As Husker Mike pointed out earlier, this is such a bad week for college football that even that networks are struggling to find games decent enough to broadcast. Sad thing is, people like Mark May, Lou Holtz and all these guys that do this for a living have to pretend it’s a weekend like any other. They’ll be playing up the parity, the “everyone has athletes" angles, but don’t believe it. It is a weekend of suck.

Since we don’t do this for a living, we don’t have to pretend. We’re not going to bother predicting (or caring, maybe?) about all of the Big 12 teams. There are games against four IAA teams this week, so what’s the point?

In that spirit, Mike and I had a conversation about a few of the games, but instead of predicting all the Big 12 games, we decided to just pick the overall score of the Big 12 versus the opponents. I’d encourage you to do the same in the comments section.

Overall points Big 12 versus opponents:

Husker Mike: 657-181
Corn Blight: 723 -191.

Texas Tech - Nevada
Corn Blight: How many points do you think Texas Tech will score over Nevada?
Husker Mike: Tech will probably score in the 40's.
Corn Blight: 40's?
Husker Mike: But Nevada might score 35 or more.
Corn Blight: Graham Harrell will score 40 by himself. And I mean himself - Graham Harrell & Michael Crabtree 40, rest of team 38 for 78 points
Husker Mike: Well, I figure all of Tech's scoring is going to be touchdown passes.
Corn Blight: to 56 for Nevada. So Texas Tech 78, Nevada 56.
Husker Mike: 78-56?  Youwza
Corn Blight: oh hell yeah.
Husker Mike: I'll go 49-45 Tech.
Corn Blight: Wow. That's close.
Husker Mike: I think Nevada is better than the team that got spanked 52-7 in lincoln.
Corn Blight: I gave them 56 points. They'll be tired. I take that back. They'll score 56 and then, like the stock market approaching a new high, they'll get scared to go over 56. Have they ever been over 56? Probably not. It's a terrifying ceiling for some teams.
Corn Blight: Plus, no one plays defense anymore. lt's a lost art. like blacksmithing.

Texas A&M - New Mexico
Corn Blight: Texas A&M will score 8
Husker Mike: Wow, Sagarin has A&M #70 and NM #79. Why the hell is A&M traveling to NEW MEXICO
Corn Blight: they want to recruit in New Mexico.
Husker Mike: pfffft
Husker Mike: Does Bobby Newcombe have a little brother?
Corn Blight: Hey, New Mexico puts out one or two guys a year don't they? They'd put out more, but they're all out deer hunting.
Husker Mike: Or looking for aliens
Husker Mike: A&M 13 New Mexico 9
Corn Blight: New Mexico 10, Texas A&M 8
Corn Blight: I'm thinking the Aggies go 0-12 this season. Javorskie Lane will cry a lot.

Georgia Tech - Boston College
Husker Mike: GT got their token 1-AA win in...now reality hits. Transformations like that take time.
Corn Blight: Georgia Tech doesn't have Chan Gailey anymore. That's worth five more points a game right there. The game should just start 5-0 for GT
Husker Mike: BC 35, GT 9
Corn Blight: BC 27, GT 14
Corn Blight: That's 9+5  you know.
Husker Mike: OK, that's 1 FG, 2 safeties, and a TD
Corn Blight: Works for me

Miami - Florida
Husker Mike: Randy Shannon ain't the answer at the U, either.
Corn Blight: They needed him. They're not in jail. They have to have a cooling off period, like the earth.
Husker Mike: Florida 45, Miami 13
Corn Blight: Florida 31, Miami 10

Stanford - Arizona State
Corn Blight: Dennis Erickson versus Jim Harbaugh. That game could be worth watching just to see the coaches expressions.
Husker Mike: Upset spe-shul
Husker Mike: The Tree 27, Sparky 24
Corn Blight: I keep going back to that deal with the devil on Erickson.
Corn Blight: I'll go with just the reverse, Sparky 27, Tree 24

West Virginia - East Carolina
Corn Blight: Is West Virginia - ECU worth talking about?
Husker Mike: Since ECU took out Tech last week, I s'pose
Husker Mike: Don't ask me about this one though.I'm going to SWAG it.
Corn Blight: SWAG?
Husker Mike: Simple Wild A$$ Guess
Corn Blight: Oh, yeah, you have to.
Husker Mike: WVa 37, Lou's Boy 13
Husker Mike: Or should I say.... RichRod's $4 million:  37, Lou's Boy 13
Corn Blight: yeah, West Virginia still has a gob of offense.
Corn Blight: Mountaineers 28, ECU 21.
Corn Blight: Wait those are scores from the old days where people play defense
Corn Blight: WVU, ECU 35-24

