STEVEN M. SIPPLE / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Thursday, October 7, 2004 7:00 pm
For many Nebraskans, the last name Siegel still evokes images of a 6-foot-7 basketball player swishing jumpers and grabbing rebounds for the Huskers during the mid-1970s.
These days, however, many people recognize the name Siegel as being the hard-hitting safety on the Nebraska football team.
Shane Siegel played basketball until he was a freshman at Grand Island High School before deciding to concentrate on football and track. Shane's father, Bob Siegel, was a Nebraska high school hoops legend from Fairbury who later started for the Huskers.
"I didn't have the outside shot my dad had," Shane Siegel said. "I had some jumping ability, so I was more of an inside guy."
The younger Siegel's explosiveness is paying dividends on the gridiron for Nebraska (3-1, 1-0 Big 12), which plays Texas Tech (3-2, 1-1) on Saturday night in Lubbock, Texas.
The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Siegel, a backup strong safety, typically enters games when Nebraska uses its nickel package in obvious passing situations, mostly on third-down plays. He played more than usual last weekend because Kansas' pass-oriented offense forced the Huskers to employ their nickel package more frequently.
"We thought we'd put some more defensive backs on the field to match their speed," Siegel said. "I thought it went well. I made a lot of mistakes, but I did make a few plays. It felt good to be out there."
Nebraska anticipates spending much of Saturday night in its nickel package, as Tech uses a spread offense that frequently features four or five wideouts.
Siegel, a junior, often lines up as an outside linebacker in Nebraska's nickel. He sometimes drops into pass coverage, sometimes blitzes.
Nebraska first-year secondary coach Phil Elmassian praises Siegel's athletic ability.
"Shane's like a hybrid defensive back-linebacker," Elmassian said. "He has safety skills. He can play in the deep zone. He also has enough size that he can play at the line of scrimmage for us."
On the second-to-last play of the second quarter against Kansas, Siegel blitzed and sacked Adam Barmann for a 12-yard loss, pushing the Jayhawks out of field-goal range.
It was Siegel's first career sack.
"It felt good to get in there, come through on a blitz and make the play," Siegel said.
Nebraska's defense expects a difficult test against Texas Tech, which features the nation's top passing offense in terms of yardage (423 per game).
The Huskers, meanwhile, lead the Big 12 and rank sixth nationally in pass-efficiency defense.
"It's definitely the biggest challenge our secondary's faced this year, and maybe the biggest challenge we will face all year," Siegel said. "We're definitely going to have to step up and execute and be on the same page.
"I think everyone's ready for the challenge."
Tech moved the ball well in last week's 28-13 loss at second-ranked Oklahoma, racking up 425 yards of total offense, including 369 through the air.
"That performance tells you what their offense is all about," Siegel said of the Red Raiders. "They're going to get their yards. It's just a matter of keeping them out of the end zone and forcing turnovers."
Siegel appeared in all 13 games last season as the Nebraska defense tied a school record by forcing 47 turnovers. That helped the Huskers lead the nation in turnover margin at plus-1.77 per game. This season, NU ranks 105th (out of 117 Division I-A teams) in turnover margin at minus-1.25.
Nebraska has committed 16 turnovers this season, repeatedly putting the Husker defense in precarious positions.
"We've responded tremendously well all season long," Siegel said. "Our backs have been put against the wall."
Siegel, who carries a 3.86 grade point average (on a 4.0 scale) in business administration, figured he would see plenty of action this season. That became clear during spring practice, he said.
That's when the former walk-on won a scholarship.
"He's an intelligent kid, a hard-worker," Elmassian said. "He has all the intangibles you'd want to have in a young man."
Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.