A "Corny" Christmas Story

T'was 6 days after Christmas,
And all through the frat house;
Not a pledge was stirring,
Not even a mouse.

Bo tipped toed down the stairs,
And crawled up to the tree;
He looked up to God,
And he gave one final plea.

"I know someone's up there,
I know you exist;
If we don't get a win,
You know I'll be pi---furious."

Now New Years Day approached,
And Bo appeared tense;
His team this week looked strong,
The challenge approaching was immense.

Georgia knew the Huskers were good,
They had to get their rest;
The players put their head on their pillows,
This way they could play their best.

Now game day was here,
The place was filled with tailgaters,
Georgia fans screamed at the Huskers,
But they ignored the haters.

Now the first half had ended,
Nebraska up ten to nine;
Georgia needed a comeback,
And to get the ball across the white line.

As the game proceeded,
The Huskers got pinned deep;
But this was no issue,
For a 99-yard pass made Georgia weep.

One last attempt,
to catch the ball,
It hit a Georgia receiver's chest,
And then did fall.

Now the game was over,
Players stormed the field;
And Bo Pelini used cops,
As a gatorade shower shield.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers won this game 25-19 when a Georgia receiver dropped the on the 10 yard line. The catch would have given them a first down and 4 more shots at a game winning touchdown.

Nebraska @ Wisconsin 

Ameer Abdullah was injured at the beginning of the game last week at home. He got just about the best news he could receive when they told him it was a slight injury to his knee. It would take about 2 weeks of recovery but he would be back for the game at Wisconsin. As the Huskers approach game day on Saturday, Abdullah's status is no longer for sure. Ameer did not practice the entire bye week.

Before this injury, he was mentioned as the leading candidate for the Heisman Award. Unfortunately, after a week of not playing, and then a bye week, his name is not being mentioned near as much.
Nebraska rushed for a season low against Purdue without Abdullah so having him back against the Badgers will help impact the team greatly. At this point in the season, Nebraska is ranked 11 in the AP and is on pace to play Auburn in a bowl game. It is vital that the Huskers keep Abdullah healthy and make sure he plays to the best of his ability.

TOM OSBORNE

Tom Osborne is a legend at Nebraska. He lead the Huskers to 3 national championships and left a legacy that will stand the test of time. He set up a tradition of winning that begs to be matched even by the current coach Bo Pelini. Coach Osborne took over for Bob Devaney and coached for 25 years.

Tom was born and raised in Hasting, Nebraska, only about 2 hours outside of Lincoln. Osborne was a star athlete at high small high school. He was an all-star athlete in basketball, football, and track. After Hastings high school, he attended Hastings College where he was awarded athlete of the year.

When Tom Coached at Nebraska, his team never won less than 9 games in a season. He coached many all-star athletes and raised up plenty of future NFL players. He was ranked in every single AP poll from 1977 to 1981. In 1983 and 1984 the Huskers went 12-0 and won national championships.

Not a single Husker fan will ever forget the legacy Tom left on the state. His name is plastered on the new turf Nebraska received a few years ago. Tom Osborne is an astounding individual who will never be forgotten.

Husker VS Rugters 

The crowd went crazy as Nebraska won the game.  The Rugters versus Nebraska game was great game to watch, as it led Nebraska into a 7-1 record.  This was the first time since 2011, that Nebraska had this record.  Nebraska was able to stop a team on their opening drive, giving them a great head start.  Tommy Armstrong Jr. made the games first touchdown.  This was the fifth time the Huskers have scored on their opening drive this season.  Late in the first quarter, the Huskers gave up a 71-yard touchdown pass, which was the longest one the team has given up all year.

In the second quarter, Rugters had only 25 total yards. Ameer Abdullah sprinted 53 yards into the end zone, to put the Huskers up 14-7, and added another 48-yard touchdown later in the quarter.  This game was the 23rd time in his career, or sixth time in this season, Abdullah has rushed more than 100 yards in a game.  This game, he also broke the school record in 341 all-purpose yards.  Abdullah says, "All that stuff is good. You can't get caught up in that though right now because that's not what is important. What is important is tomorrow and making sure we handle this win the right way. Being as mature as possible about it and move on to Purdue."

Armstrong threw two passes to the back of the end zone to Sam Cotton and Jordan Westerkamp in the third-quarter.  One of these was the fifth time this season Nebraska scored on their opening driving of the second half.  Armstrong finished with 163 passing yards, making 14 of 22 passes and three total touchdowns.  Kenny Bell passed the school record for career receptions of 166, in the fourth quarter.

