I love all the confidence Husker fans are putting into this thread. But the base of the pyramid is defense, and Sparty has that in spades. Their offense has proven they can score points in bunches against bad defenses. Against the best offense they've faced, healthy and with all their main guns firing, Sparty's D gave up 28 points - half of which came when the game was already a blowout.
Nebraska is bringing a very injured, inconsistent and turnover-prone offense into this game. Our O Line is a patchwork and without three starters. Two thirds of our starting WR corps is hobbled, if not out entirely. We have a fantastic running back, but he's got a banged-up line blocking for him against a very stout run D.
We start a QB making his sixth career start, whose TD/INT ratio is abysmal. Whose knee is three months off being scoped. His backup is a game QB with two bad knees, who has also been known to throw ill-advised passes. The QB who torched this defense for 200+ yards last year may never take another snap for this team again.
Our defense has played great football - for the last six quarters. The six quarters before that, they gave up 55 points and over 100 yards of offense per quarter. When Sparty has faced spotty defenses they have scored around 30 points a game. If the Blackshirts who faced Michigan show up, Sparty may score no more than 10-17 points.
But against that defense, with our offense, that may be more than enough.
I'll be shouting myself hoarse for four quarters this Saturday. But I don't think a victory will be easy, and I for certain don't expect a victory.
Give Sparty props. Offensive inconsistency aside, they have a stellar defense. And that scares the crap outta me.
