Last weekend two friends of mine were married at a vineyard in South Dakota. The reception happened to be scheduled during the Nebraska-Purdue game.

The new bride and groom are both Nebraskans, and both live in the Lincoln/Omaha area. They are however, not Nebraska football fans. They literally could not care less about Nebraska football.

I assume most of the people reading this know about the cardinal sin that is to not have a wedding on a Nebraska football game day. But I do wonder about the the parameters of the “No Wedding on Game Day” rule?

Does the rule apply to all Nebraskans? Or only Nebraskans who are Husker football fans, even if only casually? Or do does the rule apply when a large percentage of guests are Nebraskans?

Also, does the cardinal sin apply if the wedding location is outside of Nebraska? Did the wedding I attended last week fail to fall under the purview of the rule since it was in South Dakota?

Maybe the rule actually includes all states that share a border with Nebraska? So a wedding in South Dakota would violate the rule, but one in Hawaii would not. Or maybe location is irrelevant?

These are important questions that need to be answered.

So on to five reasons Nebraska will beat the Northwestern Wildcats.

TANNER LEE IS TURNING INTO WHO WE THOUGHT HE WAS

Finally I have the statistics to back up what I have been seeing through the “eye” test.

With 1:29 left in the 4th quarter, the ESPN Win probability said that Purdue had a 93.6% chance to beat Nebraska. But then Tanner Lee happened, as he marched the Nebraska offense down the field which ended with a 13 yard pass to Stanley Morgan for the win.

Over the past four games, Tanner Lee has 8 touchdown passes and 1 interception. And in those last four games, Tanner Lee has gone against Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio State and Purdue. So this sample size isn’t against a team like Northern Illinois (sigh).

Because I am here to serve the community of Corn Nation, I stopped at my parents house and went down into the basement to look for the scientific calculator I used in high school and college.

My math teachers were right, I would use what I learned during math class in the real world!

Anyways, after crunching the numbers I have come here to tell everybody that over the past four games, Tanner Lee’s touchdown to interception ratio is 8:1.

If you compound the four game 8:1 touchdown/interception ratio over an 82 game NBA season, then Tanner Lee would end the season with 164 strikeouts and 20.50 walks. Numbers like that would even make Wayne Gretzky blush.

NORTHWESTERN IS GOOD AGAINST THE RUN, NOT SO GOOD AGAINST THE PASS

The inability to run the ball against Purdue last week was completely mind boggling. Coach Riley said that our offensive linemen simply were losing 1-on-1 battles. That is never a good thing to hear.

If you want to be the glass half-empty guy, you’d point out that Northwestern is currently 5th in the Big Ten against the run. They are only allowing 118 yards rushing per game this season.

However, if you want to be the glass half-full guy, you could point out that Northwestern is at the bottom of the conference in defending against the pass. Currently sitting at 13th.

You know who people don’t want to hang out with? Glass half-empty guy.

Don’t be that guy.

I have a feeling we will run the ball better against Northwestern than we did against Purdue, merely because that’s how sports works. You get your butt kicked, and you come back better next week merely for the reason that you were embarrassed.

But if we average one yard a carry against Northwestern, at least we know we have a quarterback who can sling the ball around and win the game for us in the end.

Because that is how Northwestern-Nebraska games seem to always end. On the last possession.

Which brings me to the next reason.

DREW BROWN IS MR. DEPENDABLE

For all the ups and downs over the past 16 seasons a consistent source of excellence has been the kicking game. Nebraska football has had a long string of great kickers and Drew Brown has been the latest.

Josh Brown, Jordon Cogndon, Alex Henery, and now Drew Brown.

Last week against Purdue he went 4-4 on field goals. Do not take that for granted.

If we expect that the game may end on the last possession, I am glad to have Drew Brown in our corner.

Plus lately he has been really good at tackling.

Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports

TYLER HOPPES WILL BE ON MY NFL FANTASY FOOTBALL TEAM IN A COUPLE YEARS

There is nothing more interesting than somebody talking about their fantasy football team. Right? Right?

Anyways, I believe that Tyler Hoppes will be a productive tight end in the NFL, and last week against Purdue, he showed why Coach Riley has been singing his praises since the start of spring ball.

Against Purdue, Hoppes had five catches for 105 yards. He also had two catches called back for penalties by the offensive line. He could have had a 130-140 yard game.

He is such a big athletic target that every time Tanner Lee gets slapped in the helmet or has his face-mask pulled (which the officials seem to ignore), Tanner Lee steps forward and throws a dart high enough that only Tyler Hoppes can catch and more times than not Hoppes is athletic enough to go up and get it.

It is my hope that Hoppes tears up the Big 10 the rest of the season. I think he will definitely keep it going against the porous Purdue pass defense.

THE ROBERT ALBERT DIACO DEFENSE (THE RADD) HAS MADE A RETURN

After getting absolutely embarrassed against Wisconsin and Ohio State, the RADD showed some life against Purdue.

No they were not dominant. But I would say that if it wasn’t for the RADD, that Nebraska loses that game last week. The Nebraska offense’s inability to score touchdowns in the red-zone almost ended it for Mike Riley and his tenure at Nebraska.

Northwestern is not Ohio State. They are not a powerhouse running team like Wisconsin. They are closer to Purdue.

The RADD doesn’t need to shut Northwestern down, they just need to give Tanner Lee and that passing offense an opportunity to win the game in the end.