The Potential of Ciante Evans

by JakeSorensen on Nov 2, 2010 1:56 AM CDT

Husker Nation let out a collective gasp in the first quarter last Saturday against Missouri when starting cornerback Alfonzo Dennard had a nasty collision with fellow teammate Courtney Osbourne, knocking Dennard out of the game with a concussion, and placing freshman CB Ciante Evans into a HUGE pressure situation.

How'd he do?

I'd say pretty good, considering the circumstances. Missouri played with 5-wide sets at times, ensuring that Evans would be one-on-one with a Tiger WR (Speaking of which, LaVonte David...what more can you say about the kid? Shows he's very good in coverage, too.)

Back to Evans. A true freshman from Arlington, Tex., Evans finished the game with 2 unassisted tackles and 2 assisted tackles, and a huge pass break-up in the end zone for the Huskers. He went out following the play, but came in on the play after. Beat 2 times on pass attempts, he did enough to get back in recovery to prevent big plays for the Tigers and Blaine Gabbert.

The 4-star recruit came ready to play, and Husker fans can be very excited about his future. Ranked among the Top 50 cornerbacks in the nation by Rivals out of high school, and recruited by the likes of TCU, Oklahoma, and other Big 12 schools, Evans showed Saturday why he is ahead of fellow teammates Andrew Green and Anthony West, who are longer tenured, for the backup role. The kid has talent, and draws Prince-like comparisons. It's scary to think that he's just a freshman. Watch out, Big 10.

Counter that with the news that Charles Jackson, a current 4-star CB recruit from Texas, is "heavily" leaning toward committing to Nebraska, and that Huskers secondary does not drop off a lot when Amukamara and Dennard eventually head off to make their millions in the NFL, presumably.

Nebraska's got a player, folks. Dennard probably returns this week, but is there any Husker fan worried about the opposite corner postion of Prince if Dennard is a no-go?

Thoughts?

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I was very, very pleased

and impressed with the young man. To play like that against Mizzou’s offense as a true freshman? Whoa. The future looks bright indeed.

Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.

by Brizzle T on Nov 2, 2010 2:06 AM CDT reply actions

Against OK State

I might be worried, but probably not as much against Iowa State.

by Cheeseandcorn on Nov 2, 2010 7:28 AM CDT reply actions

You are spot on

I think we are always looking to the future. Last year we loved watching Suh play, but we wondered what the performance would be like once he was gone. This year the D has 4 NFL caliber defensive backs (Prince, Gomes, Hagg, Dennard) who are starters and only one is not a senior. Early in the season I would catch myself thinking that this is one of the best secondaries that I’ve ever seen at Nebraska, but we lose a TON of talent next year. Osborne, Smith, Cassidy, and especially Evans have shown me that we will have a lot of young, experienced talent returning next year. And that doesn’t include the guys who are redshirting, the guys who have been in the system, and the incoming class.

The following is my text message exchage from last Saturday after the game:
6:08 pm, Me: Lights out performance! Royboy over 300, Prince is the best corner in America, ciante evans turned into a man today!
6:10 pm, my buddy: ciante evans was realllllllllllll tight. and how f****** good is our coverage? airtight, baby. and god do i love roy

GBR! Keep the faith.

by Bofense on Nov 4, 2010 8:26 PM CDT reply actions

Tevin Mitchel, Charles Jackson, and Daimion Stafford coming in next year.

I don’t think the secondary will have too much of a dropoff over the next 2 years.

It appears as if my signature carries a certain weight with the Suns front office. I called for Jared Dudley to be extended, and they obeyed. I'm kind of a big deal. So BSotS, what should I demand next?

by Omaha Sun on Nov 5, 2010 10:40 PM CDT reply actions