The Hokie Hussle
Virginia Tech came in to Lincoln and edged out a 35-30 win over the Huskers. Make no mistake folks, this game wasn’t as close as the final score indicates. The Huskers held the Hokies to 4 straight FG’s and kept NU in the game. And if it were not for Nate Swifts most unlikely punt return for a TD to spark Nebraska, it might have been a different story. But, NU did battle back from 18 down and showed a lot of heart coming back.
But, this game finally did show where Nebraska is at. We’re clearly not a Top 25 team. Defensively, we still have a LONG way to go. I think we knew that after the first 3 games, but this solidified it. The O-line has some glaring weaknesses (VT consistently got pressure on Joe rushing only 4 people). Roy Helu Jr. should be our starting RB. Marlon just isn’t getting it done. Helu should be seeing 75% of the snaps, instead of the 25% that he’s seeing now. And what was with that game plan Coach Watson? Some of the play calling was just bizarre against VT. Take for example NU’s 2nd drive. Lucky 4 yd run, Lucky 4 yd run, Joe Ganz incomplete pass. WTF?!!? On a 3rd and 2 you pass after two straight 4 yard gains? If you want to establish the run do it right there. And then Beemer Ball goes into full effect with the blocked punt for a safety.
I wasn’t as excited for this game before hand because it seemed it wasn’t the matchup it could have been. VT got upset the first game of the year to ECU and it seemed to take some luster off of the matchup. VT had played well in the weeks following but it seemed that it was a very even matchup that was winnable. But for some reason, the night crowd always amps me up and by game time I’m ready to go. And props to the VT fans showing up. Man alive there were a lot of Hokie fans in Lincoln. They too have a great passion for football and represented themselves well in Lincoln. Talking with VT fans afterwords they loved their visit to Lincoln (being that they won was only extra special) and was very impressed with the experience. One Hokie fan admitted to me that they kept expecting something bad to happen to them as if they were getting a cloak pulled over their eye and when they weren’t looking, getting a punch to the face but they never did. Lets keep it that way Husker fans. I love hearing from out of towners that have nothing but good things to say about Lincoln after they visit. I want it to be that way always, win or lose.
Well, we now come to the Big 12 slate and what a matchup we have to start it off. Mizzou comes to town toting a #3 & #4 ranking and looking to shake off 30 years of demons in Lincoln. The Tigers have not won in Lincoln since 1978, 15 straight times. I just don’t see this going well for the Huskers. This is Mizzou’s best shot at winning in Lincoln and this could be their last shot at making a run at a National Championship for a while so there is going to be no letting up on the Big Red. They are going to score, they are going to score often and they won’t be putting 2nd stringers. Nebraska CAN NOT win in a scoring battle. We will lose every time in that scenario. We have to hold them to under 30 to stand a chance in this game. Mizzou is too high powered on O and we still don’t have the horses to get into a shootout.
This is why the VT matchup was so crucial. With a grim outlook not only in this weeks game against Mizzou but in next weeks road game at Texas Tech (who BTW have moved up to #7 & #8 in the latest polls), Last weeks 3-0 might turn into 3-3 really quickly. We’re gonna need to steal one of these next two on the road or things could start to go downhill.
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