Big Ten Power Rankings: Wisconsin Badgers are for real
By David Rouben
After Northwestern won this game courtesy of a failed two-point conversion last year, Nebraska’s players definitely had this game circled on their calendar. And nobody has loved how vulnerable Northwestern has looked so far than Nebraska, who capitalized on their opponent’s weaknesses on Saturday.
The final score of 24-13 hardly indicated how dominant of an offensive display this was for Nebraska. However, it’s something they need to work on going forward. Had they not fumbled it while in the red zone, the final could’ve easily been 38-13. However, their mistakes didn’t prove costly against a team like Northwestern.
Tommy Armstrong Jr. deserves praise once again for how well he ran the offense. They accounted for 556 total yards of offense, and he put up 378 through the air and on the ground. While the defense gave up a rushing touchdown to Clayton Thorson, who had a net total of -2 rushing yards coming into this game, they made up for it by shutting down Justin Jackson and picking off Thorson twice.
Between now and Week 10, when the Cornhuskers face Ohio State, they will take on Illinois, Indiana, Purdue and Wisconsin. The only game that will be a challenge to them is the Badgers, and that’s after they’ve played the likes of Michigan and Ohio State.
If both Nebraska and Ohio State are still undefeated by Week 10, their game will become a pivotal one in the conference race, and could even be a preview of the Big Ten Championship. It should get a spot on College GameDay too – the only game that week that has a better case is LSU vs. Alabama, which could turn into a bloodbath pretty quickly.