Week 7 Upset Alert

There is an impressive slate of games on this week’s menu, and there is only 1 that makes my Alert sirens blare:

#5 Nebraska - The Cornhuskers are riding high after starting the season 5-0 and ranked in the Top 5 of most national polls. Most people consider them to have the best defense in the nation. And Redshirt Freshman QB Taylor Martinez has created quite a buzz with his impressive running ability. But if you take a close look at their schedule, you’ll notice that they have played 5 teams that aren’t anywhere near the caliber of opponent they will face on Saturday. The Huskers have beaten Western Kentucky, Idaho, Washington, South Dakota State, and Kansas State. But there have been glaring issues. Against Idaho the defense picked off the Vandals 5 times, but yet the offense (with great field position all day) could only muster 38 points against a much inferior opponent. Then a couple of weeks later, after 3 quarters of play the Huskers only led the Jackrabbits of SDSU by a score of 14-3. And ended up only winning 17-3.

So, while most of America has been praising, oo’ing, and ah’ing at the the fact that “The Cornhuskers are back”, I am still not convinced.

The Texas Longhorns come to town having lost 2 consecutive games. They dropped out of the national rankings for the first time in 10 years. Vegas has them as a double digit underdog for the first time in 7 years. Most of the country, outside of Austin, TX thinks that Nebraska will get revenge for their 2-point loss in last years Big 12 Championship game. But with 2 weeks to prepare (Texas had a bye last week) the Longhorns should be very prepared for Taylor Martinez and his option attack. Nebraska has not seen a team with the amount of speed that Texas possesses. The Longhorns ability to stop the run (particularly on 1st down) and Nebraska’s lack of a passing game (average less that 145 passing yards per game) will bring the “Big Red Machine” to a stop.
Texas wins on the road as Garrett Gilbert gets his first big win as the Longhorns signal caller.