Hawkins: The Huskers open the season with a non-conference schedule that is no walk in the park.  They play Western Michigan, San Jose State, New Mexico State, and Virginia Tech.  Do any of these games potentially scare you?

Higgins: To be honest, I feel the team is in better hands than they were the last few years, but it will take a little bit of time for Bo Pelini to turn the defense all the way around.  Western Michigan, San Jose State, New Mexico State should all be wins for the Huskers.

Virginia Tech will be an interesting game. To make an honest prediction I would say that Virginia Tech does take this game, but not by too much.  I have heard some sportscasters predicting the Huskers at 4-8 and stupid records like that, but overall I think they will finish 9-3 or 10-2 in the regular season in Pelini's first year.

Hawkins: All things considered, it appears as if the Huskers have a pretty fortunate conference schedule this year: they avoid playing both Texas and Texas A&M.  How do you think this will affect the Big 12 title race?

Higgins: I would say that for the most part their conference schedule will not be as much as a walk in the park as you stated.  They avoid playing Texas and Texas A&M, but they play one of their all-time rivals, Oklahoma.  Granted, Oklahoma and Nebraska's rivalry has fallen apart over the past decade since they both decided to not play each other every single year.

Oklahoma is still almost always a contender in college football and they look to have a solid team this coming season.  Kansas and Missouri were both major contenders in college football last year and seem to be a great couple of games for the Huskers.  Fortunate conference schedule?  I would say no.

Hawkins: Nebraska's 2008 recruiting class is ranked eighth in the Big 12 according to Rivals.com.  Are you disappointed in this class or do you think they are underrated?

Higgins: I am not disappointed about the recruiting class at all.  It is the staff's first year of recruiting for the Huskers, and a lot of players this year were hesitant because they didn't know how this staff would change the Huskers of last year, who looked terrible.

I have always said that the ranking and the stars of players coming into a school means nothing in the long run.  It is whether or not the coaches can coach these players to be stars and work as a team.

Boise State is living proof of teaching kids how to be stars and work as a team—who would have thought that they would make a bowl game?  A lot of them were two or three-star recruits coming in.

Callahan had one of the best recruiting classes nearly every year he was here, but he proved to not be capable of teaching these players to be even better or even to work as a team. So I would say that I am not disappointed with the recruiting class itself.

Honestly, I am not a Rivals.com guy either. I am a Scout.com guy!

Hawkins:

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