Say this for second-year Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini – he’s got his players trained.
The No. 21 Huskers enjoyed 12 days to prepare for Thursday’s pivotal Big 12 North matchup at No. 24 Missouri. The Tigers also have not played a game in 12 days so call the layoff a wash.
To a man last week, Husker players and coaches took the route of, “We’re not thinking about Missouri.” This week, Nebraska seems to be taking the, “It’s another game” approach but let’s not kid ourselves these teams do not like each other.
In Missouri’s case, the hatred is based on jealousy and envy. In Nebraska’s case, the hatred is based on Missouri’s “Johnny Come Lately” cockiness, a la Colorado and Kansas State in the late 1980s to early 1990s. True, Missouri has dominated the Huskers in each of the last two seasons, a 41-6 win in Columbia in 2007 and a 52-17 win in Lincoln in 2008.
Nebraska tried going the emotion route last year and it backfired so one can understand why Nebraska is taking a more grounded approach this season but make no mistake – Nebraska has a score to settle with the Tigers.
The Huskers recently gained a measure of respect in a 16-15 loss at No. 5 Virginia Tech considering the bloodlettings they have suffered in recent seasons against highly regarded opponents.
Missouri hammered Nebraska last season but these are two vastly different clubs now. The Tigers started 5-0 but finished 5-4. Missouri is 4-0 this season but has also struggled in recent wins over Bowling Green (27-20) and Nevada (31-21). Nebraska went 3-3 in its first six games last season but 6-1 in its last seven and 3-1 so far in 2009 with three decisive wins and a narrow defeat at VaTech.
How Nebraska first-year starting quarterback Zac Lee handles his second road start will bear watching. Lee went 11-for-30 with two interceptions in the game at Virginia Tech. It stands to reason that Lee should play better now that he has experienced one of the tougher road environments in college football. Missouri might not make that list but their fans do have a hard edge when it comes to Nebraska. Make no mistake; the Huskers will have to battle through adversity to this key victory.
What should also hopefully help Lee is Nebraska’s commitment to the running game with Roy Helu as Missouri has struggled in slowing down the run, ranking 61st in the nation, mostly because the Tigers have not been sure tacklers. Since Nebraska has tried morphing into a power running game that approach might work to its advantage because the Tigers do no see a power run game in practice.
Even though Missouri lost a lot of skill position players from last season, the Tigers system is such now where they simply plug in players. However, Missouri struggles running the ball, ranking 60th in the nation in that category and while Gabbert’s feet are not nailed to the ground but he’s less likely to run than his predecessor, Chace Daniel.
This is the type of game that Pelini was hired for less than two years ago. Nebraska wants to become a physical team that is strong defensively in a time when Big XII teams are putting up basketball scoring numbers.
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