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Twenty years ago, this was the biggest and best rivalry in college football. Now that the Big 12 has split things up, the national buzz and excitement over what was the yearly Nebraska-Oklahoma game has turned more to Notre Dame-USC and Michigan-Ohio State. Even so, just the sound of the matchup ... Oklahoma vs. Nebraska ... gets the juices flowing for the older college football fans, and those who get into ESPN Classic.
Players to watch: No player has represented the shift in Nebraska's philosophy more than senior QB Zac Taylor, who was just named to the first-team All-Big 12 squad. No Husker quarterback has ever gotten to throw like the former JUCO transfer has, and he came through this year with a brilliant 24 touchdown, four interception season. No longer just the bomber he was when he first started last year. he's making better and better decisions while doing a much better job of getting the ball to his receivers in places where they can do something with it.
It also helps for Taylor to have one of the best receiving corps Nebraska has ever had. It's an unsung group since no one player stands out, but junior Maurice Purify is as close as the team has to being a number one, crunch-time, go-to target with fellow junior Terrence Nunn serving as a steady No. 1A receiver. Throw Nate Swift and Frantz Hardy into the mix, and the Huskers have enough weapons to spread it around.
Oklahoma's offense has been all about ball control and a grinding running game with production not dropping off at all since losing Adrian Peterson. Junior Allen Patrick has rushed for 603 yards in the four games he's started, while missing two with an ankle injury, cranking out a solid 163 yards on 23 carries last week against Oklahoma State. Freshman Chris Brown has been just as effective when getting the call forming a speedy 1-2 punch that has to be effective for the Sooners to win.
Oklahoma will win if... the secondary plays like it has over the last several weeks. Lendy Holmes, Reggie Smith, Darien Williams, Nic Harris and Marcus Walker have come into their own forming a fantastic young secondary that not only held its own against passing teams like Texas Tech and Baylor, it's been downright dominant at times. It struggled a bit last week against Oklahoma State's talented receivers and was picked apart for the first time since the Oregon loss. Taylor will complete his short to midrange passes, but as long as the secondary limits the yards after the catch, OU will be fine.
Nebraska will win if... it forces Paul Thompson to be Peyton Manning. The Sooner quarterback has done a terrific, efficient job of managing games, tempo, and the clock keeping the chains moving time and again when needed, but for the most part, his job has been to hand off, hand off, hand off, and don't turn the ball over. While he was excellent in the win over Texas Tech, he's not the type of passer who'll win a shootout with Taylor. The veteran Husker D line has to force third and long situations over and over again, while the suspect secondary has to do its part and not give up too many big plays. If Thompson is able to stretch the defense, it's over.
What will happen: Do you like the Big 12's most efficient passing game or the league's most efficient pass defense? Each team will get what it needs to on the ground, so it's mostly up to which team's weakness is exposed the most. Can Nebraska handle the speedy Oklahoma receivers on the deep routes? Can Thompson effectively throw the home run ball? Maybe, and yes. Sooner turnovers will keep this from being a rout, but everything else will work for OU's offense.
Line: Oklahoma -4 ...
CFN Prediction: Oklahoma 27 ... Nebraska 21
Collegefootballnews.com
Twenty years ago, this was the biggest and best rivalry in college football. Now that the Big 12 has split things up, the national buzz and excitement over what was the yearly Nebraska-Oklahoma game has turned more to Notre Dame-USC and Michigan-Ohio State. Even so, just the sound of the matchup ... Oklahoma vs. Nebraska ... gets the juices flowing for the older college football fans, and those who get into ESPN Classic.
Players to watch: No player has represented the shift in Nebraska's philosophy more than senior QB Zac Taylor, who was just named to the first-team All-Big 12 squad. No Husker quarterback has ever gotten to throw like the former JUCO transfer has, and he came through this year with a brilliant 24 touchdown, four interception season. No longer just the bomber he was when he first started last year. he's making better and better decisions while doing a much better job of getting the ball to his receivers in places where they can do something with it.
It also helps for Taylor to have one of the best receiving corps Nebraska has ever had. It's an unsung group since no one player stands out, but junior Maurice Purify is as close as the team has to being a number one, crunch-time, go-to target with fellow junior Terrence Nunn serving as a steady No. 1A receiver. Throw Nate Swift and Frantz Hardy into the mix, and the Huskers have enough weapons to spread it around.
Oklahoma's offense has been all about ball control and a grinding running game with production not dropping off at all since losing Adrian Peterson. Junior Allen Patrick has rushed for 603 yards in the four games he's started, while missing two with an ankle injury, cranking out a solid 163 yards on 23 carries last week against Oklahoma State. Freshman Chris Brown has been just as effective when getting the call forming a speedy 1-2 punch that has to be effective for the Sooners to win.
Oklahoma will win if... the secondary plays like it has over the last several weeks. Lendy Holmes, Reggie Smith, Darien Williams, Nic Harris and Marcus Walker have come into their own forming a fantastic young secondary that not only held its own against passing teams like Texas Tech and Baylor, it's been downright dominant at times. It struggled a bit last week against Oklahoma State's talented receivers and was picked apart for the first time since the Oregon loss. Taylor will complete his short to midrange passes, but as long as the secondary limits the yards after the catch, OU will be fine.
Nebraska will win if... it forces Paul Thompson to be Peyton Manning. The Sooner quarterback has done a terrific, efficient job of managing games, tempo, and the clock keeping the chains moving time and again when needed, but for the most part, his job has been to hand off, hand off, hand off, and don't turn the ball over. While he was excellent in the win over Texas Tech, he's not the type of passer who'll win a shootout with Taylor. The veteran Husker D line has to force third and long situations over and over again, while the suspect secondary has to do its part and not give up too many big plays. If Thompson is able to stretch the defense, it's over.
What will happen: Do you like the Big 12's most efficient passing game or the league's most efficient pass defense? Each team will get what it needs to on the ground, so it's mostly up to which team's weakness is exposed the most. Can Nebraska handle the speedy Oklahoma receivers on the deep routes? Can Thompson effectively throw the home run ball? Maybe, and yes. Sooner turnovers will keep this from being a rout, but everything else will work for OU's offense.
Line: Oklahoma -4 ...
CFN Prediction: Oklahoma 27 ... Nebraska 21