- And now on to the Nebraska 2007 Schedule Analysis
Game 1 - Nevada - W
- Their star LB is suspended, their best O-lineman will not play, and they have a first time starter at QB. Not good.
Score - 44-9
Game 2 - at Wake Forest - W
- The first test of the young season, on the road, against the ACC champion. Wake has a tough game at Boston College the week before and will likely be reeling from that ass-whipping. This team was a tad lucky last year and a little overrated. It will be close through much of the game, as most road games vs. decent teams are.
In the past I'd be worried, but with a veteran QB, a really good O-line, some bangers at RB, and a much improved defense, I see Neb controlling 4th quarters a lot better this season than last.
Score - 28-17
Game 3 - USC - L
As much as I would love to put a W on there, I have to be somewhat realistic/objective on this one. I don't see a shootout or a blowout. I see a game that is actually close and well defensed. I see Nebraska with a chance to win it in the 4th. But ultimately I see the offense sputtering a bit against that defense, and the defense not being able to stop USC running the ball late in the game as they're trying to run out the clock, much like last year's game.
Score - 14-22
Game 4 - Ball St. - W
An absolute load releaser following possibly the hardest fought, most exhausting game of the year. They unleash the fury on poor Ball St.
Score - 56-17
Game 5 - Iowa St - W
No looking ahead to Missouri here. ISU has a new coach and will be out of their league in Lincoln. Nebraska rolls again and gets ready for the conference showdown.
Score - 38-6
Game 6 - at Missouri - W
It has to happen at some point, right? Nebraska has been out-athleted and out-big play'ed the past 2 times they have played in Columbia. Here's the deal however, Missouri had a guy named Brad Smith each time. If anyone knows anything about Nebraska, it's that athletic QB's give them absolute fits. (see: Brett Meyer, Ell Roberson, Michael Bishop, Corby Jones, Brad Smith, Vince Young, etc).
Chase Daniel, while very good and somewhat athletic, doesn't resemble any of these guys. Like I detailed earlier, with a veteran QB, a great O-line, yard eating RB's, and a very good defense, I feel better about road games and 4th quarter execution this season. Nebraska gets it done, and Missouri is still Missouri.
Score - 37-27
Game 7 - Oklahoma St. - W
A barn burner. Remember Nebraska-Missouri 1997? When one momentum boosting TD was answered right away by the other team, for 4 full quarters and an overtime? This will be the closest thing to that game.
Both defenses will be rendered useless. But give me the edge to Nebraska for 2 reasons - home field and defense.
Nebraska's largely senior citizen fan base will have their catheders filled to the brim with nervous piss and sh*t.
Score - 41-37
Game 8 - Texas A&M - W
Nebraska has a history of success and Jedi powers over A&M. It's at home. Fran will creep back into the corner like Fonzi in the Waterboy. I just can't let myself predict that Nebraska will lose to A&M at home. Just can't.
Score - 30-17
Game 9 - at Texas - L
I know Texas is overrated by my account. I know Nebraska can exploit all of their weaknesses. I know Nebraska is due to beat these guys. But it doesn't matter, Texas has control over Nebraska. As good as this team will be playing at this point, it won't matter. I'll be in the stands to watch another heartbreaker.
Score - 26-29
Game 10 - at Kansas - W
Kansas has a ton of "sleeper" hype this year. Nebraska has struggled mightily in the past few years against these guys. But this is a different team this year.
Score - 36-23
Game 11 - Kansas St. - W
Not even close. Freeman turns the ball over 3 times. I know athletic QB's give Nebraska fits, but they have to have something around them. Nebraska is hopefully lingering around the top 10 at this point and no way Kansas State beats them at home.
Score - 45-17
Game 12 - at Colorado - W
I think Colorado will improve on their 2-11, 6 TD season of 2006. But Nebraska is playing at a different level right now.
Score - 31-10
Big 12 Championship - Oklahoma - W
Nebraska is 5-0 lifetime in the Alamodome. Tough as nails game that's for sure. Almost as hard fought as the USC game.
Score - 21-19
Holiday Bowl - Cal - ????
I have no clue. Let's just stick with the 11-2 regular season prediction.
- 11-2 going into a BCS bowl is unbelievable progress for Callahan.
Momentum is building..........
- The Reno paper advises Nevada fans on Lincoln
Nevada fans who attend the Wolf Pack’s Saturday season opener at Nebraska should sit close together inside the Cornhuskers’ Memorial Stadium, where they’ll form a tiny island of blue in a giant sea of red.
