Nebraska nabs five commitments after impressive weekend win

A big weekend on the field turned into a big weekend off the field for the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

In the days following a thrilling 10-3 win over longtime rival Oklahoma on Saturday, NU has tallied five verbal commitments, bringing the class of 2010's total to 16.

Highlighting the group of new prospects slated to join the Huskers next season is Chase Harper, a Rivals.com four-star tight end out of Navarro Junior College in Corsicana, Texas. The 6-foot-6, 248-pound pass catcher will have three years of eligibility when he arrives on campus next fall.

While Harper will certainly be a welcomed addition to a struggling offense, the Huskers did most of their damage on the defensive side of the ball. The other four commits from the weekend look to bolster an already tenacious Blackshirt unit.

For Tobi Okuyemi, a Rivals.com three-star defensive end from Plymouth, Minn., the road to Division I college football has taken some unexpected turns. In fact, he started his high school career as a wide receiver until he began to grow into his 6-foot-3 frame.

"He was a sprinter on the team," said Wayzata High School head football coach Brad Anderson. "He began to develop and change quite a bit."

Okuyemi went from wide receiver to linebacker before he finally found a home with his hand in the ground, occupying one of the ends on the defensive line.

"It was an interesting transition," Okuyemi said. "I had never played defense before, but it was a fun transition."

Since the move, Okuyemi hasn't stopped using his speed and quickness to get by his man. Even though he hasn't been playing the position for very long, he knows a good performance when he sees one.

"The d-line played great," Okuyemi said of NU's performance against OU, which he attended as an official visitor. "(Ndamukong) Suh was taking up double- and triple-teams. He's a beast. He's just a great player."

Anderson said Okuyemi has an appetite for football and is always trying to discover the nuances of the game.

"He's a great young man," Anderson said. "He's very quiet, and he gets along well with his teammates. He's a laid-back type of person who's not going to get upset, but he'll give a lot of effort. He's very coachable and always looking to improve."

Okuyemi will have plenty of time to get acquainted with Bo and Carl Pelini's defensive system before the start of the 2010 season. He said he plans to arrive on campus in June or July in order to get a jump on the playbook and have a chance to play as a true freshman.

Joining Harper, Okuyemi and the rest of the 2010 recruiting class is three-star defensive tackle Jay Guy, three-star cornerback Joshua Mitchell and defensive lineman Jake Cotton from Lincoln Southeast High School, the son of NU offensive line coach Barney Cotton.

Guy, who comes from a powerhouse Eisenhower High School program in Aldine, Texas, is one of the biggest members of the class, measuring in at 6-foot-1 and 300 pounds. He amassed an impressive 20 scholarship offers, including those from Michigan, Ole Miss and Cal before choosing to accept Nebraska's.

The 2010 class is expected to peak at around 20 recruits, leaving room for only a handful of hopefuls.

EVANCOTTEN@DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM