Last night I got the chance to hang out with one of Heavy Soul's favorite former Husker walk-ons/bar proprietors Matt Vrzal after he filled in for Matt Hoskinson on his and Joel Mackovicka's Husker radio show on 1620 The Zone. As I was driving out to the Icehouse (where their show does their live broadcast), Vrz had this to say (and I apologize if this is even the slightest bit off, but like I said, I was driving):

"I'm going to go on record here and say this: don't be surprised to see the Huskers in a BCS bowl game. I'm not saying they're playing for the National Championship. But I would not be surprised to see them make a BCS game."

Naturally, I was very surprised by this. For one, Vrz has never been a shiny optimist when it comes to Husker predictions. In fact, when everyone was trying like hell to buy into the Callahan era and were predicting big things last season, he was one who said we'd be lucky to win 7. So I asked him about his bold prediction when I got there, and he had this to say:

"Fratty, I'm telling you, I would not be surprised. There is so much talent on that team it is scary. I've been to a bunch of practices, and there is some SERIOUS talent on that team. And the coaches are legit."

Now, that was not a direct quote whatsoever, but that was the gist of it. He also echoed much of what has already been said, but that because practices were so much like NFL practices, there was just tons of talent rotting on the bench as no one that wasn't at least 2nd string really got any reps under Callahan-run practices.

So there you are, Husker fan. Throw trepidation and cautious optimism to the wind! It's going to be a great year!

Labels: 2008 is gonna be great, Bo Pelini, Matt Vrzal, Nebraska Cornhuskers, Nebraska Football