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Expecting a classic Home field, hunger will lift Huskers past Sooners
Updated: Friday October 26, 2001 9:47 PM
CNN/Sports Illustrated's college football analyst breaks down Saturday's Oklahoma-Nebraska game, as well as sharing some other picks. Background: Oklahoma-Nebraska in its heyday was the best rivalry in college football, nothing else even came close. It's not the same now, though. It's been ruined by some idiotic scheduling changes that should have never happened. It will still be a fantastic game, but what really bothers me is that this game is being played right now. It's not cold enough yet! This isn't Oklahoma-Nebraska weather. When we would get up that morning, there was usually frost on the ground, it was 35-40 degrees and probably sleeting or raining, so it felt even colder. I enjoyed playing in this game so much. When we played Oklahoma, there would be no trash talking. It would be a battle for four quarters, not a word was said other than the quarterback calling the play and us calling our defensive checks. There was nothing but a deep respect and admiration for each other. And when it was done, fans from both sides stood up and cheered because it was a great game. When we played, it was always for who got to go to the Orange Bowl. When we got done, you had to leave your helmet on because no matter where the game was, you knew oranges were coming down. When Nebraska has the ball: Last year, Oklahoma formed its entire defense around shutting down Eric Crouch. That might be the game plan again, but the difference is, No. 1, Crouch is more mature. He'll say, "OK, if you're going to take me out of the game, we'll beat you with other people." Nebraska has better people around Crouch on offense that gives Oklahoma more to defend. Last year he would never pitch the ball, but now he has confidence in Dahrran Diedrick, Thunder Collins and Judd Davies. When I talked to Oklahoma defensive coordinator Mike Stoops, the first thing he told me is, "Look, we're not Notre Dame, we're not going to be intimidated. We've been in big games before." The other thing is, Nebraska has never seen closing speed like Oklahoma's. Nebraska has played against some decent defenses and looked good, but what looks like a big, open hole for Crouch will close twice as quickly against Oklahoma. The one thing Oklahoma has to be concerned about is, because they do such a good job of reading and reacting, Nebraska does have some chances to do some big things when they run the play action pass. Guys like Roy Williams love to read the play, then pounce into the backfield, but Nebraska does some things where they fake the option and throw to the tight end. Oklahoma has got to be careful about that. It happens a lot in big games when you're flying around so much. When Oklahoma has the ball: Nebraska has a much better defense than when these teams played last season. But I saw in the Texas Tech game where they played an unusual amount of straight-up man defense, or one-man free. Craig Bohl made some adjustments at halftime where they went to a little zone. But Tech's quarterback, Kliff Kingsbury, was playing with a lot of confidence. He knew exactly what was going to happen on each play. Against this Oklahoma offense, which is going to have better wide receivers, better athletes. Nebraska will really have to mix it up. You'd like to see them show some zone, then fall into man free. Nebraska's defense is rated high, but this will be its first time playing an offense of this caliber. It will be interesting to see how Jason White responds, from an emotional standpoint. Physically, there's no question he can get it done. But the way Josh Heupel made his mark was by handling these situations with such poise. The thing with Oklahoma is, they love to spread you out. Quentin Griffin is a real key. He's a great runner, but there have also been weeks where they really use him as a receiver. But I think Nebraska's linebackers can run with him. If Nebraska handles him both running and receiving, it looks very good for the Huskers. They're banged up a bit in the secondary, but that happens all the time. They'll be ready. What will happen: Tom Osborne was always honest with us about who we were playing. There were times when we were about to play Iowa State or Kansas where he'd be honest and say, "Look, you have more talent than they have." But when we got to this game, he'd also be honest and tell us, Oklahoma has every bit as much talent as we have, if not more. That's the case again this year. The talent level is the same, the effort is going to be the same, the coaching staffs are both fantastic. I think what it comes down to is, who executes better and who makes the fewest mistakes. There's not any area in this game where you can get by doing something foolish. No false starts. No 15-yard facemasks. But when I add them up, there are simply too many variables working against Oklahoma, from playing on road to how White responds. I don't think you can possibly understand the home-field advantage Nebraska has there, that's been proven over and over again. Don't get me wrong, it's not that Oklahoma isn't a hungry team, but I think Nebraska is hungrier. Sure, Oklahoma has the ring, hasn't lost in 20 games. But the motivation for Nebraska is being up 14 points on Oklahoma and giving up 31 straight points. I think Nebraska was thoroughly embarrassed by that. In a game like this, Nebraska has even bigger motivation than Oklahoma. It's going to be a great game, a classic. Great game. Don't be convinced by anyone this will be a blowout either way, but I think Nebraska wins. And I could easily see them meeting again in December.
Other gamesUCLA-Stanford: UCLA plays a whole different brand of football from anyone else in the Pac-10: physical football. UCLA will hold Stanford to about 20 points yet still score 35. Syracuse-Virginia Tech: I think this will be a decent game. If they were playing in the Carrier Dome, I'd pick Syracuse, but I'll take Virginia Tech, even though I'm still finding out about their offense. Georgia-Florida: Georgia is definitely heading in the right direction, they will score on Florida. The problem is, their defense doesn't have the athletes of Auburn and won't be able to shut down Florida. South Carolina-Tennessee: I pick Tennessee. Lou Holtz doesn't quite have the athletes that Tennessee does, but will still find a way to make it close. Maryland-Florida State: What the heck ... I'll go with Ralph Friedgen and the Terps. Coach of the year! Oregon-Washington State: Oregon will rebound, but why can't they play defense? It will be another Pac-10 nail biter, but Oregon wins by a field goal.
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