Nebraska vs. Penn State: Cornhuskers' D Will Be Too Much for Nittany Lions

As controversy engulfs the Penn State football program, there is still a game on the field to be played on Saturday. In the first game of the post-Paterno era, the No. 12 Nittany Lions host a dangerous No. 19 Nebraska team coming off an upset loss at the hands of Northwestern.

Both teams boast fearsome defenses, with Penn State having allowed the third-fewest points in the nation and Nebraska just two weeks removed from smothering No. 11 Michigan State by a 24-3 margin. The Cornhuskers, though, have an impressive offense in their own right, with a rushing attack ranked 13th in the nation.

Penn State, on the other hand, has struggled mightily on offense, scoring 16 points or fewer in five of their eight games (including four victories). Against a physical Nebraska defense, the Penn State ground game will have all it can handle trying to keep the chains moving over any kind of sustained drive.

If Nittany Lion backup QB Rob Bolden had demonstrated any kind of passing ability this year, he’d actually have a great opportunity against a defense that was just upset by run-first backup QB Kain Colter.

Unfortunately for PSU, Bolden has been so ineffective that he’s increasingly been phased out of the offense in recent weeks.

Even as well as the Penn State defense has played, Taylor Martinez and company will give them a different look than anything they’ve seen all season. The Huskers got 130 yards from Rex Burkhead against another top-10 defense in Michigan State, so they’re not about to roll over and die in this matchup.

Make no mistake, the defenses will determine the outcome of this game. The problem for Penn State is that they just won’t be able to get enough offensive momentum to support their brilliant defense this time around.