Primetime College Football: Wildcats vs Huskers

TALENT

The Nebraska Cornhuskers (7-3) are 4-2 in league action and will close out the regular season altogether with a trip to Colorado on November 27th. The team was on the road last weekend and turned that experience into a 31-17 triumph against the Kansas Jayhawks.

As for Kansas State (6-5), it has alternated wins and losses over the last four outings as the 6-5 team approaches the end of the regular season. Last week, KSU was throttled by Missouri in a 38-12 final, as the ‘Cats dropped to 4-3 in conference.

The Huskers hold a significant lead in the all-time series with K-State at 76-15-2 entering play this season.

Quarterback Grant Gregory hit on 21-of-30 passes for 239 yards, adding 32 points on the ground, while Daniel Thomas checked in with 79 yards on 23 attempts against Missouri. KSU ranks last in the conference and 105th in the nation at the moment with only 170.9 ypg passing. As a group the Wildcats have just 7 passing scores and 7 interceptions thus far. Thomas has been the top performer for the squad this season with his 1,166 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground.

Coach Bill Snyder’s Wildcats have trouble tackling for loss as they rank second-to-last in the conference and 99th in the nation with just 4.7 per contest. Sacks are also somewhat of a rarity for the group with just 1.64 per outing, ranking K-State 10th in the Big 12 and 84th nationally this week. Emmanuel Lamur, who leads the program with his 61 tackles, has three interceptions and a pair of blocked kicks to his credit thus far.

Roy Helu finished last week with 28 carries for a game-high 156 yards and 3 touchdowns. The team’s rushing attack accounted for 214 yards on 42 attempts, while Zac Lee converted 13- of-21 passes for another 196 yards as well. Although he didn’t make it into the end zone, Niles Paul had 4 catches for 154 yards and leads the team with his 29 catches for 567 yards, while Helu handles the ground attack for the Huskers with his 962 yards and 9 touchdowns, averaging almost six yards per attempt for a team that is averaging less than four and a half yards per rush and is coming up with only 152.4 ypg.

Coach Bo Pelini’s Huskers currently own the top scoring defense in the conference and the third-best squad in the nation this week, permitting a mere 11 ppg. Five times this squad has given up less than 10 points on the campaign, turning the trick three times in the first four games of the season. Leaders on the unit include Jared Crick 9 sacks, 14 tackles for loss and Ndamukong Suh 5 sacks, 13 tackle for loss, three blocked kicks.

PICK: University of Nebraska Cornhuskers