Watching the Nebraska Cornhuskers destroy my alma mater last night was a pure joy. Wait, what? You just said you enjoyed watching the school you graduated from getting annihilated. Well, yes, because I knew it was coming. In fact the score I predicted in my Illinois v. Nebraska game preview was eerily similar to what the final score actually was. Plus after dealing with apathy for Illini material all season, it was refreshing to see a true college football program and a true college football fan base.
The Nebraska Cornhuskers, both the coaching staff and their fans, seemed to know that I was watching, because they were pushing all my buttons last Saturday night.
Bo Pelini and his staff put Smokin Jay Cutler on their play-calling boards. The Nebraska Cornhuskers fans ramped up the Kitty Pelini bit. I felt like Chief Wiggum attending the Tito Puente concert when investigating who shot Mr. Burns: “gee, I hope all the suspects are this fun.”
TV: 7PM CST ABC, Chris Fowler, Play-by-Play, Kirk Herbstreit, Analyst Heather Cox, Sidelines
SPREAD: Nebraska Cornhuskers +8.5
MSU Spartans preview:
I may be okay with NU annihilating my alma, but I will be upset if they destroy my graduate school. Yes, Illinois has gotten so irrelevant under Tim Beckman that I kind of pencil in every conference game as an L, and I mentally check out. Michigan State, where I did my MBA, is a different story. They are the class of the Big Ten right now.
Other than the Oregon game, we haven’t learned much about Sparty this year. They hung with the Ducks for about three quarters, and then the Quack Attack steam-rolled the vaunted Spartans defense. Really show shame in that and Oregon would do that to pretty much anybody. It was extremely damaging though to any playoff hopes that Michigan State had. No many of the pundits were all too realistic about that anyway.
With all the defensive defections, this is/was a season more about conference supremacy than it is national supremacy. It’s coming someday though- under Mark Dantonio it will happen.
The other three games MSU may as well have played community colleges with rec league teams because State obliterated all of those schools just like they should. But if you want to gauge our far MSU has come in just a year, look at Connor Cook and the passing game.
A year ago at this time they were struggling to find consistency with the forward pass. In the 2013 loss at Notre Dame, Michigan State didn’t even have a serviceable wide receiver. Today? Connor Cook might be the league’s best QB. Especially after Penn State’s Christian Hackenberg looked so awful at home versus Northwestern on Saturday.
After Marcus Mariota, Cook is the highest rated pro quarterback prospect in May’s draft. Of course, Jameis Winston acting like an imbecile quite often has a lot to do with it, as he keeps damaging his NFL Draft stock by the week.
Nebraska Cornhuskers preview:
That Randy Gregory guy will be a top five pick in the NFL Draft in May. And that’s a great thing for the conference, as it’s been ages since the B1G has had a top ten draft pick.ย Go here for more on Randy Gregory
Bo Pelini Monday on the improvement of Abdullah from last year
โI think heโs better in every area. Thatโs a testament to him and his hard work. His mindset and preparation. His drive. Heโs just playing at a very high level right now”
By the way, look how accurate I was in my Nebraska Cornhuskers game preview last week!
Last week I wrote a piece about how NU and the Big Ten Network are REALLY HARD-SELLING us on this Ameer Abdullah for Heisman bit. I pointed out here that he is a great player and should be in the running. I think he deserves an invite to New York City, but he’s a Heisman finalist at best, not a Heisman winner. My opinion has not changed one bit. But this week I give you….some of the most colorful reactions to that piece. I figured it would hit a nerve, and obviously it did.
Anonymous wrote:
if you cant see abdullah as a top 5 heisman candidate let alone a front runner by now your a moron. The guy is a beast and runs harder than anyone in FBS. He on his own simply wins games for nebraska and has done it alot over the last few years. If winston is even invited to the heisman ceremony this year it would be a joke,
Anonymous again:
This writer is a moron.
Tom:
These guys get media coverage and the guys like Abdullah do not because the money is not there to talk about him. This writer obviously falls in to the hype of watching too much ESPN. Well played but anyone who really loves the game knows who the front runner should be. Itโs just too bad a trophy so coveted has become a popularity contest of the media. Itโs no longer what it used to be and sadly never will again.
Prediction Michigan State Spartans 21, Nebraska Cornhuskers 14.ย
This is a very substantial game, hence the headline SUBSTANTIAL game preview. It’s not a huge game though, so let’s not get carried away. It is a huge game for the Big Ten, but you need to remember that no one outside of Nebraska, south central Michigan and the BTN really care about this one. That said I think it will live up to the hype- if you like a closely contested defensive battle. Take the Nebraska Cornhuskers to cover the spread, but lose.
Paul M. Banksย owns, operates and very often writesย The Sports Bank.net ,which isย partners withย Fox Sports.ย Read his features stories in the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. Listen to him on 1620 The Zone. Follow him onย Twitter (@paulmbanks).ย His work has been featured in hundreds of media outlets including The Washington Post and ESPN 2
