I’m surprised that ESPN doesn’t have the Nebraska Cornhuskers on a prime time Saturday night this year. It speaks a little to their perception nationally.
I would think they would have to be considered the third or fourth best team in the Big Ten. Of course, we know just how bad the conference was last year. And the Huskers actually have a legitimate passer; something few Big Ten teams do. Taylor Martinez leads a high powered passing offense for the Nebraska Cornhuskers; very few of their Big Ten brethren truly have a passing game.
ESPN’s Brent Musburger was on conference call the other day and this is where he ranks NU:
“you would put Nebraska in the top 20. Maybe not high, and certainly not in the Top?10 right now but I think they deserve consideration for the top 20 and Herbie, they could still become a major factor in the race for the Big 10 Championship,” he said.
Kirk Herbstreit was on the call too. And he chimed in:
“that division is going to be an absolute interesting race, when you think of Nebraska and Northwestern and Michigan and Michigan State, that’s going to be a heck of a fight.”
And then he brought up the albatross that hangs around the Nebraska Cornhuskers neck:
“I’m concerned about their defense. Last year they gave up a lot of big plays. They lost seven defensive starters from that defense. As we sit here right now before seeing this new defense, it’s only fair to wonder ?? are they going to be better, even though there’s going to be a lot of new faces on that side of the ball.”
I know that Bo is one of the better defensive minds in the game, and I know that it had to drive him crazy, not just last year, but the year before, where some of the games just did not look like Nebraska defense.”
He also mentioned turnovers, which of course is the number one complaint of all Nebraska Cornhuskers fans; it was a big bugaboo last year. It could cost them the UCLA game this year. Losing to the Bruins last year really hurt.
Herbstreit summarized the Nebraska Cornhuskers make or break games in 2013: “they get ready for a tough stretch of Northwestern, Michigan, Michigan State, Penn State; you could say that Northwestern, or even the Michigan game on the road in Ann Arbor, are kind of a make?or?break type of game for them to try to compete and win that division this year.”
Paul M. Banks is the owner of The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. An analyst for 95.7 The Fan, he also writes on Chicago sports media for Chicago Now. President Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)