Bo Pelini has quickly made his mark as a head coach. He has done what no coach since Tom Osborne has done and that has been to make a believer out of Husker faithful and players. Frank Solich might have led the Cornhuskers to the national title game in 2001 only to get blown out by the University of Miami but he was always in the heavy shadows of Dr. Tom.
This week the Huskers travel to Manhattan, Kansas. Waiting for them will be old man Bill Snyder, his undefeated Wildcats, herculean running back Daniel Thomas and a national audience with some jacked up Wildcat students waiting for Bo Pelini's group. Is this an ambush. It has the makings of an ambush, only problem is this is a very important game for both the Huskers and Pelini. The #6 ranking in the nation means nothing to this group. It's all about proving that Nebraska football is back and losing to an un-ranked Wildcat squad could prove detrimental to these Huskers before they move to the Big Ten.
I expect the Huskers to shut down Thomas or at least limit the top offensive weapon for K-State. Two weeks ago when the Huskers were facing the alleged #1 NFL prospect in Jake Locker and Heisman Trophy candidate the black shirts stymied Locker with a 2-20 passing performance on regional television all but eliminating Locker from Heisman talk despite coming back this past week against USC leading a 4th quarter game winning come from behind drive that might have at least salvaged some of Locker's Husky legacy.
One thing is for sure, Nebraska and Bo Pelini know when the lights are on. Against South Dakota State this past week they won un-impressively 17-3. A win is a win though. This week the Thursday night game is on national television for everyone to watch and Nebraska should unveil a lot of defensive schemes that were non-existent against South Dakota State plus the offense should be ready to execute a more elaborate play book much like what they did in Seattle while hanging 56 on the Huskies. Bo Pelini comes from the coaching hotbed of NCAA football, Ohio the state with ties that has produced national championship coaches of this decade including Jim Tressel, Bob Stoops, Pete Carrol, Les Myles, Nick Saban, and Urban Meyer. It's all about winning the national title. Don't show your playbook to teams you should beat such as South Dakota State but unleash the fury and locker rooms speeches for nationally televised Thursday night games. It's time to perform for Nebraska and they have performed their last three outings in big games vs. Texas in the Big 12 title game last year, against Arizona in the bowl game, and this year on the road against Washington. Time to step up again Huskers in Manhattan, Kansas.
K-State will be tough on Thursday night but they will not win. As a betting man I am not sure if Nebraska will be able to exert their will on the Wildcats but I do know they should be able to win the game handily so teasing the score down from 11.5 to 5.5 is just what the bet doctor has ordered for Thursday night. A good tease for this game is Minnesota +28.5 on Saturday against Wisconsin in the morning.
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