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Week 10 "Expert" Picks: Northwestern @ Nebraska


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Yahoo! Sports - http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/football/picks;_ylt=AvbZaM0EIYaG_oPql4T_zH4cvrYF

 

Gerry Ahern (N) - Mike Hugenin (N) - Yahoo! Users (N)

 

THE BUZZ: Last week's victory over Michigan State puts the Huskers in the driver's seat in the Big Ten's Legends Division race. It seems unlikely that defense-challenged Northwestern can knock the Huskers from their perch.

THE LINE: Nebraska by 17.5 THE PICK: Nebraska 42 - Northwestern 27

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Phil Steele - http://www.philsteel...11/DBNov02.html

 

The last time these schools played was in the ‘00 Alamo Bowl with the Huskers (-14’) winning 66-17 and outgaining the Cats 636-383. Neb is off MSU with Penn St/Mich on deck while NW is off a road trip to Indiana with Rice on deck. Neb is 1-7 ATS as a conf HF of 7+. NW is 9-3 ATS as an AD (2-1 TY). The Huskers grabbed the Legends lead pounding MSU 24-3 with a 190-101 yd edge as we won our top College Totals Play on the Under. RB Burkhead (882, 5.4) was Superman scoring 3 TD vs the stingy Spartans D. Both D’s have underachieved with the Huskers forcing just 11 TO’s and 13 sks TY. The Cats benched 4 D st’rs including pressn All B10 DE Browne 2W ago vs PSU as they are allowing 39 ppg and 454 ypg in conf play. NW ended their 5 gm losing streak jumping all over hapless Indy 59-38. Even at less than 100% and splitting snaps QB Persa (250, 75%, 9-3) has been dynamic. The Cats scored on 9 of their 1st 10 poss and had 405 yds by HT. Neb has the enormous expected D (#20-93) and ST (#7-87) edges but a huge situational edge goes to the scrappy Cats.

 

PHIL’S FORECAST: NEBRASKA 38 - NORTHWESTERN 28

 

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CBS Sports - http://www.cbssports...rs/expert/picks

 

Dennis Dodd (N) - Bruce Feldman (N) - Brett McMurphy (N) - Tom Fornelli (N)

Jerry Hinnen (N) - Adam Jacobi (N) - Chip Patterson (N)

 

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Collegefootballnews.com - http://cfn.scout.com/2/1124286.html

 

Northwestern (3-5) at Nebraska (7-1) Nov. 5, 3:30, BTN

 

Here’s The Deal … Both Nebraska and Northwestern needed last week.

 

On a five-game losing streak, Northwestern was one of the Big Ten’s most disappointing teams. Indiana is Indiana, but still the offense blew up on the road in a breathtaking performance on the way to a 59-38 win that could’ve been a lot worse. This is the last road game of the season for the Wildcats, with Rice, Minnesota, and Michigan State to close, but it’ll take three wins in the final four games to go bowling. If one of those wins happens to come at Nebraska to screw up the Huskers’ inaugural Big Ten campaign, it might make the season.

 

All of a sudden, the 48-17 pasting from Wisconsin is a thing of the distant past for Nebraska, the highest ranked Big Ten team in the BCS. With home wins over Ohio State and Michigan State, the season has done a quick turnaround and now the Big Ten title is back in play. If the Huskers win out, with road games at Penn State and Michigan to come before closing out against Iowa, they’ll win the Legends and will play in the Big Ten championship, but first, putting away a possibly pesky – and somewhat desperate – Northwestern team won’t be a layup.

 

Nebraska doesn’t have a passing game, but Northwestern doesn’t have a pass defense. Northwestern has one of the Big Ten’s best offenses, and Nebraska’s defense has improved by leaps and bounds over the last few weeks. This might be a more even battle than it seems, and it should be a far more competitive game than what either team dealt with last week.

 

And it should be far better than the last time the two met.

 

The two schools are just 500 miles apart, but they’ve only played four times, with the last meeting in 2000 when Eric Crouch and the Husker obliterated the Wildcats 66-17 in the Alamo Bowl. The Huskers won 49-7 in 1974 and lost in Evanston in 1931. The first matchup was a 12-0 Nebraska win in 1902.

 

Why Northwestern Might Win: Northwestern’s offense is just balanced enough, and efficient enough, to cross up the Husker defense that might come up a little bit flat.

 

Nebraska beat Michigan State, but that wasn’t really Michigan State. The heart and the focus weren’t there after the Wisconsin win, and the Huskers took advantage. Now, it’s possible that Nebraska doesn’t bring its A effort after the huge win over the Spartans, and that could be dangerous.

 

Ohio State doesn’t have a passing game, Minnesota doesn’t have much of anything, and Michigan State looked like it forgot to study for the exam. Blowing up Indiana isn’t that big a deal, but Northwestern was able to throw without a problem against Penn State, Iowa, and Michigan, and ran for 317 yards and three scores against the Hoosiers. It’s possible that last week’s win was the moment when everything clicked for the Wildcats, and the offense, led by the ultra-efficient Dan Persa, might have the balance to put Nebraska’s defense on its heels.

