The Miami Hurricanes and Nebraska Cornhuskers played in multiple memorable Orange Bowls in past decades. They will now meet again in Lincoln, Nebraska, this Saturday night on ESPN2.
Miami Hurricanes @ Nebraska Cornhuskers
Saturday, September 20th – 8:10 PM ET
Odds: Nebraska -7
Why The Hurricanes Will Cover
They might be playing a team that is not as good as it appears to be. Nebraska certainly looked good this past Saturday in the process of beating Fresno State on the road, 55-19. However, it has quickly become clear that Fresno State can’t stop anybody. The Bulldogs gave up 52 points to USC. They then gave up 59 points to Utah. Nebraska’s 55-point outburst doesn’t really seem special when you look at everything Fresno State has failed to do this season. Nebraska is still the team that struggled so much with McNeese State that it was tied with that Football Championship Subdivision team deep into the fourth quarter before an incredible run by Ameer Abdullah broke the tie and rescued Nebraska from a potential overtime. Critics of Nebraska will also say that Husker quarterback Tommy Armstrong completed just 12 of 21 passes against Fresno State. Armstrong has a lot more to prove, and Nebraska as a team has a long way to go, before it can be seen as a team that can be trusted, both from a football standpoint and a betting standpoint. If you were to say that the Nebraska-Fresno State result was mostly the byproduct of Fresno State being a bad team, you’d have a lot of evidence to back up that kind of statement. It’s less certain if Nebraska really is a strong team that’s ready to beat Miami, which committed 11 penalties and two turnovers last week yet still cruised past Arkansas State without much of any trouble.
Why The Cornhuskers Will Cover
They are a better team than Miami, and playing this game at home and at night should really help them out. Miami stumbled at Louisville in the first game of the season, and when Louisville played a nervous (and very poor) game this past weekend against a not-that-great Virginia team, Miami’s shortcomings against Louisville were magnified. The Hurricanes are going into this game with a true freshman quarterback, Brad Kaaya. Did a game against a lower-division team, followed by another game against a Sun Belt Conference opponent at home, show that Kaaya is now a much better quarterback? He has to beat a solid team before he can be seen as an improved player.
The other thing to notice is that while Miami’s offense tries to find its way, Nebraska’s offense found itself against Fresno State. The Huskers still have things to work on, but they found three scoring plays of at least 57 yards, plus a long punt return for a touchdown as well. If Nebraska can hit that many big plays, it should be able to outscore Miami. Armstrong did complete just 12 of 21 passes, but on the other hand, he averaged almost 22 yards per completion (260 yards on those 12 completions).
Outlook
If both teams play at the same level, Nebraska should win the game. Miami can’t be average in this game if Nebraska is average or better. Miami has to be great if Nebraska is average, and it will win with an average performance only if Nebraska is bad. Neither scenario is likely.
Pick: Nebraska -7
