Nebraska Football: What to Hope and Expect vs PSU

What to Hope and Expect for Nebraska Football vs PSU.

Well, here we are, the exact place we hoped not to be heading into the Penn State game, winless and looking for answers. The good news is that the Nittany Lions are not in a better spot.

Penn State has much to the surprise of the college football community fallen flat on their face to open the season starting 0-3. A loss to Ohio State was to be expected, what was not to be expected was losses to Maryland and Indiana.

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Meanwhile the Cornhuskers head into this weekend’s clash, following an expected loss to Ohio State and a head scratcher against Northwestern. A parcel of good news is that the clash between winless giants will take place on the Cornhuskers home turf of Memorial Stadium.

In my opinion, the outcome of this game lay in the hands of the Nebraska offense. In recent years this may have come as a cause for hope leading up to a game, but not this year. The Huskers are averaging a lowly 15 points per game. This figure must improve if Nebraska has ambitions of beating any opponent let alone a well-coached, albeit struggling, Nittany Lions squad. I not only hope for an offensive outburst in Lincoln this Saturday, I expect one as well.

I expect this for two major reasons. The first being I also hope and expect redshirt freshman Luke McCaffery to be at the helm on offense. In the first games of the campaign, McCaffery looked promising, serving as a spark plug for the offense even if he wasn’t able to turn the tide of either game. Following an interception by Adrian Martinez against Northwestern, McCaffrey was called on to save the day. He was also trusted by Scott Frost to lead the game-tying or winning drive.

It is because of this latter fact I believe Frost will turn to the redshirt to begin the Penn State game. The second reason I believe the offense will break out, is that well to put it simply, they need to. Yes I know this sounds like rather shotty thinking but allow me to explain. Pressure is mounting on the coaching staff and the team over the direction of this season and the program more broadly speaking.

In my opinion the offensive play calling has been far to conservative and yielded the expected meager results. Because of the results or lack thereof resulting from the initial play calling strategy playing a major role in at least one loss, I believe the coaching staff will remove the revlimiter and allow the offense to move at full throttle.

I also anticipate we will learn more about the defense in Saturday’s game. The Blackshirts put in a display worthy of a victory in the Northwestern defeat, but Penn State is a cut above Northwestern in terms of offensive talent.

In the Northwestern game, the secondary looked shakier than the front and they will be up for a far more sturdy test this weekend. A talented receiving core led by Jahan Dotson and Pat Freiermuth being the major concern for the defense. Freiermuth presents a serious and unique challenge to the Huskers defense.

That being said, the Huskers can counter with the combination of senior safeties Maquel Dismuke and Deontai Williams. If the veteran Nebraska secondary can marshal the formidable Nittany Lions air attack , and the line and linebackers are able to win the line of scrimmage, the chance is there for the Cornhuskers to put one in the win column.

Now for what I hope and expect the result to be. Well, the hope is simple, I hope the offense wakes up, the defense continues to grow and of course I hope Nebraska wins! . I expect the offense to improve, improve enough to be competitive but not the kind that can orchestrate a clean and efficient drive each possession.

I expect the defense to be pushed, but I expect them to rise to the occasion and give their team a chance to win. In short I expect the Huskers to win. I anticipate a close game, a hard fought game, but one that can be won and one we should expect to win. Nebraska, regardless of year or record , should expect to win important home games.