Its time again for another round of fact or fiction, with the Big 12 Championship Game just days away our subject is the Nebraska Corn Huskers and our guest blogger is Jon from Corn Nation. We have come up with a few statements about Nebraska and Saturday night's game and Jon is here to tell us why they are fact or fiction.
Thanks for your time Jon. Here we go!
Nebraska is better off facing Oklahoma than Texas in the Conference Championship game.
Both fact and fiction.
Fiction: Texas is wounded, directionless, without their defensive coordinator, and without their star Freshman quarterback at 100%. They would make for an easier foe than when they beat us in Lincoln. Physically, we're better off if we'd have faced Texas.
Fact: It's the Big Eight all over again. Somewhere, someone right now is watching "Johnny the Jet tear 'em loose from their shoes", just like they're saying a prayer. No doubt that their Oklahoma double is watching an old tape of Buster Rhymes, Billy Sims, or Steve Rhodes and the birth of "Sooner Magic". Both are teaching the past to their children, their grandchildren, making them understand why this is no mere football game. This is good versus evil all over again!
Church attendance in Nebraska will rise because of this game. If we win this game, the center of the universe will rightly re-position itself in Lincoln, Nebraska once again, as it should be. The world will be a brighter, better place - the US truly a kinder, gentler nation. (What will happen if Nebraska loses? More of the same, of course!)
You could say that the Oklahoma and Nebraska fans have a mutual respect for each other but the coaches genuinely don't like each other.
Fact.What would good be without evil? Isn't that the way it's always been? Nebraskans have always known this and therefore accepted your existence.
You had Barry Switzer, son of a bootlegger, NCAA violations and beat us through so many Thanksgivings in the 70's. We always knew that "Sooner Magic" was just another term for "having sold your soul to the devil", but you couldn't say that out loud around my house without my dear old Mom from getting worked up and passing out.
We had Tom Osborne, Nebraska-native, living saint and legend. We had big, beef and corn-fed Nebraska farm boys, who pounded the opposition with strength and dominance that reflects the work-ethic of the state's people (which begs the question - what about the West Coast Offense and how it relates to the state's work ethic, which I'll cover after the Big 12 Championship on Corn Nation.)
And here we are again, Saturday night. Bill Callahan the Mostly Good versus Bob Stoops the Terrible! Is it any wonder they don't like each other? They can't. It's pre-ordained by a Higher Power!
The cold weather Saturday night will be an advantage for Nebraska.
Fact. Perhaps the phrase "cold day in hell" has been uttered a bit too many times around the nation about this game, eh?
Zac Taylor is the best thing to ever come out of Norman!
Since I can't think of anything else good to ever come out of Norman, Oklahoma, this must be ABSOLUTE fact! Ha!
Now that the Huskers are in the conference championship game Bill Callahan is finally on solid footing with the fans.
Fiction. Sadly, in this "what have you done for me lately" world - no coach is ever on solid footing. If we win the Big 12 Championship, Callahan detractors will point out that Tom or Frank or Bob won 10 or 15. If he wins a national title, they'll point out that Bob Devaney won two. If he wins two, people will point out that Tom Osborne won three. I have only recently come to the conclusion that the complaining isn't about Frank Solich's firing (which brought a new era to Nebraska football). It's that we had really good football for such a long time that people learned how to nit-pick and complain about everything, even the tiniest things.
No matter how successful Bill Callahan is as a head coach at Nebraska, he will never attain enough to meet our expectations - the worst sin of all.
The team that has the most success running the ball will win this game.
Fiction. If Oklahoma has success running the ball, they'll win the game. Oklahoma will need big plays from the ground attack to win. For some reason, people cling to the idea that Nebraska must rush the ball to do well, but that's not true. The key isn't having the 'most' success, it's for Nebraska to have enough success to keep Oklahoma's defense off-balance and guessing about what is coming next..