Husker Corner Monday Mailbag: Purdue Boilermakers Edition

I know what you’re thinking. Doesn’t the Husker Corner Monday Mailbag usually go up on…yanno…a Monday? Very observant of you. Unfortunately, I was called away from my writing duties yesterday, so the sweet Mailbag goodness had to be pushed back a day.

Let’s hit that Q&A sweet spot while the Big Red preps for Darrell Hazell’s Team What Wears Them Railroad Track Helmets.

I’d be concerned. If I’m coaching a football team and it can’t give me four quarters of consistent play, there’s going to be at least one opportunity to be dealt a significant blow every game.

This goes double when you’re playing a team at or above your talent or ability level (See: Michigan State).

Look at the infamous Practice Drive.

Fans get psyched up when a team doesn’t score a touchdown on Nebraska right out of the gate. This speaks volumes. Bottom line: If Nebraska can’t get those four solid quarters in, it’s not going to win big games.

A very good question and the answer seems obvious. When you have an elite running back, you use him as much as possible, right? The problem with that theory is that much like Rex Burkhead’s senior year, it’s obvious the football program wants Abdullah to not only have a great senior year, but THE senior year.

Not just because it makes him look good, mind you, but he’s done so much for the program and the school itself, the kid deserves it.

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Unfortunately, this takes snaps away from guys like Imani Cross and Terrell Newby, but I’ll get to that in a second.

Ask yourself this: how many wins is Abdullah worth? Does Nebraska beat McNeese State? Are they upset by any other teams? He’s simply that much better than anyone else on the depth chart.

Imani’s either plateaued or regressed. I’m not of a fan of what James Dobson’s done as he’s had literally hundreds of players to work with over the years and the success stories are few and far between.

Cross appeared faster towards the beginning of the year. Now it looks like he’s running in mud. Of course, it doesn’t help when the current starting offensive line’s in.

When talking about Newby, the talent’s there, but I’m not sure how confident he is handling the football. Whether or not Adam Taylor would have his spot is pure speculation, but it would’ve been nice see what he could do, obviously.

The AD is unfortunately at the mercy of the Big Ten contracts. The good news is now that the necessity for bigger match-ups has been put in place, better opponents are brought in. There’s more reason for these to be picked up as a result, because Nebraska still has that brand name.

What does this mean when talking about night games? Look at the Miami-Nebraska clash this season.

There wasn’t anything huge on the line aside from a perfect non-conference record, but there was bad blood bubbling in the stadium and it was golden television.

I maintain that showdown wouldn’t have had the same vibe earlier in the day.

Looking at next year, there are three options I see as potential night games: Wisconsin, Northwestern and Michigan State.

Bo Pelini on Nebraska’s tough night games

Obviously, team records and how a game impacts the conference as a whole plays a factor, but these games are also played later in the year. The first two are in October and the Huskers don’t see the Spartans until November.

Will Lincoln see another warm fall? Maybe, but to answer your question, television start times are very fluid and start with the broadcaster. I’d like to see the practice continue at least once or twice per year, though.