Greetings to all you Big Red Fans, Well we are now 4 days into Bo Pelini's first fall practice and I can tell you that, if nothing else, the team is definitely leaner and quicker than the past four years. Everything I have read about the players all start off with the line/comment something to the effect "he's using his slimmer frame to his advantage", or "he's much quicker this season due to his reduced weight".

From returning sophomore Quentin Castille, who is down 22 pounds from 255 to the 9 returning offensive linemen, who this year are hovering around 300 pounds instead of 320 pounds, slim fast seems to be the drink of the camp instead of gator aid. Considering all the problems from last year this is a welcome sign as I remember many games where the players seemed to tire out by the start of the 4^th quarter of most games.

One this for certain is that if you haven't grown tired of hearing about Bo since January you should be prepared for an onslaught of stories dealing with one Mr. Pelini. Can you blame the media though, I mean after watching the team once built on the pride and glory of the famed "Blackshirts" defense, to one that allowed the most point, yards and blow-out losses in Nebraska history, that resulted in both the Athletic Director and Head Coach being fired change had to come. Pelini has built his reputation with his defensive ability and in the Big 12, where spread offenses such as Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas are the norm here now. This prospect doesn't faze Bo in the least. "We try to have an offensive mentality on defense," Pelini says. "We want to dictate to the offense as much as it's trying to dictate to us."

There's at least one other crucial reason Nebraska likely will improve markedly on last season's record of 5-7 overall and 2-6 in the league: Pelini's players tend to absorb his ferocious competitiveness. That shouldn't be hard "76-39" should be reason enough to get "fired-up" after last season's disaster. This year's defense returns 6 starters from last year, including all 4 defensive linemen that should be a plus. However, one place that has a HUGE question mark is the linebackers, where only Phillip Dillard (2 games) has even started a game. Cody Glenn is a 3 year senior letterman who just a year ago was taking reps as a tailback and is now penciled in as a starting linebacker. Glenn has the speed a defense needs to be effective, but how well he can learn and recognize offensive sets and formations will be critical. Will Compton and Sean Fisher are among the incoming freshmen who will try to work their way into playing time over the next few weeks.

On offense, look for the playbook to be slimmer also, without so many formations and shifts going on. With Callahan gone Watson has indicated that they plan to emphases the running game, which will also help out the defense by taking more time off the clock. Many players when asked about last season's playbook rolled their eyes. Callahan wanted the ability to call 250 different plays during a game, said quarterback Joe Ganz. The more options, the more likely a coach can find an edge in the strategic chess match. But there's only so much practice time.

Watson's philosophy, in contrast, suggests that players are better off running 60 or 70 plays four times each, as opposed to 250 plays once.

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