Nebraska football tailgate talk: Facing the day and beating the Knights

The Nebraska football team hosts the Rutgers Scarlet Knights for homecoming Saturday at 3pm CDT in Lincoln, Nebraska. The weather will be hotter than Ed Foley's seat in the coach's room with a high in mid-90s but a gusty, blustery day with winds between 20-40 mph will keep things swirling in the stadium as you melt in the sun. The game is televised on FS1.

At least Husker fans won't be subjected to an annoying train noise this week. I do want to give a shout out to the tons of Big Red fans that caused the sellout in West Lafayette last week. Well done! Thank goodness Purdue had problems setting the edge. Sorry to hear they fired their offensive coordinator the next day though. The Nebraska defense came up big by limiting Mockabee to low numbers of run yardage. There were only 3 drives where Purdue had only 6 plays or more and the Blackshirts were able to get off the field timely. More of this this week please.

I'm especially proud of our young QB who stayed poised and in control despite the pathetic display of yellow flag guys interfering with the game and erasing points off the board. Those are the people who should have gotten their pink slips the day after. Being 0 for 6 in the red zone in the 1st half was not a good look. Thank goodness for 75 yards of rush yardage in the 4th quarter for the Huskers.

Speaking of pink, don't forget it's October and breast cancer awareness month. Ladies you know what to do and for everyone else, think about donating to your favorite charity for this awful disease. I personally love Pink Bandana. They are a local Nebraska charity raising awareness for this type of cancer and I'm on the board of directors. Pinkbandana.org if you're interested in helping out the cause. They are currently accepting applications for the 2025 recipient.

Rutgers comes to town after an extra day of rest having to play Washington on a crappy Friday night schedule. They bring with them a good O-line who helps running back Kyle Monangai navigate yardage and be ranked 3rd nationally, with 147.3 yard average per game. He has a nasty jump cut that leads to a lot of YAC (that's yards after catch, Mom). He will keep his feet moving and with good balance. That's a BIG test for the Blackshirts.

The Knights also have a really good linebacker, Dariel Djabome who consistently has a lot of tackles. The wide receiver of note is Dymere Miller. I suspect he will be the next guy paired with Ceyair Wright from the Blackshirts. Rutgers also has a mobile QB which has shown to be a soft spot in Tony White's defense. The wind will be a factor in Saturday's game so the fact that the Knights haven't made a field goal over 40 yards doesn't mean much.

Huskers will again need to have their "A" game and can hopefully capitalize on the momentum they have right now. I'm glad linebacker Javin Wright is back into the mix after being sidelined with blood clot issues. All hands to the pump, so to speak. I suspect you hold Tommie Hill out to continue to heal up given the fact a bye week is around the corner and Ceyair Wright is doing well. I also think Rutgers head coach Greg Schiano will double team Ty Robinson and Nash Hutmacher in order to be effective in the run game. Rinse, repeat there.

This game will involve more coach v coach than we've seen so far. I hope OC Satterfield is up to the task. I would like more plays for Emmet Johnson and Jacory Barney. I heard talk at the water cooler (thanks Cade) about using Husker running backs Dante Dowdell and Gabe Ervin to soften up the defense to then let explosive Johnson and "sparky" Barney finish things off. I like it. It's the "cumulative effect" theory from the Tom Osborne days, although I'm not sure Satterfield has that kind of patience against the Scarlet defense.

Another big test for the Blackshirts. Rutgers is 16-23 in red zone offense. How long have Husker fans had to rely on the defense to win games? It seems like forever. More cooler talk (thanks Maggie) involved discussions about having a balanced game. She said, "I'd really like to watch solid football for all 4 quarters...I just want a game where both offense and defense show up for the whole thing." I totally agree even though I'd prefer a game where we destroy a team by 3 touchdowns by 2nd quarter. Speak it into existence, Maggie! Lord knows we aren't getting a complete game out of special teams....It doesn't help that Rutgers is infamous for blocking kicks this week either (Someone check on Coach Foley's Tums supply).

Beating the heat the Nebraska football way

Fall is supposed to be in the air but it's hard to believe it given the July-esque temperatures. Instead of a tasty Apple Cider cocktail I'm going with the Arnold Palmer. Half lemonade, half iced tea, some good vodka for the extra kick (no pun intended) and lots of ice. The jello shot recipe is lemon jello and sweet tea vodka for the spark (maybe I should call it the Jacory Barney?). Cade called for an interception for Ceyair Wright but I'll take it from anyone of the Huskers. Their QB has only thrown 2 balls over 20 yards so far so I don't look for a lot of opportunities for them to pick it off. BTW, I was SO pleased for John Bullock getting his pick 6! Not bad for a guy only 2 years of being a linebacker.

My QB1 will need to continue to spread the ball around to have a chance this week. I'm pleased the protection is good for him but the run blocking needs to improve this week for success. Rutgers will allow lots of yard but not many points. Last week they allowed over 500 yards of offense but there was only 1 score in 5 red zone appearances for Washington who barely won it 21-18. Explosive plays for Big Red are KEY!

Wear something light, cheer loudly against the Knights, and hydrate the right way Saturday. This is the 5th home game and only 2 more left on the obnoxious Nebraska football schedule. Huskers need this win because everyone else is ranked on the remaining gauntlet of the schedule. Plus, it's always better to have a win going into the bye week. As always, GO BIG RED!