Duke - Northwestern
Husker Mike: Sad thing that might be one of the better match ups out there
Corn Blight: This is the Big 10 vs. the ACC, isn't it. There's something horribly ironic that it's one of the better games of the weekend
Husker Mike: Northwestern usually sucks, Duke consistently sucks
Husker Mike: NW 18, Duke 6
Corn Blight: Battle of the nerds?
Husker Mike: NERRRRDS!!!!!111!!!11!!!  Bwent Mushbewgew
Corn Blight: Maybe this weekend was pre-arranged by a whole bunch of carefully placed genius schedulers, all in an effort to get some exposure, some recognition.Husker Mike: What exposure?
Corn Blight: We're talking about it, aren't we?
Husker Mike: Yeah, but we're sitting in our parents basement with our laptop in our underwear.
Corn Blight: Northwestern vs Duke is broadcast online at CSTV's XXL site. NERDS will see it.
Corn Blight: Northwestern 23, Dukies 16


Ohio - Ohio State
Corn Blight: Ohio vs Buckeyes. OMG!
Husker Mike: Ohio really wants this one.
Husker Mike: tOSU really wants the Trojans.
Husker Mike: tOSU favored by 35.
Husker Mike: If I was going to vegas, I'd put my money on the Bobcats.
Corn Blight: If you were taking points, I might take Ohio.
Husker Mike: Bobcats tired of being dissed by OSU.
Corn Blight: You're talking yourself into this.
Husker Mike: I know...I'll just take the points.
Husker Mike: tOSU 27, OU 13
Corn Blight: tOSU 52, Ohio whatever 52-34 is.
Husker Mike: wooowee
Corn Blight: 18. That's it. It's 18.
Husker Mike: But 86 points?
Corn Blight: No defense anywhere anymore. So OSU 52, OU 18
Husker Mike: True

Buffalo - Pittsburgh
Husker Mike: Oh wow...
Corn Blight: What's that?
Husker Mike: Picking that game.
Husker Mike: Heart:  Turner Gill 35, Steve Pederson 24
Husker Mike: Head:  Pitt 27, Buffalo 10
Corn Blight: I'm picking Buffalo 23, Pitt 20
Corn Blight: because I think Dave Wannstache really sucks that bad and for some reason Turner Gill has those guys believing. Even scoring 42 against UTEP.
Husker Mike: The Pornstache sucks royally, to be sure.
Corn Blight: Granted UTEP isn't the greatest competition, but hey, everyone would have said that about Buffalo before that game too. That, and I BELIEVE IN KARMA!
Husker Mike: Karma...heh heh

Nebraska - San Jose State
Husker Mike: Oh... NU 56, SJSU 13
Corn Blight: Nebraska 56 - sounds right.
Corn Blight: but the Spartans will score 20 and everyone will complain.
Corn Blight: They'll score 20 in the second half. After a 35-0 lead in the first half for Nebraska.
Husker Mike: If it's against the scrubs, I won't be as upset.
Corn Blight: hopefully we'll see a lot of guys playing.
Corn Blight: Nebraska 56, SJSU 20

It's a given that I'll be watching the SJSU game Saturday, plopping down another $29.95 to Fox. It's looking like the pay per view ordering process is about the same as it was last week, except maybe the Dish Network and DirecTV channels have changed a little.

I talked my sister who lives in Lincoln last night and she said that there were tons of people in line at the cable store to buy the game. You have to stand in line? What friggin' century is the cable outfit living in?

Are you buying this one? Are you like me and you have to watch because of a Husker dependency problem? Or was your experience not worth the effort this week? Or do you think it's just too much of a stinker?

Hi, My Name is Jon. I'm A Huskeraholic.

Just like last week, we'll be here with a Game Day thread. I won't have nearly as many beers in me by the time rolls around (at 11:30 am I can pretty much guarantee it will be zero), and I'd love to have the company.

The upcoming game against San Jose State isn’t all that interesting when you look at the two teams, so instead of doing a regular preview, I sat down with our new mascot Cobby to discuss the upcoming game. (I wouldn’t consider this so much as talking to myself as I would another voice in my head. And yes, he answers back, so just go with it, eh?)

Who are we playing this week?

The San Jose State Spartans.

The Spartans!? You mean like in the movie "300"?  Will they have swords?
No, they won’t have swords, but it might make it more interesting if they did. 
They’re not any good?

No. It’s hard to get excited about this one, everything appears that it should be an old-fashioned Nebraska butt-kicking where the Huskers win 72-3. If we don’t there’s something wrong.

What’s so bad about 72-3?

Well, it’s not much of a challenge is it? Kind of like setting the PS2 to the easy level and squashing the crap out of an already bad team.

And what’s so bad about that?

(Realizing there is no winning this one) Let’s move on, shall we? San Jose State is the third largest city in California, 10th largest in the country. It’s a ways north of Los Angeles, just south of San Francisco. It’s actually not too far from Yosemite National Park. There was an old song - "Do you know the way to San Jose?" - we could look it up in iTunes if you want.

No.

Why not?

You said it’s old. Is there anything interesting about the San Jose State football team?

