The People’s Guide To Ndamukong Suh
You ever play Madden as a kid and make a quarterback who’s absolutely huge with 99 everything? Trust me, this is relevant. Max everything out, put him on any ol’ team, and watch him dominate like Mark McGwire would at a little league game. I certainly did.
That’s what Ndamukong Suh did at Nebraska.
Throughout his five collegiate seasons, Suh got better every year and dominated the Big 12. I know, you want me to talk about his senior season in 2009, and trust me, I want to and I will. But first, do you wanna see Ndamukong Suh as a 6'4", 280 pound grown man at defensive tackle, one who can move like a defensive back, bullying a bunch of unfortunate high school kids playing offensive line?
Of course you do.
Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. Anyway, Suh’s committing to Nebraska was essentially a miracle, given that this was after Nebraska was Nebraska, and he was also heavily recruited by California, coming off their best season in more than a decade, and Miami, when Miami was Miami. Miami especially made sense for Suh, given that his closest peer both physically and on the field, Vince Wilfork, was now graduated and in the NFL. That comparison is as close as you can get, but it’s still not entirely accurate. Wilfork was bigger and stronger but just as fast, while Suh was more explosive and had more production. Either way, Suh committed to Nebraska, and frankly, we’re all better for it.
Trust me, I will talk about his senior season in 2009. But it requires context, and that context can be provided by looking at his junior season in 2008. Suh’s junior season was already great. He finished second on the team in solo tackles (39) but led in assisted tackles (37), total tackles (76), tackles for loss (16.0), sacks (7.5), and even interceptions (2, both of which were returned for pick sixes) for a Nebraska team that was middle of the pack defensively in the Big 12. They allowed 28.5 points per game, but the offense, led by senior quarterback Joe Ganz’s 3,568 passing yards, 25 touchdowns, and 153.6 Rate kept Nebraska winning football games. And they kept winning football games, finishing 9–4 with a Gator Bowl win over Clemson. Suh, for his efforts, was named to the Second Team All Big 12. Suh not being named First Team was a robbery. Now there were some good defensive linemen in the Big 12. But I fail to see how Gerald McCoy of Oklahoma, Brian Orakpo of Texas, and Ziggy Hood of Missouri all had better seasons than Ndamukong Suh. My theory is that they got rewarded because Oklahoma, Texas, and Missouri all had better defenses than Nebraska. Well, next season Suh would make sure nobody could possibly make this argument.
In 2009, Nebraska had the best defense in the nation. They had to. They lost their senior leader in Ganz, and although junior running back Roy Helu provided some relief, they still plummeted from the 17th offense in the nation to the 75th. Their defense though? It allowed a mythical 10.4 points per game, a total only matched once in the decade since: by Alabama’s 2011 National Championship team. This was a Nebraska team led by its defense, and this was a Nebraska defense led by Ndamukong Suh.
Suh’s stats in 2009, well, before I say them, I would like to give you the opportunity to sit down if you aren’t already, and if you are already sitting down, I’d like to give you the opportunity to prepare yourself physically, mentally, and emotionally for what I am about to say.
Okay, are you good now? Are you ready? If you’re not, then don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Ndamukong Suh’s 2009 stats are as follows: 52 solo tackles, 33 assisted tackles, 85 (!) total tackles, 20.5 (!!) tackles for loss, 12.0 sacks (!!!) and he picked off a pass for good measure.
He played at defensive tackle yet he led his team and impacted the game like a quarterback. There is nothing else to say about his 2009. He was an absolute monster.
Nebraska finished 10–4, and yet somehow all four losses added to the legend of Ndamukong Suh and this Nebraska defense.
The first was a 16–15 loss @ Virginia Tech, where Suh recorded 8 tackles, 0.5 for loss, and half a sack as well as batting down four passes.
