Nebraska Gets Back on Track Over USM

Nebraska hosts 0-1 Southern Mississippi Saturday afternoon in a 5:05 p.m. kickoff in a game that will be televised by the Big Ten Network. The Golden Eagles have dropped thirteen straight games, including a 22-15 loss to Texas State last week. Southern Mississippi is coached by Todd Monken who is 0-1 in his first season as a head coach. His team looks to pass the ball a great deal. Last week the Golden Eagles ran for only 23 yards on 24 carries put passed for 377 yards. Monken was the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State where the Cowboys had one of the most potent offenses in the country. The Husker secondary will be tested but that is the strength of the defense so that does bode well for USM. Quarterback Allan Bridgford (6-foot-3, 210 Pounds, Senior) will direct the offense. He was 28 of 53 (52.8 percent) with one touchdown and two interceptions. Bridgford is not a running threat and he was sacked three times last week for 26 yards in losses. He will look to throw the ball from anywhere on the field to put pressure on the defense. Two receivers are the keys to the Golden Eagle passing game. Tyre’oune Holmes (5-11, 170, Fr.) led the team with 12 receptions for 96 yards last week as a possession target. Look for Ciante Evans to be the best Husker matchup against Holmes. The other threat is Rickey Bradley (6-2, 204, Sr.) who shredded the Texas State defense with seven catches for 193 yards a week ago. Josh Mitchell is aggressive with good speed so he will need to play well to keep Bradley in check. As noted previously the Golden Eagles do not run the ball very well. Tyre Bracken (5-8, 186, So.) is the starter at running back. He is small, but elusive and also catches the ball well. Kendrick Hardy (6-0, 228, Sr.) is a more physical back, but neither was impressive a week ago. The Huskers will want to keep the USM offense one dimensional and force the Golden Eagles to beat the secondary with the passing game. The offensive line averages over 6-4 and nearly 294 pounds per man from tackle to tackle. Right tackle Vincent Brown (6-5, 301, Sr.) and left guard Ed Preston (6-3, 302, Sr.) are the leaders of a group that is not as impressive as what the Big Red will see next week or in conference play. The young Husker defensive line can pressure this group. Defensively, Southern Mississippi runs a 4-3 scheme and the defense will be physical and aggressive. Middle linebacker Alan Howze (6-3, 227, Sr.) led the team last week with nine total tackles and 2.5 tackles for losses. On the weakside, Dylan Reda (6-1, 233, Sr.) added eight tackles. The defense was solid last week only giving up 207 total yards including 134 through the air. Khyri Thornton (6-3, 300, Sr.) is a big time run stopper at nose tackle. The secondary is small and young but they played well as a group against Texas State. This unit will be better than what Nebraska saw a week ago. Nebraska has a major edge on special teams. Punter Matthew Moseley (5-10, 164, So.) averaged just over 38 yards per punt and kicker Corey Acosta (5-10, 195, Jr.) was two of three on field goals with a long of 41 yards. The returners were not impressive last week. This is an area where Nebraska can get good field position and maybe some easy points. The Huskers are a better team than Southern Mississippi. Youthful mistakes by the Big Red have to be eliminated. Consistent blocking and tackling is the key to a good 2013 season. Nebraska will be focused and not let up like they did late in the game against Wyoming. I like Nebraska by a score of 38-13 on Saturday. Thanks for reading Going Deep With Doze.