All Huskers, All Weekend

It was a big weekend for Husker athletics, as the season opened for both the football team and the volleyball team. I normally begin these recaps with the football team, as I am a much bigger fan of football than volleyball. However, I'm feeling some serious love for the Lady Huskers this weekend, so I shall begin with them. As mentioned in my last post, the Ladies opened their season at the Qwest Center in Omaha and the Runza/AVCA Showcase tournament. Second-ranked Stanford was the Huskers first opponent, and it was all Nebraska as they dispatched the Cardinal in three games on Friday night. Nobody would have predicted such an amazing feat. The Huskers looked confident and energized, and appeared to be having the time of their lives! Next came the fourth-ranked Trojans of USC on Sunday for the tournament title. No problems there, either, as the Huskers won that match three games to one. It was quite the showcase, as the tournament name suggested, and it was all Huskers! Oh, and by the way, they returned home on Monday at the Coliseum to host Oral Roberts University. If anyone was concerned about a letdown, worry no more. The Huskers easily prevailed three-games-to-none, and remain undefeated as they vaulted to the #2 ranking in the nation. Nice work, Ladies!

As for the football team on Saturday, they defeated Western Michigan 47-24. The game was about what I expected for opening day. Not super pretty, but the Huskers definitely showed glimpses of brilliance on both sides of the ball. That intensity I discussed in my previous post was there, which was what I most wanted to see on Saturday. The defense came up with four sacks, after totaling thirteen all of last season. Hard tackling, flying to the football, and knocking people around was a beautiful thing to witness after the debacle from last year. The second-half was a bit less intense, though I suspect that was due to some miscommunication, as well as some intelligent coaching on the Western Michigan side.

There are some who have griped about the Husker's lack of a running game on Saturday, but I'm not so quick to complain. The Broncos were stacking the box and challenging quarterback Joe Ganz to test their secondary, which he did to the tune of 4 touchdowns and some 350 yards passing. Ganz did throw a couple of interceptions, one of which wasn't really his fault as it bounced off a player's hands. At any rate, with the successes of the passing game, we didn't need to necessarily run the ball. Our offense took what their defense was giving us, and we won the ball game handily. I suspect we'll see plenty of rushing in the weeks to come, especially with some talented running backs carrying the football. (I'm still not sold on starter Marlon Lucky, but we'll see how he responds to the new coaching staff.)

And so we move on to preparations for game #2. The Spartans of San Jose State come calling this Saturday, and I believe we'll see even more intensity this week. More predictions coming on Friday, and until then....

GO BIG RED!!!