Two Visits Necessary For Nebraska Cornhuskers To Steal Purdue Recruit

Nebraska Cornhuskers head coach Bo Pelini recently suffered a couple devastating losses along his defensive line.

The losses of highly coveted defensive tackle Darius Slade and junior college transfer Terrell Clinkscales were heartbreaking for the Huskers up front. These losses were particularly heartbreaking because the defensive line is one area where Pelini and defensive coordinator John Papuchis have desperately yearned for improvement following the Huskers’ performance in the Big 10 championship game two years ago, where the Wisconsin Badgers were able to dominate the Huskers up front. Yes, coach Gary Anderson will most likely always have a dominant offensive line for his team to run behind as long as he continues to coach in Madison, WI (looks like that could be for quite some time as Anderson just signed and extension to his contract after only one season as head coach, and his new contract is reported to keep him with the team through 2019). But still, Pelini and Husker Fans were not pleased with the way their team was pushed around along the trenches.

Some may have thought that the loss of Clinkscales was the more devastating loss between the two, but others would argue it was the loss of Slade. What made the loss of Slade as a recruit is the fact that he has now decided to play for another Big 10 team. Slade will not only be absent from the Huskers’ sideline in the future, but he will be lining up for head coach Mark Dantonio and the Michigan State Spartans. The flip of an in-conference recruit is additionally disheartening.

Now, it seems as if the Huskers have replaced one the defensive linemen with another defensive recruit, and this time it was Coach Pelini and his staff who stole a recruit from an in conference rival. The Purdue Boilermakes and head coach Darrell Hazzell will be playing the Huskers for the foreseeable future, as both are now members of the Big 10 West and now it seems they will be facing one of their top target recruits in cornerback Chris Jones.

Jones will not be playing in the trenches where Clinkscales and Slade would have lined up, but the added depth in the Huskers secondary is more than welcome, as the Huskers have lost some key components from their defensive backfield this season; the Huskers lost their secondary coach Terry Joseph and while Joseph has been replaced by Charlton Warren, it will most likely take much longer for the Huskers to replace Ciante Evans and Stanley Jean-Baptiste. Jones could be a key recruit to help fill the void left by the two talented seniors who are looking to continue their careers at the next level (Baptiste recently played in the senior bowl in Mobile, AL).

Jones recently visited Lincoln and as an added bonus, less than a day later, coach Pelini, coach Papuchis, coach Warren and wide receivers coach Rich Fischer were all in Jones’ house in an attempt to secure his commitment to Nebraska.

The loss for the Boilermakers is particularly devastating, as their defense is in great need of help in the defensive backfield as they lost one of the best cornerbacks in the Big 10 this season. Ricardo Allen will undoubtedly be moving on to play football at the next level.