Suit up? Are you kidding? Nebraska’s defense had been shredded the week before, and all hands were needed for the Big 12 opener.
That’s why when it looked early in the week that linebacker Lance Brandenburgh might not be ready for Iowa State because of a nagging ankle injury, he and defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove knew better.
“Tough guy,” Cosgrove said. “Very tough guy. He went down, and nobody gave him a chance to play, but he worked his butt off.”
Nebraska’s resident tough guy made it to Iowa State, chipped in three solo tackles and helped the Cornhuskers win a bizarre game in which they surrendered 415 yards and 28 first downs, but by early in the third quarter had taken the mystery out of the 35-17 triumph.
Brandenburgh, a senior who played at St. Thomas Aquinas, had put no pressure on the ankle last Sunday and Monday and walked on it for the first time on Tuesday.
But there he was, taking the field as part of the Cornhuskers’ linebacker rotation. When he’s closer to 100 percent, as he will be for Saturday’s game at Missouri, Brandenburgh usually enters the game on the second series and winds up playing more than half the snaps.
He seems to save his best for top opponents. He logged a career-high seven tackles in last year’s narrow loss to Texas. In the first of his two career starts, Brandenburgh made six stops against Michigan in the 2005 Alamo Bowl victory.
Top game this season? Southern California, with six tackles, including three solos.
He’s listed as a co-starter at both outside linebacker positions, along with Bo Ruud and Steve Octavien and excels at backside pursuit. Brandenburgh is as likely as any Nebraska linebacker to battle through traffic and hunt down a back on the opposite side of the field.
“He’s played two positions for us this season but he could probably play four in our defense,” Cosgrove said. “He’s very athletic.”
Enough to be a multi-sport standout and two-way football player at Aquinas. As a quarterback in 2003 he led the Saints to the Kansas 5A quarterfinals, and in a playoff loss to Blue Valley rushed for 140 yards and threw a 50-yard touchdown pass.
Brandenburgh committed early to Nebraska, but after the season the Huskers fired coach Frank Solich. That reopened the recruiting process and Brandenburgh took a visit to UCLA and also considered Colorado and Kansas.
But he stuck with the Cornhuskers, making progress along with the program. He didn’t take a redshirt year, and his 37-game career has included two bowl games and the program’s first division championship since 1999. But Brandenburgh wants more.
“I’m never really satisfied,” he said. “We’ve played better lately, but there’s room to improve to be the team we want to be.”
