Saunders Posted November 20, 2014 Share Posted November 20, 2014 Game 11 “Expert” Picks: Minnesota @ Nebraska ————— CollegeFootballNews.com http://cfn.scout.com/2/1482870.html Here's The Deal: Both teams suffered big, tough defeats last week, but both teams are still alive and kicking in the Big Ten championship chase. It’s going to take Wisconsin losing twice for Nebraska to potentially win the West, and Minnesota will have a lot to do with that. The Gophers, unlike the Huskers, control their own destiny, winning the West if it beats Nebraska this week and Wisconsin next week in Madison. Can they get the ground game going again after losing in the snow and cold against Ohio State last week? Even in defeat, they looked strong and showed that they’re good enough to hang around with anyone in the conference. Can they set up a showdown with Bucky by beating Nebraska for the second year in a row after dominating 34-23 last year? Nebraska is trying to pick itself up off the mat after becoming a part of history. Going into the game with Wisconsin, the Huskers were still in the College Football Playoff hunt, needing to win out with a win over Ohio State to go 12-1 to get the job done, instead they were absolutely destroyed by Melvin Gordon and his record-setting 408-yard day in the brutally ugly 59-24 loss. There’s still time to come up with a great season, beating Minnesota and Iowa would mean a 10-2 season with a chance at an 11-win campaign with the bowl game – no matter what happened in Madison, double-digit victories would be a success. But can the defense start to tackle again? Will it rise to the challenge against the power running game of the Gophers? The attitude and toughness will have to turn around in a week’s time, or else the season could go south in a hurry. Just 400 miles apart, this has the potential to grow into a good yearly rivalry, and it’s going to keep on growing – along with the dates with Iowa and Wisconsin for both programs – as a key part to the Big Ten West seasons. Why Minnesota Might Win: It wasn’t just Gordon, the Badgers ran for 581 yards and seven touchdowns as the trickle turned into a flood as the Nebraska defensive front had no hope against a UW offensive line that put on a clinic. One of the best running teams in the country, Minnesota has the potential to do the same if Nebraska doesn’t start to wrap up better and get far more physical up front. The Gophers have rushed for over 200 yards in three of the last four games, including 218 yards and almost five yards per carry against Ohio State. They’re perfectly built for a road game like this in bad weather in Lincoln – they have the potential to grind out drives and yards, controlling things from the start. Why Nebraska Might Win: How does Nebraska get past the problems of last week? Run, run, and run some more. The Gopher run defense has been excellent at times, but it couldn’t handle J.T. Barrett and the Ohio State ground attack, and now it has to deal with Ameer Abdullah and a Nebraska running game that couldn’t seem to find any room to move against the terrific Wisconsin defensive front. It’s been tough lately finding room to move – shockingly having a few problems against Purdue, too – but at home, Nebraska has to get physical and find the power it didn’t have against Wisconsin. Minnesota can’t throw well, and it’s not going to bomb away. Who To Watch Out For: Nebraska QB Tommy Armstrong has been a disaster over the last two weeks. Just when it seemed like the light had gone on, hitting over 60% of his passes against Northwestern and Rutgers, he completed just 8-of-21 throws against Purdue and was awful against Wisconsin, hitting 6-of-18 throws for just 62 yards. He’s not running too much, but he should start to take off a little more here and there just to take the pressure off of Abdullah and get the Nebraska offense moving. He ran 20 times against the Badgers for just 17 yards – he has to keep trying to take off when the opportunities are there. What’s Going To Happen: Will this be a new and jacked up Nebraska team, or will the same problems it had against Wisconsin carry over to this week? Minnesota will have problems early on, but slowly, the ground game will start working more and more to make this a game. It’ll be Abdullah who comes through, running with a new sense of purpose as he carries the offense to a rebound win. It’ll be a fight, though. Prediction: Nebraska 31 - Minnesota 24 ————— BTN.com http://btn.com/2014/11/19/week-13-see-our-winners-for-all-seven-big-ten-football-games/ Sean Merriman: Nebraska 27 - Minnesota 23 Brent Yarina: Nebraska 27 - Minnesota 24 Tom Dienhart: Nebraska 27 - Minnesota 24 Mike Carmin: Nebraska 25 - Minnesota 20 ————— ESPN Big Ten Blog Why Minnesota will win: There’s no letup coming for the Blackshirts, who were historically carved up by Melvin Gordon last week and must turn right around and face the Gophers' David Cobb and another productive rushing attack, with flickering hopes of winning the West Division hanging in the balance for both teams. Ameer Abdullah doesn’t look quite back to full speed on his injured knee, and the Gophers are perhaps underrated for their defensive ability when they’re dialed in and aggressive, which could make it tough for the Huskers if the star rusher is limited again. Minnesota quarterback Mitch Leidner has been inconsistent this season, but this seems like a good opportunity for him to bounce back in the play-action passing game with the Huskers trying to avoid another soft performance on the ground. Nebraska 24 - Minnesota 27 — Austin Ward Why Nebraska will win: Melvin Gordon had his way with the Huskers last week, but Minnesota’s David Cobb -- who’s accounted for more than 40 percent of the offense -- is a different kind of runner. Most of Gordon’s yards came with speed outside the tackles; most of Cobb’s will come from power between the tackles. Nebraska