Texas at Nebraska

Written by Jack Jones

The Nebraska Cornhuskers get their shot at revenge this Saturday when they host the Texas Longhorns. Nebraska lost on the last play of the game, 12-13, to the Huskers in the Big 12 Championship last year. Colt McCoy threw an incomplete pass as time expired, but the officials reviewed it and put one second back on the clock, just enough time for Hunter Lawrence to kick the game-winning field goal with no time left. College football odds makers believe that they’ll have their revenge, listing a line of Nebraska -9.5 over Texas with a total set of 46.5 points.

Last year, the Longhorns clearly had the edge at quarterback with Colt McCoy, who has more wins than any other QB in college football history. This year, the edge clearly goes to Texas and freshman Taylor Martinez. The redshirt freshman has run away with the starting job at Nebraska, and he’s clearly put himself in the running for the Heisman Trophy. Martinez accounted for 369 total yards in their 48-13 win over Kansas State last week. He rushed for 241 yards on just 15 carries, and had touchdown runs of 14, 35, 80 and 41 yards. The key to stopping this team will be to make Martinez try and win the game with his arm, but that’s easier said than done.

Texas has won eight of the last nine meetings with the Huskers, which dates all the way back to the 1996 Big 12 title game where the Longhorns pulled off the upset as Nebraska was looking to win a third consecutive national championship. So there is some frustration built up in Husker country and a hatred toward Texas heading into this one.

But this is not the same Texas team we have become accustomed to watching on Saturday’s. The Longhorns are coming off back-to-back losses against UCLA and Oklahoma. Those results have knocked Texas out of the Top 25 for the first time since 2000. Texas does have some history on their side coming in, though, as the Longhorns have never lost three consecutive regular season games since Mack Brown took over in 1998.

The Huskers defense is rounding into form and starting to look like the unit that ranked No. 1 in the country in total defense a year ago. They are led by LB Lavonte David, who has a combined 35 tackles over the last two weeks in wins over the Wildcats and South Dakota State. He’ll have his hands full with Garrett Gilbert, who is completing 63% of his passes with four touchdowns to five interceptions thus far. The Longhorns have the advantage in the air, but the Huskers clearly have the edge on the ground. Nebraska is averaging 337.6 rushing yards per game compared to the 129.8 Texas averages. Martinez’ 241-yard performance last week was a school-record for Nebraska quarterbacks.

BetUS Projected Score: Nebraska 28 – Texas 19

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