Huskers will bounce back

By Jim Dolezal
Thursday, Oct 16, 2008 - 03:56:16 am CDT

Nebraska will look to bounce back from a very emotional loss when they take on Iowa State Saturday in Ames.

The Huskers and Cyclones will kick off at 11:30 a.m. in a game that will be televised on Versus. Iowa State is 2-4 on the season with four straight losses. Nebraska is 3-3 with three consecutive defeats.

Simply put, something has got to give.

Iowa State is coached by Gene Chizik, who was very successful as the defensive coordinator at Texas. Nebraska has dominated the all-time series with an 84-16-2 advantage. The Huskers will be on the road for a second straight week.

If they reach down and channel their inner strength this is a game that Nebraska should win.

The Cyclones are a balanced offensive football team. They average 132 yards rushing and 204 yards passing per game. The key to the Iowa State offense is the play of sophomore quarterback Austen Arnaud (6-foot-3, 222 pounds).

Aurnaud is an accurate passer (102-for-169) with eight touchdowns and four interceptions. He has also completed 60.4 percent of his passes so far this season.

Arnaud also can run from the pocket.

He averages 25 yards per game on the ground, and has four rushing touchdowns as well. Arnaud must play well for the Cyclones to stay in the game. Backup quarterback Phillip Bates has left the team which hurts the depth at quarterback and the running game for the Cyclones. He was the Cyclones second leading rusher. Bates’ father Phil, was a fullback for Nebraska in the late 1970’s.

The running game for Iowa State is not overly impressive. The leader is sophomore Alexander Robinson (5-10, 182). He averages 46 yards a game on the ground.

Iowa State will use several different backs to try and hurt the Husker defense. Arnaud will also try and keep the defense honest with his running ability. The Cyclones may try and keep the ball away from the Nebraska offense like NU did last week at Texas Tech.

Iowa State has a key receiver in senior R.J. Sumrall (6-1, 202). Sumrall has 126 career receptions including 27 catches for 402 yards and five touchdowns in 2008. He has big-play ability. Junior Houston Jones (6-1, 196) is a possession receiver with 20 grabs for 218 yards this season.

Freshman Darius Darks (6-1, 167) has 19 catches and one touchdown. No Cyclone receiver averages 15 yards per catch. This is not as strong a receiving group as Nebraska will see in the rest of the Big 12.

The offensive line is a fine unit for Iowa State. The group has only allowed six sacks all season long. Three players have started at least 18 games for the Cyclones.

Senior left tackle Doug Dedrick (6-4, 301) leads the way. Left guard Reggie Stephens (6-4, 313, Jr.) has 20 straight starts for Iowa State. Right guard Ben Lamaak (6-5, 315, So.) is also steady and has been starting since his freshman season.

As a group, the Cyclones’ offensive line averages 6-4 and 307 pounds from tackle to tackle. This is the most consistent part of the Iowa State offense.

The Iowa State defense gives up 169 yards rushing and 218 yards passing per game. The Cyclones kept Kansas in check for a half before the Jayhawks came back to defeat Iowa State with a frantic second half rally.

The leader of the defense is junior middle linebacker Jesse Smith (6-0, 231). He is tied for the team lead with 39 total tackles.

Outside linebacker Michael Bibbs (6-1, 234, Sr.) has 29 tackles and a pair of interceptions. The big play man up front is defensive end Christopher Lyle (6-3, 249, Jr.). He has 22 tackles and a team high seven tackles for losses including four sacks in 2008.

The secondary is a small group led by junior free safety James Smith (5-9, 189) also has 39 total tackles this season.

Special teams have been solid for Iowa State. The Cyclones have not hit a big play in the return game in 2008, but the kicking game has been a highlight for ISU.

Freshman kicker Grant Mahoney (6-1, 151) has been 10-for-14 on field goals and perfect on 19 extra points. His longest field goal of the season is from 49 yards.

Punter Mike Brandtner (6-1, 206, Jr.) averages 41 yards on 29 punts this season. The pair of kickers has played well in 2008.

Iowa State does not do anything especially well on either side of the ball. Nebraska has major edges in the skill positions and in team depth.

The Cyclones will enjoy the advantage of playing at home. Nebraska must come out ready to play or they will have problems in Ames. I believe Bo Pelini will have his team focused on Iowa State. Look for Nebraska to defeat Iowa State 38-24.

Jim Dolezal is a local Husker football fanatic as well as a part-time sports writer for the Telegram. He will analyze the Huskers’ opposition from a hometown perspective every Thursday throughout the season.throughout the season.

