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Nov. 30, 2009

This Just-In...

Hansen and Buffaloes get “Mmm-Bopped” in Boulder

Huskers close out Colorado 28-20

Player(s) of the Game: Rex Burkhead 18 car, 100 yds,TD

 

Ten wins, No Excuses - unless you’re Colorado�

Then you have many excuses. Higher academic standards, inferior facilities, poor location, female kickers (wait, that is a benefit, right?). The Puffs appeared headed to axe their second head coach in four years. Colorado AD Mike Bohn (no relation to Parker Bohn - he actually knows something about bowling) was traveling with the basketball team in Hawaii apparently biding time to see if the $3 million buyout check payable to Dan Hawkins would clear. Upon his arrival he found out that the check had been returned NSF. Seems Colorado’s Football fund has dried up. Divorces can have devastating financial ramifications. The same can be said for strip clubs and sexual harassment lawsuits as well.

I liken this situation to when I made my second car purchase. I had traded in a 1990 Volvo for a 1995 shiny pre-loved Mazda MX-6. There was nothing wrong with my Volvo; it was a good, reliable, clean looking vehicle that served me well. I got impatient however, seems everyone around me was driving nicer, flashier cars so I decided to trade mine in along with the several thousand in negative equity.

All was good for a while until I got that itch again. Suddenly my new vehicle didn’t look so new. The paint was losing its luster, my friends had burned holes in the back seat and it no longer had that “almost new” smell. I found myself at a Mitsubishi Dealership ready to take delivery of my shiny new 1997 new Eclipse (with less than a year into my new 60-month loan - I didn’t say I was the smartest person back then). It was then that I had my Shawn Watson moment, an Apollo 13 moment - “Houston, we have a problem”. The salesperson kindly informed me that he would love nothing more than to put me into this new sled, and could accomplish this with a mere $10k down. Since my, NFL career didn’t quite pan out (no phantom knee injury story here - just lack of talent) you could imagine that is a good amount of money for any twenty year old to come up with. It was not until several phone calls to various friends and family to borrow this princely sum fell on deaf ears, that I realized what I had done. I had been paying on not only my current vehicle, but also still paying on the previous one. Add interest to that and one could see how my previous salesperson was still out on vacation when I called to complain. Sometimes circumstances dictate that you be happy with what you’ve got. Some Husker fans feel the same over Solich’s firing in 2003.

Colorado fans pipe dream of seeing Mike Shanahan stroll the sidelines have ended - at least for another year. Nebraska’s chance at a ten win season is still alive however. Kudos should be given to this coaching staff for patching together a great season and finding a way to make it work. It would have been a shame to waste this defense on 7-5 season and a trip to Shreveport. Warmer waters await our 2009 Huskers. Just keep in mind that it’s not always about keeping up with the Jones’s. Sometimes just keeping up with the McCartney’s will do�

All my Rexes are from Texas�

That’s why we don’t recruit in Tennessee. Ok so that was bad. But so was our offensive performance on Friday, save for the freshman running back that used to hang his hat in Plano, Texas. I’ll have to admit it. I wasn’t sold on Burkhead�yet. I penciled him in as a faster version of Josh Davis (I know let the lynching commence). I had envisioned that he was playing because:

A) He ran straight ahead - not a lot of shiftiness - we couldn’t afford to lose yards.

B) He was mentally ahead of our other younger running backs

C) He holds onto the ball �and-

D) He was saving a redshirt year for our younger and more talented backs on the roster.

I was wrong. Rex may not be the flashiest back out there, but his running style gets the job done. See Toby Gerhart if you need more convincing that you don’t have to have Barry Sanders to “pound the rock”. Helu was having problems moving the ball on the ground (was he hurt again?). Insert T-Rex. I’m not sure we win the game if Rex isn’t back there plugging away on that 13 play drive that essentially sealed the game.

