[Husker] Thoughts on the season and the upcoming Cotton Bowl

[rczeranko at juno.com]

I have yet to watch the Coach Callahan Show. Fox Sports Midwest replays it on Tuesdays after it airs in Nebraska. (As an aside, those of you that got screwed by cable and their implementation of Game Plan may want to get DirecTV. I get the Sports package which includes all the FSN networks, and Game Plan shows all the games.)
 
Now back to the Big-XII Championship game. Except for a big play in the first half and 'the drive' I thought the defense played very well against OU. It was probably their best game. It is too bad that Zac Taylor didn't have his best game. The early turn over hurt, then Jackson breaking his hand essentially stopped the running game. I saw Wilson in there and that was it. OU made Nebraska one dimensional and took advantage of it. There may have been a 'revenge' factor given that Thompson may have felt that he deserved Big-XII OPY (shades of Tommie Frazier running over Florida in the Fiesta Bowl after being runner up for the Heisman). It would have been cool if Nebraska has lined up in the wishbone against OU for a play or two.
 
I was surprised that Nebraska let 10-20 seconds run off the clock before calling the time-out at the end of the first quarter. Then they would have had 40-50 seconds instead of the 30 to try to generate some momentum. This game reminded me a little of the OSU game. Nebraska was never really able to seize momentum and keep it. But it sure was nice to see Nebraska playing Oklahoma for the conference championship (the way it should be every year).
 
And in my opinion a 10-2 Auburn is a better opponent than an undefeated Boise State. This is no slight on Boise State. However, if OU wins then it's 'well, it was only Boise State'. Or if OU loses, then it will be a huge embarrassment. I think that Nebraska will match up with Auburn. Coach Callahan does better when he has time to prepare. So, that is on Nebraska's side. Auburn has a great defense, so I hope that the ground game is strong. If it is, that should open up the air attack.
 
Defensively, if Nebraska plays well they should be able to hold Auburn's offense. I always expect a defense to give up 1-3 big plays, typically one per half. Nebraska cannot afford to let the offense sustain a 80-90+ yard drive. I would like to see more blitzes as well. Nebraska does very well when the defense is aggressive. I don't know why they don't do it more often.
 
Well, that's about it for now. Hopefully Santa will bring in New Year with a Husker win in the Cotton Bowl!
 
Go Big Red!
 
PS Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all you Lister out there!
 
Rob Czeranko