Nebraska Football strives for perfection against Oklahoma

As the anniversary of the Game of the Century approaches one specific movie quote has stuck with me this week, “So you’re saying there’s a chance?”.  That quote is from an all-time comedy classic: Dumb and Dumber, which may be an appropriate description of myself for believing Nebraska Football has a shot at upsetting the top 5 ranked Sooners.  I’m not saying it’s going to happen.  All I’m saying is… there’s a chance.  Here’s why:

First of all, after the Illinois loss at the beginning of the season, the Huskers have been able to take care of business the last two weeks by winning both contests convincingly.  In 2 of the more winnable games on the schedule, Scott Frost and his team won against lower-level teams, Buffalo and Fordham, by a combined margin of 70 points.

In those games, the defense allowed a combined 10 points.  If you add that to the 21 points given up by the defense in Game 1, then that’s a total of 31 points for the whole season – just above 10 ppg given up.  Fans are sure to see this put to the test by Lincoln Riley’s high-powered offense led by gunslinger Spencer Rattler.

Nebraska Football will try to do the unthinkable on Saturday

Rattler is indeed a gunslinger in every sense of the word.  Not only can he throw the deep ball and try to fit it in tight spaces but he does so very often.  Sometimes too often.  While I still consider Rattler one of the best quarterbacks in college football, maybe the best NFL prospect, I wouldn’t put him on the same tier as the last 3 OU quarterbacks.

He has been known to have too much confidence in his arm and try to execute very risky throws.  If the Blackshirt defense can stick to the receivers and get a little pressure on Rattler you can expect an interception or two.

The Nebraska offense still seems to be searching for their identity.  At times fans can see flashes of excellence but it is almost always preceded or followed by a sputtering drive that kills momentum.  One factor that seems to be trending upwards is the play of quarterback Adrian Martinez.

Over the last 2 games, we have seen Martinez put up some serious highlights.  The 71 yard run last week that looked like a sack starting off is a play that only a handful of players in college football can make and Adrian is one of them.  Talk about how it was against lesser opponents all you want but plays like that are ones that are impressive no matter who the opponent may be.

What maybe is more crucial for this week is the fact Adrian and the offense were also able to throw downfield and with accuracy.  To have a chance in this game the Husker offense must have some big plays and that comes with throwing the ball downfield.

Samori Toure seems to have emerged as the threat in this department so hopefully, he can keep up the momentum he has built.  Giving Martinez time and establishing the run will be immensely important in setting this up.  This will prove challenging especially with the top 2 leading defenders in QB hurries in the Big 12: Perrion Winfrey and Nik Bonitto playing on the Sooner defense.

Nebraska Football has a tall task ahead of them this weekend.  The players will have to play a clean game (when’s the last time that happened?) and a couple of breaks will need to bounce their way.  Think back to the 2018 teams against Ohio State where the offense drove the ball and the defense was able to create some turnovers.

As I stated before, it may not be probable but it is definitely far from impossible.  We saw how Tulane gave them a game.  Adrian will have to play one of his best games in a Husker uniform and the offensive line will have to play their best game of the season so far.  If the defense can force a turnover or two, this game could get very interesting.