Nebraska Football Set For 'Proving Ground' Game Against Oregon Ducks

After a 2-0 start that saw some ups and downs for the Nebraska football program this season, the game today against Oregon really is a way to show some progress.

The rebuild from the Bo Pelini era is one that has caught some Nebraska football fans off guard, because they didn’t believe a rebuild was needed. The fact of the matter is Mike Riley might not have been handed empty cupboards but he was handed a team that didn’t know how to win consistently.

He was also handed a team that didn’t know how to play the game the “right way.” This means Pelini’s teams were undisciplined, sloppy and easily rattled. In other words, the team very much mirrored the personality of its coaches.

We still saw a lot of those personality traits a year ago. It’s why the team had so many close losses. It’s why the team had losses to bad teams that had no business beating them.

While Mike Riley hasn’t fixed all those problems finishing strong, at least appears to be one the coaching staff has been able to ingrain in this squad. While struggling in the first half of both games, the Nebraska football team has dominated both Fresno State and Wyoming in the later parts of the game.

The Huskers forced five interceptions last week against Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen. it was pretty clear that Allen was frustrated by what he was seeing on defense. He even let it get the best of him when Nate Gerry intercepted a pass, and handed the ball back. Gerry got (rightfully so) flagged with Unsportsmanlike Conduct but Allen should have been flagged to, since he fired the ball back at Gerry.

Finishing strong is nice. Getting in the heads of the opponent as the game goes along is nice. This week, the team is going to have to start strong. That’s an aspect of the game Riley and company haven’t mastered yet.

	1	2	3	4	T
Cowboys Basketball	0	7	10	0	17
Cornhuskers	7	10	7	28	52

Fresno State is currently ranked 84th in the country in total offense. Wyoming is ranked 71st first. If you’re the Nebraska football team, you can afford to start slow against offenses like that. Oregon’s offense is ranked 8th in the country. Even though Nebraska is currently ranked 39th in the country in offense, it’s going to need a better performance in this proving ground game.

Has your heart sunk into your stomach yet? We’ve all known this game was going to be a very difficult one. There is a bright side. Fresno State’s defense, one of the worst in the NCAA last year has been pretty solid so far this year. The Bulldogs are sporting the 32nd ranked defense when it comes to allowing yards per game. That’s one spot better than Nebraska.

The Bulldogs get that rank thanks to their 2nd game being against an FCS school, but at least Fresno was able to shut that school down. Oregon, on the other hand is currently ranked 81st in yards allowed per game.

The Ducks also have an FCS opponent on their schedule. They allowed 392 yards to UC-Davis in the season’s opening weekend. Oregon followed that up by allowing 388 yards to a hapless Virginia team that is sporting a blowout loss to an FCS school this season.

	1	2	3	4	T
Bulldogs	0	10	0	0	10
Cornhuskers	7	7	7	22	43

Things look dire, but they aren’t lost. This is easily the toughest game the Huskers have played in quite some time. It may be tougher than their game against Iowa simply because the Hawkeyes allowed other teams to beat themselves. Oregon is built to beat other teams, into the ground.

So what happens if Nebraska loses on Saturday? It won’t be a shock. This is still a team that has some talent and depth issues. Depth problems, especially on defense could be exploited early and often by Oregon. A win likely means the Huskers join the AP Top 25 for the first time in over a year.

A loss, as long as it isn’t along the lines of the embarrassing blowouts we saw so often under Bo Pelini still isn’t the end of the road. Mike Riley isn’t done with his rebuild yet. That thought needs to be in the front of your minds.

This still isn’t entirely his team. Just how much of a grasp he has on it now will be demonstrated starting at 2:30 this afternoon.