Matt Fargo
Nebraska Cornhuskers v/s Kansas St. Wildcats 11/15/2008 3:30:00 pm Predicted Winner: Kansas St. Wildcats
Nebraska Cornhuskers at Kansas St. Wildcats 3:30 PM ET
Kansas St. Wildcats +7 -110
**9** Big XII Game of the Year (63.9% YTD) This game could not set up much better for the Wildcats. They are coming off a game at Missouri where they simply could not match up which just so happened to take place in the same week that head coach Ron Prince was told he wasn’t coming back. Now Kansas St. heads home for a revenge game against the Huskers but this is not just any revenge spot. Kansas St. went to Lincoln last season and Nebraska put up 73 points on the Wildcats, the most points they have allowed since 1971. They haven’t forgotten.
Adding another element to this game comes from the Nebraska side. The Huskers are coming off a win over Kansas last week which was significant on their part. They were avenging a loss to the Jayhawks from last season where Kansas won 76-39. The 76 points the Jayhawks put up in Lawrence that day were the most ever scored against a Nebraska football team. Nebraska made it perfectly clear before the game they wanted payback and after the game they showed what a big game it was.
Three quotes from three players sum it up. “It\'s incredible. I can\'t even describe the feeling right now just because what happened down there last year, and where our team is heading this year, just to make a statement and beat them.” “It was awesome. It just feels so good to come back and redeem ourselves from what happened last year.” “It feels great. All the guys are really happy in the locker room. It was nuts for a little while after the game. It\'s a big win.” There is no chance the energy will be the same.
The Wildcats, despite the departure of their coach at the end of the season, are still in bowl contention. If they win this game and then next week against lowly Iowa St., they will become bowl eligible. It was a surprise to many of the players that Prince was let go and despite Prince saying the players were focused heading into Missouri last Saturday, they clearly were not. A week after the shock should prove different as the players respected and liked playing for Prince so they will put a full effort on the field Saturday.
Kansas St. has lost four straight games but three of those came on the road and the lone home loss was against Oklahoma. Most teams in the country would go 1-3 or 0-4 in that situation so it is certainly not a signal to the end of the season. This is the biggest game of the season and it happens to come against a longtime, hated rival making it even more special. Several Kansas St. players on Monday said that Prince has made it an objective this week to remind his team of the embarrassment the Wildcats felt a year ago. 9* Kansas St. Wildcats
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