Preview of Nebraska

Storylines :

Nebraska fans have been selling out their stadium despsite the fact they’ve not had a winning season since 2016. The Scott Frost era is not going well. He’s 13-21 overall and Just 9-18 in Big Ten play. This is not what the folks in Lincoln were looking for, and it’s certainly got to change soon or else Frost, who sits on the hottest seat in college football may not make it the season.

The loss to Illinois in week one only made things worse for Frost.

Buffalo is still breaking in a new coach Maurice Linguist was brought in during the mid summer when Kansas scandal left them looking for a coach. And where does Kansas always seem to go when a scandal leaves them without a cocah? Yup... Buffalo.

So Linguist was brought on in June and had to (1) hire a new staff, (2) try to retain talent from the dreaded portal, (3) connect with the remaining Bulls and get them on board with his system in less than 12 weeks.

Linguist is undefeated on the UB sidelines, but given that win was over wager it’s premature to call the hire a success.

Stars To Watch:

Nebraska brings in Adrian Martinez, who is the teams leading passer and leading runner (both in yards and touchdowns). The kid is a handful, and he’s going to test the UB front seven enormously as probably the best dual threat quarterback they are going to see this season.

The Huskers defense is fronted by Pheldarius Payne, a linebacker that already has two sacks on the year and Deontai Williams who has two picks from his safety spot. Both of these guys can make life difficult for Kyle Vantrease who is the MAC East offensive player of the week.

Buffalo is hoping that Kevin Marks emerges this week, he’s been sitting behind Jaret Patterson for three seasons and has still put up amazing numbers. It’s his time to carry the offense. Last week in limited work he looked solid but Payne and company will be just a bit tougher to run against.

On defense the Bulls will face their first real test of the season. Taylor Riggans is back, and with the Bulls who left he’s come back just in time. The Joe Cauthen defense is as aggressive as promised and that’s a great fit with the players he inherited. If they can bottle up Martinez the Bulls have a punchers chance in this game.

Key Match ups

Buffalo’s offensive line vs Nebraska’s front seven: Buffalo’s offensive line is not a complete rebuild this year, but it’s close to one. The remaining players from last years team have been moved over to the other side of the line and the other players are transfers or backups from last season.

They have to give Vantrease some time to do his thing. Kyle’s not going to throw us to a win here but he needs to be enough of a threat to keep the Nebraska secondary for cheating on Marks.

Buffalo’s Linebackers vs Martinez: UB has, historically, not been good at dealing with dual threat quarterbacks and Martinez looks like a hand full. I think the front line will be able to apply some pressure but if he ducks out and turns into a track star than it’s going to be a very long day for the defense as a whole.

James Patterson and the linebackers need to shut down Martinez on the run game.