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"Practice Tests" are Over · Husker Buzz

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Nebraska and Indiana, and everybody seems to be pretty skeptical
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  Speaker 1: about both of these teams, given that they really haven't
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  Speaker 1: played anybody that's a threat for the playoffs yet, specifically Nebraska. Now,
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  Speaker 1: Northwestern's probably a little bit better than people think, but
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  Speaker 1: they gave Indiana a real rock two weeks ago on
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  Speaker 1: a Friday night. As you evaluate these two teams, what
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  Speaker 1: can we glean from their first five games?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think they've both done what they're supposed to
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  Speaker 2: do to a lot of extent. But for Nebraska, it's
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  Speaker 2: been a long time since they've been 5-0 at this caliber.
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  Speaker 2: Nebraska's won its first five games by 17-plus points. That
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  Speaker 2: hasn't happened since the 2001 football season at Nebraska where
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  Speaker 2: they've been this dominant over their first five. I don't
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  Speaker 2: care who the opponent is. I mean, that's still impressive
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  Speaker 2: what Nebraska's been able to do these first five weeks
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  Speaker 2: of the year. And Indiana has reloaded. I mean, they're
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  Speaker 2: just a company that has elite management and leadership. And
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  Speaker 2: when they bring in new employees, they train them well
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  Speaker 2: and they get them to where they need to be.
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  Speaker 2: And we're seeing that with some of the new transfers
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  Speaker 2: that Cignetti has brought in. The guys have just made
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  Speaker 2: it look like last year, even though they lost eight
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  Speaker 2: NFL draft picks, a Heisman Trophy winner, three of those
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  Speaker 2: draft picks were in the top 50. So they've really
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  Speaker 2: reloaded at a high level. But again, Northwestern is the
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  Speaker 2: one really good team, not really good, but solid team.
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  Speaker 2: Either program's played in Indiana, was pushed by the Wildcats.
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  Speaker 2: So there's a lot there. I think with Nebraska guys,
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  Speaker 2: very few people nationally have really watched Nebraska. They've kind
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  Speaker 2: of just been... Check the score right now. You're not
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  Speaker 2: really watching a Nebraska game nationally. So for most in
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  Speaker 2: the country, this will be the first time they've seen
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  Speaker 2: and watched a full Nebraska game.
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  Speaker 1: That's a fair point. And if you're the national media,
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  Speaker 1: why would you watch Nebraska for the first five games?
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  Speaker 1: They didn't play anybody that really generates national interest. Let
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  Speaker 1: me ask you about the game plan and the risk
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  Speaker 1: that Nebraska has in this one. This Indiana team leads
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  Speaker 1: the Big Ten Conference, allowing just 238 yards a game,
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  Speaker 1: 11 points a game, but more impressively, just 64 rushing
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  Speaker 1: yards a game. This means to me that Anthony Calandria
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  Speaker 1: is going to have to run the ball. That carries
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  Speaker 1: a lot of risk. Can Nebraska's quarterback be the leading
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  Speaker 1: rusher in this game, and A, Nebraska win it, and B,
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  Speaker 1: him survive that?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, a lot of the rushing, Jim, with him is,
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  Speaker 2: is it a scramble or is it a design run?
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  Speaker 2: And what is the balance there with Dana Holgerson? Because
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  Speaker 2: most of Calandria's runs, like 60% or more, have been scrambles,
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  Speaker 2: meaning it's a pass play that's broken down, everyone's covered
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  Speaker 2: because it's man-to-man defense, and you just run. Now, Indiana
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  Speaker 2: is going to play zone, which means they're going to
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  Speaker 2: have eyes on Calandria. So they're going to do their
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  Speaker 2: best to take away the scramble runs, which Nebraska's offense
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  Speaker 2: has made a living on. Last week, a lot of
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  Speaker 2: the rushing first downs came on those kinds of plays
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  Speaker 2: with Calandra taking off and running on a broken down
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  Speaker 2: pass play. So that is something to watch how Nebraska
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  Speaker 2: handles that. You know Cignetti's going to have those linebackers
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  Speaker 2: with their eyes on Calandria, and those 10, 15-yard runs
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  Speaker 2: might be four-yard runs. It's going to be a lot
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  Speaker 2: harder to get the big runs that we've seen him
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  Speaker 2: kind of pop probably the last few weeks.
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  Speaker 1: But, of course, what that means, if you're Indiana, you
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  Speaker 1: have to get a pass rush with four guys. You
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  Speaker 1: have to find a way to disrupt his passing rhythm
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  Speaker 1: with four guys. Is that possible?
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  Speaker 2: Um, they've got a really, really good front with great
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  Speaker 2: edge play, great interior play. Um, they're going to, they're
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  Speaker 2: going to try it. I mean, everybody wants to rush
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  Speaker 2: with four. I mean, if you can rush with four
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  Speaker 2: and drop seven, um, you have the numbers on your side. Um,
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  Speaker 2: so yeah, they will try to rush four and contain Calandria, um,
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  Speaker 2: with those linebackers drop back in zones and, and, and
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  Speaker 2: they'll see how Nebraska can combat it at this point. And,
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  Speaker 2: You hope Dana Holgerson's got some new wrinkles ready to
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  Speaker 2: roll this week.
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  Speaker 1: Did anything off the Big Ten injury report raise your
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  Speaker 1: eyebrow yesterday?
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  Speaker 2: No, it was a clean report. No name of substance
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  Speaker 2: was on there for doubtful, questionable. I mean, there was
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  Speaker 2: nobody on the report. So, very good sign. Now, last week,
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  Speaker 2: Mekhi Nelson got hurt in Wednesday's practice. So we'll find
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  Speaker 2: out if there's any updates tomorrow if another guy got
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  Speaker 2: hurt in practice or something crazy like that. But my
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  Speaker 2: understanding and the way it looks right now is they're
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  Speaker 2: going to be full health going into this game other
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  Speaker 2: than Mike Carter Nelson, who's been out for a few weeks.
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  Speaker 1: All right, big guy. That's KFB Husker Info Strongman Sean Callahan.
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  Speaker 1: Husker Buzz every Monday through Friday at this time. And
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: then the big Husker online pregame show at 6 o'clock
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  Speaker 1: tomorrow night