When Alonzo Whaley left the practice field last Thursday, his primary mission was not eating or showering or studying. He needed to find his roommate.

Whaley and Will Compton came to Lincoln the same year: 2008. They play the same position: linebacker. They grew up together in Bo Pelini's labor-intensive system.

According to Whaley, they're “blood brothers.”

But Compton had learned the scheme faster. Compton was a starter entering 2010. Whaley was a backup.

Until Thursday.

That's when Compton went down on the practice field, just two days before the season opener.

Whaley asked multiple coaches about the injury. What was it? Was Will OK? He didn't get the details.

After practice, he found Compton in the training room. The news hit Whaley like a fullback:

Broken foot.

“I stayed there for maybe five seconds and walked out,” Whaley said. “I couldn't deal with seeing him like that.”

A few other emotions were stirring in Whaley's gut. Excitement. Anxiety. Doubt.

The injury to his friend thrust Whaley into the limelight. Coaches hadn't made it official, but the 225-pound Texan knew he would be starting Saturday against Western Kentucky — the first game action of his career.

Later that night, Whaley drove Compton back to their home in southwest Lincoln. He told Compton that he didn't know what to think.

“The first thing Will told me was, ‘Zo, honestly you don't have time to have emotions or feelings right now. We need you to step up and be somebody that you haven't been in the last couple years.'”

Whaley had struggled to learn Bo Pelini's system. The communication demands were one thing — we'll get to that in a moment. The technical demands are even tougher.

“I watch linebackers (from other teams) on Saturday and their footwork is horrible,” Whaley said. “They don't get off blocks. And I'm like, what would coach Pelini do to them?

“I know for a fact it's not this hard to play linebacker at other schools. (Coaches) tell you up front, ‘We're hard to play for. We coach perfection.'”

Whaley had received his share of tough love. At times, he wondered if he was good enough to play for Pelini.

Whaley didn't sleep well Thursday night.

Friday night, Compton delivered a crash course in his room at the team hotel.

The next morning, Whaley was up with the sun, digging into his playbook.

In Nebraska's system, the defensive coaches make a call from the sideline while the offense huddles. Every player on the defense sees the call.

But once the offense breaks huddle, it's the linebackers who adjust the defense depending on the offensive formation. They signal “checks” to linemen and defensive backs.

Whaley and Lavonte David, who also made his debut, leaned on each other before the game. And once the game began, action wasn't as fast as Whaley feared. He flew around the field and made five tackles.

He also made a heap of mistakes.

On Bobby Rainey's 46-yard run, Whaley turned his head away from the sideline before Carl Pelini completed his defensive play call. Half the defense blitzed, half the defense didn't.

“I ended up getting on the wrong side of the guard, and (Rainey) cut back where I was supposed to be,” Whaley said.

Whaley absorbed a tongue-lashing on the sideline.

“If you can't take coaching,'' he said Tuesday, “this is not a game for you.”

Some of the toughest words came not from Bo or Carl or Mike Ekeler, but from his roommate.

Compton, driving a motorized cart around Memorial Stadium, found Whaley after the game. Told him that his eyes weren't in the right spot. Told him that he missed an interception.

“It's easy to settle down and be like, hey, I've arrived,” Whaley said. “But you also need somebody pushing you, saying, ‘You know, you haven't done jack yet. You need to keep pushing.'”

Compton will be out another four to five weeks, Pelini said Tuesday. That means Whaley could be the man in charge at Washington, at Kansas State, against Texas — days when the pressure really heats up.

Every player endures a few bumps, Whaley says. He's faced the worst. It will get easier.

Game two is Saturday and Whaley is sleeping fine.

“I have a whole week to prepare.”

Contact the writer:

649-1461, dirk.chatelain@owh.com

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