Nebraska wins in a close one!

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL


The rivalry begins this week. Iowa will become our new Colorado. Their our neighboring state. Omaha is only a river away. Many Iowans work in Nebraska and many Nebraskans work in Iowa. Arguments have been going on ever since it was announced that Nebraska was entering the Big 10. Let the fun begin.

Nebraska is favored by 9.5 points but this one will be closer. It will a barn burner. Nebraska is really beat up in the interior lines. There will be many Iowans in the stands and Iowa has a bunch of players with Nebraska roots. The game is in Lincoln. This will be a wild game with the team with the least turnovers and mistakes being the eventual winner.

Nebraska 33 Iowa 30

What's your guess for the score this week? Make a comment.

The Nebraska men's basketball team plays Oregon in Lincoln tomorrow night. Oregon has only lost to Vanderbilt at Nashville. Vanderbilt is the No. 7 team in the nation and the game was pretty close. Dana Altman, the former coach of Creighton, returns to Nebraska. Should be a great game.

Speaking of Creighton they look like at Top 20 team. They will be a national force this season.

Remembering John F Kennedy

As our 4th grade boys left the bathroom we were met by our teacher Mrs. Jenkinson who told us that the President had been shot. I am still so keen to my surroundings that day of the Orleans Public Grade School. Everything I was around when she told us the tragic news is what I remember most about my Orleans School days. November 22, 1963 is the most memorable day in history I have ever experienced. WE were so scared. We didn't know if Russia was going to take over our country and now this.

We headed to the Senior Class Play in the High School and then during one of the breaks between acts Mr Gray informed us the President was dead.

I was watching TV when Lee Harvey Oswald was shot by Jack Ruby.

Some will have 9/11/01 as their most memorable moment. Of course when your kids are born those moments are huge but other than family moments November 22, 1963 was a day I most remember vividly.

Steamrolling!

Everyday I start my day thinking something great is going to happen today. I'm going to get a new account, establish a new relationship, spend time with my family, or shoot a huge buck. But sometimes things don't go the way I dreamed. Some days you lose an account, you upset a good account, you didn't find or take the time to visit family, and you screw up and miss the big buck.

Then what happens is you start to think about it and then more and more bad things kick in. Murphy's Law takes over and by the end of the day you wonder what the heck happened. You lose your concentration,your focus on what's important, the fundamentals of what necessary to succeed, you get down and out and everything implodes.

I guess I understand when Nebraska has a game like they had against Michigan or Wisconsin. Everything goes wrong; everything snowballs, everything steamrolls, and bang you get a whipping you never dreamed off. When this happens you lose focus and you don't execute the fundamentals to be successful.

Wisconsin and Michigan aren't that much better than Nebraska. Maybe they aren't better than us at all. The whole Big 10 is very close and a couple of mistakes will cost you the game. Saturday, we made more than a couple of mistakes.

Nebraska looks tired. Robinson and Russell wore our defense down even more. When you are tired bad things happen. When you are hurting, you don't perform at your best. You have no patience with employees or your spouse. You don't perform at your best. You lose focus. You lose football games.

As we sit on our couch and watch Nebraska play, we're snacking, drinking our diet coke, and we have no idea of the emotions our kids who represent Nebraska have. They are at a level we don't understand when we sit in comfort. Good things happen most of the time but some days, like at our work, mistakes get made. Stupid mistakes. It just happens in life.

Don't get me wrong, we have to have a vision to be No. 1 whether it be Nebraska football or at our own home or work. We have to work to be the best we can be and we must never want to be any less than that. But we must also understand that not every day is going to be great. The kids that play for Nebraska can have those days too. They aren't a bunch of losers. They work hours everyday to represent Nebraska the best they can.

Iowa will be very tough this week. We will not be able to make mistakes like last week and win. We will need to be at our best.

Support the team, cut out the negativism, and remember we are all human. We all like a pat on the back and an uplift. This will be a close game and we should have a win this week.

Michigan may be too much for us this week!

This is a huge game for Nebraska. A win gets us closer to a Top 10 position and even a BCS bowl. A loss keeps us barely in the Top 20.

Watch out for Fitzgerald Toussaint. He and Denard Robinson will be quite hard to stop. Nebraska's defensive line is hurt. With Jared Crick out for the year, it will be hard for the defense to get the job done in Michigan. The offensive line is hurt also and this will put Nebraska's offense at a disadvantage.

This could be a long day for NU. Hope I am wrong but I see this week:Michigan 35 Nebraska 24.

Nebraska men's basketball team wins away!

The Nebraska Men's BB team beat USC tonight in overtime 64-61. This is a big win for the Cornhuskers. Bo Spencer had 20 points followed by Brandon Richardson with 12. USC missed a three at the end of regulation. Brian Diaz had 10 points.

The Huskers shot .500 with three point shots and shot 75% from the three point line.

