AT
Nebraska Cornhuskers
Vs.
Western Kentucky Hilltoppers
Saturday September 4th @ 6:00 p.m. in Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, NE
The Nebraska Cornhuskers and Western Kentucky Hilltoppers will be making both their 2010 debuts in Lincoln. There are two very different scenarios for both teams as they head into the opener. Western Kentucky will be breaking in new head coach Willie Taggart, the former running backs coach at Stanford, after the firing of Dave Elson following WKU’s 0-12 season in their first full FBS season. At Nebraska, Bo Pelini is trying to lead the Huskers back to a Big XII championship and to a BCS bowl, which would be their first appearance since their 2001 humiliation at the hands of Miami.
When Nebraska has the ball: Although it appears as though the QB race is still going in Lincoln, senior Zac Lee has the advantage going into the season as the starter. Lee knows the offense and runs it pretty well and should be the starter, no matter the speculation here in Lincoln. Cody Green and Taylor Martinez should see playing time nonetheless, possibly in the first half as all three will be sharing some playing time for this game. Lee will look to get the ball to playmaking senior Niles Paul plenty as well as Brandon Kinnie, a junior from KC. The Huskers also have a bevy of running backs in Roy Helu, Rex Burkhead, and Dontrayevous Robinson as all three of them saw plenty of carries in 2009. The offensive line returns 4 starters and is pretty deep with talent despite losing versatile Mike Smith to a broken leg for the season.
As for Western Kentucky, on defense, they allowed almost 40 points per game last season and will definitely want to improve on that. Despite Nebraska’s offensive struggles potentially this season, WKU’s defense will need to get a lot better if they want to stop Nebraska from running all over them. There is hope, though, as WKU returns all of their two deep in the front 7 and 9 starters overall in 2010. The secondary, however, will be trying out 6 new defensive backs and mixing them in with the 2 returning starters as their secondary was plain awful. Watch for LB Thomas Majors and DE Jared Clendenin to make an impact in this game. Overall, though, this defense is pretty weak and a big reason why they lost 12 games last year.
When Western Kentucky has the ball: The Hilltoppers had a bit of a QB battle as well as returning starter, sophomore Kawuan Jakes won against junior Matt Pelesasa and will start against Nebraska. Jakes, last year, proved himself to be a decent dual threat, throwing for 1500 yards and running for nearly 400 more with 14 total TDs. The guy to watch, though, will be Bobby Rainey, the playmaking running back who nearly had 1000 yards last year and could eclipse that this year with an improved offensive line. With all-time receptions leader Jake Gaebler gone, WKU will depend on TE Jack Doyle and a trio of new receivers to do the pass catching for Jakes, so WKU may depend a lot on the running game. The offense isn’t as bad as the defense, and with a playmaker like Rainey, they could win at least a couple of games.
Nebraska returns 6 starters on defense, though one of those guys, Sean Fisher, is out for the season now with a broken leg. Matthew May, Lavonte David, or Eric Martin, plus others, need to step up now as they play alongside Will Compton in the new peso defense. The secondary should be one of the best in the nation with two terrific cover corners in Alfonzo Dennard and Prince Amukamara. Rickey Thenarse returns from a season-ending injury and we’ll see Dejon Gomes, Anthony West, and Eric Hagg try their luck at safety as well. The D-line should be pretty good despite losing Suh (though not as good), with Crick, Steinkuhler, Allen, and Meredith along with possibly seeing Ankrah, Williams, Randle, and Moore getting some playing time as well. This D should still be pretty good and terrifying for other teams to face despite Suh not being at Nebraska any more.
Special Teams: Alex Henery returns as the Kicker/Punter for Nebraska and is one of the best placekickers in the nation. Niles Paul is an explosive returner. For Western Kentucky, Casey Tinius went 13 of 17 last season and they break in a new punter in Hendrix Brakefield. Bobby Rainey has big play potential every time he touches the ball and is a huge threat in the return game.
Quarterbacks: Nebraska
Running Backs: Slight edge to Nebraska
Wide Receivers: Nebraska
Tight Ends: Push
Offensive Line: Slight edge to Nebraska
Defensive Line: Nebraska
Linebackers: Push
Secondary: Nebraska
Special Teams: Nebraska
Coaching: Nebraska
Prediction: Nebraska wins 45 to 7.