Remembering the 2010 Nebraska Cornhuskers

On the latest Be Kind Husker Rewind, Jack Mitchell and Josh Peterson watch the 2010 beatdown of Kansas State. Fifteen years later, it brought back plenty of memories, as well as thoughts on the current Husker program.

Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez runs in for a touchdown during the first half of the Huskers' 2010 game at Kansas State. / Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Jack Mitchell and Josh Peterson fired up one of their favorite games of the post-championship era inside the I-80 Club this week, rewatching Nebraska's dominating 48-13 win over Kansas State in 2010. They couldn't stop raving about the offense, defense, and state of the program in that exact moment, even if things would go a bit downhill the rest of the season.

Below are selected transcripts from the podcast.

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The Blackshirts had dudes

Jack: This defense had some dudes, man. Holy crap. Prince, Dennard, Crick, Lavonte, Hagg, Gomes, freaking Rickey Thenarse. Maybe still the best hitter in the last 25 years in Nebraska football.

Josh: Jack, this defensive backfield is insane. It is ridiculous. It's absolutely ridiculous. And then you have Lavonte David, a future Hall of Famer, at linebacker. How did they lose four games? God, that is ridiculous.

Jack: Think of the years Prince played in the NFL, Crick played in the NFL.

Josh: Dennard had a cup of coffee in the NFL.

Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini watches during an injury timeout in the fourth quarter of the Huskers' 2010 game against Kansas State. / Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Jack: He played a decent amount in the NFL too, yeah.

Josh: I think Hagg and Gomes were on practice squads at various points in time. Oh, Lavonte is so good!

Jack: When is Lavonte getting his number up in the stadium?

Josh: After he retires, right?

Jack: Right away though?

Josh: Yeah! You have to.

Jack: He is in elite company, right? In terms of defensive players for Nebraska and when you consider what they did after Nebraska, you've got Suh, beyond him, you’ve got Neil Smith maybe. 

Josh: Grant Wistrom was really good.

Jack: But Lavonte had a better career than Wistrom.

Josh: Lavonte is going to finish with the best Husker career.

Jack: I would argue he’s had a better career than Suh in the NFL.

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Nebraska running back Roy Helu Jr. (10) runs in for a touchdown during the second half of the Huskers' 2010 game against Kansas State. / Denny Medley-Imagn Images

Nebraska's running backs were special

Josh: Rex doesn't really make a whole lot of mistakes in his career. Again, the next week [vs. Texas], remember, he drops that wide open touchdown.

Jack: You're right. Yeah.

Josh: Remember the Photoshop that somebody did where it was the crystal ball? It was the football that was on the Sears Trophy. [Subscriber] Mickey [says], “pretty sure he fumbled his first carry against Texas.”

Jack: And you wonder Josh, why when we talk about the running backs now, we're like, “man, I just don't know that they've got two good options,” right?

Josh: Yeah. It's not it's not even about being an old head and saying like, “oh man, why aren't they as good as they were in 1995?” No, it's, “why aren't they as good as they were a decade and a half ago?”

Jack: Two NFL running backs.

Josh: And think about it, Jack. So, this is Helu’s last year. And then they had Ameer!

Jack: And then they had Abdullah next!

Nebraska running back Ameer Abdullah carries the ball during a 2014 game. / Mike Carter-Imagn Images

Josh: And so, they had two running backs on the roster over the course of what, four or five years? And it was it was a total of three different guys.

Jack: Yeah. Which is why we are always skeptical of the [current] running backs.

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Can Matt Rhule's group match that kind of production?

Josh: Jack, any final thoughts before we get ready to say goodbye?

Jack: Taylor Martinez had a great game, but for some reason, I thought he had like 80 runs like that. There were slightly still fewer Taylor Martinez runs than I expected in that whole thing, but defense was, man. An interesting thought at the end is what are you most jealous about that? But there's a lot for me.

Josh: Yeah, the talent is all over the place. You know, so fast, so able to just make the most basic plays and turn them into ten-yard gains. And then sometimes they turn the ten-yard gains into the 80-yard gains. Honestly, that’s what Matt Ruhle talks about, right? Having the home run hitters. Nebraska had a lot of home run hitters.

Jack: What it really is just about is they had freaking stud players on offense and defense. It's pretty simple.

Josh: Yep, it definitely is.

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You can watch the full game with Jack and Josh's commentary from the I-80 Club YouTube channel below!

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