(Predictions are at the end if you don’t want to read the rest!)
I swear, these bye weeks coming after a loss have to be the longest in recorded history of sport. Nebraska losing a close game to Michigan was bad enough, but then you get to sit and stew on it for another week with nothing to clense the losing palette.
And that long wait is even more painful when you rewatch the game, because as bad as it seemed during the real time version, watching the Michigan defense dictate the entire game plan again makes a person want to lose their lunch.
Nebraska has so many things going in the right direction, and the game was close, despite the Wolverine’s obvious talent advantage on defense, it makes you wonder if we have a false sense of reality or if the Huskers are really good, needing a few pieces to be great?
And that is why the bye week sucked so bad. We all watched the Nebaska offense keep the Huskers in the game through the air. We all watched the Hail Mary just before half that let Michigan know that Nebraska wasn’t going to fold in this game. We can see that Dylan Raiola is the most talented quarterback, likely since Eric Crouch, to wear the red N.
We don’t know though, if Nebraska is still climbing, or did Michigan just fall back to earth? And if Michigan isn’t really that good, but had a good game plan with a freshman quarterback, how much improvement will we actually see this season?
It’s hard to know what to exepct after a bye. Nebraska hasn’t had much, if any, success the last few years after a bye. This weekend could be the same. Michigan State has an NFL quarterback and wide receiver combo. They will pose every bit of the problems that Cincinnati posed when Nebraska played them. Can the Blackshirts rise to he occasion? Or will the trio of wide receivers and Luke Lindenmeyer carry the offense so the defense doesn’t have to? We have had to wait two weeks. One way or another this season is about to get interesting. The wait was too long.
ON WITH THE REWIND…
Last game prediction was Nebraska 24, Michigan 23. The actual score was Michigan 30, Nebraska 27. It was a game that never seemed close in many ways, but Nebraska was a defensive stop and a field goal away from overtime against a team that won the National Championship two seasons ago, with many of the players that were on that title team still playing. Nebraska isn’t quite there yet in the trenches, when it comes to overall built up talent. They may be a season, if not two away from having the depth and age needed with better athletes to compete at a super high level.
Quick Notes:
Jacory Barney…It’s hard to imagine where this team would be without it’s fantastic sophomores. The Dylan Raiola to Barney combo has been lethal, almost since Barney arrived. He continues to make big time plays all over the place, running the football, catching the football or returning punts. If Nebraska could get him the ball 10 times every game they should. He delivers.
Dylan Raiola....I don’t care what anyone says about Raiola. People think it’s funny he tries to copy Patrich Mahomes and they give him a lot of grief about it nationally on sports shows, but I’ll be honest, I’m not sure there are 3 quarterbacks in the country I’d rather have. Raiola kept Nebraska in the game against Michigan. Without him, Nebraska loses by 20 points. I just hope we don’t waste his talent. He is a tremendous college quarterback.
Vincent Shavers Jr....…Shavers has played as well as any defensive player on the Blackshirts so far this season. He has missed some tackles and he has been blocked out of his gap a few times, but he is one of the few players that has made game changing plays each game this season. Whether forcing a fumble, making a tackle for loss, or a shoestring tackle that keeps someone from breaking a big run, Shavers has done it all. Nebraska could use 5 more of him on defense.
Dasan McCullough…McCullough has quietly become Nebraska’s best edge rusher. He had success against Michigan in the backfield and is difficult to block if you don’t get to him quick enough. Nebraska will need that kind of pass rush this entire season. If McCullough can start to earn help from the offense in their schemes to block him, that helps the entire defensive front. The veteran needs to be the leader on the D-Line and help bring some of those young guys along with him.
Score Prediction: Nebraska 27, Michigan St 24
I know the spread is double digits, and I realize that the Spartan defense gives up a lot of big plays. The thing that I keep going back to, is that games in the Big Ten are close. Outside of Ohio State and Oregon, and the occasional Indiana blow out, each week the Big Ten teams slug it out, and it seems as if most games are within one score. Now maybe Las Vegas is right and maybe Nebraska will roll, but I’m skeptical that he defense can contain the Michigan State passing game, and I’m also skeptical that Nebraska can win without running the football more and with success. I see the Huskers coming out on top, but this game will likely be closer than many want. GBR!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment