The Difference Between Hoping and Believing (and some Big XII thoughts)

As this weekend's Trojan war creeps closer and closer, a troubling thought keeps popping up in the back of my head. It's the sneaking suspicion that the majority of Husker Nation is going into this game hoping with everything they have for a win, or at least, a respectable loss. And if your one of those fans, then let me say this: if our team possesses that same mindset, the Huskers will get their asses handed to them this Saturday night.

Why? Because great teams, teams that rise to the occasion their backs are against the wall, do not HOPE for victory. They don't go into a game with a shadow of doubt in their mind. They go into it with an air of confidence that the outcome is already a formality, that in those 60 minutes they will assert their will on their opposition. Do you think the great mid-90s Nebraska teams went into games against highly-ranked teams like Colorado and Washington HOPING that they would beat them? HOPING that they would do what is necessary and maybe come out on top? No, they didn't.

When they walked onto that field, I guarantee you that NU already knew that the end result would be, because they were that confident in their abilities and those of their teammates that there would be no stopping them. HOPING is what gets you 9-5 records and 28-10 losses. You can see it on the sideline, the stink of desperation and the dropping of heads whenever the ball bounces against you. Great teams don't HOPE for breaks to go their way, they MAKE them go their way. Some people claim that cockiness and swagger aren't the hallmarks of a champion, that there is no place for them in sports. And while I agree with that sentiment to a point (I don't believe in self-promotion and individual celebrations), I do think that every great team, no matter what the sport, goes onto the playing field with the belief that by the end of the game, they will have left no doubt as to which team is superior. There HAS to be that mentality, that belief that NOBODY will stop you. It applies to every individual player on the team, from the QB down to the punter. You have to KNOW that you are better than the guy across from you, otherwise he has already beaten you. So when we line up against USC this weekend, don't hope. Don't have any doubt about the capabilities of the Huskers. KNOW that we have the ability to beat any team, otherwise our quest for a return to prominence is already doomed.

Anyways, that rant out of the way, here's to my thoughts on last week's Big XII games and my predictions for this week's slate.

-Oklahoma's shellacking of Miami was one of the big stories of last weekend, probably second in terms of media coverage behind LSU's dominance of Va Tech. I had predicted that Sam Bradford would have more trouble against Miami's defense than he had against his week 1 foe, North Texas. Bradford proceeded to make that prediction look stupid by tossing 5 touchdowns against the Hurricanes, whose secondary I thought would take advantage of Bradford's inexperience. While it is hard to determine after just two weeks, it appears as of right now that the Big XII has another Colt McCoy story on their hands, a redshirt freshmen coming in and playing spectacularly. The Miami game is hard to read. We all know that it has been a rough couple of years in Coral Gables, and that new head coach Randy Shannon has a tough job in restoring the luster to the Hurricane program. So the question remains, are the Sooners really that good, or have they merely played a D-1 never-was (North Texas) and an ACC has-been? Considering their next three games are Utah State, Tulsa, and Colorado, the answer likely won't come until the Red River Shootout on October 6th. And while we're on the Sooners, does anybody else feel a bit of nausea every time Reggie Smith makes a great play? The stud safety should be in a different shade of red, policing our secondary against USC this week. I still am haunted by his decision to go to OU over the Big Red.

-Texas A&M nearly blew their game against Fresno State, watching a 19-point lead evaporate before closing out the Bulldogs in triple overtime. Considering the expectations upon Dennis Franchione this fall, it wouldn't have been good to see the Aggies lose to an unranked (but still respectable) team at College Station. Neither the coaching staff, nor the Big XII as a whole, would have looked very good had the end result gone the other way. Stephen McGee continues to show that he is an all-tool player who does what is needed to win. While some still bemoan his lack of passing statistics, he is a proven leader and capable of winning games with either his arm or his legs. I enjoy watching the Aggies because they still run the option extremely well, and it at times make me long for the days of Frazier and Frost. All the more reason I'm excited for our October 20th matchup with them in Lincoln, one that I'll be attending in person (albeit from basically the worst seats in the house, thanks Texas A&M ticket office!).

-As Nebraska's top competition for the Big XII North, Mizzou was expected to play much better this past week than they did in a near-loss against downtrodden Illinois. While their defense is still showing signs of weakness, the Tiger offense played extremely well, with resident booger-eater Chase Daniel going for 300-plus yards and 5 touchdowns in a 38-25 win over Ole Miss. But offensive fireworks aside, the defense showed the tenacity and ability of a eighth-grade B team while giving up 534 yards of offense to the Rebels, a team that last year was dead-last in the SEC in total offense. What is troublesome (and potentially cool at the same time) is that the Tigers won't face a true test of their abilities until they play the Huskers on October 6th. Their next two games are against Western Michigan and Illinois State, respectively, and while they are both decent programs for their level, they don't figure to knock off Missouri. Then again, if the Tiger defense keeps playing like it has been (giving up nearly 500 yards of offense a week), they might not make it to the NU game unscathed.

-The UT Longhorns rebounded from their opening-week squeaker to post a nice win over a very strong TCU team this past week. I think one thing that hurt TCU's chances was that the media jumped on this game as a potential upset following UT's week 1 struggles. While the Longhorns started slowly (they were down 10-0 at half), they came out and thoroughly dominated the second half, winning 34-13 behind Jammal Charles' 134 yards rushing. Playing against one of the top defenses in the country, Colt McCoy continued to struggle, throwing 2 interceptions. If Texas is to live up to it's preseason hype, McCoy has to start playing like he did in the middle of last season. Another thing that stands out to me is the quiet performances being turned in thus far by Limas Sweed (just 4 catches for 26 yards against the Horned Frogs). While some of that may be tied to McCoy's struggles, one would think that the talented Sweed would be bailing out his QB in some of those situations.

-Kansas beat the hell out of Southeastern Louisiana 62-0, marking the only time that SE Louisiana will ever be mentioned in this blog. While I'd like to make some analysis of the game, it's tough to put much into an ass-kicking of a team whose nickname nobody even knows without doing some research (it's the Lions!).

-Baylor beat up Rice (whose lone brightspot, Jarrett Dillard, isn't meeting expectations thus far), rolling up over 500 yards of offense in a 42-14 win. I'd get excited, but it's Baylor. And Rice. Which means that this game's relevance rating was about a .7 on a scale of 1-10.

-Kansas State beat San Jose State 34-14 behind a solid performance by Josh Freeman (25-36, 272 yards, 1 TD/2 INT). I don't put much into this victory by the Wildcats, but one thing that stood out to me was the efficiency of SJSU's QB, Adam Tafralis. The Spartan QB went 16 for 20 with 134 yards and 1 TD, something that bodes well for an attack like NU's.

-To wrap it up, Oklahoma State rolled over Florida Atlantic 42-6, Texas Tech beat a decent UTEP team 45-31 (although it's not near as good as it was last year, when it was led by Carson Palmer's little brother, Jordan). Colorado played decently against Arizona State, but still managed to get beat by a comfortable 33-14 margin. I can see that strides are being made by the Buffs, but I still think they'll be hard pressed to get to the necessary 6 wins for a bowl game. Still, the fact that they don't completely suck ass is encouraging for Big XII fans. And finally, the biggest embarrassment was Iowa State following up their loss to Kent State with another L to Northern Iowa. While I figured they'd have troubles with UNI, I really didn't think the Cyclones had fallen that far that they'd belly-up for the second week in a row. Chizik has a long way to go in Ames, and right now I'd put ISU as this year's Colorado, a team that will go something like 2-10 or 3-9. Was it just five years ago that Seneca Wallace was leading them to a 5-1 start and in contention for the Heisman Trophy?

My predictions for this week's Big XII games, which with the exception of the Husker's game against USC, looks like a slate of middle school teams:

-Oklahoma over Utah State by at least 35 points

-Texas A&M over Louisiana Monroe by 28

-Mizzou over Western Michigan by roughly 2 scores. This one will be closer than it should due to Missouri's D.

-Texas over Central Florida in a game that I expect McCoy to break through and play well in.

-Kansas over Toledo in a riveting matchup worthy of whatever local public access channel is covering it.

-Iowa State will get pistol-whipped (or whatever the football equivalent of it is) by Iowa.

-Baylor over Texas State, Texas Tech over Rice, K-State over Missouri State (who?), and Okie State over Troy.

-The real interesting game is Colorado going against a Florida State Seminoles team that is searching for answers right now. While the Buffs shouldn't win this game, the fact that it is in Boulder bodes well for them, where the mix of 6 dollar vodka and Duracell batteries can have a big effect on opposing teams. Does CU have the talent? I dont think so. But I still think this will be a very close game, albeit a victory for FSU. I'm thinking FSU 20, Colorado 17.

NU's preview to come tomorrow.