The Local Team drops one game on the road against a team most thought would give it fits all along and fans are all up in arms, clamoring for heads to roll, players to lose their jobs and complete schematic overhauls.
I'm here to assure you that everything is going to be okay.
Urban Meyer's never lost two-straight regular-season games at Ohio State. There's a first for everything, but if y'all really think the corn people are strolling into Columbus and leaving with anything other than a four-touchdown L, I've got news.
We're talking about a team that hasn't even forced the Buckeyes to punt since my senior year of high school and has been outscored by a total 101 the past two games.
But this year's Cornhusker squad is quite a bit different – it's worse.
The Huskers currently have the same number of losses as those previous two teams combined – with one of those coming courtesy of the mighty Troy Trojans. To their credit though, they do have wins against powerhouses Minnesota and Bethune Cookman.
There's just no way the Buckeyes roll into this game after a disappointing loss and bye week wearing their alternate black uniforms and loses to a 2-6 team at home.
That's not how this works, and our corn friends are about to learn that the hard way.
And folks, if it's after 9 a.m. and you don't have a Stiff Arm and an arsenal of food within your grasps yet, you're doing today wrong. IT'S DUBGATE WEEKEND, BABY.
| TIME (ET) | MATCHUP | FAVORITE | TV CHANNEL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12:00 | NEBRASKA @ #10 OHIO STATE | OSU (-19) | FOX |
| 12:00 | #20 TEXAS A&M @ AUBURN | AUB (-3.5) | ESPN |
| 12:00 | #24 IOWA STATE @ KANSAS | ISU (-16) | FSN |
| 12:00 | LOUISVILLE @ #2 CLEMSON | CLEM (-38.5) | ABC |
| 12:00 | #19 SYRACUSE @ WAKE FOREST | SYR (-5) | CHSS |
| 3:30 | #13 WEST VIRGINIA @ #17 TEXAS | TEX (-2) | FOX |
| 3:30 | #6 GEORGIA @ #9 KENTUCKY | UGA (-8) | CBS |
| 3:30 | FLORIDA STATE @ #21 NC STATE | NC STATE (-9.5) | ABC |
| 3:30 | #16 IOWA @ PURDUE | PUR (-3) | ESPN2 |
| 3:45 | #14 PENN STATE @ #5 MICHIGAN | MICH (-12) | ESPN |
| 3:45 | #22 BOSTON COLLEGE @ VIRGINIA TECH | BC (-2) | CHSS |
| 4:00 | #15 UTAH @ ARIZONA STATE | UTAH (-7.5) | PACN |
| 4:00 | MISSOURI @ #11 FLORIDA | UF (-6.5) | SECN |
| 7:15 | #4 NOTRE DAME @ NORTHWESTERN | ND (-10) | ESPN |
| 7:30 | LA TECH @ #18 MISSISSIPPI STATE | MISS ST (-23.5) | SECN |
| 8:00 | #1 ALABAMA @ #3 LSU | BAMA (-14) | CBS |
| 8:00 | #7 OKLAHOMA @ TEXAS TECH | OKLA (-13.5) | ABC |
| 10:30 | #23 FRESNO STATE @ UNLV | FRESNO (-26) | CBSS |
| 10"45 | CALIFORNIA @ #8 WASHINGTON STATE | WAZZU (-9) | ESPN |
Word of the Day: Lambaste.
THAT 11W PREGAME FIX.
- Game Preview.
- Q&A with Nebraska beat writer Erin Sorenson.
- 10 Reasons to hate.
- Five Things to Know.
- Roundtable.
- Game Poster.
- Game Trailer.
- Our picks against the spread.
- It's a big recruiting weekend for Ohio State.
BEST THEY'VE FACED. Hey, it turns out Dwayne Haskins – who is almost certainly the best passing quarterback in Ohio State history – might be one of the best quarterbacks the Huskers face this season.
