Who would have thought that Tanner Lee would have actually saved the game. It wasn't exactly an impressive game overall between the two teams (I mean, between the two dumpster fire teams of the Big Ten, what did you expect?) But by all means, we cannot ignore the level of play Tanner has brought to the table. HE HASN'T HAD A PICK IN CONSECUTIVE GAMES LET'S THROW A PARTY!
But seriously. Tanner has greatly improved, it's just very unfortunate that we still get some questionable play calling. If we're barking for coaches' heads to roll, offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf needs to go before Riley does. One thing I was not liking about watching the Purdue game was the way the RBs were being treated. It has been fairly well documented that Nebraska has had better success running the ball when they split the time between Ozigbo and Wilbon featuring Bradley since Bryant has gone down. So clearly when straight up Ozigbo wasn't working, you'd think you'd want to bring in someone else (which EVENTUALLY they did with Bradley in the second half). But ultimately because they tried it too late, they had to pull the running game from the book because Purdue was already stopping it pretty well (again, due to lack of the mix-ups)
Receivers are learning how to not drop a ball so that is also a nice touch. Meanwhile the coveted 3-4 defense isn't exactly holding their end as of late. I know they're a bit depleted on that side of the ball, but let's plug some of those holes a bit better, and please for the love of god learn how to tackle. Getting a last-minute, 1 point win over Purdue isn't exactly something to brag about no matter how decent Purdue has gotten.
The Big Red Breakdown:
Today we see Northwestern come to town. Every year they come ready to play regardless of the season that they've had. And quite frankly, outside of getting murdered by Duke and Penn State, Northwestern has played very well this year keeping it competitive in the Big Ten. Across the board, Northwestern has a very balanced team. Nothing too scary, but also nothing to shy away from other than their competitive play, which should make for an interesting game, as I'm not too sure if Nebraska will have much success poking holes through them. No weaknesses. No big time strengths. Which probably contributes to their 5-3 record. There's nothing wrong with Northwestern, but it's hard to say they're a great team.
If we see the Tanner Lee we've been seeing lately, then I'll have no issues. Unfortunately, we all know that can be a bit of a challenge to hope for something like that.
The Matchup:
Nebraska O vs. Northwestern D: Edge Northwestern. One thing about Pat Fitzgerald's teams is that they are always poised on defense and usually turnover generators. Usually doesn't bode well against a turnover prone Tanner Lee. However, if we can get good Tanner to show up, then this shouldn't be as much of an issue
Nebraska D vs. Northwestern O: Edge Nebraska. Again, nothing too special from Northwestern here. They too like to run on the edges and run some sweeps which will most likely cause issues for Nebraska, but nothing they can't overcome. Hopefully.
Special Teams: Please put Spielman to return. Otherwise beware Northwestern's.
Prediction: Another tightly contested game, which should be the theme for these remaining four games except for Penn State (lol). I think Nebraska can afford one or two miscues as Northwestern isn't one of those teams that can easily pile it on, but definitely still a choppy sea to cross if that becomes the case.
Nebraska 27, Northwestern 20
The Rest of the Week in College Football:
Regression Rankings:
We are now seeing some more consistency as well as some separation. There is a 1.5 projected win gap between Alabama and Washington. On top of that, the next big drop off is .5 wins from Georgia down to Wisconsin.
1) Central Florida (Up 1)
2) Alabama (Down 1)
3) Washington (Up 2)
4) Ohio State (Down 1)
5) Penn State (Down 1)
6) Georgia (Up 2)
7) Wisconsin (-)
8) Notre Dame (Up 1)
9) TCU (Down 3)
10) Auburn (Up 2)
11) Virginia Tech (Down 1)
12) Arizona (Up 4)
13) Oklahoma State (-)
14) Oklahoma (Up 1)
15) South Florida (Down 4)
16) Clemson (Down 2)
17) Arkansas State (Up 1)
18) Ohio (Up 1)
19) Florida Atlantic (Up 3)
20) Toledo (New)
21) Stanford (Down 4)
22) UTSA (Up 3)
23) Mississippi State (New)
24) Iowa State (Down 3)
25) Western Michigan (New)
...
64) Northwestern
...
99) Nebraska (Up 1)
...
