Nebraska Football: Four keys to victory vs Northwestern Wildcats

After a long two weeks, Nebraska football takes the field again, this time against Northwestern.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers came out of the gate hot in their Week 1 match-up against Ohio State and while it ultimately ended in a blowout loss, there were definitely things for Huskers fans to be optimistic about. No one really expected Nebraska to march into Columbus and knock off an Ohio State team that narrowly missed out on playing in the National Championship game a year ago, but the Huskers at least showed potential and that’s really all NU fans wanted to see in that game.

Nebraska’s next match-up was supposed to come against Wisconsin last weekend, but the game was canceled due to a COVID-19 outbreak amongst the Badgers program. The Huskers would have had a decent shot at beating the Badgers this year, as Wisconsin would have been down to their fourth string quarterback, which might have played a part in why the Badgers opted to not play the game at all.

Now, after two weeks off, the 0-1 Nebraska Cornhuskers will head to Evanston to face the 2-0 Northwestern Wildcats. Northwestern has surprised some people this year with their 2-0 start and Nebraska will be looking to make it two straight wins over their Big 10 foe. Let’s take a look at some keys to victory for the Cornhuskers.

Don’t cool off after a hot start

As we saw against the Buckeyes, Nebraska got off to a quick start and probably surprised some people. The problem was that after that first drive where the Huskers offense scored a touchdown after just four plays, they slowed down. They kept things close in the first half, but the second half was when the Ohio State dominance took off, as they outscored Nebraska 28-3 in the final two quarters. That won’t cut it moving forward.

While it’s crucial for the Cornhuskers to get off to a hot start and get the lead early on, it’s even more important that they maintain that lead. The offense has to keep scoring and the defense has to show up in the moments that count.

Northwestern looked out of it in their win over Iowa, but came roaring back and won the game late. If Nebraska isn’t careful, the Wildcats can very well do the same thing this time around.