From Husker Online:
Heading into Saturday’s showdown in Columbus, Haskins has topped 400 yards passing in OSU’s past three games, and he also became the first quarterback in Big Ten history to open a season with five or more touchdown passes on three different occasions.
Even when Haskins has been relatively off – like he was in the Buckeyes’ loss at Purdue two weeks ago – he’s been breaking records. Haskins set school records for pass attempts (73) and yards (470) against the Boilermakers.
All of that is why Nebraska’s defensive coaching staff agrees that Haskins will be the best quarterback the Blackshirts will face all season.
“He’s right up there at the top,” NU defensive coordinator Erik Chinander said. “We’ve played a couple good ones. Obviously, there’s some guys who can really throw the football. He can throw it; he can run it pretty adequately when he has to.
“He can make all the throws, and I think he’s very well-coached on where to go with the football when he can tell what coverage it is. So I think he’s right at the top of guys that we’ve played.”
That's great to hear coming from an opposing coach, but Haskins better have nowhere near 400 yards passing today, for a more than few reasons.
KYLE “FLYOVER” CASSADY. Howard "Hopalong" Cassady used to dominate on the ground in Ohio Stadium for the Buckeyes during his 1955 Heisman Trophy season. Saturday, his grandson is going to own the skies.
Let's recap: The grandson of one of Ohio State's earliest Heisman Trophy winners is taking a break from his day job flying the most sophisticated bomber in the world to perform a flyover in the skies above the field his grandfather used to own.
Bucks by 70.
FIVE QUICK WINNERS. I went 2-3 last week, and it could have been much worse because the two wins were quite narrow. That brings my total to 20-25 on the year, which is bad, but still correctable. I'm still waiting on that big week, and folks, this could be it.
Ohio State -19 Against Nebraska
This is like a dream come true – an extremely overvalued Nebraska team meets an extremely undervalued Ohio State team. The Huskers were straight up atrocious for the first six weeks of the season, then they beat Minnesota and Bethune Cookman and everyone assumes they're fixed? Meanwhile, preseason national title contender Ohio State loses one game on the road and folks are talking about the program falling apart. Perceptions about both of these programs are just wrong, and I'll take advantage of it.
Georgia -8 Against Kentucky
I think Georgia is at least 14 points better than Kentucky, so I'll roll the dice with eight. Georgia has a less-than-exceptional run defense and the Wildcat offense is really only potent on the ground and not really a threat through the air whatsoever. But here's a secret: it's not really that hard to stop the run if you just load the box. I expect Georgia to do just that, and force Kentucky to win through the air. I am extremely confident the Wildcats will not be able to do that against Georgia's cornerbacks.
San Jose State at Wyoming under 39 total points
Yes, I am actually picking this game, and yes, that is the actual total.
You could not set this total low enough in this game. This was always going to be a low-scoring contest since neither of these teams have anything close to a prolific offense – they're the 101st and 126th scoring offenses in the country – but the weather is what really seals it. We're looking at 30 degree temperatures with steady winds at 25 miles per hour. This game might finish with a score of 6-5.
Duke at Miami under 50.5 total points
Here's the deal, Miami's offense is just very bad regardless of the quarterback, but the Canes do have a legitimately good defense with a disruptive pass rush. I don't think Miami scores more than thrice in this game on purpose, nor will Duke. The only thing that could ruin this is a defensive score or just something catastrophic happening. But I'll take my chances.
LSU +14 Against Alabama
I can't believe I'm doing it, but here I am. I think this game is a low scoring affair and that LSU's defense will keep it close. So far this season, Alabama's offense has relied on throwing the ball downfield, but they have yet to play a team with athletes that can run stride for stride with them. LSU's secondary is the best Alabama has faced so far and will face all season. My biggest fear is that I'm not convinced the Tigers are going to score a ton of points to help the defense out, but if they can control the clock and get a touchdown or two, I think this game is closer than two scores.
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