Interview with Husker fans in Iraq - Part II

3 comments so far November 21, 2006 by Jason Siffring

SGT Steven Kane and SGT Jonathan Hanseling are both Nebraskans currently stationed in Iraq. This is Part II of our interview with them as they share their thoughts on this year's Huskers. In Part I they talk about their game day traditions.

SGT Kane and SSG Johnson getting ready to fly their autographed flag in front of their building in Iraq.

In your watching this season, what is your overall impression of this year's team? What are the pleasant surprises to you? Is there anything disappointing?

SGT Jonathan Hanseling: My overall impression of this year’s team is close, but no cigar. It feels as if our team has made tons of progress in the last couple seasons, but we’re still a couple players away from competing with the Ohio States and USCs of the world. I like the direction we’re headed and still have faith that Callahan is the right man for the job. Pleasant surprise would be the play of Brandon Jackson. I think early in the season the running back race got a lot of press, and B-Jax tended to get lost in the shuffle, probably because he doesn’t make as many headlines as some of our other backs. However, his workman-like attitude and game changing ability has definitely had a huge impact on our season. Disappointing would be our team’s inability to close out games. We seem to let teams hang around, hang around, and then make many games much more interesting in the end than they should be. I like our team’s ability to start fast, but the lackluster 2nd half performances are very frustrating.

SGT Steven Kane: The team is definitely better than we've been in the past. We show flashes of brilliance every week and are a year or two away from being a legitimate threat to win the Big 12 and be in the National title hunt. I can see how Callahan's system is starting to work. The surprises for me have been how good all of our running backs are. What a group. You have heard nothing from any of them complaining about their roles or lack of carries, which is amazing considering any of them could start. Our O-line has actually been pretty decent all year, better than I thought. The D line is really coming around at the end of the season. I've been a little disappointed in our Linebackers, they have plays or series where they look great but haven't put together too many solid games. A lot of big plays you look around and don't see a linebacker within 5 yards of the play. The tight ends were getting a lot of touches early in the season but seem to have disappeared over the last month or so. It has also been a disappointment how inconsistent we are. One quarter we look like world beaters, the next we look like the 2004 team. Really a head scratcher. We don’t seem to make any halftime adjustments or we make the wrong ones it seems. Sure makes the games exciting though. I think overall we are ranked about right where we should be, a top 25 team but not quite a top 10 or 15, yet.

Who are the favorite players among your group? And, why?

Steve: Jay Moore and Adam Carriker on defense have really lived up to expectations and have played great all year. Anytime you can get a pass rush with 4 guys you are going to be successful. Steve Octavian when he is healthy looks like Terrel Farley out there. Brandon Jackson has been really impressive over the last few weeks. He'll be a good NFL back. You have to respect Zac Taylor's heart and attitude, he is a gamer. Brandon Rigoni epitomizes everything good about Nebraska Football, Lincoln kid (former Leon's midget player where my brother-in-law Dan and one of the guys here coach), walk on, more heart than talent. Plays hard every down. And of course after the A&M game who doesn't love Mo Purfiy?

Jonathan: Some of our favorite players are Carriker (would have liked to see him dominate a few more games this year, but his motor always seems to be running and no one questions his effort/desire) Zac Taylor (he is a true warrior, seems to have really matured and has generally made great decisions with the ball) and B-Jax (I touched on him earlier – he really earned respect in the Texas game. What a gamer) Purify is another favorite – we love having a tall WR on the outside who can be a true game changer. I would be remise if I didn’t give a shout-out to a personal favorite of mine - my friend from high school, Andy Kadavy. I’m sure you guys are familiar with his highly-publicized story this year, and the adversity he has overcome to play D-1 ball at a school like UNL. I always keep an eye out for 47 on special teams and have enjoyed following his Husker career.

How do you follow the team day to day and week to week? Do you have to break the rules sometimes (not you, of course, maybe a "friend of yours")? If so, how does "your friend" commit the perfect crime?

Jonathan: I follow the team on an almost daily basis. My job allows me certain “perks”, one of which is tons of internet access. I take time each day to visit a variety of husker sites to stay up to date with injury news, recruiting information, and previews of each week’s game. The internet is my best friend when it comes to husker news. (Just don’t tell my boss!) I usually frequent the LJS, OWH, huskersillustrated.com (where I am a member), huskerpedia.com, huskers.com and of course bigrednetwork.com! The huskers are my main distraction from reality and have really helped the time go by here.

Steve: The internet and email are our friends for sure. We check out huskers.com, huskerpedia.com, and of course our newest stop is the bigrednetwork.com (have to get the game day guide every week). Omaha.com and the Lincoln Journal Star also have a lot of good stuff online. We also all get emails from people back home with reports from the games. And a few of us have been lucky enough to go to a game while home on leave. Larry the Cable guy sent us a big box with shirts and hats so that was pretty cool. I am the legal guy so there are no rules being broken here. Everything is on the up and up!

SGT Hanseling at his battle station wearing his Husker hat and pulling up the Husker radio feed and live stats.

Jonathan: Thanks for the opportunity to share our story and passion for Husker football, despite being located in the desert! (Note: Larry the Cable Guy sent boxes of hats and “Git-R-Done” red Husker t-shirts for all of the Husker troops deployed to Iraq). Unfortunately, we’ve got fairly strict uniform standards so we aren’t allowed to rock our Husker gear too often. Thanks again, and Go Big Red!

Editor's Note: SGT Kane and SGT Hanseling both have active blogs. Brent's Blog is also written by a Husker fan in Iraq. Be sure to check them out.

Related: Interview with Husker fans in Iraq - Part I

» Enjoy this article?
Send it to your friend or get Husker news by email!

NextPrevious