Editor's note: Christian Alexander spanked the books with a 6-2 record in Week 5. Don't miss out on his Big 12 Parlay of the Year for this week!
#24 Nebraska (3-1, 0-0 Big 12) at #21 Missouri (4-0, 0-0 Big 12)
9:00 PM ESPN
Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium (FieldTurf)
Sports.com Line: Nebraska -3, O/U: 52.5
Needless to say, this is a game that Nebraska coaches, players and fans have had circled for quite some time. Getting beat two years in a row by a combined score of 93-23 will do that to a program. But 2009 is a new year and so when 24th ranked Nebraska travels to Columbia, MO this Thursday night to face 21st ranked Missouri, revenge will be foremost on the mind of the visitors.
No question that this game should have a decidedly different feel than in the past two years. Missouri had a Big 12-high six players selected in the 2009 NFL Draft including WR Jeremy Maclin (Philadelphia Eagles), DT Evander Hood (Pittsburgh Steelers), S William Moore (Atlanta Falcons), TE Chase Coffman (Cincinnati Bengals), OL Colin Brown (Kansas City Chiefs) and DE Stryker Sulak (Oakland Raiders). That list doesn’t even include the person most responsible for the lopsided Mizzou wins over the past two seasons, QB Chase Daniel, who went undrafted and is currently with the New Orleans Saints.
Very few programs can lose that type of talent, particularly on offense and not witness a drop off in production. Last season the Tigers scored 40 points or more in eight of their 14 games. This season they haven’t done it yet except for the game against Furman, a I-AA program or to use the new terminology, a school from the Division I Football Championship Subdivision.
Of course, that loss of talent and drop off in offensive production hasn’t affected the most important metric for coach Gary Pinkel as his team is a perfect 4-0 on the season with wins over Illinois, Bowling Green, Nevada and the aforementioned Purple Paladins.
Blaine Gabbert is doing a pretty good impersonation of Daniel as only eight quarterbacks in the country have posted a better efficiency rating than his 168.6 and he's yet to throw an interception in 131 pass attempts. The sophomore is distributing the ball to dangerous receivers such as Danario Alexander and Jared Perry while RB Derrick Washington provides a nice option on the ground. Alexander in particular has proven to be a favorite target of Gabbert and he ranks second in the Big 12 in receptions (29) and receiving yards (404), trailing only Texas' Jordan Shipley.
Missouri won’t be the only program that has a different feel to it in this game. Now entering the second season under coach Bo Pelini, Nebraska is returning to its football roots. No, that doesn’t mean you’ll be seeing the vaunted Husker option attack on offense anytime soon, but it does mean the old school nasty defense is returning for Nebraska.
2007 must have been a particularly appalling year for Cornhusker fans with an appreciation for the way Nebraska football has been played over the years. That season, the last for coach Bill Callahan, Nebraska surrendered over 30 points in eight of its games, twice getting torched for over 60 points.
2008 saw some improvement on defense but that progress seems to have really picked up this season as through four games, the Huskers are ranked No. 1 nationally in scoring defense (7.0 points per game) and No. 23 in total defense (285 yards per game). It starts with a rock solid defensive line which is led by All-America candidate Ndamukong Suh, a punishing presence on the interior.
On offense, Nebraska is also slowly starting to return to its roots after going through a painful and awkward attempt by Callahan to convert the offense to a pro-style system. As mentioned, they aren’t using the classic option that was perfected by QBs such as Tommie Frazier and Eric Crouch but the offense is via the ground game more and more. Evidence of that was recently seen in the game at Virginia Tech where Nebraska RB Roy Helu steamrolled the Hokies defense for 169 rushing yards. The Cornhuskers lost that game in heartbreaking fashion 16-15 but overall it was a position sign for the direction of the program.
Helu, along with QB Zac Lee give opposing defenses plenty to prepare for and you can be sure that Missouri, fresh off a game in which Nevada gashed their defensive front for 218 rushing yards, will have to be ready.
Winning at Missouri, a place they haven’t notched a win at since 2001, would obviously be another big step in Pelini’s attempt to bring Nebraska back to the forefront of the Big 12. The Big 12 North figures to be a three horse race between Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas and so the winner here will have positioned themselves nicely for a run in the second half of the season.
Nebraska is a perfect 4-0 against the spread this season while Missouri is 2-1 ATS.
