Preview of Nebraska Game

Just a week ago I would have said this game has the makings of a blowout, as in, the Spartans were going to get blown out. After the Wisconsin game I have more confidence. This will still be a tough game, but here's why I think the Spartans should win.

Defense

MSU's defense is really starting to look elite. They looked better last week than they did against Michigan, and I expect them to continue their improvement this week.  It's just too bad the offense is so incompetent this year. If the offense had scored just 2 touchdowns a game, this team would have been nearly undefeated.

On the other hand, this could be the best offense MSU has faced this season. Nebraska is scoring almost 40 points a game, and they are talented and relatively balanced. I can't see the D doing to Nebraska what it did to Michigan and Wisconsin, but I do think they'll be able to keep them under 21 points.

Offense

The theme is the same as it has been all season. It's up to the offense to win the game. If they play like they have most of the year, fuggedabout it. If they play like they did at the end of the Wisconsin game, the Spartans should comfortably win this one.  

Nebraska's D has actually struggled this year, so the Spartans should be able to score more points against them than against Michigan and Wisconsin's Ds.  

I actually expect the O-line to look pretty good. I felt that they were starting to gel in the Wisconsin game. Left tackle still needs to be resolved, and hopefully Dan France looks better this week.  

If the O-line puts things together, I expect Bell to have a good game. That should make Maxwell's job a little easier and consequently I expect Maxwell to look pretty good this week. His receivers are playing well now, Dion Sims and LT are nearly at full strength, and the line is blocking better. He has to step it up this week. And I think he will.

In short, the offense will have it's first complete performance of the season, and that will be good enough for the victory.

Coaches

I felt that Nebraska's coaches outcoached the MSU coaches last year. One thing I noticed was that the Nebraska secondary took away MSU's receiving advantage by engaging in aggressive bump and run coverage that often turned into defensive holding. I don't know if the MSU coaches saw that, but they should have been all over the refs about that. 

The other annoying thing was how Roushar kept trying to run outside the tackles. That strategy failed over and over because Nebraska had extremely fast outside linebackers like Lavonte David. The Spartan coaches just flat out failed to adjust in that game, and it cost them. In fact, Nebraska adapted much better, running between the tackles to greater effect than MSU.

I hope the Spartan coaches are ready to go in this game because the Nebraska coaches will be. The Spartan coaches better recognize that Nebraska is not above bending the rules.

Upshot

MSU has a talent edge and no longer has the excuse that the receivers are dropping the ball. You can now clearly see the explosive potential of the offense, but it needs to be unleashed. I think I'm ready to stop being conservative on offense. I think the MSU coaches are too, and that's why I pick MSU to win this game.

Final score: MSU 24  Nebraska 17