Welcome to the Midwest edition of Deep South Smack Talk. The Dawgs are, thankfully, off this week. But looking westward to my graduate alma mater, there’s a big game brewing in Lincoln. Undefeated and fourth ranked Missouri is headed into a tricky match up with the 3-1 Nebraska Cornholers. Cornhuskers, sorry, I always get that wrong. I tried to line up guest bloggers to for both Mizzou and Nebraska. Unfortunately, my Mizzou blogger didn’t come through, so you’re stuck with me.  Visitors first, your underwhelming correspondent for Mizzou:

I’m probably not the best person to sing the praises of the Mizzou football. Regular readers of this blog will know that my loyalties lie a bit further south and east of Columbia. But, the University of Missouri was kind enough to give me a Ph.D. and thus the key to my current life, so I guess I owe them at least a bit of support.

During my tenure in Columbia, the Missouri Tigers athletic teams made choking into an art. I remember the 2003 – 2004 basketball season, when a lot of pundits had the Tigers going all the way. So, Dr. O’C and I figured, what the hell, let’s buy season tickets and go along for the ride. They were actually ranked No. 1 in the nation for a very short period of time. Then they lost to Illinois. Then Memphis. Then Belmont, a college of 4,000 students. And they just kept losing. I still want my money back. After I left, it came out that actually the Tigers had been cheating a fair bit, the team went from bad to worse and pretty boy coach Quin Snyder got the sack.

The football team. That’s a different story.  They were clean as a whistle. No dodgy dealings there. Their combined record during my time at Mizzou was 24 – 32. We never bought season tickets to watch the football team, largely because my one experience at Faurot Field was one of the worst college football games I’ve ever been seen – a hapless Baylor team and drunken frat boys are a bad combination.

BUT, things have changed at Mizzou. A new A.D., a new football coach and a new attitude. After a stunning 12 – 2 season last year, the Tigers have roared to a 4 – 0 start this year. I wish I could be in Columbia this autumn to see what it’s like when there’s a real national championship contender in town. Conference play starts this week for he Tigers, though, and this is where things have a tendency to go pear shaped. The Huskers pose the first real threat, however, and it’s a mental block that Mizzou has got to get past. The Tigers haven’t won in Lincoln since 1978.

Fortunately for the Tigers, one of the changes that’s happened since I left in 2004 is that Nebraska has just collapsed as a football program. There’s no doubt the the Huskers were once a powerhouse. Nebraska has five national titles and in the mid 90s were just a behemoth of a program. But a decade has passed and Nebraska’s day in the sun has passed as well. Their old-school Big 8 option style has gone the way of Betamax and 8-tracks. I mean Princeton won five titles as well, but we don’t here much about those Tigers anymore.

Nope, Gary Pinkel and Chase Daniel and Jeremy Maclin are the new faces of Big 12 football and I’m fairly confident that will become painfully clear to the Huskers on Saturday night. Thirty years is a long time, but every streak comes to an end. This one’s time is done.

————————–

And speaking for the Cornholers, Huskers, dammit. Speaking for the Cornhuskers, April from The Bauer Confidential:

Is there any other team?!?!?  Go Cornhuskers!  Whoot!

So here’s the deal, I was born in Nebraska, my parents are Nebraskans, but I have to admit that of my more than a quarter century (and no, I’m not saying how much more), I’ve only lived in that state a handful of years.  I spent every summer until I was 16 there, with my Dad and family; I try to visit regularly, so I still feel like a Nebraskan.  It’s one of those things that’s in your blood!  We bleed Husker red!

Husker football has a rather storied past, one that Mizzou (my grad school alma mater) can’t come close to matching.  With five national championships (to MU’s big-fat zero), over 800 wins, and a ranking as the winningest college football program in the last 50 years, the Huskers are widely considered one of the best football teams in history.  Traditionally, defense has been Nebraska’s strong suit, and you know what they say about defense winning championships.  With Tom Osborne back on board as the school’s athletic director, things are looking up.
Now the upstart Tigers think they’re something special.  With a national ranking they have something to prove.  They were on a 25-year loosing streak to the Huskers that only ended a few years ago (and yes I remember those damn goal posts being drug through the streets of Columbia, what a proud moment).  This time they’re headed into Husker territory.  Memorial Stadium will be a sea of red on Saturday, and holds 23,000 more fans than the Tigers are used to at Faurot Field.  Husker football is like a religion to Nebraskans; their fans are not so fickle as those at Mizzou.  Only since they’ve started winning have people really started calling themselves Tiger fans, whereas the Nebraska stadium has been sold out for more than 25 years, in winning and loosing seasons.

Nebraska has a new coach, and if he wants to keep his job, he’ll have his team all geared up and looking for blood come Saturday.  Bo Pelini has even more to prove than the Tigers.  With a loss last week to VT, the Huskers are fired up to bring the winning streak back, especially at home.  The Tigers are getting cocky; they’re expecting a romp.  They aren’t used to crowds like this, and winning on the road has never been Pinkel’s strong suit.  So bring it on Tigers, the Huskers are ready for you and they smell your weakness.  Last week your defense looked less than impressive, allowing far more points than it should have.  Chase Daniels may be your saving grace, but he’s in serious trouble with the Husker Blackshirts gunning for him!  Go Big Red!

———————-

Missouri at Nebraska kicks off at 9:00 p.m. Eastern (10:30 a.m. Sunday in Adelaide) on ESPN.

Bruce Springsteen’s “Nebraska” is available from Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska.

 
icon for podpress  Bruce Springsteen - "Nebraska": Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Popularity: 25% [?]