Monday, December 5, 2011

Initial impressions of the Capital One Bowl

My initial reaction of No. 20 Nebraska facing No. 9 South Carolina in the Capital One bowl on Jan. 2 in Orlando was “Man, I just love the thought of beating the hell out of a Steve Spurrier team again in a bowl game.”


Remember the Fiesta Bowl of 1996 when Nebraska crushed the Spurrier-led Florida Gators 62-24 to repeat as National champions? Don’t we all. Of course, this Nebraska team isn’t even in that Husker team’s galaxy but before the bowl selections were made Sunday, Nebraska would have assuredly faced a Southeastern Conference foe whether it was South Carolina, Georgia or Arkansas. South Carolina has opened as an early four-point favorite but of those three foes, this is the SEC team Nebraska matches up with best.

The Gamecocks’ offense and the Nebraska defense have both been hot and cold. The good news for Nebraska is that South Carolina quarterback Connor Shaw isn’t exactly a statue but he’s not going to be mistaken for Braxton Miller (Ohio State) or Dennard Robinson (Michigan) when it comes to mobility either. South Carolina’s offense is also weakened by the loss of running back Marcus Lattimore, who tore a knee ligament on October 15 for a season-ending injury against the Mississippi State.

Defensively, it would behoove the Huskers to keep Shaw in the pocket and blanket wide receiver Alshon Jeffery (easier said than done). The other receivers aren’t bad, but they won’t wow you either.

The good news for Nebraska is that South Carolina is not a team that will spread teams out with great speed. Yes, Spurrier is a master of the run-and-gun, but it’s not the same type of run-and-gun that Northwestern used to foul up the Blackshirts and is not remotely close to the Florida teams Spurrier had.

Nebraska has looked stellar at times on defense, and has looked horrible at other times. The defense we saw in the Michigan State and Iowa games must show up, or Shaw and the Gamecocks will run all over them.

Defensively, the Gamecocks are a very solid group, especially the front four, and like most SEC teams, they will bring speed.

While Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez’s arm will be important and the receivers must hang on to the ball, it will be very important for Nebraska to stick to its running game, even if it falls behind early. The Huskers are at their best when they play a smash-mouth brand of football. Plus, South Carolina will wear down over time.

Last year’s 19-7 Holiday Bowl loss to Washington aside, Nebraska head coach Bo Pelini has a history of preparing his team well for bowl games (where he is 3-1). Last year’s loss, however, was more reflective of an unmotivated Nebraska team taking the field against a Washington club that the Huskers blasted 56-21 in the season’s earlier meeting. Couple that with the fact that many of Nebraska’s preseason goals were shot and that Washington hadn’t been to a bowl game since 2002. Therefore, it was very motivated to beat a team that blew its doors off three months earlier.

After last year’s debacle, Pelini’s club still has to prove something, and I have no doubt the team will be ready to go.

I’ll have more thoughts as the week the month progresses. South Carolina certainly deserves respect. You don’t go 10-2 by accident; however, the Gamecocks’ top-10 ranking and 10-2 record are a bit misleading. The Gamecocks didn’t face LSU or Alabama (the two BCS title game foes). They also played Georgia, which reached the SEC title game, the week after the Bulldogs’ 35-21 loss to Boise State.

This game has the potential of being similar to the 2007 Cotton Bowl (which Nebraska lost 17-14 to Auburn) or the 2009 Gator Bowl (which Nebraska beat Clemson 26-21). Hopefully, the outcome will be in Nebraska’s favor this time. This should be one of the more compelling non-BCS bowl contests.

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