One factor in a game is how the other team comes in... after a loss, a bit win, fighting for a bowl?
I am not previewing the teams, per se, just their likely "game mood".
Florida Atlantic comes in with us as their first game. With Howard Schennnnlenburger as coach, this team has plenty of intangibles to help them fight a good fight and not just take the money and run.
Arkansas State comes in off a rival-type game with Mississipi Valley State and has Troy and Iowa in Sept. A smoking blow out vs. a hard fought battle in Lincoln could be crucial as they try to move up from a 6-6 season. Don't expect this team to roll over and quit. They beat Texas A&M in the season opener - this team will come to Lincoln looking to make history.
V-tech opens with Alabama in Atlanta, GA. Then hosts Marshall, NU and Miami for it's September. Either V-Tech comes in off a huge win over Bama and ranked #3 or comes in off that loss looking at a possible 1-2 start to the season with an improving Miami team coming to town. Tech could go from sleeper national champion pick to Beamer sitting on a hot seat. They will be very motivated regardless of the Alabama outcome and will have faced more adversity than NU.
LA - Lafayette come in after hosting Southern, Kansas State and traveling to LSU. So, they are either 1-2 or 2-1 and playing in front of their second consecutive night game road crowd. Expect no intimidation but a likely emotional let down- LSU is the big bully and will get plenty of attention from the ragin' cajuns since none of them probably got scholarship offers from LSU. NU will not be their radar. Probably the easiest of the three home non-conference games for NU to play deep into the roster and get a lot of kids on the field. (keep that in mind if you are wagering - our scoring will likely end in the 3rd quarter).
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