LINCOLN — As they decommitted one by one during a dark time in Nebraska football history, the worry then was how the NU recruiting class was falling apart as fast as the Huskers' season had done.

Blaine Gabbert. Gone.

Jonas Gray. Bye-bye.

Bryce Givens. Headed somewhere else.

Before signing day in February 2008, 15 players who told NU they were coming eventually decided against it. The majority skipped out on their verbal commitments during the stretch in which the Huskers slipped from 4-1 to 5-7, fired head coach Bill Callahan, replaced him with Bo Pelini and went into damage control.

It happens.

But the reality nearly two years later is that class was full of players. And it could even come back to haunt the Huskers.

Of the eight who chose other Big 12 schools, seven are on North Division rosters. As many as five of those seven could begin the 2009 season as starters, with the other two projected as No. 2s on their respective depth charts.

They are:

• Gabbert as the starting quarterback and Dan Hoch as the No. 1 right offensive tackle at Missouri.

• Givens as the No. 1 right tackle at Colorado, with Shaun Mohler and Doug Rippy currently no worse than co-No. 1s at linebacker spots for the Buffaloes. Mohler was a junior-college transfer who started last season against Nebraska and made 11 tackles.

• Darius Parish as a No. 2 right tackle at Kansas and Adrian Hilburn as a No. 2 receiver at Kansas State.

In all, nine of the 15 decommits could be starting somewhere when the 2009 season begins. The others are Trevor Robinson at right guard for Notre Dame, Eddie Brown at defensive tackle for Texas A&M, Keelan Johnson at strong safety for Arizona State and D.J. Woods at receiver and punt returner for Cincinnati.

Woods caught 14 passes last season as a true freshman for the Bearcats. Brown started the final two games for the Aggies.

With Riley Reiff currently listed as a No. 2 left tackle at Iowa, the only refugees from that NU class not expected to make an impact in 2009 are Eric Harper and Simi Kuli. Harper has moved to tight end at Louisiana Tech and is down the depth chart, while Kuli signed with Oregon State, never enrolled and is believed to be out of football.

As easy as it might be to think the Huskers missed out, however, recruiting analyst Allen Wallace said it would be hard to project any potential impact the decommits might have made at NU.

“The bottom line is once you got a new coach in there and a new system, who's to say they would be that successful if they stayed,'' said Wallace, the national recruiting editor for Scout.com and publisher of SuperPrep magazine. “A lot of time you find kids will stay with a coaching change only if they're convinced with the new coaches and any change in the system that it'll still be a good fit for them.''

Nebraska went on to sign 20 players in February 2008 and Wallace said Scout ranked its class a respectable No. 22 nationally.

It included strongside linebacker Sean Fisher, who is set to start as a redshirt freshman, and right guard Ricky Henry and middle linebacker Will Compton, both in the hunt for No. 1 jobs. Other possible 2008 signees on the first two-deep next week are cornerback Alfonzo Dennard, defensive tackle Baker Steinkuhler, defensive ends Cameron Meredith and Josh Williams, offensive tackle Brandon Thompson and safety P.J. Smith.

Without guessing what a Gabbert or Givens or Mohler might do playing against Nebraska this fall, Wallace said the Huskers covered their tracks during a tough time.

“They were able to replace some of those losses due to a strong effort by Pelini and his staff,'' Wallace said. “They caught some other kids. The way it turned out, Nebraska fans can't be too disappointed.''

Contact the writer:

444-1042, rich.kaipust@owh.com

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