Nebraska looking to rebound against Colorado
The former no. 8 ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers fell from the eighth seed with a loss last weekend to the Texas A&M Aggies, 9-6, and now has them in the 15th ranked spot. This Friday 26 November has the Cornhuskers playing their season finale
against the Colorado Buffaloes, and with a victory the Cornhuskers could clinch the Big 12 north division and a berth in the conference championship game.
Colorado’s previous games
After an opening day win over in state rival Colorado State, 24-3, the Buffaloes travelled to California and lost to the Golden Bears, 52-7.
They rebounded with two wins over Hawaii and Georgia, but proceeded to lose five straight games and all were to Big 12 opponents. Missouri, Baylor, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Kansas all beat up on the Buffaloes.
Colorado rebounded two weeks ago with a victory over Iowa State, 34-14, and followed that up with another victory last week against Kansas State, 44-36.
The Buffaloes seemed to have been rejuvenated after the firing of head coach Dan Hawkins after the loss to Kansas. Interim coach Brian Cabral has these Buffaloes playing the best football of the season and on the cusp of being bowl eligible.
"I'm so privileged, I'm so blessed to have this opportunity. Where it goes from here, who knows? We'll see. That's out of my control. My goal, my purpose, is this team, this game, this time," Cabral said to the Associated Press.
Nebraska’s season so far
The Cornhuskers started their season with a five-game winning streak over Western Kentucky, Idaho, Washington, South Dakota State and Kansas State. Their smallest margin of victory over those games was 14 point win over South Dakota State.
Overconfidence may have slipped into the minds of the Cornhuskers as their streak vanished against the unranked Texas Longhorns on 16 October.
Nebraska rebounded from the loss with a four-game winning streak over opponents Oklahoma State, Missouri, Iowa State and Kansas.
This brings the Cornhuskers to last weekend against the Aggies, a game in which they lost 9-6, and head coach Bo Pelini flipped his lid on the officials for bad calls.
"I always believe it's OK to disagree with a call," Pelini said according to the Associated Press. "It's not OK to make it personal. At times during that game, probably in my quest to fight for the kids on our football team, I let it get personal. For that,
once again, I'm sorry. I regret that."
Cornhuskers keys to the game
Freshman quarterback Taylor Martinez has been having a season to dream about, but since his right ankle injury, his play has become quite pedestrian, as it was last weekend against the Aggies. With the injury, who knows how healthy he will be for
the game against Colorado, but coach Pelini says that if he is healthy that he will play.
Look for senior running back Roy Helu Jr. to shoulder much of the load against the Buffaloes on Friday along with wide-outs Niles Paul and Brandon Kinnie – with the immobile Martinez unable to use his legs. Also, the emotional Pelini will have to control his
temper this week, but some players say it is appreciated.
"He wants the best for his team, he wants to win just like we do, he wants to see us succeed," Tight end Ben Cotton said to the Associated Press. "We all know he's coming from the right intentions, and we've got his back just like he's got ours."
Buffaloes keys to the game
It will be and should be a very simple game plan for the Buffaloes defence if Martinez plays. Go for his ankle and exploit the injury, knock him out of the game, and then use your offence to stay on the field as long as possible.
Quarterback Cody Hawkins has thrown for over 200 yards in his past three games but will need to increase his accuracy rating, which currently sits at 55.6%. The Buffaloes will need to use their whole bench in order to get this victory, which will dethrone
the Cornhuskers from top spot and leave the door open for the Missouri Tigers to take the division.
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