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Nebraska Preview and Prediction
By The Lowes Line Staff
Matchup: Northwestern Wildcats (5-2, 3-1) at Nebraska Cornhuskers (5-2, 2-2)
Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, NE
Date: Saturday, October 25, 2025, 11:00 am CDT
TV: FS1
Line: Nebraska (-7.5), o/u: 44.5
Outlook: I'm sure most of the loyal readers of
the Lowes Line enjoyed last week's literary tour de force that combined
a little football analysis with a lot of cinematic analysis. And
while it was certainly an entertaining read, it creates a problem, a
big problem. And that is having to follow such an exposition with
the next Line. This is what is known as being born under a bad
sign.
But in all of that eloquence, last week's line left this Line Staffer a
wee glimmer of hope, an opportunity, one perhaps narrower than the
holes through which NU lead running back Caleb Komolafe slips through,
but a sliver of daylight nonetheless. And that is treating "Robin
Hood: Prince of Thieves" as some sort of theatrical masterpiece and
promising 3,500 words on the movie that pokes fun at PoT.
The issue is, I don't need 3,500 words to prove that PoT is a bit
player in the Robin Hood Pantheon, a speed bump if you will on the way
to the true paragon of the Nottingham (ahem, Rottingham) cinematic
universe: "Robin Hood: Men In Tights". I need only one
sentence:
"Because, unlike some other Robin Hoods, I can speak in an English accent."
Boom! Game over. Checkmate. Thank you for coming, and be safe driving home!
Here we are in Week 8 and there is, shockingly, still meaningful
football to discuss and analyze. True to the prediction last
week, the Wildcats beat Purdue and covered the spread. Perhaps a
little surprising is that NU managed to pitch a shutout against the
Boilermakers, winning 19-0. NU kept Purdue off the scoreboard by
winning the turnover battle (though, at 3-2, did anyone really win
this?), got off the field with regularity on 3rd down and especially on
4th down (Purdue 0-3), and kept Purdue's offense on the sideline more
than half the game, winning the time off possession battle
handily. Time of possession can be a misleading statistic, since
it matters what you do with the ball when you have it, but NU scored 2
touchdowns and kicked 2 fieldgoals, and Purdue never drew blood.
However, if NU is to have any chance against Nebraska, it has to do
better than score more than 1 point every 2 minutes of
possession. Significantly increasing efficiency when we have the
ball is key to upsetting the Huskers.
More proof that PoT isn't fit to hold MiT's jock: the great
ensemble cast. Yes, PoT has strength in Morgan "I could narrate
the Yellow Pages and people would watch" Freeman, Christian Slater, and
the always great Alan Rickman. Mary Elizabeth Masterantonio
shines as Maid Marian, but even she cannot save PoT in this
contest. For all of those movie greats, I raise Cary Elwes (an
actual dashing and swashbuckling Robin), Amy Yasback as Maid Marian
(complete with the subplot of her "Everlast" bikini chastity belt and
all of the double entendres about finding the key to the "greatest
treasure in all the land"), Isaac "Chef" Hayes, Richard Lewis at height
of his neurotic superpowers as Prince John, Roger Rees as the
grammatically challenged Sheriff of Rottingham, a very young Dave
Chapelle in his movie debut, and Patrick Stewart with the cameo as King
Richard. Thrown in a cameo by Mel Brooks himself as Rabbi
Tuckman, and you have a recipe for cinematic greatness.
The Wildcats next visit Memorial Stadium in Lincoln to take on the team
representing Nowledge. The Huskers come into this game without
any momentum, having laid a stinker up in Minneapolis last Friday
night, losing to a decent but not spectacular Minnesota squad
24-6. The problems for Nebraska started up front, with the
offensive line surrendering 9 sacks of Dylan Raiola. Raiola is a
dual-threat quarterback, the kind that traditionally gives NU fits on
the defensive side of the ball. Raiola has run the ball 40 times,
though his rushing totals are in the negative (see, sacks, 9).