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Well
Oct 17, 2008 9:13 AM
Everyone needs to enjoy this game because it will be the last one we win this season. I am just being truthfull. No matter how you spin it, the Huskers are a below average team and will struggle the rest of the year.
Suh
Oct 17, 2008 9:19 AM
I wonder what the over/under is for Suh getting a personal foul call against him this game. The cheap shot calls he gets make him and the huskers look bad. This is not how husker football is played. I hope his play is not a reflection on the coach.
golfball
Oct 17, 2008 10:47 AM
Iowa State - Close Win
Baylor - Close Win
Oklahoma - Loss
Kansas - Close - Huge Comeback Vs ISU earlier this season - we have home field advantage
Kansas State - Close
Colorado - WE WILL WIN!!

If nebraska keeps up with intensity and emotion like TTU game, we will have a close season. ISU and BAYLOR will be wins. OU is a write-off, Kansas could be close and KSU too, specially since it's down there. We will beat Colorado and restore the order in that series.
way to go out on a limb Doze
Oct 17, 2008 11:55 AM
So they'll "bounce back" against one of the few teams that is actually WORSE than they are?? How is that bouncing back, exactly? It's like saying "I got beat up by the tough kid in school, so, in order to bounce back, I'm going to fight the poor science-club kid that weighs 98 pounds"

(No disrespect to my science club people, OK?)

Anyway, they'll probably win this one, although you're all forgetting that this is a road game. And they will probably win against Baylor because, well, that's just how Baylor is."

But why are you crazy people wicking wins in the rest of the games? OK, MAYBE Kasnsas State. Again, it's on the road. You all talk about how much of an advantage it is when the Huskers are home, well, that door swings both ways.

But, beyond that, Kansas and Oklahome are ranked teams...the Huskers are 0 for umpteen against ranked opponents.

I'll predict that the Colorado game will be close...but you know what will make the differebce in the end? It's such a bitter rivalry that emotions will get heated and the Huskers, as you can see, are class-less hot-headed idiots, and will lose their cool enough to get penalized to the point of losing the game. Look for Suh to get about 3 himself. (Classless, mediocre athlete.)

I stand by my original prediction I made at the beginning of the year:

5-7...losing record...no bowl game.

Da Da Da Da Da IT'S OVER!
familar
Oct 17, 2008 12:00 PM
Remember Texas last year, great effort, should have won, everybody feeling good again all of a sudden....then what happened after that.....nothing good. Anybody can play 1 good game a year.
Funny
Oct 17, 2008 5:18 PM
To out on a Limb= great post you took the words out of my hands. People just don't understand or want to understand that this team is at best average. Look how that home field advantage turned out so far, V.T and Mizzou. People need to stop focusing on the past. Just because we have an N on the helmet does not mean we will win. Other teams are not scared of the big red anymore. People have to realize that the current players were about 8 or 9 years old the last time we won a championship. Please stop this entitlement stuff it makes you look silly.
Go Skers
Oct 17, 2008 5:27 PM
I thought the comments made by "Goofball" were very funny as were those by "Doze." It is great to read posts from "fans" not so familiar with college football. Getting back to reality though, Colorado really has pretty similar problems to Colorado and if they played today I couldn't really offer a guess as to who would win. Considering that the coaching staff of Colorado has a few years together under their belts, I guess that the edge belongs to Colorado. On the other hand, the teams seem to be pretty evenly matched with Pelini in his first year. I guess all-in-all I like the position of the Huskers a bit better and they are certainly far superior to the Colorado team produced during Hawkins (just one non-division 1 loss!) first year.
GBR
Oct 17, 2008 10:18 PM
The comment from WELL may possibly be the dumbest comment I have ever read on here, and there sure have been some bad ones. How do you only see one remaining win, Iowa St, Baylor, Kansas St are all garbage. Kansas is not Kansas of last year, they have struggled against some very bad teams. Colorado isnt great either. We wont win OU. Im guessing atleast 4 more wins. You should sit down on a Saturday and actually watch a college football game, you might learn something. Educate yourself before you come on here and say something else dumb.
TO GBR
Oct 18, 2008 3:06 PM
Seriously you are the one who needs to watch football and stop focusing on the past. The Huskers are in the same class as Baylor and Kansas State. Stop dreaming and wake up to reality, it is 2008 not 1997. Oklahoma and Ku will roll us, bet the farm on it. 4-8, 5-7 Wake up...at best.