Nebraska Football: Reviewing The Cornhuskers' 45-17 Win Over Colorado

THE GOOD ...

- REX-IBLE ATTACK: Running back Rex Burkhead ran for 101 yards and a touchdown, and threw for two touchdowns against Colorado. In a game without the home run threat of Taylor Martinez, Burkhead's flexibility both as a running back and out of the Wildcat gave NU the additional firepower it needed to pull away from a Colorado team that had no quit in them. Plus, with a name like Rex, it makes writing the puns for this column a lot easier.

- GREEN PARTY WIN: There is no Nebraska fan that doesn't adore Cody Green as a person. There are a number of Nebraska fans, however, who cringe seeing Green under center given his struggles and inconsistencies. However against Colorado, Green extended his unbeaten streak as a starter. He make difficult clutch throws when needed to keep drives alive, and managed the game otherwise to keep NU on track for a must-win. It couldn't happen to a nicer kid.

- WELCOME BACK, TURNOVERS: Nebraska went into halftime with a 17-3 lead but it wasn't until NU got two interceptions against Colorado quarterback Cody Hawkins in back-to-back possessions in the third quarter and cashed those turnovers in for 14 points that NU truly felt like they were in control of the outcome. Given how close the game was in College Station a week ago, and given that NU got no turnovers from the Aggies, seeing the Blackshirts getting grabby again was a welcome sight for Nebraska fans.

THE BAD ...

- BIG PLAY HAWKINS: While the outcome was never really in doubt, in the second half Colorado had success with the long pass against Nebraska's man-to-man coverage, including touchdown throws of 50 and 29 yards. The scores were somewhat meaningless given the big lead NU had raced out to, but it's never comfortable to see enemy receivers running free for big gains in the NU secondary.

- "CLEANER" ISN'T CLEAN: It's not a good sign when NU has eight penalties for 79 yards, and you can consider it a marked improvement. Yes, the officials had a bad night in College Station, and yes, Nebraska was on the short end of most of their bad calls. But there were plenty of indisputable calls against NU in College Station last week, and there were plenty of calls against NU against Colorado on Saturday.

If NU wants to have the ultimate awkward moment with Big XII Commissioner Dan Beebe next week in Dallas, they will have to focus on playing a cleaner, more penalty-free game.

- CLASSY TO THE END: Even though there were no other conference games today, no Big XII representative was on hand to present Nebraska with the trophy for winning the Big XII North Division. The explanation for the absence of Beebe or a conference official was because there were "nasty e-mails" and conference officials felt it wouldn't be safe.

Spare me.

I know NU's divorce from the conference has been messy, but this kind of snub from the conference honchos is embarrassingly juvenile and makes the conference look every bit as small and petty as NU fans have believed it to be. Any fan of schadenfreude will have to be rooting hard for NU in Dallas next week, unless Beebe plans to put the Big XII trophy in a locker and leave the combination in an envelope for Pelini if NU wins.

... AND THE FINAL PAYBACK.

In 2004, Bill Callahan's first year as NU head coach, Nebraska came into the Colorado game at 5-5 and needed a win to keep its 35-year streak of bowl games alive. Colorado was well aware of how desperately NU needed the win, and arrived in Lincoln with hammers to drive the final metaphorical nail into the coffin of NU's bowl streak. The Buffaloes were successful, beating Nebraska 26-20 that day and sending NU into a long, cold, bowl-less winter.

The shoe was on the other foot on Saturday, with Colorado coming to Lincoln at 5-6 and needing a win to get themselves bowl eligible. In the final regular season Big XII game for Nebraska, it seemed only fitting the NU was able to return the favor to Colorado and keep the Buffaloes out of a bowl game as a going-away present.

Between the Nebraska-Missouri Victory Bell keeping permanent residence in Lincoln, and keeping Colorado bowl-less in their final conference meeting, Nebraska's farewell tour of the Big XII has gone awfully well—except for that whole Texas thing, of course.

THE BIG PICTURE

Taylor who? Nebraska put up 45 points against a surging Colorado team without their phenom freshman quarterback stepping foot on the field. Admittedly, Colorado isn't anywhere near the caliber of opposition NU will face in Dallas next week. But after the gnashing of teeth throughout Husker Nation after the offensive disappearance against the Aggies, to see NU have some offensive rhythm was both surprising and refreshing.

More importantly, NU can go into the Big XII Championship game with some confidence that they can at least mount an attack offensively without needing to rely on T-Magic to save them.

Don't kid yourself, though. Nebraska's offense is dramatically better with a healthy Taylor Martinez under center. But if Martinez isn't healthy—both physically and in his relationship to the rest of the team—then knowing that Green, Burkhead, Helu, and company can put 45 points up is a huge lift to the rest of the squad.

THE NEXT GAME

The Big XII Championship (December 04, 2:30 p.m. central, Cowboys Stadium, Dallas, TX, ABC). Nebraska's opponent in the final Big XII Championship game will be determined by Bedlam, the rivalry game between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State (and still the coolest name of ANY of the rivalry games).

If the Cowboys win, they win the South outright and get a rematch with NU. If the Sooners win, there's a three-way tie for the South between Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Texas A&M, and the team with the highest BCS rating will win the South. It's likely that would be the Sooners, but it would make for a VERY interesting BCS announcement show on Sunday afternoon.

Nebraska fans will be rooting for Oklahoma out of nostalgia, to end their participating in the conference with another crack at the Sooners--and because they won't be in any hurry to see Justin Blackmon and Kendall Hunter again.

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