I think Carolina will win 31-14. Look for the team speed to be too much for Bo's team. Bo don't know these 'Cocks !!! Should be close in the first half but not sure if it will be closeat the end. I do not know how good the Nebraska passing game,if any will be able to clickon the Gamecock's seconary. Probably the real and most significant issue is whether Carolina has been able to recreate the Husker's option game and get the skills to stop it. Certainly there is more than enough speed.

Came across this on SI's PM Hot Clicks yesterday. Animated version of how they perceive Suh's most recent & previous actions on the field.

Make you wonder if Choi's parents (and other foreign players' parents) perceive football to resemble anything like this.

SUH on Taiwan TV

I have to admit that his recent stomping incident seemed to change a lot of people's views about Suh, especially his ludicrous comments after the game.

Some Florida station is reporting that Meyer has agreed (in principle) to go to OSU - 7-year contract & a few million dollars.

Read it here: Meyer to OSU - 7 years & $40 million 

I would think that the imminent NCAA ruling on OSU's violations would play a role in Meyer's decision but maybe he doesn't think it will an issue. Perhaps OSU told him that their self-imposed penalties were enough to satisfy the NCAA, and all the NCAA will do is slap them around a bit.

The past couple of weeks I’ve been seeing these commercials advertising the new indoor electric Turkey fryer by Masterbuilt. I’m always for trying something new, so we purchased one of these this last weekend and this is how we’re going to cook our turkey this year.

I have deep fried turkeys in the past, with the old propane, burn your deck down, Turkey fryer. The taste is awesome and they retain their juiciness perfectly! Last year I cooked two Turkeys, one deep fried and one smoked. The smoked one I actually smoked  in the house, with my smoker of course! Ask me about that sometime!             

The nice thing about this indoor fryer is that, you can do it indoors, which is very convenient when the temp outside is below freezing, it takes half the amount of oil, and super easy cleanup! According to all the videos I’ve watched on this new fryer, it should be a breeze! We will soon find out.

Remember,,, I have not used this fryer yet so this recipe is HOW I’m going to do it, not how I did it. With that being said, on to the recipe.

I’m starting with a 14lb. Turkey that I will soak in a Brine for at least 12 hrs. If you’re not sure about how to do this, it’s really easy. Basically we’re just soaking the Turkey in a bucket of water, for 12 hrs. or so to let the spices penetrate the meat. This will make for a super moist and tender Turkey. Here’s a quick and easy brine solution recipe that I have used many times.

I’m starting with a clean bucket large enough to hold 2+ gallons of water and the Turkey I’m frying. Here are the ingredients I’m mixing into the bucket of water:

             2+ Gallons water, enough to cover Turkey completely.
             2 cups Kosher salt
             3 cups Sugar
             4 TBS Black pepper
             ¼ cup Worcestershire
             1 TBS Thyme
             1 TBS Poultry seasoning
Of course you can toss in any seasoning that you think will work best for you. Whatever you use, It will penetrate the meat and add great flavor. Just remember to keep the brine solution cold! You can even put the Turkey in the solution before it’s completely thawed, and that will help keep the brine cold. The nice thing about brining a Turkey, it doesn’t matter how you cook it, the flavor it adds is worth the extra step!

The next step is firing up the fryer and set the temp at 375 degrees, slowly lower the Turkey into the preheated oil, and cook for 45 minutes or until the internal temp reaches 165 at the thickest part of the breast. Keep in mind that I haven’t used this fryer yet so I have no pictures of the finished product, but I will update everyone on how it turns out,,,with pictures!!    

Im attaching this short video of the fryer and how it’s supposed to work. It looks great and like I said, I WILL follow up with pictures! Good luck and have a great Thanksgiving!!!

I am young enough that I knew nothing of Nebraska during their championship run in the 1990s. So perhaps I'm unqualified to speak about our team and expectations.

My knowledge of Nebraska football begins in 2003. That's right. I became a fan during arguably the worst time in Nebraska history over the last 60 years.

I watched the coaching search debacle, with airplane watching, speeches about mediocrity and hiring the AD's fifth choice. I watched that choice fall to a 5-6 season, no bowl game for the first time in 30-odd years. I watched us in 2005 as Callahan took that 5-6 squad and turn things around for a 8-4 season with a win over Michigan. Fragile hope? I was there for 2006, the Big 12 North championship, the strange post-game celebration of winning the division, the questions of expectations, and getting slaughtered by Oklahoma in the championship. 

I was there for 2007. Oh, 2007. Where the frustrations of the previous four years boiled over. Where Nebraska's fan base became fractured, much like our country today. Where the prestige and expectations of the past clashed with hope and visions of the future. I watched as our team exploded, as our fans exploded. I celebrated the firing of Pederson, of Callahan. I said soronora to Cosgrove and his defense. I celebrated the return of Osborne, not out of any reverence, but in belief that if anyone could fix a football program, it was that man.

I was reserved about the arrival of Pelini but sold when I saw the loyalty and the honesty of a man who went back to finish the job at LSU. I didn't worry about it affecting Nebraska - why would it? We had no bowl game to prepare for.

I watched as Pelini and the team grew around each other. Tying Missouri in 2008 and winning a scrappy game against Clemson in the Gator Bowl. Outright division title and disputed loss of the conference championship to a Texas team that went on to be shellacked by Alabama in 2009 while we demolished Arizona in fury. An off-season of conference intrigue resulting in our departure for the Big Ten come 2011. A season best forgotten, yet punctuated by a close loss to Oklahoma in the Big 12 championship.

Another off-season followed, one that saw the departues of Gilmore and Watson, arrivals of Fisher, Raymond and Els. Promotion of Garrison. Sunshine and rainbows and a calm Bo through spring and summer, leading us to believe that Nebraska's Big 12 speed and agility and talent would have no match in the slower Big Ten, that we'd waltz through the conference.

