HUSKER TRICKS ARE NO TREAT FOR BUFFIES, 37-14
BIG WED WAP UP

There were so many tricks in Friday's Husker-Buffy football game that it should have been played on Halloween. There was Zac Taylor dressed up as a receiver, Joe Ganz as a place kicker, Jordan Congdon as a punter, Marlon Lucky as a QB, Tierre Green as a running back and last, but not least, Barry Turner dressed up like a tight end! What's next, Brandon Rigoni as a defensive tackle?
CHEATERS
There have been some rumblings (wait, I just heard another one) that the Huskers "cheated" by resorting to trick plays to beat a 2-9 football team and that somehow, the Huskers should have done the "honorable" thing by playing the Buffies straight up (whatever that means).

I don't get it. Where in the name of Bob Devaney does it say a team mustn't use deception in its play calling? I mean, I just don't get it. Does that mean teams shouldn't huddle, use play fakes, fake blitzes, reverses and pump fakes? What the heck is going on here?

I thought (silly me) that the object of the game was to score more points than your opponent by game's end. Sigh.

Enjoy the dang win, already! Jeeze Loweeze!

The Huskers shrugged off a slow first half (too much leftover turkey?) to take control in the second half to down the pesky Buffies. To be sure, some of the same problems that have plagued the Huskers for parts of this year, reared their ugly heads again Friday. The defense gave up a couple of big plays, missed several tackles and had way too many false starts. Come this Saturday night in Kansas City, errors like these could prove disastrous against the Sooners' excellent defense. (More on that, later.)
THE POWER OF RED
As most Husker fans know, each year since the Bill McCartney Era, Buffalo coaches and fans have circled the date of the Nebraska-Colorado football game. During Game Week and Game Day, Buffalo fans aren't supposed to wear the color red. Ix-nay the uller-kay.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the library. The word Colorado comes from the Spanish word that means-are you ready for this one-"colored red". Yup, the Spaniards saw the reddish cliffs that surrounded the Colorado River and named it Colorado. The color red! How ironic! The whole dad-gummed, dad-blamed state is named for the color red!!!
What a hoot!!! Take that, Buffies!!
Okay, so school's out, little dudes.
HUSKER DAN SEZ:
Each week Husker Dan sticks his neck out and sometimes makes a fool of himself by making bold predictions that don't happen. But, hey, wait a minute. ol' Husker Dan just remembered something. Hang on, just hang on. Back in August, here's what ol' Danny Boy said about the upcoming Husker football season:
Texas
"...If the Huskers are still in this one in the 4th quarter, Husker fans should be happy. Chalk up another 'L'."
@Texas A&M
"This isn't your father's Aggie team, but playing in College Station can be dangerous for opponents. The Huskers will stumble either here or at Stillwater."
Colorado
"This contest is starting to lose its luster really fast. This one will likely be meaningless for both teams. The Huskers will have already clinched the BTN and will be thinking about the Sooners and visions of a BCS bowl invitation."
There.
(Okay, so I won't mention that I also predicted Nova Scotia to win the Gulf War.)
The game Saturday is with the Sooners, led by head coach Bobby Stoops and his much deserved Big 12 Coach of the Year honor. The Sooners also will bring with them one of the best defenses in college football. On offense, the Sooners don't jump out at you-except they have an efficient offense that is capable of making big plays.
TROPHY ROOM
To be sure, the game will feature two highly competitive head football coaches-Bill Callahan whose trophy room is rather bare and Bobby Stoops' whose room has a National Championship trophy, a Heisman trophy, several divisional and conference titles and several Top Ten finishes to boot.
The Bugeaters are 3 1/2 point dogs to the Sooners, who have won 7 straight games. The Sooner defense came together about midway through the season and is now one of the best in the country.
BRASS RING
This is a game that is winnable for the Huskers. The win is theirs (ours) for the taking. I don't mean to infer that it'll be easy-it won't. But if the Huskers can play 4 quarters of very good football (they won't have to play a perfect game to beat OU), they can win the Big 12 Championship and in doing so, will be 10-3 and will be playing in the Fiesta Bowl.
Let me repeat that, the Huskers can go 10-3 (with a possibility of an 11-3 record if they go on to win in the Fiesta Bowl). I know, 11-3 may be a long shot, but what the heck, if you're going to dream, why not dream big?
The Husker players are going to have to be able to look each other in the eye Saturday night and tell each other how badly they want this game. The Huskers need this win and they're going to get it. I think the Huskers are going to surprise a lot of people Saturday night in Kansas City. But to do so, the Huskers are going to have to bring it and bring it in all phases of the game.

The Huskers still have not played four complete quarters of good football. Will this be the night? Will the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, Zac Taylor live up to his award? Will the Huskers pull this one out for all the Big 12 marbles?

This might be the best opportunity the Huskers will have to take the next step in the Bill Callahan Era. There will be at least 60,000 Husker fans at Arrowhead Saturday night. For the Huskers, this is the time, the place and the year that they reach out and grab the brass ring. This time, this Huskers will take another big step in the process of restoring the order. This Saturday night, this team, these coaches and these fans will see it happen. And we will do it with a quarterback from Norman, Oklahoma. Go figure.
HUSKERS 28
SOONERS 17