The perfectionist Nebraska football fan would like to have seen the Huskers season-opening 40-7 win over Tennessee-Chattanooga have a lot fewer rough edges.
However, there are a few things that miss the point about that argument. For openers, if quarterbck Taylor Martinez plays the entire game, Nebraska probably wins 54-7 but in a lopsided game it is much more prudent to get the second and third teamers some much need playing time. If you hadn't watched the game, you would have immediately thought the Huskers were a powerhouse but a 40-7 win is nothing to complain about whether it's Game #1 or Game #10. Consider what else took place around the naton. No. 2 Alabama beat a Kent State team that is probably just as weak as UT-Chattanooga 48-7. No. 6 Florida State was a 34-0 winner over Louisiand-Monroe, an opponent just as weak as Kent State and UT-Chattanooga. No. 18 Ohio State beat Akron 42-0. Not that big of a deal considering Akron is consistently one of the worst teams in the nation.
The point is that other teams had their problems Saturday, too, and we haven't begun to mention reigning National Champion Auburn needing a miracle to beat Utah State 42-38. While we're at it, let's mention Sacramento State going into Oregon State and winning 29-28. Sac State, people! Div. I-AA Sac State. Oklahoma is the top-ranked team in the nation and played like it n beating Tulsa 47-14 but keep in mind led the Sooners 17-0 in the Big 12 title game only to lose 23-20.
The truth of the matter is, nobody is a juggernaut. Yes, the Huskers need to learn to develop consistency, but there is no team that resembles the 1995 Huskers let alone say, the 2004 USC Trojans or the 2001 Miami Hurricanes out there. Yes, Nebraska has a long way to go, but the Huskers can get better.
True, there were some impressive performances around the Top 25 ike No. 11 Wisconsin rolling UNLV 51-17. In some circles, Wisconsin is consdered the favorite to win the Big Ten conference and they certainly played like it Thursday. The Huskers have three more nonconference games (Fresno State, Washington and Wyoming) before vsitng Wisconsin on Oct. 1. Fresno State lost to a pretty meidocre (and frequently overrated) California team 36-21 but a garbage time touchdown made that game closer than it appeared. Washington narrowly escaped at home with a 30-27 win over Div. I-AA Eastern Washington. Wyoming also narrowly beat Div. I-AA Weber State 35-32.
Point being, the Huskers have a month to clean up their mistakes before the aforementioned road trip to Madison, Wisc. so there is no need to panic.
True, the Huskers' season-opener was more ragged than you would have liked, especially on offense as the timing and spacing in the backfield seemed surprisingly bad on several occasions. However, I didn't see anything that priactice and time shouldn't overcome. The young offensive line needs to come together -- and very quickly at that. They had a few good moments but to many not so good.
No need to worry yet. Let's see how much the Huskers get cleaned up this week and what they put on the field Saturday against a Fresno State program that has had a history of knocking off college football's giants.
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