Matchup:  Nebraska Cornhuskers (University of Nebraska at Lincoln and their initials should be
UNL not NU) (5-1, 1-1) at Northwestern Wildcats (3-3, 2-1)

Date: Saturday, October 18th, 6:30 p.m. CDT

TV: BTN

Line: Huskers (-6.5) o/u 51

Outlook:
 
“They are who we thought they were”.  Denny Green infamously said this after a complete meltdown by his Arizona Cardinals against the Chicago Bears eight years ago this week.  This is how I feel about NU this season.   The ‘Cats are exactly who I thought they were.  Young and inexperienced with a decent QB but not someone who will win games by himself.  Road games in the B1G will bite you and that is exactly what happened last week.  The ‘Cats traveled to Minnesota and dubiously lived up to every expectation.  It was a close contest but a special teams score was the eventual game winner (funny how a 102 yard kickoff return after a tying score tends to deflate a team).  The ‘Cats got down early after some unimpressive play by the secondary.  Justin Jackson kept the game close as he was impressive averaging 4.6 ypc and scoring on a 11 yard pass from Siemian.  The front 7 kept Cobb from killing us as he only rushed for 97 yards on 30 carries, but the big plays kept falling the Gophers’ way.  After a long 97 yard touchdown drive in the 4th quarter tied the game, the aforementioned kickoff return was the difference maker.  This was a very winnable game as the ‘Cats could have locked themselves into pole position in the very weak B1G West Division, and that is the most disappointing aspect of the loss. 
  
The Huskers are 5-1 and are coming off a bye week just as the Gophers were last week.  When they last played, the Huskers were attempting to stage a furious comeback against Sparty as they entered the 4th quarter down 27-3.  Two fourth quarter scores by Abdullah and a punt return for a touchdown had the Huskers in striking distance.  With under a minute to play, the Huskers were driving for the winning score.  A late game interception sealed the victory for MSU and Nebraska fell to their potential opponent in the B1G title game.  Entering the game, the Huskers had the 2nd ranked rushing attack in the nation, but was shellacked by a swarming MSU defense.  Ameer Abdullah was held to 45 yards on 24 attempts as the Spartans vaulted out to the big lead. 
 
This will be a tough week for the Wildcats.   Nebraska is good and for the third straight week, the ‘Cats face a team that features a stud running back.  Ameer Abdullah is good and will be playing on Sundays next year.  He is a different back than Gordon and Cobb though as highlighted on a recent article on the Lake the Posts site.  At 5’9” and 195 lbs, he is not the bruiser that other running backs are.  He is quick and can catch the ball out of the backfield.  This is serious trouble for the ‘Cats in my opinion.  Tommy Armstrong leads the way under center and does enough to not allow teams to focus all of their efforts on Abdullah.  Northwestern’s secondary will have to win their individual battles playing man-man, so the ‘Cats can spy Abdullah and rush 5 guys to stop the run and pressure the QB in passing situations. 
 
The last three Northwestern-Nebraska games have been decided by a total of seven points.  3 years ago, Northwestern won 28-25 in Lincoln as the Colter dive was the highlight.  In 2012, UNL rallied from 12 points down in the 4th quarter to win 29-28 and then last year.  Last year was the Hail Mary game, not to be overshadowed by Abdullah converting a 4th and 15 just prior to the notorious pass as the ‘Cats lost 27-24.  These games are wild and NU will have something to prove.  It is homecoming this week and Under Armour has provided the Wildcats with a “Back in Black” gothic uniform.  The famous arch even makes an appearance on the back of the helmet this week.
 
PICK: Another tough game to pick.  We will dedicate this one to Bon Scott with Brian Johnson singing in the background.   Well, it’s  "time to hit the sack.  Let loose from the noose, that’s kept me hanging about, I keep looking at the sky, cause it’s getting me high.  Forget the hearse, cause I’ll never die.  I got nine lives, Cat’s eyes, using every one of them running’ wild.”  I’m going out on a limb.  Time to reverse the MOJO.  Northwestern does have nine lives.  ‘Cats start strong and hold off a furious rally this time.  22-20 #therealNU. 

Lowes Line Season Record:  Straight up, 2-4 (2-4 ATS)