The Huskers are a 12.5-point favorite over the Cats on Saturday. I'm just starting my breakdown of the Huskers, but a couple things jumped out.
Nebraska can run the ball, and that's going to be a problem. They rank second in the Big Ten (behind only Penn State) with 200.5 yards per game. Northwestern's run defense, on the other hand, ranks dead-last in the conference, allowing 172.3 ypg. So a lot is going to hinge on whether NU will be able to contain Nebraska's running attack. Interestingly, their leading rusher is QB Heinrich Haarberg, but we don't know if he'll start because Jeff Sims is back from injury and the Huskers are holding a quarterback competition this week.
On the flip side, the Cats have the worst rushing offense in the league at 103.0 ypg. Some of that is due to the fact that NU has trailed so much and had to throw, but the bottom line is that the Cats aren't going to be able to run the ball on Nebraska effectively. The Huskers' defense ranks second in the league vs. the run (again behind only PSU), giving up just 75.8 ypg. Ironically, I think that might help. I think NU's best shot is to throw the ball all over the yard, anyway -- assuming Ben Bryant is healthy. The question is whether they'll be able to protect him: the Cats have given up 22 sacks, second-most in the league, and Nebraska has some dudes up front.
The other major factor, as usual when you play Nebraska, is turnovers. They have a new coach in Matt Ruhle, but turnovers are again a problem for the Huskers. They rank 130th out of 133 teams nationally with a -7 turnover ratio (13 lost, 6 gained), or -1.17 per game.
Nebraska can run the ball, and that's going to be a problem. They rank second in the Big Ten (behind only Penn State) with 200.5 yards per game. Northwestern's run defense, on the other hand, ranks dead-last in the conference, allowing 172.3 ypg. So a lot is going to hinge on whether NU will be able to contain Nebraska's running attack. Interestingly, their leading rusher is QB Heinrich Haarberg, but we don't know if he'll start because Jeff Sims is back from injury and the Huskers are holding a quarterback competition this week.
On the flip side, the Cats have the worst rushing offense in the league at 103.0 ypg. Some of that is due to the fact that NU has trailed so much and had to throw, but the bottom line is that the Cats aren't going to be able to run the ball on Nebraska effectively. The Huskers' defense ranks second in the league vs. the run (again behind only PSU), giving up just 75.8 ypg. Ironically, I think that might help. I think NU's best shot is to throw the ball all over the yard, anyway -- assuming Ben Bryant is healthy. The question is whether they'll be able to protect him: the Cats have given up 22 sacks, second-most in the league, and Nebraska has some dudes up front.
The other major factor, as usual when you play Nebraska, is turnovers. They have a new coach in Matt Ruhle, but turnovers are again a problem for the Huskers. They rank 130th out of 133 teams nationally with a -7 turnover ratio (13 lost, 6 gained), or -1.17 per game.
