Thursday, September 9, 2010

Journal - Football Season

It came, it finally came! For nine months I’ve waited for football season to begin, and it’s finally here. The college football season officially opened last Thursday, but Saturday, September 4 marked the season opener for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Anticipation was particularly high this year because the pre-season polls showed Nebraska in the top ten for the first time in 9 years. Nebraska’s opponent for the season opener was the Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky University.

There were two major questions facing the Huskers this year. First, would there be any improvement to last year’s impotent offense. I think the answer to that is a great big yes! In a surprising move, coach Bo Pelini started freshman quarterback, Taylor Martinez. Is Martinez any good? You betcha. Taylor rushed for more than 100 yards, including three touchdown runs. He seemed pretty solid throwing the ball too, completing a good percentage of his passes. Some of Martinez’s success should be credited to the offensive line which protected him well, also an improvement over last year. Last year’s backup quarterback, Cody Green, saw a fair amount of game-time, but last year’s starter, Zack Lee, didn’t come in until just 6 minutes were left in the game. Nebraska’s two main running backs, Roy Hellu, and Rex Burkhead, both had good success running the ball. Overall, I would say the offense looks very promising.

The second question facing the Huskers was: would the defense be as dominant as they were last year without superstar Ndamukong Suh (pronounced endomican sue), who was drafted by the Detroit Lions earlier this year. I’m still undecided on that one. The defense didn’t dominate Western Kentucky as much as I thought they would, giving up 10 points, and very nearly giving up another touchdown. That would have been another score for WKU, but the runner fumbled the ball just before he crossed the goal line, and Nebraska recovered. I felt it was a shaky start for the defense, but it’s only the first game of the season, and they have plenty of time to work out the bugs before they start facing ranked opponents.

The final score was: Nebraska 49, Western Kentucky 10. This week’s updated polls show Nebraska moving from number eight, up to number six. There will definitely be some things for the team to work on this week, but it was a good start to the football season.

Next week’s opponent is the Idaho Vandals. The reports I’ve read show Idaho to be a stronger opponent than WKU, but Nebraska is still a 28 point favorite. Game time is Saturday, September 11, at 11:30 am CST. See you there!

Ecclesiastes 9:10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom.

Joshua 1:7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go.

1 comment:

  1. I love the Huskers.

    Can't wait for the NFL kick into gear also! :)

    Woohoo!! Football is back in town!

    ReplyDelete