Nebraska Cornhuskers: Can They Win the Big Ten With Their Option Offense?

With the recent developments in college football, all one seems to hear about these days is whether Cam Newton is deserving of the Heisman Trophy, and how the universities of Miami and Florida will fare next year with new head coaches.

Lost in the shuffle is the fact that several schools (Nebraska, Utah and Colorado are among the few) will be switching conference affiliation in 2011 and how those changes will impact the respective conferences.

The point can be argued that each team will have a major impact on its new conference, but Nebraska, at No. 18 in the final regular-season BCS standings, is more than likely to have the biggest splash in its new home (the Big Ten).

And the biggest question mark surrounding Nebraska has to be whether the Cornhuskers can come into the Big Ten and dominate right from the start employing a spread option style of offense. Certainly, the option is nothing new to the Big Ten, as Michigan has been employing it for the last three seasons under coach Rich Rodriguez. 

But there is also a case to be made for the lack of success of the option in the Big Ten in recent years.  Going back to 2005, only one team that has run a spread offense (Ohio State) has even finished in the top two in the conference, and even then they finished second to Joe Paterno's Penn State Nittany Lions.

Nebraska, however, may be ready to buck that trend. Huskers true freshman quarterback Taylor Martinez finished the season with almost 2,600 yards total offense, 942 of them coming on the ground.  And even though the departure of Roy Helu Jr. will leave the Cornhuskers without their top rusher, backup Rex Burkhead was a more-than-capable backup, adding over 900 yards on the ground himself. 

But more than anything their offense can do, it just may well be the Huskers D that leads them to the top of the Big Ten. Michigan has finished their third straight season with a sub-.500 Big Ten record because they ranked last among last in the nation in many defensive categories. Nebraska should fare a little better, considering their defensive squad has ranked among the upper third of the nation.

So, can the Cornhuskers win the Big Ten with their spread offense?  As co-Big Ten champions, Ohio State and Wisconsin should be preseason favorites again next year. But the Buckeyes lose several starters on what has been a dominating defense this season, and Wisconsin loses a number of key players, as well. 

So if there ever was a season where the option would be king in the Big Ten again, 2011 might just be it.