 

Why Nebraska Might Win: The Huskers should be able to run at will. The offense pitched a near-perfect game last week, keeping Michigan State’s aggressive defense guessing, and missing, all game long. While the O only cranked out 190 yards on the ground and 80 yards through the air, it controlled the game throughout, only came up with one mistake on a Taylor Martinez interception. Northwestern’s defensive front was ripped apart by Indiana for 319 yards and four scores - unable to handle mobile quarterback Tre Roberson, who ran for 121 yards and a score, and Stephen Houston ran for 151 yards and two scores. If those two could do that, Martinez and Rex Burkhead should be able to run wild.

 

Nebraska’s strength should match well against Northwestern’s offensive strength. The Wildcats need to throw well and throw efficiently to have any shot of winning, but that could be a problem against Husker secondary that’s 12th in the nation in passing and 23rd in the country in pass efficiency defense. Wisconsin’s Russell Wilson was flawless, and Washington’s Keith Price threw for 274 yards and four scores against the Nebraska D, but it was swarming and impenetrable last week against MSU’s Kirk Cousins, allowing just 86 yards with a pick on a 11-of-27 day. Persa will get his yards, but he’ll lose his share of battles.

 

What To Watch Out For: In a combination of tight end and fullback, Northwestern’s Drake Dunsmore has flourished in his role as the Superback. The 6-3, 235-pound senior is a decent blocker who can do a little of everything for the offense, but he’s at his best as a safety valve target. Steady more than spectacular, he was spectacular last week against Indiana catching seven passes for 112 yards and four scores, after catching just two touchdown passes over the first seven games.

 

It’s a tough year to be an all-star running back in the Big Ten, but Nebraska’s Rex Burkhead has been every bit as good as Wisconsin’s Montee Ball, Penn State’s Silas Redd, and Iowa’s Marcus Coker. The junior isn’t all that big, and he’s not particularly fast or powerful, but he was tremendous against Michigan State running for 130 touchdown and two scores on a battering 35 carries. He has run for 117 yards or more in five of his last six games, with the one game he was under the 100-yard mark a 96-yard day against Wisconsin. While he was banged up against the Spartans, if he’s close to 100%, he’ll come up with his sixth 100-yard day.

 

What Will Happen: Nebraska will be in for a fight, but in the end, the offensive line will come through. This is a crafty Northwestern offense that knows how to keep things moving, but the defense hasn’t even been close. Denard Robinson ran for 117 yards and two scores against the Wildcats, Illinois’ Nathan Scheelhaase threw for 391 yards, and Taylor Martinez will come up with a mix of the two putting up 300 yards of total offense.

 

CFN Prediction: Nebraska 41 - Northwestern 24

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ESPN Bloggers - http://espn.go.com/b...big-ten-week-10

 

Adam Rittenberg: Nebraska is on a roll, and the Huskers offense should run all over a Northwestern defense that can't stop anybody. Northwestern will move the ball in this game, as it has all season, but the Huskers will limit points and get plenty of their own from Rex Burkhead and Taylor Martinez. ... Nebraska 42 -Northwestern 20

 

Brian Bennett: Northwestern is allowing 38 points per game in Big Ten play, and while Nebraska won't exploit its pass defense as much as others have, the Huskers will still score at will. The Blackshirts will have a little tougher time than they did against Michigan State's predictable attack, but Alfonzo Dennard slows down Jeremy Ebert and gets a pick six. ...Nebraska 45 - Northwestern 24

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  • Fire 1
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"Nebraska beat Michigan State, but that wasn’t really Michigan State. The heart and the focus weren’t there after the Wisconsin win, and the Huskers took advantage. Now, it’s possible that Nebraska doesn’t bring its A effort after the huge win over the Spartans, and that could be dangerous."

 

Nope...MSU could have cared less if they won that game and all but sealed the division. I know that its hard to get up for a 4th game in *GASP* 5 weeks...give me a break with this crap. MSU got beat. End of story. Can the Huskers get just a little bit of credit?? Our 5 week stretch included Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Michigan State...NU was the team that should have had a hard time getting up for games, as we LOST the first game of the stretch...Heck, winning big games should cause the team to get up EVEN MORE due to the opportunities within the conference and even BCS wise.

 

Or, am I completely crazy?

  • Fire 3
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"Nebraska beat Michigan State, but that wasn’t really Michigan State. The heart and the focus weren’t there after the Wisconsin win, and the Huskers took advantage. Now, it’s possible that Nebraska doesn’t bring its A effort after the huge win over the Spartans, and that could be dangerous."

 

Nope...MSU could have cared less if they won that game and all but sealed the division. I know that its hard to get up for a 4th game in *GASP* 5 weeks...give me a break with this crap. MSU got beat. End of story. Can the Huskers get just a little bit of credit?? Our 5 week stretch included Ohio State, Wisconsin, and Michigan State...NU was the team that should have had a hard time getting up for games, as we LOST the first game of the stretch...Heck, winning big games should cause the team to get up EVEN MORE due to the opportunities within the conference and even BCS wise.

 

Or, am I completely crazy?

This.

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