Don’t be intimidated. This is one of the great road trips in sports.
With a rich tradition that includes five national championships, 11 unbeaten seasons, three Heisman Trophy winners and 282 (and counting) straight home-game sellout crowds, Nebraska is routinely ranked among the country’s best dozen or so places to watch college football.
A lot of Pack backers will check it out. About 1,000 are going.
“That’s fantastic,” said Lou Mary Webb, one of four co-owners of Barry’s Bar & Grill, a popular pre- and post-game hangout a couple blocks from the stadium in downtown Lincoln, Neb.
“We’re glad to have you guys come out here.”
She means it.
Nebraska fans want their team to beat your team, which, given the Huskers’ 127-7 home record since 1986, happens a lot. But they’ll buy you a beer before and after.
“Nebraska fans are very nice,” said Reno Fire Chief Paul Wagner, who’s been one since the 1950s. “They’re very knowledgeable. They are very nice to visiting people.”
Wagner, who grew up in Omaha, Neb., will make the trip.
“I’m going to be wearing a Big Red shirt and a Wolf Pack hat,” said Wagner, whose first game at Memorial Stadium almost a half-century ago was a Nebraska victory against arch-rival Oklahoma. “I’m sure I will get some grief from my family.”
Here’s something you need to know about Nebraska. It’s where the words “Big” and “Red,” when used together, are always capitalized.
Wagner plans on being at Barry’s before the Pack-Husker game. So do many hundreds of others.
Barry’s has a front and back. In front, where the floor is made of wood from an old high school basketball court, there’s room for 285. The rear, which is called the “Outback,” is 10,000 square feet and holds 675. More if they stand shoulder to shoulder.
“On game day you can have a heart attack in there and not hit the floor,” said Steve Smith, a Lincoln resident, Nebraska graduate, former Reno Gazette-Journal reporter and author of “Forever Red,” a 176 page book about his life as a Husker fan.
Here’s what Smith says on page 143:
“If there’s one thing Lincoln has buckets and buckets of, it’s atmosphere, tradition and general pigskin character. Some if it is unique, some of it is hokey, some of it is inspiring, some of it is worthy of a good eye-rolling. But all of it, in at least one small way, gets your Big Red blood pumping.”
Pack fans can expect to be outnumbered at Barry’s, which should help prepare them for nearby Memorial Stadium, where capacity, with recent renovations, has been raised to 81,067. There hasn’t been an empty seat since 1962. On game day, the stadium becomes the third-largest city in the state.
“The experience is unique,” Wagner said. “The way Nebraska brings the team out with the ‘Tunnel Walk.’ The hairs on the back of your neck stand up if you’re a Nebraska fan. If you’re not, it’s still good.”
The Huskers are Nebraska’s statewide religion, which comes with its own scripture, composed in the 1920s by university philosophy professor Hartley Burr Alexander and chiseled in stone on a stadium entrance:
“Not the victory but the action; not the goal but the game; in the deed the glory.”
Amen.
“You’ll see people wearing T-shirts with that written on it,” Smith, who grew up in Rosalie, a town of 200 in the state’s northeast corner, said. “It’s something Nebraskans have adopted as their Bible verse. You’ll see shirts with that, or, ones with ‘In the drink the glory.’”
But Husker glory has faded just a bit since the team won three national championships and compiled a 49-2 record during a four-year span from 1994 to 1997. Nebraska experienced a losing season, its first since 1961, in 2004, going 5-6. The Huskers were 9-5 last year.
“Generally, people are thinking things are on the upswing,” Smith said.
Despite the state’s mostly rural landscape and reputation, Nebraska football is something of an urban experience. Lincoln is the state capital with a population of 241,167. The campus and stadium are next to downtown. There are hotels, shops, restaurants and, at night, clubs with live music.
One of those is the Sidetrack Tavern, where the Sidetrack Band has been entertaining football fans for years.
“If you like salty language and funny songs,” Smith said. “It’s not a family-friendly environment. If you’re into something a little raunchy, cheap beer and sticky floors. You can sing along with the Sidetrack Band. It’s an experience.”
So is Misty’s Restaurant & Lounge in a neighborhood called “Havelock” on the northeast edge of Lincoln.
“We should be at the top of the list,” said Reynold McMeen, one of four Misty’s co-owners. “Our roots with Husker football go (way) back.”
On a Friday night before a Saturday game, you might see a Nebraska family eating thick prime rib at Misty’s, with a young son dressed in his pee wee football uniform, complete with shoulder pads, munching away, helmet sitting nearby. Adults walk past the little lad, patting him on the head approvingly. A future Husker.
