it’s time to put their foot on the gas. The offense needs to fine tune the playbook. The defense still has several starting positions up for grabs. We know that there will be a heavy rotation on the defensive line, but what about at linebacker and the defensive backs. It’s time to separate the men from the boys.

We will likely see a vanilla offensive game-plan next weekend since Wyoming isn’t exactly known for their defensive prowess.  We will see a lot of second team players getting their first snaps. Jordan Westercamp, Cethan Carter, Terrell Newby and Adam Taylor just to name a few. That is why this next week of practice is so important. Game week preparations will be at full strength. This high powered offense needs to be ready for liftoff.

The defense needs to clean things up. The veterans need to step up their game and lead this young unit, and the youngsters need to continue making strides. Josh Banderas, Nate Gerry, Kevin Maurice, and Maliek Collins need to make sure their big boy pants fit. They’re not in high school anymore, and this defense has to be better than last years if Nebraska expects to win. Then again, I don’t know if it can get much worse then last season, but still, they need to make strides.

The coaching staff has decisions to make. Who will be the return men? Who will get the nod to start at defensive tackle? Who will the join David Santos as starting linebackers? This is a tough week all around. Everyone needs to stand out from the crowd if they want to start out 2013 in a starting role.

One week from today in front of 92,000 fans The Nebraska Cornhuskers will take the field. It feels good doesn’t it? Just one more week of waiting, then we will actually have something to talk about.