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College Football: Predicting every undefeated teams first loss

By Carly Regehr

Oct 22, 2016; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers players celebrate after scoring a touchdown during the first quarter against the TCU Horned Frogs at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 22, 2016; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers players celebrate after scoring a touchdown during the first quarter against the TCU Horned Frogs at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 15, 2016; Bloomington, IN, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. (4) throws a pass during the first half of the game at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 15, 2016; Bloomington, IN, USA; Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr. (4) throws a pass during the first half of the game at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-USA TODAY Sports /

8. Nebraska Cornhuskers

W-L Record: 7-0

Remaining Schedule: at Wisconsin, at Ohio State, Minnesota, Maryland, at Iowa

They will fall victim to…

Wisconsin on Oct. 29

Nebraska QB Tommy Armstrong has launched his teammates into one of the best seasons in school history. He’s logged in 16 total touchdowns and is completing nearly 56-percent of his passes. Armstrong also distributes the ball neatly, as six receivers have recorded, on average, 100 yards on 14 receptions each. The offense isn’t the only department that clicks.

Nebraska’s defense is just as spooky.

Four players have two or more interceptions in the span of seven games. Nebraska doesn’t get a lot of sacks, but don’t leave out Ross Dzuris and Nathan Gerry. Those two share 14 tackles for a loss between them.

Wisconsin, on the hand, relies solely on Corey Clement (617 yards, 6 TD) and his counterparts on defense. T.J. Watt, brother of J.J. Watt, is killin’ it for the Badgers. Through six games, Watt has surpassed his numbers in 2015 by a long shot. The 6-foot-5 monster also had his biggest day against Michigan, clocking in 11 tackles, eight of which were unassisted.

The series between Wisconsin-Nebraska is an ancient one. Wisconsin would win the first meeting in 1901. That’s right. It predates even Ohio State-Michigan. More recently, though, Wisconsin has embarrassed Nebraska. Since 2011, Wisconsin averaged a 35-point difference in the game’s outcome, including a 70-31 win in 2012.

Last year, Wisconsin gathered a win as the visitor, 23-21. Wisconsin would out gain Nebraska on first downs (26:13), but, statistically speaking, the offenses of both teams were evenly matched. Both quarterbacks (Stave, Armstrong) would have quiet games. Nebraska would, however, perform better on defense, which was spearheaded by Byerson Cockrell and Joshua Kalu.

Nebraska will have a large summit to climb in Madison in Week 9. Camp Randall isn’t friendly to visiting teams and for good reason. According to Wisconsin’s athletic site, the stadium set a per-game attendance record (82,368) for the entire season. That’s a massive amount of yelling to overcome.

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