Letters from Penn State

My daughter Jessica sent this to me today. I would like to share, click here.

Pelini: PSU Game 'Should've Never Been Played'

Raw Video: Penn State, Nebraska Pray Before Game

Crazy times at Penn State!

With all the crazy things happening in Happy Valley, this game is hard to predict. Before all the charges were brought forth, I thought it would be Penn State 24 Nebraska 21.

Now with the landscape at Penn State changing hourly, I give the edge to Nebraska. Nebraska will be ready to play this week. Ten fights broke out at the Nebraska practice on Monday. The intensity was very high. On the other hand, the players at Penn State are seeing coaches changes daily. They have to be distracted. It would be natural for them to become concerned about more than the game.

I look at Nebraska to win. Nebraska 28 Penn State 21.

Latest on Patrick Witt

Patrick Witt was the leading candidate for the quarterback job back in the 2009 season. Not getting a guarantee to start, he transferred http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifto Yale University where he has passed for over 4000 yards. He has some Yale passing records and now he has the hardest decision of his life. Watch this video from Nightly News.

Helu, Nebraska, and other things

THIS SAD NEBRASKA FAN JUST DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO OR WHERE TO GO TODAY!! HOPEFULLY TOMORROW HE WILL FEEL BETTER!!

Nebraska's Roy Helu Jr. broke the Washington Redskins' all-time reception record for one game today with 14. He broke Art Monk's long standing record. For more click here.

Joe Frazier is in hospice with liver cancer. What a lot of memories of the Joe Frazier-Muhammed Ali fights!! We wish him well.

Not much to say about Nebraska. Any team in the Big 10 can win on any Saturday and if the other team isn't ready to play or have a couple of key turnovers go against them, they will get beat. Northwestern stayed around long enough to think we can win this and they did.

Surprises. I thought the Nebraska offensive line would control the defensive line of Northwestern. Northwestern had given up a trillion yards a game but they didn't Saturday. Yes they had nine guys up at the line to stop us but our passing game didn't have a lot of open receivers as a whole. Our line just couldn't do much.

Our defensive line is really depleted. Injuries to Crick, Randle, and Rome have hurt us more than most people realize. Besides Baker Steinkuhler, who had a great game Saturday, we are playing second and third teamers. We aren't putting pressure on the quarterback and yes slants over the middle will be open if the quarterback can sit back and throw at will. Hopefully we will get a couple of the defensive linemen back soon. In this game we missed Crick more than ever.

Looks like Carl Edwards or Tony Stewart will win the CUP. Stewart keeps winning but can't get in the lead. Should be an interesting finish with only two weeks left. Edwards leads Stewart by three points.

The SEC announced Missouri as their 14th team. Just don't know why they saw that as a fit although they have been good in football and men's basketball. I still don't understand the PAC 10 picking Colorado either but maybe I will over time.

LSU is number one in college football but kudos to Oklahoma St who is now number two.

The Green Bay Packers remain undefeated by beating the Chargers 45-38.

Here' my Top 8 teams for College Football right now.

1. LSU

2. Alabama:

3. Oregon

4. Oklahoma State

5. Stanford

6. Boise State

7. Oklahoma

8. Arkansas

The Nebraska women beat UNK this afternoon 85-55. Holdrege's Tessa Kreutzer had six points for the Kearney women.

Nebraska plays Penn State this week. They may be distracted this week. One local writer says that Paterno must go due to the mess. Pretty serious. Read here.

High winds will help Nebraska!

Originally I thought this game would be high scoring for both teams. The weather will help Nebraska and hurt Northwestern. Its supposed to be windy tomorrow. We may see more of freshman Kain Colter than Dan Persa tomorrow. Colter is more versatile and is the type of quarterback that can hurt Nebraska. Our secondary and linebackers will again be tested.

Nebraska will run the ball often and will mix in shorter passes.

This week Nebraska 41 Northwestern 20.

Defense led by Thorell spurs win over Michigan St.

If you would like to buy the above photo, go to the Lincoln Journal by clicking here.

The Nebraska defense stopped a very good Michigan St. team cold on Saturday. Seven plays into the game Loomis native Lance Thorell intercepted a Kurt Cousins' pass and ran it back 26 yards to the Michigan St. 25 yard line. The crowd went nuts and the team rallied around the excitement like a bunch of trick or treaters finding a five gallon bucket of candy.

B.J. Cunningham, the leading receiver for Michigan State, had gone 43 games in a row with a reception. He had averaged seven catches and 107 yards in Big 10 play. Today he had 0 catches. The pass picked off by Thorell was intended for Cunningham. That is about as close as he got to a catch all day.

The whole defense played well. Will Compton was a man possessed and has never played a better game. David led in tackles as always. The front four were really good and had four sacks. The whole defensive secondary didn't give Cousins anything to throw to.

