#1 USC vs #14 NU
 

Hollywood comes to the heartland!

Man, oh man, I've been waiting for this day for over a year now. Every since Sam Keller, NU's hired gunslinger from ASU, stepped on the campus, I've been psyched about this rematch.

Last year I thought NU had a good game plan . . .

• Limit USC's time of possession
• Pound the "rock"
• Control the tempo of the game

USC is too athletic, too fast, just plain too good to get in a shootout with. Unfortunately there were a few plays that didn't work out well, and NU lost 28-10. Key blocks were missed allowing USC to tackle Lucky in the backfield; Lucky was impatient running the ball; our secondary was young and inexperienced; and there were a couple critical passes dropped by our receivers.

That can't happen today.

NU has a chance - yeah it's pretty small - but it's a chance, to go out on the field of a sold-out Memorial Stadium and beat the #1 team in the country. USC's not the best team in CFB. They were pretty unimpressive in their first game and for them it'll be almost like playing the first game of the season on the road.

USC's fast and incredibly talented. It's almost scary to think that their receivers this year could be even better than Jarrett and the others from last year! JD Booty is a Heisman candidate and is going to be picked high in the first round of the NFL.

In order to win, NU absolutely must:

• Put pressure on the QB - DJB needs to hit the turf hard and often
• Limit USC's time of possession - pound the rock, then launch a deep strike
• Lucky needs to run over 100yds and be involved in the passing game
• Keller can't force the pass - be patient and don't give USC a big interception
• If NU's O-line doesn't do well protecting Keller in the pocket, we'll lose
• If NU's D-line doesn't pressure, sack and hurry DJB, we'll lose

NU's been waiting for an opportunity to get back in the big time. We've been upset about our fall from our once-storied greatness. Now's our chance.

When the lights come on this evening in Lincoln . . .
When the Tunnel Walk begins . . .
When the sea of red-clad fans begin their deafening roar . . .
When the Huskers take the field . . .

They better be ready. They've got one chance, in front of a live, nation-wide television audience to prove to all the doubters that NU is back and the order is restored.

As for me, I'll be wearing my Husker jersey with my brother-in-law and nephews, grilling out and cheering the Huskers on to an incredible, unbelievable, heart-pounding, mind-blowing, highlite-making upset of the #1 USC Trojans.

Nebraska 27 USC 17
GO BIG RED!

[YT="NU - Power of Red"]N6gdV5C93Hk[/YT]

Wow. I didn't see that one coming! USC running the ball against NU for 313 yards! Are you kidding me!

Tonight was frustrating as the offense, led by Sam Keller did what it needed to do to win the game and the defense completely melted. Did the NU defense forget how to tackle?!?

The USC injury timeouts also helped to slow the NU momentum down.

Ah well. We could have won the game, but we didn't. Tonight we were outplayed and overmatched by a tough and talented USC team.

GO BIG RED!