Lead Coach Bo Pelini said, "Well, we got the win. I'm happy about that. That's about all I'm happy about. I thought we were sloppy, inconsistent and we didn't play at the standard we needed to.  I'll take the win though. Anytime you win a football game, it's never easy to win. But I have higher standards than what I watched out there today. And it starts with me. It starts with our coaching staff. I don't like the way we played."

HAIL MARY!

"The throw is launched down toward the goal line! Going up! Ball tipped before...YEAAHH! CAUGHT! JORDAN WESTERKAMP! NEBRASKA WINS THE GAME ON THE FINAL PLAY OF THE CONTEST!" If you watched the Northwestern - Nebraska game last year, hopefully you remember this play. Northwestern was up by 3. The game was essentially over when there were 4 seconds left and Nebraska was near the 50 yard line, yet somehow, the Huskers still prevailed.

This year, the game was not near as thrilling. The game started close, but the cornhuskers eventually managed to dig themselves out of the hole they'd dug and overcome Northwestern. Ameer ran for a career high 4 TDs. Nebraska finished the game with 234 yards of rushing. Nearly all of these came from Armstrong and Abdullah.

As we move toward the next game, Nebraska definitely needs to work on the amount of penalties they are having a game. Such a simple thing to improve that makes an enormous difference. With 8 penalties last game, we can do better. Hopefully we can aim to keep it under 5 for less than 40 yards. That would be ideal to win.

Sources:
http://espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?id=400547971

http://dataomaha.com/media/sports/2013/year-in-review/

Heisman Watch!

"The 10! The 5! TOUCHDOWN NEBRASKA!" If you listen to Nebraska's radio show, you probably hear this quite a bit. At this point in the season, Nebraska is ranked 12th in points scored per game at 41.5. Scoring nearly 42 points a contest is no joke. It's not something that's easily accomplished. In fact, it's so difficult that only 12 teams out of over 100 have done it so far this year.

Looking at these numbers, you might be reminded of how the Huskers scored all these points. You can think back to any of Westerkamp's 3 touchdown catches or Bell's 2 touchdown catches, but what likely comes to mind right away is Ameer Abdullah and his ability to overcome a team's defense and get the ball into the end-zone.

Abdullah has 10 touchdowns 6 games into the season. In 138 carries, he has 878 yards. Even after a bye week, that leaves him 4th ranked in the league. Ameer has been giving it his all this season and it shows. He is currently on Heisman watch, although he has a long way to go if he wants to win any sort of award. Mike Griffith had this to say after the loss to Michigan State: "Nebraska entered Saturday night's game No. 2 in the nation with 354.8 yards per game on the ground, and Ameer Abdullah was No. 1 in total rush yardage (833) and No. 2 in yards rushing per game (166.6)." 

Ameer is not without competition though. Of the top 4 running backs, 3 are in the Big Ten. Those are only running backs! Quarterbacks are a whole other story for a different post.

Sources:
http://www.deseretnews.com/top/2695/18/Ameer-Abdullah-senior-running-back-Nebraska-The-2014-Heisman-Trophy-tracker.html

http://espn.go.com/college-football/statistics

http://espn.go.com/college-football/heisman14/

The crowd roars. As the ball soars, all the receivers look up and do their best to avoid the corners and safeties that had come back to swat the ball down. The ball was tipped. All hope was lost. The game was over... WAIT! Wait a minute! He caught it! He caught the ball! Touchdown!! Touchdown Huskers!! We've beat Northwestern!

This was one of the best moments from the 2013-14 season. It left the crowd in a frenzy. People were storming the field and no one could stop them. The Cornhuskers had won on a 50+ yard hailmary. This moment would never be forgotten.

With this new season coming to light, we can all see that the Cornhuskers are stronger than their team from last year, but they still have a long way to go. A 5-0 start put the Husker atop their division. It was only this last week that the Huskers fell to a superior Michigan State team.

As we've gone on through this season, many fans have realized the strengths of the Cornhuskers. They are as follows; Our punt return game (with already two returns ending in touchdowns) and our run game. These are powerful forces that dare to be reckoned with. Our rushing game is due to our amazing, star running back, Ameer Abdullah.

Ameer Abdullah is already over 800 yards this season and is the leading rusher in the NCAAF right now. He dares to be challenged and conquers all foes in his path. He has a copious amount of touchdowns (Stay tuned to figure out how many) and is in the running for the Heisman.