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Bringing you coverage of Nebraska and Big Ten sports and other stories from college football and beyond.
Apparently someone forgot to tell Nebraska that the pajama party thing was a joke. After a lackluster and frankly nightmarish first half, Nebraska showed it's real potential in the second half, outscoring Wisconsin 20-0 after the Badger's last touchdown. And in a move which will likely frustrate Badger partisans for a while, Bielema subbed in a cold Danny O'Brien on their final drive which eventually resulted in a come-back bid killing miscommunication. A botched hand-off to Montee Ball was bounced out by the much-maligned Alonzo Whaley and recovered by safety Harvey Jackson. Statistics and play-by-play are available at the HuskerMax Game Page. For a look back at the week that was, visit our Game Hub for Wisconsin 2012.
While Nebraska came away with the win, the slow start is and should be concerning. Clearly, the biggest hurdle this team faces to becoming a perennial BCS challenger is to get out of their own way. But that's Pelini's job, right? By all accounts, Memorial Stadium was rocking and gave Nebraska the edge and confidence necessary to seal the come-from-behind victory.
Pollsters have moved Nebraska to #21 in the AP Poll and #20 in the Coaches' Poll. The only other ranked Big Ten foe eligible for post-season play is Northwestern, entering the AP and Coaches' at 24 and 22, respectively.
Nebraska's next challenge comes quickly, as they travel to Columbus, Ohio for a night game at the Horseshoe, another 100k-plus stadium. If you forgot, Nebraska's last visit to such a stadium ended badly. Hopefully, Nebraska makes a game of it against some Ohio school's Buckeyes despite the incredibly hostile environment. A win against Ohio State would make Nebraska the presumptive favorite in the Big Ten but a loss doesn't take us out of the running by any means.
The game kicks off at 7pm CDT on ABC. With Gameday at some SEC school, it won't be Kirk and Brent calling the game but expect lots of love for Urban Meyer anyway.
#teamsunshine sees a win. How about you?
GOODMORNING WORLD THANK YOU GOD FOR LETTING ME BE APART OF HUSKERNATION HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT DAY
— Alfonzo Dennard (@FonzieDennard15) September 30, 2012
Alfonzo Dennard seems to be on #teamsunshine.
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The Check-Down Pass:
Can we find a business person willing to act as a steward instead of a CEO?
What do you all think? Is the Big 12 defense-optional football "good football"? Or the Big Ten slugfests? What kind of football is SEC football?
This Weekend on CN:
I think this one gets hung up on the refrigerator. Not because we're overly ecstatic over the grades, but because after the first quarter, it was hard to see the final result.
Jake Sorensen and Will Grubb of 93.7 The Ticket bring you the postgame video report of the Huskers 30-27 comeback win over Wisconsin. Take a look!
Team Jack:
On or off the field, man, aren't we lucky to have Rex Burkhead? He's establishing an incredible legacy at Nebraska. And I believe it'll carry forth, even as Rex moves on to other pursuits next season.
Shirley announced Saturday that an anonymous donor has graciously pledged to match donations made to the Nebraska football team's Uplifting Athlete's chapter, up to $100,000, for all pledges or donations received by the chapter before the next bowl game. "This money, as well as all other money raised," Shirley said, "will go towards pediatric brain cancer research – the rare disease the Nebraska Chapter has chosen to support."
Football (4-1, 1-0 B1G)
Let's do the 1942 look next time, adidas.
Congratulations to both!
Commentary:
A fair assessment of a game that was closer than it should've been. (Apologies to Wisconsin.)
But that's life in Nebraska's world. Despicable and wonderful all in the course of one evening. On the brink of disaster, then full of jubilation. Sinking one moment, rising the next. Don't turn away yet. This season just bounced off the water.
Kind of poetic for Chatelain - but it's such a good metaphor for Nebraska right now.
Blame the alternate uniforms? It might have been appropriate, if we hadn't seen this before in the traditional ensemble.
BURY THEM.
Still think we should bury them in a desert somewhere.
Maybe you saw an example of Pelini's fifth-year program maturing. Refusing to panic. Refusing to lose.
A championship squad is maddeningly close here.
This week the Huskers overcame beating themselves. Like Bo Pelini says, it’s a process and Saturday represented progress.
But can they keep it up? That's the question that will define 2012.
***Smart move by Terry Joseph to stick junior cornerback Ciante Evans on Wisconsin wide receiver Jared Abbrederis in the second half. He was absolutely killing Nebraska until Evans took over the match-up.
Why'd we wait until the second half...?
Now they look ahead to a pair of road trips. The first, to Ohio State, looks very tough for a Husker team that has not yet learned to put together four solid quarters of football, let alone two solid conference games in a row. As Pelini made it clear after the game, it's nice to be able to win when you're not playing your best, but Nebraska has a lot of improving to do if it wants to keep winning.
Wisconsin Football (3-2, 0-1 B1G)
Who is celebrating that Nebraska has arrived? Pelini and the team know there's work to be done. And we fans know that victory was too ugly to be overly excited. #teamsunshine isn't blind, just optimistic.
