This Nebraska Cornhuskers football team doesn’t exactly live up to the glorious Blackshirts tradition and reputation. When you have a pass defense that’s amongst the worst in the entire nation, it’s tough to praise that side of the ball. Defensive Tackle Maliek Collins has potential though.
Out of any individual player, on either side of the ball for Nebraska, Collins has the highest 2016 NFL Draft stock. Some draftniks see his ceiling as a late first/early second prospect.
Being that this is the NFL Draft, there will be extensive scrutiny of personality and character. Being that Maliek Collins is a NU Defensive Lineman, he’ll be compared to Randy Gregory and Ndamukong Suh; at least on a superficial level.
Therefore, it’s in the best interest of #7 to be a model citizen at all times.
Yesterday was not one of those times. As Nebraska’s heart-breaking, oh so close 30-28 loss to Northwestern winded down, Collins made a shoulder check, a true cheap shot, on Northwestern Offensive Lineman Matt Frazier after the whistle had blown the play dead. To be fair, Frazier was getting extra physical with him right before it occurred, and who knows what kind of trash talk was going on in trenches before the shoulder check took place. Football is an emotional, physical game, and I’m sure there was jawing on both sides leading up to it. Collins’ questionable play happened on Northwestern’s final drive, as they were running the clock out, and the personal foul penalty greatly helped the Wildcats cause.
A very selfish, extra-curricular play by Maliek Collins resulted in a first down for the Cats and a half the distance to the goal line infraction on the Huskers. That essentially iced the win for the visitors. By no means did it cost them the game, not by a long stretch, it just finished the Cornhuskers off.
Northwestern Coach Pat Fitzgerald on Maliek Collins’ late hit on the last drive:
“That’s really uncharacteristic of their team. I don’t know what happened. I didn’t see it, and you hate to see that happen for a young man. It’s a competitive game played by competitive guys and maybe he just lost his cool.”
Nebraska Coach Mike Riley on concerns with personal foul penalties:
“The last one was just emotions at the end of the game, which is not an excuse, but that’s what happened. The other one, I really only saw the end of it, where we pulled the guy down and they had a foul on the play, and then we pulled a guy down late in the middle of the field, all I saw was the end of it and the flag. No, I don’t feel good about it.”
Maliek Collins was requested by the media to speak after the game. We wanted to hear his side of the story. Unfortunately, he was not made available. By no means, will this kind of thing affect Collins’ draft stock (look no further than Suh himself, or maybe Ohio State cornerback Bradley Roby, who was no stranger to targeting penalties his senior year), unless it becomes a regular occurrence.
Still, given that Gregory and Suh came before him, Maliek Collins will be very closely scrutinized.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and sometimes writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. The website is also featured on News Now.
Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye. He also appears regularly on numerous television and radio talk shows all across the country. Catch him Tuesdays on KOZN 1620 The Zone.
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