The offensive line deserves some credit as well but it was the talented freshman that ignited the preverbal flame under the lines’ larger than normal behinds. It’s just like Craig Rosengarden said “The anus (err-onus) is on them”. They seemed to play harder, more aggressive. Is there something to reports of Helu being more about him than the team that has the line playing better when he was on the bench? I would highly doubt it, but Rex gives us a viable option at RB for the years to come. We will need this kind of performance if we are to have any chance of winning next week against Texas, but one thing is for sure - Rex likes his job. Wait, that wasn’t the question. He likes his gig - he likes being a running back for Nebraska. I couldn’t agree more.

In Conclusion�

Nebraska has a chance to play spoiler this coming week and cause BCS chaos. Watching some of TCU’s games, I’m not so sure that they aren’t worthy of a shot. Regardless, I’m hoping that the Uteruses get pounded worse than Pamela Anderson on her wedding night. That’s putting it a bit harsh but it would be great redemption for this Nebraska team to pay Texas back for some of the heartbreaks in the last few years (as well as our upset loss to them in 1996).

All eyes will be on Mr. McCoy, and Texas has everything to play for. Our Huskers are not the red-headed stepchild in this game however; they have a very good shot at winning. To do so they will need to play a near perfect game. The defense can’t allow McCoy any time to find a receiver and they will need to bottle up his resurgent scrambling ability. The offense can’t afford to make any mistakes or turn the ball over. Texas is just too good. The game will likely come down to Nebraska being able to sniff the end zone twice on offense, and get a defensive or special teams score (or a very short field) to sneak out with at 27-24 type victory. Holding Texas to under 24 points would be an accomplishment.

This game will and should be fun for the players and fans alike. This has been a strange season and this is the week we can look back and appreciate what Pelini and his staff have put together. There will be plenty of time for speculation. Just like Kenny Rodgers told us - “you never count your money when you’re sittin’ at the table.” “They’ll be time enough for counting�when the dealin’s done”. Time for our Pelini to stand up, stare down Mac Brown and announce he is “All In”. You can almost see the beads of sweat start to appear on Mac’s forehead. Let the cards fall where they may.

North Texas Nebraskans Update�

I was finally able to pry myself away for a few hours on Friday to make it to the watch party at Pappa G’s in Watauga. As always, the atmosphere was great and there is nothing better than cheering Nebraska to victory with a bunch of fellow Husker fans. I only wish I lived a bit closer so I could make them a tad more often. I wanted to point out some of the upcoming events and hope that the fans that are able to migrate down here this week will be able to join our cause and cheer the Huskers to victory.

Football Friday

DFW Westin
4545 W. John Carpenter Frwy., Irving, Texas

Fri Dec 4th

5:00pm-8:00pm

Join the Nebraska Alumni Association and the Husker Sports Network for a free night of football talk and Husker spirit with Matt Davison, Adrian Fiala, Tommie Frazier and host Lane Grindle.

Humperdinks Bar and Grill

700 Six Flags Dr

Arlington, Texas 75370

Sat Dec 5th

Bar opens at 10:30am

Sidetrack Band will start playing after 1:00pm

Shuttle to and from game ($10 per person)

You can call for shuttle reservations to use credit card 972-823-0024 mention NE game

Free parking available (first come first serve)

Husker Huddle

Rangers Stadium Pavilion

Arlington, Texas

Sat Dec 5th

3:00pm-6:00pm

Join the Nebraska Alumni Association at the Husker Huddle pep rally on game day. It will be held in the Coca-Cola Pavilion at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, just steps from Cowboy Stadium.

Speakers confirmed are UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman, Tom Osborne, and Tommie Frazier.

Full spirit program and tex-mex buffet are included for $45. Tickets without food are $10.00. Cash bar. You may call Nebraska Alumni Association for Husker Huddle Tickets 888-353-1874.

Hope to see everyone there Go Big Red!

www.northtexasnebraskans.com


 

Justin Prestidge is a new contributor to this website. Born and raised in Scottsbluff, Justin is currently holding a low profile deep in the heart of Texas. A die hard Husker fan, Justin has been following Big Red Football for over 20 years, and has been a member of the North Texas Nebraskans for the last 10. You can e-mail him here.