The Sooners and Cornhuskers continue the best rivalry in college football this Saturday. Oklahoma football will travel to Lincoln for the first time since 2009. Last season, the Sooners fought for a 23-16 victory in Norman. Here are some score predictions/game breakdowns from our StorminInNorman crew:
Connor Pasby
Score: OU 34 – Nebraska 27
Game Breakdown:
You’ll see big plays from Oklahoma on both sides of the ball Saturday, but I think it’ll be a hard-fought battle for 4-quarters with the Huskers. It will be Dillon Gabriel’s first road game as a Sooner, and I think he has a solid performance. Gabriel will play turnover-free football and will find Mims in crucial moments in the game. Also, I think you’ll see a much-improved rushing attack from a week ago, Gray and Major will each carry the rock, and have big breakaway runs. Defensively, it’ll be the first true test for the Sooner’s secondary, and they’ll be tested with Casey Thompson behind center. The secondary will have a crucial interception late in the game. They will get massive help from the defensive line Saturday, providing havoc in the backfield.
Chip Rouse
Score: OU 38 – Nebraska 17
Game Breakdown:
In past seasons, the OU-Nebraska game was considered a marquee matchup and must-see TV. Those days have long passed. The game in Lincoln, Nebraska, on Saturday will have some interesting storylines — first game after the firing of Scott Frost; will the OU offense get off to a slow start like last weekend against Kent State or a fast one as in Week 1, scoring on the first three possession? and can the Sooner defense rise to the occasion a third week in a row? — but Oklahoma should prevail. A lot was being made of the fact that this will be OU’s first real test of the season and the first game against a Power 5 opponent. But the truth is, both UTEP and Kent State, the Sooners’ previous two opponents, were both bowl teams last season and are probably better teams than Nebraska is right now. Go figure!
Timothy Bailey
Score: OU 41 – Nebraska 21
Game Breakdown:
I expect an early battle and Oklahoma to pull away late. On paper, the Sooners could win super big, but this rivalry is just special and those types of circumstances don’t come around often. Particularly the Oklahoma match-up against Nebraska in the trenches is lopsided.
Douglas Miles
Score: OU 17 – Nebraska 7
Game Breakdown:
Nebraska puts forth an inspired defensive effort under interim head coach Mickey Joseph, but the Oklahoma defense appears to have some severe bite to it. Thirty-five years after “Game of the Century II” the Sooners earn just their second win in Lincoln since that 1987 1 vs. 2 matchup in a style reminiscent of the old Big 8.
Aaron Gelvin
Score: OU 25, Nebraska 7
Game Breakdown:
ou’s defensive front plays well again while the offense starts slow again. Oklahoma’s run game picks up in the second half and the secondary covers Casey Thompson’s receivers better this year than they did a year ago. Gabriel/Mims deliver the knockout punch.
Cameron Black
Score: OU 28 Nebraska 21
Game Breakdown:
I do not think this game is going to be quite the blow out that everyone is predicting.
I think that Nebraska is going to come out with motivation and a huge chip on their shoulder.
They are look for redemption for the way their season has started, and the firing of their head coach, and what better way to be vindicated, then to knock off the #6 team in the country, and their oldest most storied rival, Oklahoma.
Oklahoma can win this game as long as they take Nebraska seriously, and do not overlook them just because the program has fallen on hard times.