The Nebraska football team has had a very good early signing period. They hauled in 23 signatures on Wednesday, added a walk-on, that recruiting experts are calling the best JUCO center in the nation, and a grad transfer defensive tackle from Oklahoma State on Friday. The good news for Husker fans is that even if running back Dedrick Mills doesn't manage to get his paperwork put together in time, there are still other players the Cornhuskers could add to top off the class in February. 4-star defensive back Noa Pola-Gates is one of those names head coach Scott Frost could be talking about come February 6.

Nebraska football in the driver's seat?

When all the hoopla from Wednesday died down that evening, Pola-Gates was one name some Husker fans might have thought Frost missed out on. It turns out that the defensive back didn't sign a letter of intent with anyone. In fact, it turns out that he won't be signing an LOI with any school until February 6. That's both good news and bad news for Nebraska. The good news is that he won't be signing with Alabama or Oregon - ever. The Huskers still have a shot to reel him in. The bad news is that Arizona State and USC have another two months to try and convince him once and for all he'd be better suited with the Trojans or Crimson Tide.

Noa Pola-Gates wanted to make his decision in his time

While Pola-Gates didn't sign with a team, he recently talked to Azcentral.com and made it clear he was getting plenty of pressure to do so. The safety has a total of 15 offers including other big name schools such as Alabama, Penn State, Texas, and Florida State. It turns out the teams that were putting pressure on Pola-Gates to sign saw that approach backfire quite spectacularly.

"My final three have given me the space to do this on my terms and not rush," the prospect told the newspaper. Those final three are officially Nebraska, Arizona State, and USC.

The patience the Huskers have shown especially points to a recruiting approach that is both smart and definitely working for the school. That approach is also somewhat more impressive considering Alabama was considered the front-runner to get the defensive back.

The Huskers, arguably, are in the biggest position of need for Noa Pola-Gates but it appears they understood that pressuring him to sign during the early signing period was only going to push him away. The Crimson Tide has been ruled out and Arizona State has jumped into the fray. Now the Nebraska football team just needs to try and convince Noa Pola-Gates that Lincoln is going to be the best landing spot come February.
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