126) Rice (Up 2)
127) Kansas (-)
128) East Carolina (Down 2)
129) San Jose State (-)
130) UTEP (-)
If these rankings were reflective, here would be the championship games!
SEC: Alabama vs. Georgia (West vs. East)
Pac-12: Washington vs. Arizona (North vs. South)
B1G: Ohio State vs. Wisconsin (East vs. West)
Big XII: TCU vs. Oklahoma State (Top 2)
ACC: Virginia Tech vs. Clemson (Atlantic vs. Coastal)
Best G5 Team: Central Florida
SMH of the Week:
Stanford! Congrats on proving to the world yet again that yall cannot operate without a competent running back carrying your team. No Bryce Love meant that yall had to MAKE A COMEBACK to beat Oregon State. By 1. While only putting up 15 points. SMH Stanford
Hero of the Week:
Split honors for Illinois and North Carolina! The shittier teams of their respective conferences properly exposed the most overrated teams in their conferences in Wisconsin and Miami respectively by almost beating them! Illinois kept it low, while Miami, like Stanford, needed to make a comeback against North Carolina. Don't worry, we'll see these other two teams again very shortly. But for now, we recognize the efforts of Illinois and North Carolina
Over(rated)Watch:
I'm going to continue picking on the AP poll for these rankings as they still don't have a damn clue how to rank teams.
#4 Wisconsin - OVERFUCKINGRATED. SOMEONE PLEASE BEAT THEM. THEY'RE SO CLOSE TO LOSING. BUT THEY'RE AT INDIANA THIS WEEK SO THEY PROBABLY WON'T. On a related note, props to the playoff committee for dropping them to #9. Still too damn high though.
#9 Miami - Overrated AF. Yep. Time to turn in your chains Miami, your pass to the Top 10 club is officially over as yall almost lost to North Carolina, who is easily the worst team in the ACC. Not just that you almost lost, but you needed to comeback to win. You're only allowed so many close wins. You're like the opposite of Wisconsin. Yeah you got a tough schedule, but you're barely surviving it, including against some of the teams you should have zero trouble with. This week they play Virginia Tech in one of the ranked matchups, that should finally shine some light on this situation one way or another.
#14 Iowa State - Being Watched. Once again poll inertia strikes again! Yeah, the nice upset over TCU puts you in a great spot for any impending Big 12 title aspirations as yall now have 2 of the 3 key wins (TCU and Oklahoma. Still need to play Oklahoma State), but can the momentum keep going? What are the Cyclones limits? They get West Virginia on the road this week in what will definitely make for a true legit or nah test.
No teams were removed from the list last week.
Prediction Center:
Bleh. 2-2-1 week. But not a losing week right? Personally I blame Penn State. Anyway, we are now at 19-7-2, so still single digit losses woo! Here's this weeks slate and listen up, there's a lot of them:
Penn State @ Michigan State - Penn State 38, Michigan State 14
Hardly call this a ranked v ranked matchup. Michigan State is having a good year, but you can't imagine how pissed Penn State is for losing last week.
Clemson @ NC State - Clemson 27, NC State 21
One more litmus test for NC State as Clemson comes into town. Unfortunately I think the dream season for the Wolfpack comes to an end here.
Stanford @ Washington State - Wazzu 34, Stanford 24
This should be an interesting game...? Both teams are somewhat reeling from being overrated, but Washington State still has more quality than Stanford will ever have as a team.
Oklahoma @ Oklahoma State - OK State 41, Sooners 38
Game of the day, and the one that should have the most impact on the Big 12 championship race where the winner should be in, barring Iowa State fuckery. I just think that the Cowboys are the more complete team and the Sooners get exposed too much that OK State should be able to take advantage of. Rivalry games be lit tho yo.
LSU @ Alabama - Alabama 41, LSU 17
LSU is still suffering from being overrated and no one has gotten close to beating Alabama this year.
Virginia Tech @ Miami - VT 27, Miami 20
Here's where Miami should finally get their loss. It'll be a good game, but VT has shown up this year where as Miami hasn't exactly been up to speed since the beginning of the season.
Arizona @ USC - Arizona 41, USC 31
The Arizona hype train is in full speed. Given the inconsistencies of USC, 1) this should be a shootout, and 2) this is where Arizona rightfully claims the Pac-12 South for the name of all that is good and not USC.
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