You read right. The Nebraska Cornhuskers 17-3 victory over the dreaded South Dakota State Jack Rabbits may just serve as the greatest 17-3 victory in the entire programs history. Why you ask?
Simply put...it may have woken a sleeping giant. Nebraska was fresh off a pummeling of the Washington Huskies in Seattle, Wa. The nation had finally taken note of what was quite possibly the sketchiest of the preseason Top 10 teams, embracing them as a National Title darkhorse now. Then it came.
The almighy Jack Rabbits went into Memorial Stadium on Homecoming nonetheless and only lost by 14 points. The Huskers, for the first time this season, looked vulnerable. Now you may think I'm crazy, but I honestly believe this was the best thing that could've happened on Saturday. Kansas State was already the scariest game on the schedule in my opinion. It had the smell of the biggest trap game in history to me. Going on the road for only the second time all season into a hostile environment on a Thursday night, playing a team the literally rests its season on beating Nebraska. Bill Snyder will have his kids jacked up for this one because honestly it could determine the Big 12 North. Had Nebraska beat SDSU in a rout, I would have felt very uncomfortable heading into Manahattan. Call me crazy, but I honestly feel much safer now. Bo Pelini has his team feeling as if they havn't earned anything (which is true), a feeling they definitely wouldn't have felt had they scored 50 points again.
Prior to this uninspired win, I would've given us a 3 point edge heading into next Thursday. Now you ask? I think we win this game by at least a touchdown and possibly two or more. If you think Bo won't have this team focused you'd be crazy. The fact he has this verbal ammunition for the next two weeks will have the Huskers geared on the Wildcats and dreaming of Daniel Thomas' face, while other teams have nightmares of him. The Blackshirts will be very, very stout next Thursday....I honestly believe that. Anytime you give Bo and Carl two weeks to prepare a defense, it usually turns out pretty well, especially considering K States offense leaves a lot to be desired outside the run game.
So basically, what I'm saying is this 17-3 'defeat' that Big Red Nation is up in arms about needs to be embraced rather than bashed. This awoke our beloved Huskers and will carry us through what was the ultimate trap game, on to Texas and a memorable season. This could end up being the greatest 17-3 win our our tradition-rich programs history! (More so than Bo's first head coaching job in the Alamo Bowl against Michigan State)