By: Evan Troxel
This article will be mainly about Husker Football and the Big Ten Conference.
Versus Michigan State, Nebraska took care of business in the second half. They controlled (and owned) the second half of that game. As for the Northwestern game, I thought I would never see the Nebraska Cornhuskers lose to the Northwestern Wildcats in my lifetime. Well it happened. I’m not going to rule out the possibility that Iowa could still beat us this year. They have already beaten Northwestern 41-31 earlier this year.
My thoughts on the Penn State game are that if Nebraska would have lost that game then Penn State fans might have literally gone crazy afterwards. As for Nebraska losing to Michigan 45-17, I’m glad to see that there was clearly a winning team for this game. The last time Michigan and Nebraska met before Nov. 19th’s game was in the 2005 Alamo Bowl. In that game, there were controversial calls by the officials and replay officials which positively or negatively affected and definitely had an influence on the outcome of that game.
Nebraska still has to play one more home game this year vs. Iowa the day after Thanksgiving. And then (since Nebraska will not be going to the Big Ten Championship Game), the bowl game. What bowl game will the Huskers go to? I don’t want to speculate but I’m pretty sure Nebraska will be playing its bowl game on January 2nd. If I had to say right now which bowl game the Huskers will be going to I will say it’s going to be the Gator Bowl.
My thoughts on recent bowl games Nebraska has played in are that I don’t think Nebraska should not have gone to the Holiday Bowl two years in a row. Nebraska was definitely cheated out of playing a later bowl game date one of the past two seasons or at least a tougher bowl game opponent.
Nebraska played Arizona…what a joke. For the first (and currently only) time in its bowl game history, Nebraska shut out the opponent in that game. That season for Nebraska might be the best it will ever have as long as Bo Pelini is the head coach. I think Nebraska should have played in a later dated bowl game for that season. Nebraska would have played in a later dated bowl game if the Big Ten teams (then) who aren’t better than the Big 12 teams (in my opinion) didn’t lobby the BCS (and give them money) to put them in those bowl games. The previous sentence was my personal bias and I believe it is true whether it actually is or not. If any team (such as Nebraska) shuts out their opponent in a bowl game (such as Arizona) then Nebraska the next season should get to play in a bowl game on a later date or at least a much tougher opponent in the same bowl game (or a different bowl game).
As for Nebraska playing Washington in the bowl game last season, we met our match and Nebraska just flat out lost. Nebraska threw the ball too often in that game (especially the entire 4th Quarter when Nebraska was really desperate to score points). Not to mention the Huskers doing too much early in the game (with Rex Burkhead trying to throw the ball).
In my previous article “CornhuskerFootball 2011: My thoughts of this season’s games” three weeks ago, some things turned out to be somewhat correct which I predicted. Well, let’s get to and analyze those “somewhat correct” predictions.
Here’s what I typed a little over three weeks ago about the then upcoming game between Nebraska and Penn State: “Nebraska has 6 wins and 7 losses against Penn State all-time. Hopefully nothing controversial happens in this upcoming game. After the Michigan State game, this (I think) is Nebraska’s next true test.”
Okay. So Nebraska now has 7 wins and 7 losses against Penn State all-time. Big deal. What else? I indirectly predicted that “controversy” would at least happen and one can arguably say that it did. That credit is given to the recent scandal that has been surrounding Penn State. Unfortunately, there wasn’t any controversy as far as I know “about the game” so it kind of just negated everything I said within this paragraph so far. One thing is for sure, Nebraska’s “true test” happened a week earlier than I anticipated because they lost to Northwestern. Penn State still proved a test for the Huskers even though Nebraska won anyway.
The Universities that formulate the Big Ten Conference are Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, and Wisconsin. The schools in the Legends division of the Big Ten Conference are Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Northwestern. The schools in the Leaders division of the Big Ten Conference are Indiana, Illinois, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, and Wisconsin.
Nebraska currently (as of Nov. 18th) has an overall record of 8-2, (4-2 within the Big Ten Conference), and is 2-1 and in second place within the Legends division. Michigan has an overall record of 8-2, (4-2 within the Big 10), and is 2-2 and in third place within the Legends division. Iowa is 6-4, (3-3 within the Big 10), and 2-2 and in fourth place within the Legends division. Michigan State has an overall record of 8-2, (5-1 within the Big 10), and is 3-1 and in first place within the Legends division.
Currently, Penn State has an overall record of 8-2, (5-1 within the Big 10), and is 3-0 and in first place within the Leaders division.
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