Amarillo Mullen
Husker Dan: Will Nebraska Go Bowling This Season?
First things first: Nebraska's 45-7 loss Saturday at home to Michigan should not be an excuse to not play well this Friday night at Illinois. Matt Rhule's task this week is to make sure there is no Michigan hangover going into Friday's game.
What's the saying? "Don't let a team beat you twice." If the Huskers can shake off the defeat, NU should be in a position to beat the Fighting Illini.
Winning that game would be huge for coach Matt Rhule as he tries to get his team bowl eligible. More about the Illinois game later in this column.
Four Wins?
Where exactly are the other four wins going to come from?
First of all, the Big Ten West is perhaps the weakest it's been in a long time. Wisconsin leads the division at 3-1 (1-0 in conference play). They are followed by Iowa 4-1 (1-1), Minnesota 3-2 (1-1), Purdue 2-3 (1-1), Northwestern 2-3 (1-2) and Friday's opponent Illinois 2-3 (0-2).
Nebraska also must play Michigan State 2-3 (0-2) and Maryland 5-0 (2-0) from the Big Ten East.
Four of the Huskers' next seven games are in Lincoln: Northwestern, Purdue, Maryland and Iowa. There is a probable home loss to Maryland, but there are wins to be had with Illinois, Northwestern, Purdue and Michigan State. If NU can win those four games, the Huskers would have the six-win minimum for bowl eligibility. That would leave the last two games to eke out a seventh win against either @Wisconsin or at home on Black Friday against Iowa.
It might happen that the Iowa home game will be for a winning record this year. Can you imagine what that game would be like?
The Fighting Illini
Up next for the Huskers is a trip to Illinois this Friday. Illinois isn't the team most people thought it would be this year. IU has struggled so far with losses @Kansas (23-34), Penn State (13-30) and @Purdue (19-44). Their two wins have been over Toledo (30-28) and Florida Atlantic (23-17).
Both Nebraska and Illinois have struggled scoring: In scoring offense, NU is #122 and IU is #105. In total offense, neither NU (#95) nor IU (#71) is an offensive juggernaut. Where NU might have an advantage is in its ability to run the ball and Illinois' inability to defend the run. NU ranks #15 in rushing offense and IU is #111 in rushing defense. In total defense, NU ranks #37 while IU is #113.
What does this mean for Nebraska? Take care of the football and run the dang ball. If the Huskers can manage that, they will pick up win No. 3.
So why is Illinois favored by 3½ points? Maybe it's because of the 45-7 butt kicking Michigan handed out Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Who knows?
Just play the game. We'll see what Nebraska is made of Friday night.
How ’Bout Them Huskers
Our podcast topics include a postmortem of the Michigan game and the brilliant play of Merritt Beason in weekend Husker volleyball wins over Purdue and Indiana. (Beason had 19 and 22 kills, respectively). We also review last week's Big Ten football games and do a preview of this Friday's Nebraska game at Illinois.