But the evening’s highlight is the appearance by a room-size portion of the Nebraska marching band, complete with cheerleaders, blasting out the school fight song. For Husker football fans, that’s dinner music.
Visitors, even ones wearing blue, will be welcome, as they will be just about everywhere.
“We like to think that Nebraska fans are great to people from out of town,” Webb said. “The first game is always one of the fun ones. You guys will get a grand welcome when you get here.”
********************
WHY IT’S HOT: Nebraska is recognized as one of the great “scenes” in college football. Rated 13th by Sports Illustrated for “best college football weekend,” fourth for best college stadium, sixth by cbssports.com. The fact that Nebraska has won five national championships, including three in the 1990s, has nothing to do with it.
PLACE TO BE FRIDAY NIGHT: Misty’s Restaurant & Lounge, the original one on the outskirts of Lincoln, not the second location downtown. The Cornhusker marching band performs. 63rd and Havelock Ave. Phone, (402) 466-8424. Web site, mistyslincoln.com.
PLACE TO BE SATURDAY BEFORE THE GAME: Barry’s Bar & Grill, with its 10,000 square foot “Outback,” with wall size television screen. 235 N. 9th St. Telephone, (402) 476-6511
BE SURE TO BUY: If you can find one, a Nebraska cap that says “Bugeaters,” the school’s nickname before Cornhuskers. The story goes that, in the late 19th century, Nebraska experienced a severe drought, turning the state to dust. A New York writer, reporting on the situation, said, “There’s nothing to eat out here but bugs.”
INSTEAD OF BUGS, BE SURE TO EAT: A Runza, you can find them everywhere. It’s a type of sandwich, with ground beef, cabbage, onions and spices stuffed into a roll. “It’s a Nebraska delicacy,” says Chad Hartley, Nevada football spokesman and Nebraska native. “A real gut bomb.”
CHAD’S DRIVING TIP: If you’re staying in Omaha, Nebraska’s largest city, 58 miles east of Lincoln on Interstate 80, the trip to the game can be a long one. “Give yourself plenty of time to get to Lincoln,” Hartley says. “On a normal day, it takes 45 minutes to an hour. On a game day, it could take two and a half hours.”
PREGAME MOMENT: The Husker “Tunnel Walk.” Heavy metal rock music booms from the stadium public address system as the football team leaves its locker room and marches through a tunnel toward the field, jumping, shaking fists and pounding one another on the shoulder pads the whole way. The procession is shown live on the stadium’s giant video screens as 81,000 fans roar with every step
MESSAGE FROM LINCOLN: “We like to think that Nebraska fans are great to people from out of town. The first game is always one of the fun ones. You guys will get a grand welcome when you get here,” Lou Mary Webb, co-owner, Barry’s Bar & Grill
MORE INFORMATION: For what to see, where to go and what to do, try this Web site, darthhusker.com/guide.htm
- Go Big 12. Chip Brown details........
Big 12 eyes a return to the top
09:23 PM CDT on Wednesday, August 29, 2007
By CHIP BROWN / The Dallas Morning News
chipbrown@dallasnews.com
The last four years, the Big 12 has been a two-team league: Oklahoma and Texas.
While both are getting a lot of preseason praise from voters, Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops and Texas coach Mack Brown sound markedly different about their teams.
Stoops will have a quarterback lacking real college experience. But that doesn't faze him. He sounds more than ready to defend his team's conference title and strive for more.
"We've won four Big 12 championships with four different quarterbacks," Stoops said. "No one gave Nate Hybl a chance [in 2002], or Jason White on two rebuilt knees [in 2004]. Last year, we had a guy [Paul Thompson] who hadn't taken a snap in a year. This is nothing new for us. In fact, our guys feel better about things going into this season than they did going into last season."
Ask Stoops about having to replace most of his front seven on defense and he snorts, "We have guys who can be every bit as good or better than the guys we've had."
Brown, on the other hand, has maybe the best sophomore quarterback in the country in Colt McCoy. Brown has what he calls "the best collective group of receivers since we've been here" and one of the best defensive lines in the nation. But he is trying to temper expectations about his squad.
When asked if his team is top-five heading into the season, Brown said, "To me, we've got way too many question marks. I like the way we finished [against Iowa]. But none of us were proud of the two games before the bowl game. To me, we can potentially win all the games, but we also can be very average."