Hilary Lee of OTE tries to understand why the Badgers' collapse hurts much more than it should. (With graphs!)
Volleyball (11-2)
Great job ladies! The Huskers travel to West Lafayette this Friday to take on Purdue and travel Saturday to Bloomington to take on the Hoosiers.
Softball (3-1)
The Nebraska softball team continued its fall exhibition season by splitting a doubleheader at Creighton on Sunday. The Huskers lost game one, 5-2, before winning 5-3 in game two.
Soccer (5-7-1)
The ladies had a bad weekend in the Big Ten, losing to both Mittens.
The Nebraska soccer team (5-6-1, 2-2-0 Big Ten) fell to .500 in Big Ten play on Friday afternoon following a 2-1 loss to the Michigan State Spartans at DeMartin Stadium.
The Nebraska soccer team (5-7-1, 2-3-0 Big Ten) dropped a tough 2-1 double-overtime decision on Sunday afternoon at U-M Soccer Stadium to the No. 22 Michigan Wolverines (10-2-1, 4-0-1).
Swim and Dive
The Nebraska swimming and diving team began their season Friday afternoon at the Devaney Natatorium with their annual intrasquad dual in which the Cream defeated the Scarlet 131-86.
Cross Country
The men and women both finished seventh overall. Great job!
Big Ten (39-18) (Did not play: Michigan)
Very little change in the Big Ten - they still see Nebraska going to Capital One after dropping the West to Mitten State. But Mike Jones does say that it's really a toss up between MSU and Nebraska. I think Northwestern deserves to be in the conversation in the West until they're taken out.
#teamsunshine
Illinois apparently has some bad karma.
The Only Colors does a post-mortem on their loss to Urban Meyer.
Our game against NU gets scarier every week. Kain Colter is now everywhere at once.
My guess on the settlement? "We'll lend you our offensive coordinator when you play Michigan."
Things I'd never have expected to see for Nebraska: our offense labeled as "an innovative spread offense". Never.
Nebraska QB Taylor Martinez: The Huskers junior avenged the worst performance of his career last year in Madison with a strong one in Nebraska's come-from-behind 30-27 win against Wisconsin. Martinez finally showcased his running skills with 107 yards and a touchdown on just 13 carries. He also completed 17 of 29 passes for 181 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Huskers linebackers Will Compton and Alonzo Whaley also merit mentions here.
Other Stories
Towson and Ole Miss: In their own ways, Towson and Ole Miss scored small victories against the impressive defenses of LSU and Alabama. Towson scored 22 points, and while two of the touchdowns came in the fourth quarter with the game long decided, nobody figured Towson would score half that many points. For Ole Miss, it actually led Alabama. A 1-yard run by Jeff Scott in the second quarter gave the Rebels a 7-6 lead. The Crimson Tide had not trailed in regulation since Oct. 22 of last season. Alabama quickly rectified the situation as Christion Jones returned the ensuing kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown, but hey, Ole Miss held a lead for 15 seconds!
LSU is awesome, everyone.
Wait, Oklahoma State is leaving the Big 12? Where are they going?
***
How They Did: A Look at Our Upcoming and Past Opponents.
Click the link for a recap of each team's previous game.
| Date | Opponent | Last Week | This Week | Record |
| 9/1 | Southern Miss | vs Lousiville, L 17-21 | vs Boise State (3-1) | 0-4 |
| 9/8 | @UCLA | @ CoLOLorado, W 42-14 | @ Cal (1-4) | 4-1 |
| 9/15 | Arky State | vs Western Kentucky, L 13-26 | @ FIU (1-4) | 2-3 |
| 9/22 | Red-White Scrimmage* | |||
| 9/29 | Wisconsin? | at Nebraska, L 27-30 | vs Illinois (2-3) | 3-2 |
| 10/6 | @URBZville | @ Mitten State, W 17-16 | vs Nebraska (4-1) | 5-0 |
| 10/13 | BYE | |||
| 10/20 | @NU | vs Indiana, W 44-29 | @ Penn State (3-2) | 5-0 |
| 10/27 | Mitten | BYE | @ Purdue (3-1) | 2-2 |
| 11/3 | @Mitten State | vs Urbzville State, L 16-17 | @ Indiana (2-2) | 3-2 |
| 11/10 | Penn State | @ Illinois, W 35-7 | vs NU (5-0) | 3-2 |
| 11/17 | #teamKill | @Home of Floyd, L 13-31 | BYE | 4-1 |
| 11/23 | @Home of Floyd | vs #teamKill, W 31-13 | BYE | 3-2 |
Overall: 34-19* (Two of our future opponents remain undefeated; only Northwestern remains ranked.$)
* I stopped scoring Idaho State.
$Yes, I know Ohio State is ranked in the AP poll. I don't recognize Ohio State for the same reason Jon doesn't vote them in the BlogPoll.
***
You probably saw this video coming. Miss you, Lavonte.
Go Big Red! Beat the Buckeyes!
- Salt Creek and Stadium
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