On to Northwestern!
Last week was about as much fun as a Husker fan can have, save for the heartburn of blowing a second half lead and having to have your dehydrated quarterback lead a furious comeback that you aren’t sure is going to happen. I digress, it was still fun! Of course when it was all said and done, Nebraska did what it had to do and they plucked those Oregon Ducks and started the season 3-0.
The game itself, if you were able to attend, was about as much fun as you can have when Nebraska plays a ranked opponent. Oregon is no slouch, even if they dropped from the ratings. A lot of press members have written and said that had Rolls Royce Freeman not been hurt, Nebraska probably loses. First of all, I highly doubt it would have changed the outcome, Oregon ran for 336 yards on the day, so unless Melvin Gordon walked out on the field, it’s doubtful that the Ducks would have ran the ball much better. Second, the Ducks are built on speed, and multiple teams around the country would have had a hard time containing the high octane offense the Ducks run, so for Nebraska to shut down the passing game and force the Ducks to find a way to beat them, it seemed to work out okay for the Big Red.
Nebraska made plays when it had to make them. Tommy Armstrong played about as well as I can remember him playing. No turnovers from Tommy along with his ability to run the football when called upon, made him the game MVP in my mind. The Blackshirts held when they had to. Wide Receivers made catches that were so clutch, it reminds you just how special this particular group is at catching the football. Honestly, on fourth down in the fourth quarter, I was calling for a punt, but Coach Riley had enough confidence in Tommy to make the play on fourth and long to change momentum and really stick it to Oregon.
Coach Riley had the weight of the world on him last week. You come to Nebraska to get away from the University of Oregon and all the advantages that they had over him at Oregon State, and boom, your second year, coming off a 2015 season that wasn’t what you expected, you get the Ducks again. Let’s face facts, had Nebraska not won that game, we’d all be sitting around this week, saying “well, at least we can still get to Indy.” Now, it’s not only can we get to Indy, but can this season turn into something special?
I’ve said multiple times, Tommy Armstrong is the key to this season. So far, outside of one crazy throw to a Wyoming linebacker, he has played like a leader and a senior. If you haven’t been impressed with his play making ability and his leadership in 2016, you probably won’t ever be a fan of Tommy. He has simply made plays, be it with his legs or arm and he is a big reason the Huskers roll into Evanston undefeated.
Now Nebraska has another quest coming. Since Nebraska has joined the Big Ten, they have had one year that they managed to make it to the Big Ten title game, otherwise it has been a dreary existence in the league. One of the biggest reasons for that struggle is Nebraska’s inability to beat what I would call second tier teams in the league consistently. I would put Northwestern at the top of that list.
Northwestern has next to no winning football tradition up until the last 25 years. They were perennial doormats in the league for a long time. That said, even in their prime recent vintage, they have been a second tier team most seasons. That doesn’t mean they are bad, but Nebraska is a place that dedicates way too many resources to football to not beat Northwestern consistently. And boy, have they made it tough on the Huskers. Outside of 2014 when Nebraska came roaring back from a rocky start to blow out the Wildcats, this series has been filled with close games, nail biters and fortunately for Ron Kellogg III, a Hail Mary that will live for the ages. If Nebraska is to take the next step in relevancy in the national college football landscape, they need to start by taking care of business this week. A big win on the road to start Big Ten play, may be the precursor to big things come December.
ON WITH THE REWIND…
Last week our Oregon prediction had the Huskers winning 35-32. Not too shabby, believe me, it could have gone the other way. Nebraska won a game that they hadn’t typically won in about 6 years, against a team that probably would have beaten any recent Husker squad.
Nebraska’s crowd needed to step up. Man did they ever! That was one of the loudest and rowdiest games I’ve attended in a while. I would rank it up with the Miami game from two years ago, it was fun and Husker fans delivered!
Expect to see trick plays. Oregon dialed up the two point conversion after each touchdown. The Huskers only allowed one conversion on the first attempt. It may have cost Oregon a chance to win, and as we thought, trick plays had an outcome in the game, it just wasn’t the trick plays that we may have thought were coming. Nebraska didn’t pull out any, but they made big stops on the conversions and that was a great help.
Quick Notes:
1. Shoutout to Bryan Reimers and his first touchdown catch as a Husker! His story as a Lincolnite walk-on was great news and was sorely needed with Brandon Reilly unable to play. Great play as well when the Huskers needed a big play!
2. Oregon won’t forget Michael Rose-Ivey. The senior linebacker made huge plays throughout the game and made a play when Nebraska needed it the most on the final Oregon possession. He gets a game ball.
3. Oh, Devine! Devine Ozigbo put the pedal down to start the second half running the football. He forced Oregon to respect the run and opened the game up for some big throws later in the half. He gets a game ball.
4. Tommy Armstrong is the man. Tommy has shown in the past what he is capable of. Now it’s just a matter of consistency from game to game. You are starting to see that now. He was the player of the game against Oregon, no doubt about it. Let’s just hope he drank plenty of Gatorade this week!
Score Prediction: Nebraska 28 – Northwestern 17
Unlike last week, I feel like Nebraska has a talent advantage over Northwestern at multiple positions. The Wildcats are missing 3 of 4 starting defensive backs from the start of the season. Brandon Reilly will be back and the Huskers WRs have been playing lights out without him. I expect to see at least two touchdown passes, including Stanley Morgan getting his first. Throw in a big day rushing from Devine Ozigbo and Terrell Newby for good measure and a game that might be close in the first half, should be well in hand by the 4th quarter for the Huskers. GBR!!
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