Behind Enemy Lines: Cornhuskers Wire previews No. 6 Oklahoma at Nebraska

Your guess is as good as mine. Mickey Joseph is well-loved by the players and has already made changes to the team’s day-to-day operations, which has been well-received in the locker room. Will the team look different on Saturday? I don’t know. He’s got a lot of hard work ahead of him. People are aware of the issues on the field, but I don’t think people realize how bad the program’s culture has gotten. There’s a reason Athletic Director Trev Alberts made this move in season. From a coaching perspective, Frost’s most significant issue was never being prepared for critical late-game situations. How Joseph handles those tight spots on Saturday could go a long way toward making him an attractive candidate for the full-time job.

Casey Thompson has looked good at times. He’s a natural fit for Offensive Coordinator Mark Whipple’s more pass-heavy scheme. He has a nice touch on the ball and can change the speed on his throws depending on the situation. He can stretch a defense horizontally and vertically in the passing game. If there’s an area of concern, it’s his inability to throw the ball away or take the easy completion. He takes chances and will hang on to the football too long as a result, and that’s why he’s thrown three interceptions and been sacked seven times this season. The chances will be there this weekend, the Sooners have to take advantage of those opportunities.

Vision. It’s been a while since Nebraska had a running back with the vision of Anthony Grant. His ability to find the running lane, even in the tightest of spots, has separated him from the remaining Husker running backs. He has a nice combination of speed and power. He’s the first back that a Nebraska offense has been able to lean on in quite some time. He can break the big one at any moment, and it only takes one mistake by the defense for him to make them pay. Grant also runs downhill will quite a bit of power. The Sooners will need to gang tackle on Saturday and rely on the fundamentals. You won’t knock Grant down; you have to bring him down. He’s an exceptional talent, and I’m curious to see how the Sooners play him Saturday.

Tackling. This is the worst tackling Nebraska team I’ve seen in a long time. As a unit, they are consistently beaten in one on one situations. Georgia Southern got the ball to their athletes in space, causing Nebraska to give more than 500 yards of offense. I’m expecting a lot of short/quick passes from the OU offense to spread the defense out and force them to help on the edge. Then I expect to see a healthy dose of the run game. The Georgia Southern loss laid out the blueprint for beating beat this team.

Bend-don’t-break. If I were coaching the OU defense, I would play a “bend but don’t break” scheme this weekend. Don’t give up the big shot. Make Nebraska drive the ball for 10-12 plays. They tend to hurt themselves more often than not the longer they have the ball. They’ll take their shots deep early and often on Saturday. If the Sooners can force Nebraska to check down, it won’t be long before they become impatient. That’s when Oklahoma can take advantage of a mistake. It may not be the most fun defense to watch, and it might be frustrating sometimes, but trust me, the Sooner’s defense doesn’t have to beat Nebraska. The Huskers will do it to themselves.

They miss it. They miss all the old Big 12 rivals. Leaving for the Big Ten was the right decision from a financial perspective, but in the process, Nebraska left tradition and history behind. The fans get excited about the game whenever they play an old conference rival from the Big 12. Oklahoma, Kansas State, and Colorado ring differently to the Husker faithful than Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa. The Cornhuskers made the right move, but it doesn’t mean we can’t be frustrated that it had to be made in the first place.