OU and UT appear to face one significant nonconference hurdle before meeting each other Oct. 6 in the Cotton Bowl. Oklahoma will face one of the best defenses in the country when Miami heads to Norman on Sept. 8. That same day, Texas also will face one of the best defenses in the country when TCU plays in Austin.
Nowhere to go but up
The way people are talking about Southern Cal this season, you'd think ESPN was about to start another series with Kirk Herbstreit and Mark May sitting in a candlelit Superdome comparing the Trojans' destructive capability to the Cowboys of the 1990s, Bill Russell's Celtics or global warming.
The Men of Troy have Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback John David Booty, a speedy, veteran defense and eight scholarship running backs most other programs would give their luxury suites for.
So can the Big 12 get into the Bowl Championship Series conversation in 2007 after playing for the national championship five times from 2000 to 2005? Last year's effort was so messy that even Oklahoma and Texas couldn't rescue what became the worst football season in the league's 11 years.
For the first time, no Big 12 team finished in the top 10 of the final Associated Press poll. The league also finished with a low of two teams in the final Top 25 – Oklahoma at No. 11 and Texas at No. 13.
The Big 12 went 0-14 against ranked teams from other conferences. The last of those losses came in the Fiesta Bowl, as OU helped Boise State enjoy a storybook finish to the season.
By then, Texas had already crashed as a double-digit favorite against Kansas State and Texas A&M. Nebraska had been undone by questionable coaching decisions in a Cotton Bowl loss to Auburn. And Dennis Franchione and the Aggies were searching for their self-esteem after a 35-point whacking by Cal in the Holiday Bowl.
The Big 12 has never fared particularly well in the postseason – in only four of its 11 years has the conference enjoyed a winning bowl record. But lately, Texas and Oklahoma had helped mask the league's lack of depth by contending for the national title.
Last season was especially bad, as the conference went 3-5 with the only victories coming from Texas, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State against 6-6 teams Iowa, Minnesota and Alabama. A two-team league
Searching for depth
The Big 12 had nine bowl-eligible teams in 2006, but which outside of Texas and Oklahoma is ready to make noise nationally?
Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione says "we're right there" with Oklahoma and Texas after beating the Longhorns in 2006 and a 17-16 loss to OU in College Station last year.
But A&M, which went 5-0 on the road during the regular season one year ago, has to play away from home this season against Miami, Texas Tech, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Missouri.
"I think you could have a better team and not a better record," said Franchione, whose Aggies finished 9-4 last season.
Oklahoma State has a loaded offense but hasn't had a winning conference record in two seasons under coach Mike Gundy.
Nebraska won the Big 12 North last season and will have Arizona State transfer quarterback Sam Keller stepping in for Zac Taylor, the Big 12 offensive player of the year in 2006. But the Big Red loses much of its front seven on defense and has nonconference games at defending ACC champion Wake Forest and home against Southern Cal.
Missouri, the media's preseason pick to win the Big 12 North, may have one of the best offenses in the league. But the Tigers have never finished strong in six previous seasons under Gary Pinkel. Mizzou is 3-10 in the final month of the season the last three years and gave up a 10-point, fourth-quarter lead to Oregon State in a Sun Bowl loss last season.
"If you want to get respect, you have to win at a higher level," Pinkel said. "We have not done that. So that's what we have to do."
North must rise again
Most conference power rankings at the end of 2006 put the Big 12 sixth behind the SEC, Big East, Pac-10, ACC and Big Ten.
For that to change, the Big 12 North must rise again, specifically Nebraska, which won three national titles in the 1990s and played for another in 2001.
"If you look at our first three years, we've been right on schedule, right on track," said coach Bill Callahan, who inherited a 10-3 team and went 5-6, 8-4 and 9-5 in his first three seasons. "It's the challenge this year to maintain and improve that."
The North Division is 15-42 against the South the last three seasons. Even though three coaches in the North are in their first or second years, Callahan is the only one to post a winning record in conference play.
"Sometimes, you get a division that's a little stronger than the other," Missouri coach Gary Pinkel said. "We'll see what happens."
Kansas State, a national power under former coach Bill Snyder, was the last North team to win a Big 12 title (2003). The Wildcats appeared to make big strides under first-year coach Ron Prince in 2006.
Prince inherited a 4-7 team, beat Oklahoma State and Texas en route to a 7-6 record after losing to Rutgers in the Texas Bowl.
But the off-season has been an adventure. Prince had to replace four assistants for a variety of reasons. Prince's star, 6-6 sophomore quarterback, Josh Freeman (left), has been in a rut since lighting up Texas in a 45-42 victory in November.
