Minnesota Paradox

There is a commercial with Johnny Carson that most of you have probably heard.  In it he talks about going home again.  And sometimes you can’t go home again, but in reality, you carry your home with you, wherever you go.  

I think about that a lot.  I’ve lived in Lincoln for over 20 years, but I still carry my home with me daily.  My job, my family, my life, still draws on the lessons I learned from growing up in Western Nebraska and it drives me into what I do, still to this day.

Why is that relevant?  Because Nebraska’s head football coach Matt Rhule may have a decision to make about whether he wants to go home and coach at his alma mater Penn State, or if he wants to stay in Lincoln and continue to coach the Huskers.

It isn’t that Rhule doesn’t love Penn State, he does, and he stated as much at his weekly press conference, hell, he met his wife there.  And if the job is offered, I can’t imagine the stress and the thought process that he will go through to make that decision to stay in Lincoln or go.

On the flip side, he has a home now.  If there is one thing I can appreciate above all others with Coach Rhule is that he wears his heart on his sleeve.   He has moved his entire family to Nebraska.  He has set up deep roots within the heart of Lincoln and he has worked so hard to build a program that he can now start to fine tune and hopefully enjoy the fruits of his labor.   All that goes out the window if he leaves for State College in Pennsylvania.  

And if Penn State is still home, and it calls to him, and he absolutely can’t tell them no, his decision to leave won’t be easy.  They have an issue with their culture right now, and they are a very senior led program.  All the work that he has done in Nebraska will need to be replicated again in Happy Valley.

It leads one to think that Coach Rhule has grown strong roots for Nebraska that won’t be broken.  He has everything you could want in Lincoln, and it’s a great place to raise a family.  His wife has a business in Lincoln, and he has already done all the hard work to get Nebraska where he wants it.  He already carries his home with him, wherever he goes….in Lincoln.

ON WITH THE REWIND…

Last game prediction was Nebraska 30, Maryland 23. The actual score was Nebraska 34, Maryland 31.  It certainly wasn’t pretty, and Nebraska had to come from behind twice, but they pulled out the road win in Maryland.  Despite three interceptions by Dylan Raiola and not creating any turnovers on their own, Nebraska kept battling.  It was disappointing that Nebraska couldn’t recreate their defensive success against Maryland’s passing game that they had against Michigan State.  It will be interesting to see what the Huskers do moving forward to create more havoc with pressures and sacks as the season wears on.

Quick Notes:

Javin Wright…If anyone on the defense deserves to have success, it’s Wright.  He has responded in consecutive weeks leading the team in tackles and leads the team in tackles for loss.  Moving inside at linebacker hasn’t always been pretty for the seventh-year player, but he has started to take ahold of the position and has been a big weapon for the Huskers.  If he continues to play at a high level with Vincent Shavers Jr. Nebraska will be able to limit teams rushing attacks. 

Turner Corcoran....When starting left tackle Elijah Pritchett had to come out of the game with an ankle injury in the fourth quarter, the returning veteran Corcoran stepped in on the final two crucial drives and played great.  Protecting Dylan Raiola’s blind side, Corcoran didn’t allow a pressure and gave Nebraska crucial play that in the past decade would not have been the case from a bench player on the offensive line.  It was great to see Corcoran play at a high level, and it was great to see the senior out there, recovered from last season’s injuries.

Emmett Johnson...…Johnson is earning his way onto this list every week.  He has become a bell cow for the Huskers offense.  Offensive coordinator Dana Holgerson should get a lot of credit for getting the ball to Johnson as much as he did against Maryland.  It kept their defense from being able to pin their ears back on the pass rush and it also kept the offense level on passing and rushing so the defense would have to expect either type of play.  Johnson is going home this weekend to play against the hometown Minnesota team that didn’t offer him a spot out of high school.  It will be interesting to see how hard he runs in Minneapolis.  He has been Nebraska’s MVP on offense in conference play so far.  

Nyziah Hunter…. Every week one of the wide receivers has popped for the Huskers.  Raiola has done a great job of spreading the wealth, with all three starting wideouts having at least 20 catches through the first half of the season.  Now Hunter has back-to-back games with a wide receiver screen touchdown, teams will certainly want to stop that play going forward.  Nebraska should be able to take advantage of teams over playing the screen and hopefully make big plays the other way.

Score Prediction: Nebraska 29, Minnesota 24

Nebraska has been crossing line items off their list each week.  Winning in the All-Red jerseys.  Winning one score games.  Winning on a come from behind drive.  Nebraska hasn’t done any of those things in years.  Now Nebraska is taking it to another level.  They will be wearing the All-White uniforms on the road, and Nebraska is attempting to win back-to-back conference road games for the first time since 2006!  To top it off, Nebraska is 1-6 versus Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck.  There is a lot riding on this game, but for the first time in a long time, Nebraska has the weapons needed to get it done.    Nebraska is in for a street fight, but I think they come out on top and continue to slay those dragons in their attempt to get back to Nebraska dominance! GBR!!!