Thorell, who is as nice of kid as you will ever meet, showed that walk-ons have a place at Nebraska. He took on blockers that were 60 pounds heavier than himself and stood them up. Lance did get a well deserved scholarship this fall. He played the field well and was kind of sneaky in making plays. His speed and quickness well overcame the weight disadvantage in the box.

Kudos to Andrew Green, who subbed for the injured Stanley Jean-Baptiste. Green made some great tackles and covered very well. This game should boost his confidence and he may be hard to replace once Baptiste gets healthy. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised by his great play.

Rex Burkhead is like a bull on the field. What a tough kid. They call him Superman but I am not sure Superman could keep up with him. Late in the game they had to carry him off the field. A few plays later he scores on a pass play. The play was a new one out of the playbook and it was called at the right time. After the touchdown Burkhead limped back to the players on the sideline.

The coaches get an A+ for the game they called. Both offense and defense was prepared and the game plan was excellent.

GREAT JOB HUSKERS!
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Some real surprises in college football on Saturday. Minnesota knocks off Iowa. I had to see it on three segments of ESPN before I finally believed it.

This puts Nebraska, Michigan, and Michigan State all tied for first in the Legends division. Before Saturday you could see a Wisconsin and Michigan State in the Big 10 Championship game. Now, who knows? Nebraska and Penn State? With the parity in the Big 10 the picture will change weekly. Nebraska is in control of their division. They have some very tough games coming up with Northwestern this next weekend.

The Nebraska men's basketball team is picked 11 out of 12. Let's hope we move up from that. It will be interesting. It will be also odd to see a whole different set of teams coming to Devaney.

The Nebraska women started their season tonight. For more info, click here.

2011 Michigan State-Nebraska Post-Game Press Conference (Lance Thorell)

It's going to be a close one!

I get a different prediction when I think with my head and then with my heart. We'll go with the final prediction being from the heart.

HEAD

I look at these two teams being pretty even on a neutral field without taking into consideration the special team play. Michigan St is probably a two point favorite on a neutral field. Kirk Cousins is a very good quarterback but so is Taylor Martinez. The teams are very evenly matched. The two points comes from the Michigan State's defensive line and their linebackers. A very talented group. Give Nebraska five points for the home field advantage. This makes Nebraska a three point favorite. But when you figure special teams I have to add back six points to Michigan St. Prediction Michigan St. 31 Nebraska 28.

HEART
OK, with this approach I try to think of all the positive intangibles that go with this game plus Stanley Jean-Baptiste play at cornerback. We will see in this game how good Baptiste is. He may of made a one to two touchdown difference in three of the games if he is as good as I think he is. Against Wisconsin he may of made a bigger difference.

Wisconsin has played a couple of tough games the past three weeks. Ohio State, Michigan, and Wisconsin have all been their victims. Pretty tough to be up another week. In the mean time Nebraska has had a bye week and then Minnesota. We should be pretty healthy except for Crick and Randle. The previous games for Michigan State has had to take a lot out of them both mentally and physically.

The fact that we will the peso more than the base defense with three linebackers will also be a plus. Thorell and again, Baptiste, have improved our defense to another level. This is huge. Also we may see Lavonte David line up like Demorrio Williams used to and put some huge pressure on their Jake Locker type quarterback, Demorrio WIlliams. This will play big.

Michigan St. isn't that impressive playing away. Notre Dame beat them bad. Ohio State held them to 10 points.

Watch for the diamond offense to be used a lot during this game. This features our running attack mostly and with that we can put a lot of speed in the backfield. Burkhead, Martinez, Green, Legate,and possibly even Jamal Turner may line up in the backfield giving us a lot of options. Watch for Kenny Bell to run the ball also. Kyler Reed will make a nice outlet if he is healthy.

So at the end of regulation the game will be tied 31-31. After the first overtime, the score will be tied 38-38. But then the defense holds and Nebraska kicks a field goal. The heart always wins out so my final prediction this week will be. Final Score Nebraska 41 Michigan State 38.

DON'T MISS THIS ONE BECAUSE IT WILL BE ONE OF THE BEST GAMES OF THE YEAR!!!!!

Bill Snyder best coach ever?

Bill Snyder is 73 years old. Hew was rehired as the coach for Kansas State on November 24, 2008. Snyder was hired by Kansas State the first time following the 1988 season.

Snyder started his coaching career as a graduate assistant for USC in 1966. He coached several years in the high school ranks in California. From 1976 to 1978, Snyder was an assistant coach at North Texas State under Hayden Fry. Snyder and Fry moved together to the University of Iowa in 1979, with Snyder serving as Fry's offensive coordinator for the next ten years. Then he went to Kansas State.

His amazing accomplishments at K-State qualify him as one of the best coaches of this century.