The next week, Freeman suffered six turnovers in a loss to Kansas and then two interceptions and three sacks in the 37-10 bowl loss. Then, at the start of fall camp, Freeman missed two practices after ballooning to 265 pounds over the summer and flunked Prince's physical fitness test twice.
Still a year away?
Whether the Big 12 is worthy of making a run for the BCS national title game at the Superdome this season will be dictated by its young quarterbacks.
The conference had six signal-callers who led their teams to bowls as freshmen or sophomores last season: Texas' Colt McCoy, Texas A&M's Stephen McGee, Texas Tech's Graham Harrell of Ennis, Missouri's Chase Daniel of Southlake Carroll, Oklahoma State's Bobby Reid and Josh Freeman at Kansas State.
This season, OU, Colorado, Baylor and Kansas will start quarterbacks with less than a full season of starting experience.
Only Iowa State senior Bret Meyer has more than two seasons worth of starts in the league. Nebraska's Sam Keller played in 19 games at Arizona State from 2003 to 2005, throwing for 3,018 yards and 26 TDs with only 11 interceptions. But he started only eight games.
Oklahoma's quarterback battle – redshirt freshman Sam Bradford beat out freshman Keith Nichol and junior Joey Halzle – will be among the most scrutinized in the country. OU has tons of talent on offense to help a first-time starter. But the last time OU went with a young QB (Rhett Bomar), the Sooners went 8-4 in 2005.
"I think we're going to see a better Big 12 this year," Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione said. "You don't have to think very long to come up with this, but Colt McCoy, Stephen McGee, Chase Daniel, Graham Harrell, Bobby Reid and Josh Freeman all got a year of experience under their belt.
"We all know the impact of experienced quarterbacks on a league, and I think we'll see that this year."
Young guns
The Big 12 had six quarterbacks who led their teams to bowls as freshmen or sophomores last season:
Colt McCoy, Texas, So.: NCAA freshman record-tying 29 TD passes in 2006
Stephen McGee, Texas A&M, Jr.: Only two INTs in 287 pass attempts last season
Graham Harrell, Texas Tech, Jr.: Third-best sophomore season in NCAA history (4,555 pass yards)
Chase Daniel, Missouri, Jr.: Broke MU season marks for passing yards (3,527) and TD passes (28)
Bobby Reid, Oklahoma St., Jr.: 24 TD passes with 11 INTs; ran for 500 yds and five TDs in '06
Josh Freeman, Kansas St., So.: Six TD passes with 15 INTs, but beat UT and went 4-4 as starter
Make or break
Here's a look at some of the Big 12's biggest nonconference games in 2007:
Sept. 1: Oklahoma St. at Georgia
Sept. 1: Kansas St. at Auburn
Sept. 8: Miami at Oklahoma
Sept. 8: TCU at Texas
Sept. 8: Colorado at Arizona St.
Sept. 8: Nebraska at Wake Forest
Sept. 15: Florida St. at Colorado
Sept. 15: USC at Nebraska
Sept. 20: Texas A&M at Miami
Going 0-fer
The Big 12 went 0-14 against ranked, nonconference opponents in 2006. Here's a look:
REGULAR SEASON (0-9)
Sept. 3:
No. 22 TCU 17, Baylor 7
Sept. 9:
No. 1 Ohio State 24, No. 2 Texas 7
Sept. 16:
No. 16 Iowa 27, Iowa State 17
No. 18 Oregon 34, No. 15 Oklahoma 33
No. 20 TCU 12, No. 24 Texas Tech 3
No. 22 Arizona St. 21, Colorado 3
No. 4 USC 28, Nebraska 10
Sept. 23:
No. 8 Louisville 24, Kansas State 6
No. 9 Georgia 14, Colorado 13
BOWL SEASON (0-5)
Dec. 28:
No. 20 California 45, No. 21 Texas A&M 10
No. 16 Rutgers 37, Kansas State 10
Dec. 29:
No. 24 Oregon St. 39, Missouri 38
Jan. 1
No. 10 Auburn 17, No. 22 Nebraska 14
No. 9 Boise St. 43, No. 7 Oklahoma 42 (OT)
- Let's get this party started........
LSU vs. Mississippi St. tonight kicks it all off tonight
- Picks O'the day
Yesterday - 3-6
YTD - 136-121
MLB
1) KC +135
2) Boston +145
3) NY Mets -115
NCAA
1) LSU -17.5
2) Oregon St. -6.5
3) Oregon St./Utah OVER 52.5
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