The second was a 31–10 loss to Texas Tech in Lincoln. Suh was as much as a non-factor as he could’ve been, only recording four tackles and 2.0 tackles for loss, so you may be wondering how this could add to the legend. Simply put, this was the only game that limited Nebraska’s defense to being one of the greatest defenses of this century, as opposed to the greatest defense of this century. As mentioned, this Nebraska defense allowed 10.4 points per game. An incredible season that has been matched by few this century. If this game was wiped off the face of the earth and Nebraska allowed only 10 Texas Tech points, as per their season average, they would drop to 7.5 points per game. If Texas Tech had all their offensive points wiped out, with their only score coming on a defensive fumble recovery for a touchdown, then Nebraska’s average would drop to 7.3 points per game. And finally, if Nebraska went above and beyond and shut Texas Tech out, then their points per game average would be 6.8, firmly supplanting them without peer in this century.
The third was a 9–7 home loss to Iowa State. I’ll admit, this has more to do with the offense’s incompetence than the defense’s excellence, but it raises the bar of the defense as well. Allowing 9 points is about as good of a game as any defense could ask for. Suh himself was what he always was: awesome. Eight tackles, a tackle for loss, and a sack. But Nebraska’s offense turned the ball over eight times. As a reminder, Nebraska’s offense only scored 7 points. They had more turnovers than points scored.
The fourth was the Big 12 Championship Game against Texas. Suh’s stats are stuff of legend in this game. It’s Suh’s greatest game in his college or pro career easily, but I’d also say it might be the greatest single game any defensive tackle, college or pro, has ever had. 12 total tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks. He damn near willed Nebraska to a win over Texas. Of course, I have to say nearly. If you’ve read this far, you probably know what’s coming. With Nebraska up 12–10, Suh blew up yet another play and forced Colt McCoy to throw the ball away. At first, the clock hit 0:00. It looked like Nebraska had won. But a review gave the Longhorns one second left to kick the game winning field goal. It was good. 13–12 final. Texas was the Big 12 Champion. Nebraska had lost. Suh somehow did more than any other defensive tackle ever had, yet it was simultaneously not enough.
Ndamukong Suh capped off the greatest defensive season in college football history with two things: a Holiday Bowl shutout win over Arizona, and nearly every major award he could have won. He was First Team All-Big 12, he won the Big 12 Defensive Lineman of the Year, Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year, the Lombardi Award, the Outland Trophy, the Nagurski Trophy, the Bednarik Award, the AP Player of the Year, and was a unanimous First Team All-American. The only award he didn’t win was the biggest one.
To say Ndamukong Suh should have won the 2009 Heisman is beating a dead horse. You know it, I know it, even Mark Ingram knows it. The real question is how did Suh finish 4th in the voting? Ingram’s Heismanity has been torn down so many times, I barely have to mention it. Ingram’s stats are very good, 1,658 yards, 6.1 YPC, 17 touchdowns, but it’s hard to see those stats winning the Heisman. Stanford’s Toby Gerhart also had a good season with 1,871 yards, 5.5 YPC, and 28 touchdowns, but 65 players have rushed for more yardage in a season, and although his 28 touchdowns rank 9th all time in a single season, the only Heisman winners to rush for that many touchdowns are Mike Rozier in 1983, Barry Sanders in 1988, and Derrick Henry in 2015, all of which were seasons with both more yardage and were more efficient than Gerhart’s 2009. And Colt McCoy at #3? The guy who was 11th in yards, 38th in Y/A, 36th in AY/A, 10th in touchdowns, and 16th in Rate? An average, maybe slightly above average, quarterback got more Heisman votes than Ndamukong Suh, the same guy who had the greatest defensive season in the history of the sport? Are you kidding? I know the Heisman is an offensive award, but come on. And don’t you say Charles Woodson. He played in all three phases of the game, Suh only played one. And even if we pretend that Woodson’s reps at receiver and returner didn’t contribute to his Heismanity, that doesn’t excuse the Heisman Trust from voting Colt McCoy over Ndamukong Suh. Terrible. Just terrible. The 2009 Heisman vote should be considered a black eye for all of college football. Yes, I am fully aware this would take away a Heisman from an Alabama player, and I am fully okay with that. And yes, I am mad about this still, over a decade later.
That seems to be Ndamukong Suh’s legacy to a lot of people. He played great against Texas but lost, and he didn’t win the Heisman. It’s not fair to him. It belittles everything he did. Suh had the greatest seasons any defensive tackle ever had in college or pro football. He had one of the greatest seasons that any defensive player, regardless of position, ever had in college or pro football. That is how Ndamukong Suh should be remembered.