They run the spread.

What’s that?

It’s the offense of today, the latest fad. Michigan paid millions of dollars to get a coach who knows how it works. Teams that run it automatically have a huge advantage over those that don’t, so everyone worries about defending it and everyone wants to be running it or they appear out of fashion.

What do you think of the spread?

I think it’s just another term for margarine.

You created me so you could torture me with bad jokes? That’s really cruel.

(Thinking maybe I did create him for that purpose....) Let’s continue. San Jose State had to come from behind for their win last week. They had to score a touchdown with eight seconds left to beat UC-Davis.

Who’s UC-Davis?

Exactly. San Jose State has a fairly respectable coach, Dick Tomey. He’s fourth on the active wins category behind Bobby Bowden, Joe Paterno, and Mack Brown. I’m not 100% sure if that’s because he’s really good, or just that he’s been around for a long time. Still, if you’re a head coach for a long time, you can’t be all bad.

Do they have any good players? Or what about statistics? People love those.

Well, against UC Davis, the Spartans rushed for 42 net yards, 28 of those coming from their new starting quarterback Kyle Reed, and 20 of that on one play. They threw for 231 yards, Reed after coming in the second half was 14 of 18 for 132 yards and two touchdowns and he finished with a 176 passing rating. Reed was at Cal, but transferred. Then there’s a guy named Kevin Jurovich who caught 11 balls last week, including the game winner.

On defense there’s defensive back Christopher Owens who returns this year whose 12 career interceptions are tied for second most amongst returning players this season. He picked off #13 last week. He’s a projected NFL draft pick, too.

That doesn’t sound too bad.

You can almost always make numbers sound good. The most important statistic about San Jose State is the number 15,465. That was the average attendance at their games last season. Given they have a large number of young players, it’s going to be 14-0 before they stop thinking "Sea of Red" and start thinking about playing football.

Is there anything good about this game?

  Two things I can think of. It’s a chance to see a whole bunch of young guys play for Nebraska and how they look on the field. That’s not so bad. The other thing to remember is that the previous regime would have served this plate of poop up and asked us to pretend it’s a steak dinner. At least there’s not the pretense this time around, which is rather refreshing.

It's on pay per view for $29.95, which is a lot for this kind of game.

So, if it costs too much and it’s going to be a bad game then why are you going to watch it anyway?

 
Because I can’t bare not watching it.

Did you ever stop to think you may have a dependency problem?

…

Quick note, I did not include Thursday's South Carolina - Vandy game in my list of games this week, so you're okay for a couple days yet, but be sure to get your picks in.

Week 1 Winners Are As Follows:

I still have yet to hear from three of you regarding your mailing addresses so you can pick up a free copy of "A Sea of Red 2008". If you're not interested in that, contact me anyway.

You can still join the game, keep in mind we're trying to give away prizes on a weekly basis, so you can still win a week and get something. That's not so bad, is it?

I'd like to introduce the newest member of Corn Nation's staff, our new mascot Cobby.

Cobby will be assisting in articles, such as in the upcoming San Jose State preview. If Cobby had a theme song, it would be the Bluegrass song "Keep on the Sunny Side", which all y'all might remember from the movie "Brother, Where Are Thou". You know, the one where Bo Pelini thought Lil Red had turned into a toad.

Keep on the sunny side - always on the sunny side
Keep on the sunny side of life
It will help us every day it will brighten all our way
If we keep on the sunny side of life

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Georgia	--
2	Southern Cal	2
3	Ohio State	1
4	Oklahoma	2
5	Florida	--
6	Missouri	3
7	LSU	1
8	West Virginia	2
9	Texas Tech	--
10	Texas	1
11	Wisconsin	1
12	Alabama	14
13	California	--
14	South Florida	1
15	Auburn	1
16	Brigham Young	1
17	Kansas	1
18	Wake Forest	1
19	Penn State	1
20	Illinois	1
21	Clemson	14
22	UCLA	4
23	Boston College	--
24	Oklahoma State	1
25	Oregon	1

What the hell is that?

A guy from Ohio State and a guy from Michigan getting all palsy? Isn't that inherently wrong? Aren't you worried that Bo and Woody will be visiting you in your dreams to set things straight, and won't stop until the logo is changed?

Shouldn't you have a logo showing you stabbing each other? I don't get it.

Signed,

A BIg 12 guy who thought you all hated each other.

Nebraska football player Andy Christensen has been found not guilty of first degree sexual assault. A Lancaster County District Court jury reached the decision on Tuesday.

I'm no lawyer, but I think that this type of case is very difficult to prove because it basically comes down to a 'he said, she said' situation. Christensen previously plead guilty to resisting arrest and criminal mischief. I have my opinions about this, but I'd like to hear what you guys have to say about it. Does Pelini suspend him for a few games but let him return to the team? Or should his playing days at Nebraska be over and done?