NCAA Mid-Week Report

Nebraska looks to march into Missouri and prove their worth in a mid-week Big 12 treat

Written by: D. Wash.

Offensive Showdown in Missouri

Thursday night will provide a treat for everyone that loves high scores and tons of offense as #21 Nebraska travels 266 miles to play #24 Missouri. Missouri is undefeated, but has yet to gain a win over a quality team. Nebraska is 3-1, but the 16-15 loss they suffered at the hands of Virginia Tech helped their ranking more than it hurt them as nobody gave them a chance in the game. Though instinct may be to side with the undefeated home team, Nebraska is truly the better team in this matchup. Why? I’m Glad you asked.

When Nebraska’s offense is on the field, they’ll be able to move the ball with ease against a Missouri team that has never had a strong defense. The Cornhusker’s running back Roy Helu Jr. has shown that he has the talent to run well against good defenses. A 100+ yard rushing performance against Virginia Tech is almost unheard of, and yet Helu pulled out a 169-yard performance against the Hokies defense. He leads the Big 12 in rushing yards per game, and should have a great game against a Missouri defense that is used to running nickel (5 defensive back) or dime (4 defensive back) packages.

In addition to the great running back, Nebraska also has a quarterback that has completed 65% of his passes in junior Zac Lee. Lee may not have the flash of a Mccoy, Bradford, or Clausen, but he’s a solid quarterback who doesn’t lose games. While the Cornhuskers don’t have a single superstar receiving option, Curenski Gilleylen is pretty close. They are about seven guys deep on receiving options. That’s more than you’ll find on most teams, and it will help to prevent double coverage on any of their receivers.

Missouri’s defense has shown a lot of weakness throughout the season, allowing 21 points against Nevada and 20 against Bowling Green. If they can’t stop those two team’s offenses, there is no way that they’ll be able to stop Nebraska’s balanced attack.

Missouri does have a lot of firepower offensively. Derrick Washington and Kendial Lawrence are like Thunder and Lighting when it comes to running the ball. Washington, the big junior, will always carry the majority of the load. If Lawrence can work his way in for a few carries, he can provide a good change of pace in this running game. However, the running game is never the focus of the Missouri offense. It is only there to set up the Tigers passing offense, which is as always, one of the tops in college football (#10 in Passing YPG this year). Sophomore quarterback Blaine Gabbert is quietly having a spectacular year. Despite having thrown the ball 131 times, he boasts a completion percentage of 66% and a big old zero in the INTs column (only 2 starting quarterbacks are still interceptionless this year). That’s placed him at number 4 in passer rating in all of college football, an impressive, but expected feat for the top pro style QB prospect for the class of 2008 (according to rivals.com). 

He also has three very good wide receivers, all of which should end up with 60+ reception seasons. Despite the talent on the Mizzou offense, the Nebraska defense WILL be able to stop them from being as productive as they are accustomed to. Nebraska’s defense has managed to lead college football in scoring defense, allowing only 28 points in 4 games. They won’t be able to hold Missouri at 7 points (Nebraska’s points allowed per game), but even holding Mizzou under 20 would be a great accomplishment that will most likely result in a Nebraska victory (Since’01, the Tigers have gone 2-23 when held under 20 points). Can the Cornhuskers do it? You better believe it.

This should be an exciting football game, and at least one team will put up huge scoring numbers. My money is on Nebraska to win decisively, and I truly think that the Cornhuskers are underrated as a team. With an impressive win at Missouri, Nebraska will fly up the rankings into the teens and to a spot that they are more deserving of.

The Top 10 Teams That Noone is Talking About

Most of the top 10 teams have garnered some sort of excitement and talk about them. Florida and Texas both have Heisman candidates. Alabama has an offense that has looked better than just about any Alabama offense in the past 100 years. LSU is still undefeated despite a thriller against Georgia last week. Boise State is recognized as the yearly “BCS buster” frontrunner. And of course, VT, USC, and Ohio State are all working their way back into the national title discussion after early season losses. However, there are two teams that no one seems to be looking at, Cincinnati and Texas Christian University (TCU).

Cincinnati is stacked with talent, especially on offense. The Bearcats QB Tony Pike is one of the top pro QB prospects in the nation (probably the third QB drafted after Bradford and Mccoy). He’s thrown for just short of 1500 yards and 13 touchdowns (ranking him at numbers 5 and 3 in those respective categories). They also feature a star wideout in Marshawn Gilyard, who is tied for the lead in college football with 7 receiving touchdowns so far on this still young season. The two back system of Jacob Ramsey and Isaiah Pead is also rather efficient, as the two backs have combined for 500 yards and 6 TDs on the ground. Their pass defense is also good as this squad is ranked second in the nation in both sacks and interceptions.

TCU has a run first offensive unit, and it has created one of the most efficient (yet still underrated) offenses in college football. The true key to this team however is its defense. They’ve held teams to an average of 47 yards per game on the ground (best in the nation) and have recorded 16 sacks on the year (tied for number 4 in the nation). They will continue to stuff teams on the ground and frustrate offenses and coaches across the country.

Though these teams have different methods of winning games, they have a few things in common. One, they’re both undefeated. Two, they’re both solid, winning teams. Three, they will both give the voters a dilemma if they continue to win. TCU looks like they can easily coast through the rest of their season, and Cincinnati looks like that feat won’t be difficult either if they can get past South Florida.

Dez Bryant Ruled Ineligible

Oops, my bad. That’s what Dez Bryant (Jr. WR, Oklahoma State) should be telling his team. The NCAA has ruled him ineligible for the rest of the year for not disclosing a conversation that he had with former NFL star Deion Sanders. What the conversation entailed is, at this time, unknown to the public, but if it violated NCAA rules it was likely about Dez Bryant’s future at Oklahoma State. Widely considered the one of the best wide receiver prospects in college football, Bryant now will have no more games to prove his worth to NFL scouts. That of course is assuming that he declares for the NFL draft, which was the assumption before the year began but now is bathed in uncertainty. I think that considering the injuries this year to Bradford, Gresham, and Tebow (all players that decided to come back for a senior season, all got injured), Bryant will choose to throw his name into the draft. It makes some sense, no one wants to get injured because they came back for another year, and at the same time hurt his draft stock. Bryant better keep in shape and get ready for a great performance at the combine if he wants to maintain his early-mid first round draft status.

Tebow is a “Gametime Decision”

Tim Tebow, who suffered a concussion two weeks ago against Kentucky, is going to be a “gametime decision” for the big SEC, top 5-ranked matchup on Saturday against #4 LSU. Tebow’s presence can change the game completely. He has become less vital in the passing game since his Heisman winning season two years ago, but he is extremely important due to his intangibles such as leadership and his willingness to get guys pumped up for the game. Without him playing, Florida still may have enough talent to win, but without that coach on the field to chew them out and hold them responsible for their mistakes they may lack a bit of fire during the game and be easily discouraged by failures. Redshirt Sophomore John Brantley is Tebow’s backup and Urban Meyer would really like to avoid throwing him into his first career start against a good SEC defense like this LSU team, but he may have no choice. If Tebow doesn’t play, LSU is instantly my favorite to win because despite Chris Rainey and Jefferey Demps, a Gator team without Tebow is like Barack Obama without a blue tie. It can still function pretty well, but it loses a big piece of its identity.