Nebraska is just about the only roadblock on the Spartans’ way to the Big Ten Championship. With kickoff two days away, fans from Lincoln, Neb. and East Lansing are itching to see how the game will pan out.
To paint a clearer picture for Saturday, The Daily Nebraskan’s football reporter Nedu Izu compiled three keys to the game for the Cornhuskers to take home the victory. Here are the steps the Red and White need to follow to deliver a blow to MSU’s title game hopes.
1. Shut down Jeremy Langford
Through its first nine games, the Nebraska defense has allowed five of its opponents to rush for more than 200 yards. However, its opponents last Saturday, Michigan, didn’t surpass triple digits. In fact, the Wolverines didn’t even meet positive numbers as the Blackshirts held them to a deploring -21 total yards on the ground. Michigan State’s running back Jeremy Langford will enter Saturday’s contest sixth in the conference averaging 86.1 yards per game. If the Huskers plan on keeping their Big Ten Championship hopes alive, they’ll have to silence the Spartans’ biggest offensive threat.
2. Find holes in the intimidating MSU defense.
Quincy Enunwa leads all Husker wide receivers with 536 total receiving yards this season. However, his margin on the group of guys behind him has been shrinking. Redshirt freshmen teammates Alonzo Moore and Jordan Westerkamp made noise earlier this month with their career-high 43 and 104-yard performances against Northwestern. And although junior Kenny Bell’s been bothered by a groin injury, he racked up 44 yards last Saturday, including 38 on Nebraska’s game-winning drive. However, Michigan State ranks first in the Big Ten in pass defense, allowing just 166.8 yards per game. If the Huskers don’t want to burn out junior running back Ameer Abdullah, who leads the conference in rushing, quarterbacks Tommy Armstrong Jr. and Ron Kellogg III will have to utilize their passing options.
3. Take over the third quarter
If there’s one thing Nebraska’s been able to do so far this year, its scoring early and getting the upper hand on its opponents. But the second half in the Huskers’ first loss, against UCLA, and their past three games have played a different story. Games played against Minnesota, Northwestern and Michigan have come down to the wire because of the Huskers’ inability to make noise in the third quarter. They’ve been successful two out of the three times, with their second loss coming to Minnesota. Securing a lead by the end of the third quarter would pay dividends and take the weight off the Blackshirts’ shoulders in the final quarter.
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