Saturday, November 3, 2012

Can the Spartans finally beat Nebraska?

Michigan State has never beaten Nebraska in football. In fact, the Spartans have never come within two touchdowns of beating the Huskers. In the teams' six previous contests dating all the way back to 1914, MSU has been outscored 205-37, Even if the 1995 and 1996 humiliations are removed (50-10 and 55-14 losses at the hands of some great Tom Osborne-coached teams) the Spartans have been outscored 100-13. The Harlem Globetrotters and Washington Generals have a closer all-time head-to-head record than MSU and Nebraska. (Okay, that is a bit of an overstatement--but at least the Washington Generals have one win over the Globetrotters).

Now that I've established how one-sided this series has been, isn't it finally time for MSU to get a win? This streak can't last forever, and the Spartans will want to make amends for one of their worst performances of the 2011 season, a 24-3 loss to Nebraska in Lincoln.

I hope that the Nebraska fans don't invade Spartan Stadium en masse. I hope that MSU's defense can continue what they did last week against Wisconsin's run game and shut down the Huskers' high-powered offense. But most importantly, I hope that MSU's offense can expand upon the good things it did last week down the stretch against Wisconsin--at least do enough to outscore Nebraska. I'd be happy with a 10-7 or 14-13 type of win.

(I am watching the Michigan/Minnesota game while writing this and Michigan's offense looked absolutely woeful in its first possession of the game. Devin Gardner is playing in place of Denard Robinson and all I have to say is "ouch, not pretty.").

I will not make any predictions regarding the MSU/Nebraska game, since my predictions are never accurate, but I will of course be rooting mightily for a Spartan win.

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