If you’ve ever been part of Family Game Night, you’ve probably played Jenga. Amazingly, this Husker football team is a gridiron equivalent to the game. For those not familiar, let me give you a quick run down.
It’s a pretty simple concept. You’ve got a tower made of those rectangular blocks up there. The object of the game is to remove a lower piece and place it on top of the tower without the whole thing spilling into your lap.
Where do the Nebraska Cornhuskers play into this? Let’s go back to fall camp. Charles Jackson, Michael Rose-Ivey, LeRoy Alexander and Adam Taylor are all done for the year. Those first three sit deep in the foundation of our figurative Jenga tower, so they get placed at the top, damaging the overall integrity greatly.
Taylor, while not the biggest loss (yet, knock on wood), still upsets what would be a firmer pillar. We continue.
Randy Gregory (we’re talking second row here), he gets removed for at least one week. Jamal Turner’s done, Kenny Bell’s out for an unknown amount of time, Sam Burtch and Brandon Reilly didn’t dress this past weekend.
Take note of how often you saw these names during preseason rankings and fall practice reports. Those are the guys, folks. Four of the main members of Nebraska’s receiving corps.
Right now, Nebraska’s tower looks something like this:
(Not pictured: Husker fans)
If Gregory should continue to be removed and Kenny Bell’s out for awhile, it’s okay to be scared of that Swiss cheese foundation. That’s an understandable, legitimate concern. How does Bo Pelini, Tim Beck and the Nebraska coaching staff keep that tower upright?
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Giving Ameer Abdullah 30-35 carries every game isn’t the answer, because his block is at the very base. Heck, he’s worth two, and there’s a good chance they’d come out eventually. Even Superman has a weakness, after all.
They may have to gamble and keep Randy Gregory out another game or even two. They may have to treat the whole season with kid gloves.
Now, all of those blocks represent all players on the Huskers’ sideline. Quarterbacks, offensive and defensive linemen, linebackers, but here’s the problem: morale starts playing a factor.
Senior captain (and let those words sink in for a moment) Josh Mitchell had this to say after the McNeese State win: “You play like that — I see 9-4 all over again.”
He said this after a win!
Not exactly something you want to hear from the upperclassman captain, let me stress that again, saying after game No. 2.
If those thoughts start being taken to heart, not just by guys like Mitchell at the top of the food chain (or the base of the tower), but those behind (or above) him, other blocks will remove themselves.
Ideally, the Cowboys from Louisiana gave Nebraska a wake up call and the Big Red goes on to dominate a schedule that, by all logic, they should be able to dominate. If not…well, an illustration for the 2014 season:
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