shouldn’t allow half as many big offensive plays this weekend, and the Huskers’ offense clearly has the edge here. Bo Pelini’s squad averages 8.8 more points per game, the offense gains an average of 100 more yards a game, and Ameer Abdullah is one week healthier. Minnesota won’t be able to keep up. Nebraska 34 - Minnesota 24 -- Josh Moyer Brian Bennett - N Dan Murphy - M Adam Rittenberg - M Mitch Sherman - N ————— Athlon Sports http://athlonsports.com/college-football/big-ten-2014-week-13-preview-and-predictions Nebraska is in an interesting spot. One week has unraveled many of the goals this season. This time last week, Nebraska still had a chance the Big Ten title game, and if the one-loss Cornhuskers could beat Wisconsin and potentially Ohio State in the Big Ten title game, Nebraska could at least make a case for the playoff. Melvin Gordon ended those plans in a 59-24 loss. The division is gone and probably a major bowl game. Nebraska hopes to have running back Ameer Abdullah and defensive end Randy Gregory, who were both injured during the course of the Wisconsin loss, back healthy this week. Even so, facing the run-oriented Gophers might not be a welcome sight after the Cornhuskers gave up 581 total rushing yards a week ago. Despite a loss to Ohio State, Minnesota has a chance to win the Big Ten West with a win in Lincoln setting up a winner-take-all game against Wisconsin next week. David Fox: Nebraska 24 - Minnesota 17 Braden Gall: Nebraska 34 - Minnesota 27 Steven Lassan: Nebraska 31 - Minnesota 20 Mitch Light: Nebraska 23 - Minnesota 20 ————— CBS Sports http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/features/writers/expert/picks/straight-up/13 Dennis Dodd - N Jon Solomon - M Jerry Palm - N* Tom Fornelli - N* Jerry Hinnen - N* Chip Patterson - N* *Not covering - 10.5 spread ————— Big Red Wrap-Up http://netnebraska.org/interactive-multimedia/sports/big-red-wrap-minnesota-prediction-1 Kevin Kugler: Nebraska 21 - Minnesota 20 Blake Lawrence: Nebraska 35 - Minnesota 28 ————— AP Ralph D Russo http://collegefootball.ap.org/article/bc-tries-iowa-state-type-upset-against-fsu Huskers return home humbled after being embarrassed at Wisconsin. How will they respond? Nebraska 21 - Minnesota 28 ————— 2 Quote Link to comment
Saunders Posted November 21, 2014 Author Share Posted November 21, 2014 No apathy about the game this week I can see... Quote Link to comment
markiemark Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 yawn ......are we playin? 1 Quote Link to comment
admo Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 Still one of my favorite threads each week. Quote Link to comment
admo Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 So on paper and in theory we should win, right? I would like to see a better Husker performance this week and make this one competitive. Is that wanting too much/too little? Or am I aiming too low? Quote Link to comment
alexhortdog95 Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 So on paper and in theory we should win, right? I would like to see a better Husker performance this week and make this one competitive. Is that wanting too much/too little? Or am I aiming too low? On paper - Melvin Gordon had 9.1 yards a carry between the tackles. Quote Link to comment
admo Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 So on paper and in theory we should win, right? I would like to see a better Husker performance this week and make this one competitive. Is that wanting too much/too little? Or am I aiming too low? On paper - Melvin Gordon had 9.1 yards a carry between the tackles. Yeah and Cobb is a good back too. I will be watching and paying close attention to the blackshirts to see if this really is an execute or scheme issue. Or combination of both. I have been impressed with Minnesota's improvement over the past few years. Especially their running game with play action. I don't know much about their defense. TA is due to hit a big pass or two, you would think. Quote Link to comment
billdozer15 Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 LOL. Did any of these so called experts watch the game last week? Hell, did they even look at the box score and stats? What makes anyone think this week will be any different for Nebraska? MN just gave OSU a run for their money. Quote Link to comment
HuskerCarter Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 I think our defense will go out there and prove something, they historically have under Bo right after a big loss. On the flip side, I think TA will struggle again. Why? Cause every time I try to give the kid the benefit of turning things around, he doesn't. After the Northwestern game, I thought he had struggles a little and hope he would show improvement during the Rutgers game, he didn't. I thought he prove something against Purdue the week after, nope. It was a long shot against Wisconsin, but I believed that maybe then he would turn the corner, nope. If he some how does make improvements this week, good for him, but I've stopped betting on the kid to make those improvements the rest of the season. I think (or hope) to see Ryker in at some point during the game. I think Imani Cross has a big game and the Huskers win comfortably. Quote Link to comment
Guy Chamberlin Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 LOL. Did any of these so called experts watch the game last week? Hell, did they even look at the box score and stats? What makes anyone think this week will be any different for Nebraska? MN just gave OSU a run for their money. Well, virtually every so-called expert picked Wisconsin to beat a higher ranked Nebraska team. If anyone predicted that a last second touchdown by Terrel Newby would prevent Nebraska from losing to Wisconsin worse than they did in the 2012 CCG, that person has my respect. Quote Link to comment
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