But this isn't what we've seen, is it? I don't feel like I need to recap our season. So what went wrong? Is Pelini not the answer? Can he not lead us to "greatness"? Will he ever get this team to the consistency necessary to challenge for the Big Ten? For national champion consideration?

I hazard to say we're missing the point of college football if we are debating firing a coach who is winning 9-10 games a season. (I'll ignore the statistics here. I don't think they're all that important in college football, where unranked teams beat ranked teams on a regular basis.)

Continue reading this post »

This is year 4 of the Pelini era.  Losses at home to unranked teams have become a pattern the past 3 seasons.

-2009 Texas Tech and Iowa State

-2010 Texas (We all saw how bad Texas was last season, UCLA whooped them in Austin)

-2011 Northwestern

Today's loss to Michigan didn't come as a surprise or disappoint me.  I was concerned heading into the game with a depleted offensive line missing Andrew Rodriguez and Ben Cotton and being very thin on the defensive line.  Everything that could go wrong did just so against the Wolverines.  The special teams play was atrocious.  When Denard Robinson ran the read option, the defense strung it out fairly well but allowed big gashes up the middle.  Undisciplined play with penalties and turnovers continue to be the trend the last few seasons. 

I have thought since last season's disappointment that Bo isn't the man for Nebraska.  I would have said he's a great defensive coordinator but now I wouldn't even give him that much praise.  Ndamukong Suh looked amazing and raised our defense to another level.  Prince Amukamara was an outstanding corner and Alfonzo Dennard has been just that since returning from injury.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but all three of these were recruited by the Callahan staff.  Dennard may be considered a recruit of Pelini's since he signed in 2008.

So Pelini's defenses excelled with talent he hadn't recruited.  He made the right move in dismissing Shawn Watson and I have been pleased with the progess of Taylor Martinez under Tim Beck's play calling.  Our receivers are huge let downs.  Occassionally a WR will bail Taylor out with an impressive looking catch on a subpar pass but also disappoint with drops.  Taylor's mechanics is the easy scapegoat for fans to rant about.  His play lately has been just fine.

I've come to the conclusion that under Bo Pelini, we'll continue to be mediocre and win 9 or 10 games, nothing of too much importance or note worthy.  Tom Osborne will continue to allow Bo to be the coach as long as he's the AD here.  He went through years of griping fans wanting change.  Steve Pederson was willing to be bold and make the change here.  Hindsight it was the wrong move, I think Frank Solich should have been given one more season with his restructured staff but that didn't happen.  I'm glad that Tom got his opportunity to change things on his own here.  But I'm not willing to be patient for Bo to get things turned around here.  I don't think much will change under Bo.  The moaning and groaning I've been hearing about Pelini is starting to grow more and more.  Change would be great but I know it's not coming in the near future.  I guess I'll have to lower my expectations while this lasts

Ok, I have a confession...I'm one of those fans that loves bowl discussions, projections, and hypotheticals.  It's a big reason why I love the bowl system and oppose a playoff.  Anyway I was watching BTN's Football and Beyond tonight and they were talking about the Big Ten's chances of a second BCS berth.

Obviously the only possibilities are a 10-2 Nebraska or a 10-2 Michigan, but the analysis struck me as interesting.

Basically, here's what one of the analysts said based on his "contacts" in the relevant bowls:

The Fiesta Bowl badly, badly wants Oklahoma-Nebraska, and if OU doesn't make the NCG and if NU finishes 10-2, it's happening.  The Fiesta's had a rough year with the scandal and last year's dud of a game.  NU/OU would be a huge coup for their bottom line and ratings.  If Michigan was the 10-2 team, the Fiesta would take Stanford and let Michigan fall to the Sugar Bowl.

The Sugar Bowl would love Michigan.  For that to happen, Houston must lose as they are automatically in if they win out and the Sugar gets left holding the bag in that scenario.  The Sugar Bowl is in a tough spot if Alabama is the rep from the SEC as there's literally (in my opinion) nobody available to them who could make it a game with the Tide.  At least with Michigan, they'd have a big game brand-wise.

So there we go.  Obviously all of this assumes Nebraska doesn't make Indianapolis, which is a bit of a disappointment, but I don't think there's a fan on here who wouldn't feel better about things with a matchup with OU in a BCS bowl.  We'll know much more about our chances after Saturday's huge game in Ann Arbor.  Even with a 10-2 record, there are no guarantees until the announcements are made, but it's still fun to speculate about right?

WOW !!!!!!!!! I finally win the Corn Nation pickem contest and I find you are no longer posting the weekly winners, when did you stop?  Didn't you used to give weekly prizes ? 

It figures if I was to win the lottery i would probably find out that they ran out of money after the previous jackpot due to corruption. Thats not to suggest that you who provide Corn Nation for us Husker Fans are corupt, more a reflection on my bad luck.

BTW just ignore the second paragraph, I only wrote because the first didn't have enough characters to be posted.

It will be known as the Stagg Championship Trophy.  Here is what Jim Delany had to say:

"We believe that it would be inappropriate to keep Joe Paterno's name on the trophy at this time.  The trophy and its namesake are intended to be celebratory and aspirational, not controversial. We believe that it's important to keep the focus on the players and the teams that will be competing in the inaugural championship game."

I already mentioned to SpartanDan that you could use some lessons on which statistics to show & how they should be displayed. Take a look at SpartanDan's "Race for the Roses" breakdown and you'll see what I mean. And they have some colors thrown in there too!

Race for the Roses

The Huskers chances? Well, take a look yourself! A lot of things could happen in the next 2 weeks but most of those things are not in the Huskers' control. As long as they do their part and win against MICH and IOWA, then perhaps things might just roll our way.