Huskers vs. Tigers

Well, the day has arrived. The fourth-ranked Missouri Tigers, led by Heisman-front runner and quarterback Chase Daniel, bring their stellar offense into Memorial Stadium for the biggest game of the year to date. The atmosphere for tonight's 8:00 p.m. kickoff on ESPN will be nothing short of pure pandemonium. It's gonna be loud, rocking, insane, and I'm going to be right in the thick of all of it!! I'm very much looking forward to another game-day experience, even though this one has the great potential of winding up on the short end in terms of the final score.

Can the Huskers pull off the upset? Sure. It can happen. Anything can happen. It's going to take some amazing performances by our athletes, and some stellar scheming by the coaching staff. Oh, and probably a good dose of luck in a few areas, too. If we can muster a great big bunch of each of those ingredients, then I'd say we have a good shot at an upset. And you can bet this Husker fan will be cheering, screaming, hoping and praying for such a scene to unfold tonight.

My prediction for tonight is that the 2008 version of Husker football will do some more growing tonight. I think they have grown and matured from their experiences over the first four games of this young season, including last week's loss to Virgina Tech. I'm proud of them, and I'm excited to watch the program go in the direction it seems to be headed. Continued progress, continued improvement, continued intensity. That's all I ask for this year, regardless of the final score each week. And I think they will grow some more tonight, despite their impending loss to the Tigers. Joe Ganz and the offense will put up some decent numbers, and our defense will make some pretty amazing plays, but the building Huskers won't be enough to stop the rolling Tigers. It kills me to have to say this - you really have no idea how it feels to predict a Husker loss. But, here it goes: Huskers - 31, Tigers 49.

Ouch, that really hurts.

GO BIG RED!!!