Nebraska and Washington meet for Round 3 in Lincoln, NE, on Saturday. Or as they say in baseball as a three-game series wraps up, it's the rubber match.
The two meetings last year between the two teams were the confluence of extemes. On Sept. 18 in Seattle, Nebraska chewed up the Huskies and spit them out. Quarterback Taylor Martinez had 139 yards rushing on 19 carries and scored two touchdowns. The Husker defense was equally dominant as the Blackshirts intercepted Jake Locker (who complete just 4 of 20 passes) twice. Nebraska rolled to a 56-21 win and catapulted to No. 6 in the rankings, leading most people to believe the Huskers were a darkhorse National Championship contender.
Nebraska, however, struggled down the stretch as the offense became a shadow of what it was early in the season, mostly due to Martinez's ankle injury. Nebraska was 10-2 in the regular season but a 23-20 loss to Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game relegated the Huskers to a second straight Holiday Bowl appearance, where they trounced Arizona 33-0 one year earlier. Washington had to win its last three regular season games just to finish 6-6 and become bowl eligible.
Washington was a better team at the end of the regular season than it was when the two teams met in Seattle while Nebraska had regressed since that time. While most people were predicting a much closer game, those same people figured Nebraska would still win by two touchdowns or more.
However, a strange thing happened, Washington won 19-7 but dominated much more than the final score suggested. The Huskers had no answer at all for running back Chris Polk, who rushed for 177 yards on 34 carries and one touchdown. Incidently, Polk is back and if that's not bad enough facing him comes one week after the Blackshirts were gouged by Fresno state's Robbie Rouse for 169 yards rushing.
Even worse than the loss, the Huskers appeared very apathetic about playing in the game even though they said all of the right things leading up to the contest. Perhaps we should have seen it coming because bowl games are often decided by which team is more motivated to be there. Nebraska entered last season with goals being: Beat Texas. Win the Big 12 North. Win the Big 12 Title Game. Get to a BCS Bowl Game. They achieved only one out of four. Considering the Huskers lofty preseason goals going awry coupled with playing a team they had already crushed and it's understandable why the team put up a listless effort.
On the other hand, Washington had not been to a bowl game since 2002 and had a winless season in 2008, the year before current head coach Steve Sarkisian arrived, so even the lowest end bowl game was an exiting proposition. Considering that the Huskies had their doors blown off by Nebraska in the earlier meeting, they were largely being told the second matchup would not be much different. Couple that with the fact that Washington entered the game having won its last three regular season games and its understandable why the team entered the Holiday Bowl feeling the need to prove the doubters wrong.
The dynamics are a lot different this time. Granted, there is one common denominator to each tea's 2011 season, they both struggled to put away a WAC team at home. Fresno State put a scare into the Huskers before Nebraska prevailed 42-29. Washington, meanwhile, blted to a 21-0 first quarter lead before holding off Hawaii 40-32. Both teams also opened the season against a Div. I-AA team. Despite an uneven offensive performance, the Huskers were not threatened as they defeated Tennesee-Chattanooga 40-7. Washington, meanwhile, struggled to beat Eastern Washington 30-27.
So what does all of this mean for Saturday? Nebraska has been tabbed a 21 point favorite and is the No. 11 ranked team in the nation. While the Huskers are considered the favorite to win the Big Legends division, this season has more of an "under the radar" feel than last season. Couple that with the fact that the Husker defense, which has been the team's calling card since Bo Pelini became the head coach, looked suspect last week against Fresno State. OK, it wasn't 2007 Kevin Cosgrove but substandard nonetheless.
A Pelini coached defense won't have two bad efforts in a row, right? Probably not but one thing is for certain, unlike the Holiday Bowl, this matchup will have Nebraska's attention. Which bodes well.
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