Prediction

For various reasons, I've neglected my Husker score predictions on the ol' blog. Not this week.

Los Gatos: 21
Los Huskeros: 31

You heard it here first…

My new joke is now my old joke

In a George Will column published not even two weeks ago, Will posed this riddle: "What do the Cubs and Cardinals have in common? Neither team has won a World Series in its new ballpark." The joke here is that Wrigley Field opened for business in 1914, and the Cardinals started playing in their new stadium in April of this year.

I was hoping to get some good mileage out of that joke, but I can't say I'm all that dissapointed with the way things turned out.

Just like old times.

NU: 45
K-Who: 7

Both sides are saying last year's game is ancient history, but I would expect that the Blackshirts have just a little bit of a chip on their shoulder tonight.

GO BIG RED!

A Tale of Two Trojans

NU: 48
Troy: 17

Did they think that dropping "State" from their name they would make them a more respectable opponent? They'll always be Troy State to me.

Delusional?

OK. I'm ready to make my USC game prediction. Well, OK, maybe not.

I came into the season cautiously optomistic that we could beat USC. Then, after watching Courtney Grixby falling down trying to keap up with a LA Tech receiver, I started to get some jitters. I had visions of tall, fast USC receivers scampering about behind our secondary unimpeded. I started to believe all of the "USC is the greatest football team ever, period" hype coming from the sports media.

So, around that point in time I started to think that Nebraska didn't stand a chance against USC. My prediction:
NU: 20 (2 touchdowns, 3 field goals)
USC: 31 (4 touchdowns, 1 field goal)

But, I've been rethinking my prediction. Yes, USC is good. Bill Callahan said in an interview that they didn't have a single weakness anywhere in their program. But, Arkansas was hanging in there with USC until they had a turnover meltdown in the second half and Nebraska is a better team than Arkansas.

I also find myself wondering if they really are that good, or if they are just receiving the standard media darling treatment they normally do. In a post written following the national championship game in which Texas defeated the glorious USC Trojans, I wrote about the media's gratuitous use of the term "dynasty" to describe USC's supposed three-peat:

Notre Dame is USC's only competition for the title of "Over-hyped Media Darling." So, is this team riding the same wave? Perhaps.

Maybe USC if absolutely amazing, and maybe they're not. One thing I know is that Zac Taylor and the Husker offense are too disciplined to follow in Arkansas' self destruction footsteps. I'm starting to think that we may have a chance… My prediction?

NU: 34 (4 touchdowns, 2 field goals)
USC: 31 (4 touchdowns, 1 field goal)

Might just be my heart telling me what I want to hear, but I'm cautiously optomistic about Nebraska's chances of pulling an upset.

A touching tribute

Witt's "Lock of the Week"

Huskers: 42
Colonels: 3

You heard it here first…

NU: 45
LA Tech: 17

UPDATE: 09/02/2006
The final score was 49-10. Not bad for my first prediction of the year…

Let the games begin!

Barry Bonds*

by Michael Ramirez at Investors.com