Nebraska football season countdown with an Irish Coffee

Nebraska football and its Dublin showdown – or Aer Lingus Classic – is at 11 am CDT and televised on Fox. Don’t look to see the lopsided 56-7 Husker beat down of Northwestern that happened last year. Although the purple guys lost a lot of players, there is no way Coach Pat Fitzgerald didn’t improve his team. He has a tendency to do a lot with less. He’s not naming his starting QB until game time, though.

Even though eight of the 11 meetings between these two teams have ended with a 1 score difference, I’m “Dublin down” and saying the Huskers winning by two scores (sorry I couldn’t resist.) The purple won’t have the luck of the Irish behind them Saturday.

A lot of things happened over the offseason. The transfer portal was busier than O’Hare airport the day before Thanksgiving. There were people coming and going. Most notably of the going category was Quarterback Adrian Martinez.

He’s now a Wildcat and with his girlfriend down there. I’m very ok with it. It’s like breaking up with that person that is fun to date but doesn’t quite have the stuff to put a ring on it. Literally, I’d have preferred if he took a certain O-lineman I’m not fond of with him, but maybe that unnamed Husker will learn how to block, how to use his hands and to take the cement buckets off his feet.

The “coming in” category was impressive. I lost count after 20-something. There is a new starting Husker Quarterback in Casey Thompson, a Texas transfer. Despite his having worn burnt orange, so far I’ve been impressed with the reports on his type A personality, studious hours of film, and telling his O-Line that they will stay late after practice to make sure they are on the same page. The only thing I’m not thrilled about, mostly because we all overanalyze this stuff, is that he’s “the most consistent” quarterback we have. Not huge praise, but I’ll drink the Kool-aid for now and be excited even though he’s not a captain.

It’s another year with a weird beginning. Thanks, Bill Moos for scheduling a game 6 time zones away, on a grass field that was put down 5 weeks ago, and with no way to recover from the jet lag before the Huskers play again in Lincoln. I don’t think Frost is ever going to have a normal opening weekend of college football. At least it won’t be a torrential downpour in Dublin. The weather is supposed to be partly cloudy and in the 60’s.

Some better news: the Husker schedule finally does NOT include Ohio State. That’s refreshing. The schedule sets up for Nebraska to have a better record even if the Scarlet and Cream kept the same roster. I look to be VERY pleasantly surprised watching receivers Marcus Washington and Trey Palmer rack up yards after the catch. Palmer came from LSU with receivers Coach Mickey Joseph. Marcus Washington played with Thompson in Texas. I suspect Thompson and Washington have a shorthand already.

I look forward to actually having a direction in the running back room. No offense to Coach Held, but who (barring injury) doesn’t have an established running back priority line by the 8th game of the season. There is LOTS of talent in that room. Husker running backs Ervin, Yant, and Johnson, should be able to make some headway against Northwestern. The bigger question in my mind is whether new Husker Offensive Coordinator Mark Whipple will call enough run plays. Time will tell.

My advice for the game is to find a place that serves beer and breakfast to watch the Husker opener. Blackshirts (which were finally announced Wednesday) need to get in the QB’s face and get after him so they can’t short pass Nebraska to death. Nebraska needs to play clean. It’s that simple. No turnovers (insert morning game bakery joke here) and WIN the dang game!

If I were hosting a home game, I’d make the most popular green jello shot in honor of Dublin. It combines Green Apple and Jack Daniel’s Apple Whiskey. Mix 1 cup boiling water with the small jello box and stir. Pour in 3/4 cup of the whiskey and pour into the cups, and chill. Tastier than you think! Hopefully, we can say the same thing after the game.

Hit me up with your Nebraska football tailgate recipes and photos on the Twitter @kalian_NE and I’ll see about getting them into the article. Show up, yell loud and GO BIG RED!