When Snyder took over the team, K-State was considered the worst team in college football. When he took over K-State, they had lost 510 games in its history and had the most losses of any team in Division I-A at the time. It was so bad they hadn't won in three years. Twenty seven games without a win. Snyder only won one game that first year but it was a major step forward.

In the second season, which was 1990, the Wildcats went 5-6. The win season had only been matched once in seventeen years. In 1991, the Wildcats had a 7-4 season and only the second winning season since 1970.

The 1993 bowl game was the first of 11 consecutive bowl games.

During the 1998 season, K-State posted an undefeated 11-0 regular season and earned its first ever number one ranking in the national polls. This coming just ten years after Kansas State being named by SPORTS ILLUSTRATED as the worst team in the country.

Snyder retired on November 15, 2005, with an overall record of 136-68-1. Ron Prince, formerly an assistant coach and offensive coordinator at the University of Virginia, was named Bill Snyder's replacement on December 5, 2005.

Snyder's first tenure is regarded as one of the most successful rebuilding projects of in college football history. Barry Switzer said at that time that, "He's not the coach of the year,he's not the coach of the decade, he's the coach of the century."

After Ron Prince's firing and unsuccessful coaching tenure at Kansas State, Bill Snyder was rehired on November 24, 2008, as previously stated.

Many said Snyder was foolish. He was too old. He would ruin his legacy.

Well again he proved them wrong with brilliant coaching and unreal success.

In his first season back, the team posted a 6-6 season. I can remember that year and wondered, "How did he do that." Each season he has improved the team's record and their overall performance.

In 2011, Kansas State is 7-0 and is first in the Big 12. Amazing. They are ranked as high as 7th in the national polls. He has turned them around again. His overall record is now 156-80.

What makes Bill Snyder such a good coach. Their recruiting is never high with the raters. He never gets a bunch of five star players but seems to do it with two, threes, and once in a while a four. Bill Snyder obviously knows where to put his players and he knows the game of football as well as any coach in the nation.

His assistant coaches that have learned under him are a tribute to the man. They include Phil Bennett (SMU), Bret Bielema (Wisconsin), Jim Leavitt (South Florida),Mark Mangino (formerly Kansas), Dana Dimel (Wyoming), Bob Stoops (Oklahoma), and Mike Stoops (formerly Arizona).

Husker fans would be pleased to know that Bill Snyder was only 5-14 versus the Cornhuskers. He has his most losses to any team with Nebraska.

Bill Snyder has a record that is hard to argue with that he is one if not the best coach in this century. Tom Osborne's record is amazing but Bill Snyder has twice brought back a program that was near bottom.

College Football: Michigan State Spartans at Nebraska Cornhuskers

Game Plan Breakdown

Coaches Corner: MSU - Nebraska

Different defensive personnel give Nebraska hope!

Nebraska has made a couple of changes the past couple of weeks on defense that have will allow them to win the rest of the games. Now I am not saying they will but they now have a chance.

First of all the changeover of Stanley Jean Baptiste is huge. He is already as good as cornerback as Nebraska has had in years including Prince. Minnesota threw the other way most of the day. Yes, they were throwing at Dennard. They are staying away from Baptiste. Earlier in the year teams were getting mulitple yards on multiple play against our cornerback on that side. Now no yards there and they have to pass against Dennard, who isn't too bad himself. We will see more on this against Michigan St. If Baptiste is solid there, he is for REAL. Who knows what we could have done against Wisconsin if he would have been in the lineup. I guarantee you that it would have been a very close game.

I am pretty sure that Austin Cassidy played his best game because Baptiste is in the game. He can get back to playing the game the way it is to be played. This will make us better also.

I have long advocated that Lance Thorell needs to be in the game. He is smart and he is where he needs to be. The Loomis, Nebraska graduate added speed to our defense. Whether he was playing Buck linebacker at times or the nickel back, we are a better defensive team when he is on the field.

Kenny Bell had the longest run yesterday since Cory Ross went 86 yards against Missouri in 2004. He also had the longest run by a freshmen ever.

Where was Kyler Reed Saturday??

Did you here about the elevator full of Huskers that got stuck on Friday night for 45 minutes. There were six linemen and thirteen total players on the elevator. We should have been flagged for too many players in the elevator. I bet that smelled before it was over.

Who would have thought that Wisconsin and Oklahoma would get beat this week? Michigan State had a good chance but Texas Tech over Oklahoma? WOW! In the rankings who would have thought that Oklahoma St. would be #3 and K-State ranked 8th.

The winner of the Bama/LSU game will probably be in the National Championship. Who might they play? Stanford?

Kudos to the Nebraska women volleyball's team for beating another number one. This weekend it was Illinois and they dominated. Keep it going. The bandwagon is here and strong.

This week's game against Michigan St. is huge. Should be quite a week and it will give us plenty to talk about. The results will be in on Saturday about three as the game starts at 11:30 am.