Still, he is a threat to pull the ball down and run it, so NU's defense
has to keep on its toes. Nebraska's leading rusher is Emmett
Johnson, boasting a gaudy 6.0 yard per carry average. Nebraska is
averaging about 36 points per game on offense, while surrendering 19 on
defense. Their offensive average is aided by two lopsided games
against vastly inferior non-conference opponents (one being FCS Houston
Christian), so the difference is much closer than it would seem.
A "terrific" Bryan Adams song? Gag. That song is so cheesy
that it could cover all the macaroni Kraft produces for at least a
decade. "We Are Men In Tights"...now THERE'S a song. You
just can't top a song that concludes with the lyrics, "We're butch!"
And before we get to the analysis of how NU matches up to UNL, a side
note about how Mel Brooks convinces great female comedic actors to sit
in the makeup chair and emerge looking like old time horror show
characters. First, the great Cloris Leachman emerged as Frau
Blucher (cue horses neighing). And, in the case of MiT, it was
Tracy Ullman who morphed into the LSD version of Frau Blucher,
Latrine. At least she changed her name, from "Shithouse".
So how does the game go Saturday? With Matt Rhule being one of
the leading candidates for the newly vacant Penn State job, there are
two ways things can go for Nebraska. Either they will surrender,
thinking the season is lost since their coach will leave anyway (which
is what appeared to occur against Minnesota). Or, they will try
to rally around their coach to try to get Nebraska bowl eligible and
encourage Matt Rhule to stick around. But will winning the game
make Rhule stay? Or will it actually make Rhule a more attractive
candidate. After all, losing to Northwestern at home doesn't bode
well for Penn State coaches. Just ask Keegan Michael Key's
doppelganger, James Franklin.
Unfortunately, I think the bad performance against the Gophers was an
aberration and I expect Nebraska will fix at least some of the
offensive line play issues that resulted in 9 sacks. Raiola will
have a better game, and Johnson will eclipse the 100 yard mark.
Nebraska's defense may not achieve "black shirts" status, but they'll
do enough to keep NU out of the end zone, despite Komolafe's best
efforts. Preston Stone will have good moments but sadly balance
those with negative plays, offsetting each touchdown pass with a
pick. Overall, NU won't be as successful at getting Nebraska off
the field o 3rd down as they were against Purdue and the offense will
put the defense in some tough spots with turnovers.
Just a few more quick hitters that solidify MiT's status as far superior to PoT:
- The sight gag with Prince John's mole moving all around his face.
- History lessons: we know that commodes in the UK are called "Johns" because Prince John stunk to high heaven.
- Ahchoo's
Reebok Pump shoes. My guess is that most of the devoted
readership of the Line remembers the Reebok Pump but doesn't want to
admit to being that old.
- While
it took 59+ minutes for Costner to finally shoot an arrow in PoT, it
took Elwes only 10% of that time to fire 6 arrows...at once.
- Cary Elwes's almost demonic expression during the fight sequence when he saves Ahchoo.
- Roger Rees's word salads of sentences.
In order to ensure I fulfill last week's promised 3,500 words, I will leave you with the following:
(three pictures...3,000 words.)
Pick: NU keeps the game close, but can't get the
all-important go-ahead score. UNL 24, Northwestern 21. Cornhuskers win,
but don't cover.
Season to date: 6-1 ATS, 4-3 SU
The Lowes Line is an
e-mailed description of NU's
next
football game, with an invariably fearless prediction of the outcome
and
how NU will fare against what the other "experts" predict. Our
good
friend and Brother Marcus Lowes began the broadcast mailing in 1996.
The crack Lowes Line Staff (alumni Lone Star Cat,
GallopingGrapes, P.S. O'Briant, Eric Cockerill, Joel Kanvik, Charlie Simon, and
MO'Cats) have continued the Line in memory of Marcus.
For
the 2025 season it has returned to HailToPurple.com,
for anyone to enjoy. Thanks to the gridiron brain trust at the Lowes
Line!
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