Nebraska Football Tailgate Talk: Wildcat weekend wisdom

It’s Homecoming weekend and Nebraska football plays at 2:30 on Saturday and will host the Northwestern Wildcats. Both teams are coming off a bye week.

It will be televised on the B1G Network. Weather forecast is 65 degrees and mostly sunny. For the first time this year, the Cornhuskers are favored by 11.5 points. GBR!

The bye week was physical according to the Nebraska football coaching staff. I like it. Keep them sharp. News out of the bye week included the desire for Rahmir Johson and Marcus Washington looking to exercise that 6th year playing option.

Good news for the Huskers if possible. Someone who is going to be available for this year on Saturday is linebacker and vocal leader, Luke Reimer. He’s been out with an infection. Glad he’s better. There were also three new Blackshirts handed out as well. Click here for more on that.  Spoiler alert: Phalen Sanford is a freak of an athlete and sports the BEST Cowboy hat.

Coach Rhule shared his desire to get Thomas Fidone and Billy Kemp more involved in the Nebraska football gameplan. He even announced that Heinrich Haarberg is the starting QB at his press conference.

Thanks for putting the weekly drama to bed.  Also named a starter was receiver Malachi Coleman. A season ending injury to Marcus Washington probably has a little to do with it, but I say let the tall kid with big hands EAT!

I think Northwestern games have always had a pucker factor for Nebraska. The purple people come to town with a 3-3 record having embarrassed Minnesota a few weeks ago coming back against a 21-point deficit to win in overtime. Northwestern also has done a good job against Penn State for an entire first half. The Wildcats are still wily and are working with an “us against the world” mentality. I think that makes them dangerous.

I’ve watched too many Nebraska football games get twisted against a Wildcat team that was well coached by Pat Fitzgerald. I’m still trying to block out that Ireland game. I do feel bad for Coach Fitzgerald. If you don’t remember, he got fired “for cause” as he allegedly was involved with hazing.

No other staff or coaches were let go which seems really suspect to me. I respected that Fitz would do more with less every year (mostly) and I hope things get ironed out for him in Chicago. For now, he’s filed a 130-million-dollar lawsuit against Northwestern University. Glad that’s not our headline.

Interim coach David Braun has done surprisingly well. They come into Lincoln at 3-3. Wildcats have a good defense, problems on the O-line that leave them lean in scoring, and are they are still trying to figure things out having lost their head coach. (sound a little familiar?) And the Injury bug has hit them too (really familiar).

My sources tell me that they will start dual threat QB Brendan Sullivan. Their transfer QB is still battling an upper-body injury.  The running back that Huskers’ defense will shut down is Cam Porter. Number 17, Bryce Kirtz is their best receiver. Hopefully, the Big Red Blackshirts keep him to just a few yards. A pick on him wouldn’t hurt either.

This may be a low-scoring game. Both teams like to run the ball. Both teams like to stop the run. Ironically, Northwestern can also play out of the wildcat formation. As for the Huskers, I hope that they can roll up 400 yards in offense. I’m fine with it all coming in long touchdown runs and some decent passes with lots of yards after the catch. As long Big Red ends the game with more points than Northwestern, all is good.

Enough of the Nebraska football talk. Along with harvest season, it’s also apple season in the heartland. This week’s jello shot recipe is an ode to the green apple (which also has a pucker factor). Grab your favorite apple bourbon and mix it with green apple jello. I mix 1 cup water and add 3/4 cup of the alcohol to make sure they still set up.

Huskers need to stay focused this week, no let down in energy. The coaches need to be mindful of the trick plays Northwestern has up their sleeves. Big Red does not need to let the Wildcats linger. That’s what happened in the Minnesota game. Huskers need to play our game. Run the ball. Get in the red zone and come away with points. I would LOVE for Tommie Hill to break one loose. It sounds simple but it’s eluded Nebraska the last five years with this team.

Get out to those tailgates, hug your hosts, and support Big Red on Homecoming weekend. Enjoy the great weather, the later than 11 am start and cheer on the team to another Nebraska football victory. As always, GO BIG RED!