Husker recruiting must not overlook California

By Marc Hudgens  |   Wednesday, February 06, 2008  |  Comments( 0 )

Nebraska Cornhuskers
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The big hubbub in Lincoln over the past few days is the Huskers' plan to raid the Lone Star State on a more regular basis. But this grand scheme was already in the works as Nebraska had nine Texas prep stars put the ink to paper during Tuesday's National Signing Day. Furthermore, the Big Red invasion accounted for seven Texas commitments and subsequent signings last season. So it appears this is nothing brand new.

While the bull's eye on Texas is warranted and makes perfect sense, the Huskers can't overlook another recruiting hotbed they've enjoyed in recent years -- California.

Needless to say, California is one of the big three recruiting hot spots in the nation, alongside Texas and Florida, and up until a couple of years ago, it fed Nebraska quite a few solid recruits.

At the time of this writing, in spite of landing nine Texas preps, Nebraska has only signed three Californians for 2008. Last recruiting season, the program signed only four. However, in 2006, Lincoln welcomed nine and brought in eight in '05, with the average star rating during each of these two years being 3.55 and 3.25, respectively.

Not bad given the daunting local competition you're up against.

Despite poor coaching by ex-skipper Bill Callahan, one can't deny he and his staff not only snatched a great quantity from the jaws of USC and the other Pac-10ers but also landed a great quality of players. California has been good to Nebraska, and new coach Bo Pelini and his staff must remember that.

Make no mistake, Texas is a humongous state that oozes talent from practically all counties, and Nebraska should capitalize on that. However, the program also needs to put back the bull's eye it once had on California.

Although its past few years have been lackluster, Nebraska is still an appealing college football powerhouse with national title aspirations. If it's to reach that goal again, it can't neglect any fertile recruiting grounds, especially the ones it once had.
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About Marc Hudgens

Marc Hudgens has been with RealFootball365 since 2007, covering college football, specifically Clemson and Oregon. He also writes for SouthernPigskin.com covering the ACC. He enjoys the acidic wit of Hunter S. Thompson, is a freelance graphic designer and has written several screenplays. He...
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