Thursday before Northwestern, another game that certainly looks winnable.

Bill Connelly’s S&P+ doesn’t think so, as he predicts a 30-24 Wildcat win.

I said this several times last Saturday, and stated it again on the Five Heart podcast, but this Nebraska offense needs to score 40 points a game. That’s not a measure of just this year’s team, either, it’s the way football is flowing, mostly due to rules that favor offense and the way the game is being called anymore.

Our defense isn’t going to get fixed this season. The only way we’re going to win games is by outscoring our opponents. We have some of the ingredients to do so - Adrian Martinez, JD Spielman, Stanely Morgan Jr, Devine Ozigbo and Maurice Washington. That’s quite a group of playmakers around which to build an explosive offense.

To get there.... eliminate the drive-killing penalties and stupid mistakes. Sounds easy, doesn’t it?

Free Tattoos?

Apparently a company called Iron Brush Tattoo and Body Piercing is giving away free Husker tattoos, 40 of them. They placed a video on their Facebook page. By the time you read this, people will likely already be in line and they’ll be spoken for.

One of our guys said he was considering going. I had not seen the FB video.. and thought that that was they were offering was a hand-drawn tattoo of “Red Burns Brighter”, and that’s what he was considering getting tattooed on his buttocks.

It would certainly lead to interesting conversations he might have had throughout his life.

Offensive Youngster Cameron Jurgens Compared to Dave Rimington

When I first saw this story it drove me a little nuts. That Scott Frost would compare a newcomer to Dave Rimington... it made my old man blood get a little heated. Rimington is the best center in the history of the game, a guy who won Big Eight Offensive Player of the Year as a center. I got into the “get off my lawn”, “I knew Jack Kennedy and you are no Jack Kennedy” mode of my old crustydom.

That’s because I read Evan Bland’s version first.

Evan Bland’s version:

“This guy can be the second coming of Dave Rimington,” Austin recalled Frost saying, whispering the name of the man with an award named after him. “That’s a big name to throw out, and when he threw it out I was like, ‘C’mon, Coach. That’s Dave Rimington, now.’ ”

Sipple’s version:

Austin also said true freshman Cameron Jurgens, who’s now working at the interior offensive line positions as well as tight end, shows great promise. In fact, head coach Scott Frost told coaches that Jurgens has attributes like former Husker All-American center Dave Rimington.

”That’s a big name to throw out,” Austin said. “When he threw it out, ‘I was like, ‘C’mon coach, that’s Dave Rimington.’”

Then I read Sipple’s. The “has attributes” sounds like a more reasonable explanation of what Frost might have actually said... either that, or it calms me down. Interesting the choice of words used.

There’s only one Dave Rimington. One.

Egad

Targeting/Not Targeting - No One Is Talking

Read the full Yahoo.com article linked below.

Document shows third party overruled USC-WSU targeting call

Targeting wasn’t called and Tago stayed in the game. The replay report obtained by Yahoo Sports states that “unfortunately a third party did not agree” with the call. That “third party” was Pac-12 general counsel and senior vice president of business affairs Woodie Dixon, Yahoo Sports sources have confirmed.

Dixon oversees football for the conference but is not a formally trained official. Dixon telephoned in his opinion that the play wasn’t targeting, sources said. According to the report, his opinion overruled both the trained officials in the stadium replay booth and in the league’s command center.

It’s certainly a problem if someone outside the officiating crew gets to override a call, and I don’t want to lessen the idea that it takes away from the integrity of the game.

But, holy cow, look at the replays on these calls. The reversal of targeting on the one call is a terrible choice, as is the other missed targeting call. If you’re going to implement these rules, then they need to be called as evenly as possible across the spectrum of college football. Don’t give us this bullshit about “player safety”, screw up calls, and THEN REFUSE TO BE HONEST IN TALKING ABOUT IT.

The Pac12 deserves their reputation for incredibly bad officiating. This won’t help and neither will the non-explanation.

Someone deserves to be fired. I’m guessing that if they are, it’s not going to be anyone in charge. It’s going to be the lowest guy on the job - the replay official in the booth.

More News

Huskers Head to Chicago for Big Ten Media Day - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site
Thursday is an important milestone on the way to the 2018-19 basketball season, as Head Coach Tim Miles and players Glynn Watson Jr., Isaac Copeland Jr., James Palmer Jr. and Isaiah Roby are in Chicago for the annual Big Ten Media Day.

Finding Joe Murphy: How Red Wings' No. 1 pick became homeless

Over the years, Murphy has displayed several symptoms associated with CTE — difficulty thinking, depression, short-term memory loss, emotional instability, substance abuse and suicidal thoughts.

Pretty amazing article. Read it.

BREAKING: Bennett Williams kicked off Illinois Football team - The Champaign Room
Williams was a Freshman All-American last year.

Where Are We Wednesday: Time to take care of business - Inside NU
This week provides a great opportunity to keep last week’s momentum going.

Then There’s This

Emotional support squirrel: Frontier airlines passenger “support animal” removed from Frontier flight with help from police in Orlando - CBS News
A woman told Frontier Airlines she was bringing an emotional support animal along when booking a flight from Orlando, Florida, to Cleveland. But the airline says she neglected to mention a key detail: Her animal companion was a squirrel.