Huskers Predicted to go 13-1... Acording to EA Sports

For those of you gearing up for the college football pool and making a run at the prestigious Ramon Escobar Trophy, I thought I'd share with you the following prognostication of the University of Nebraska in 2008. I recommend using this as a tool throughout the year when/if the weekly games are posted.

By Bob Hamar

GateHouse News Service

Posted Aug 22, 2008 @ 12:28 AM

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GRAND ISLAND —

What started out as an excuse to legitimize a 30-something paying $8 for a video game rental has grown into a bit of a personal tradition for yours truly.

Since 2004, I've rented the latest version of Electronic Arts Sports' NCAA football video game every August and published the results of Nebraska's simulated season. A couple of times the cyber-season has been very close to correctly predicting the final record for the Cornhuskers, while last year's projection wasn't even close.

In EA's defense, who expected a team ranked No. 20 in the Associated Press preseason poll to finish 5-7?

We won't spoil the ending of this year's simulation prediction, but let's just say that the NCAA Football 2009 programmers are either huge Cornhusker fans or they're very bullish on first-year head coach Bo Pelini's ability to turn things around in Lincoln.

All games were simulated by the Xbox 360. No resets or altering of the player ratings were allowed.



The season

Nebraska 41, Western Michigan 17 -- Trailing 17-10 at halftime, Nebraska scored 31 unanswered points in the second half to pull away from upset-minded Western Michigan in the season opener for both teams at Lincoln. The Cornhuskers gave Bo Pelini his first win as a head coach -- he was 1-0 as an interim head coach at Nebraska in 2003 -- in typical Pelini fashion, shutting the Broncos out in the second half.

The Huskers were limited to just 139 yards on the ground, but senior quarterback Joe Ganz had a solid day, completing 21-of-26 pass attempts for 238 yards and five touchdowns with two interceptions. Grand Island native Tyler Wortman had a monster game in his first career start with a team-high 14 tackles, including seven tackles for loss with three sacks.

Nebraska 70, San Jose St. 3 -- Nebraska's offense built a 17-0 first-quarter lead and then tacked on 29 points in the fourth quarter in a rout of visiting San Jose State. The Huskers finished with 547 yards of total offense, including 276 yards passing and 271 yards rushing.

Grand Island's own Todd Peterson had six receptions for 77 yards for Nebraska (2-0) while Joe Ganz hit 15-of-25 pass attempts for 162 yards and two TDs.

Nebraska 44, New Mexico St. 20 -- Joe Ganz completed 28-of-38 pass attempts for 330 yards and five TDs with no interceptions as Nebraska improved to 3-0 at home and rolled into its bye week with a lopsided victory over New Mexico State.

Husker I-back Marlon Lucky just missed a 100-yard day, rushing 14 times for 97 yards, while Ganz rushed 14 times for 53 yards and a TD. NU senior wide receiver Todd Peterson had 10 receptions for 77 yards and three TDs.

Nebraska 34, Virginia Tech 31 (OT) -- Alex Henery's 39-yard field goal in overtime was the difference as Nebraska passed its first significant test of the season with a victory over No. 20-ranked and previously unbeaten Virginia Tech at Lincoln. Henery also booted a 34-yard field goal with nine seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime tied at 31-31.

The Huskers (4-0) led 28-14 heading into the fourth quarter only to watch the Hokies score 17 unanswered points. Nebraska got a huge boost from a pair of defensive scores as safety Rickey Thenarse had a 35-yard interception return for a TD and cornerback Anthony Blue -- apparently fully recovered from offseason knee surgery -- returned an interception 28 yards for a TD.

Nebraska 34, Missouri 26 -- Nebraska continued its remarkable revival, upsetting No. 3-ranked Missouri in the Big 12 Conference opener to improve to 5-0 on the season at Memorial Stadium.

Joe Ganz was again solid for the Huskers, completing 20-of-24 pass attempts for 200 yards and a TD with one interception. Marlon Lucky recorded his first 100-yard game of the season, rushing 16 times for 101 yards and a TD. NU's defense kept Heisman Trophy candidate Chase Daniel of Missouri in check as he was 19-of-31 passing for 233 yards and two TDs.

Nebraska 31, Texas Tech 27 -- In a marquee matchup of two Big 12 unbeatens, No. 18-ranked Nebraska pulled off yet another upset by beating No. 7 Texas Tech. The Huskers (6-0, 2-0 Big 12) led 28-14 after three quarters and survived a furious fourth-quarter rally by the Red Raiders at Lubbock, Texas.

Tech quarterback Graham Harrell was 27-of-42 passing for 425 yards and four TDs, but it wasn't enough as Nebraska intercepted him three times. The Blackshirts recorded six sacks and held the Red Raiders to 48 yards rushing. Backup QB Patrick Witt came in for an injured Joe Ganz to pass for 309 yards and a TD, but was intercepted three times. Marlon Lucky had 134 yards and two TDs.

Nebraska 38, Iowa St. 10 -- No. 11-ranked Nebraska broke open a tight 10-7 game at halftime by outscoring Iowa State 28-3 in the second half at Ames, Iowa, to improve to 7-0 overall and 3-0 in Big 12 play.

Quarterback Joe Ganz, injured early in the previous week's win at Texas Tech, returned to complete 24-of-33 pass attempts for 210 yards and four TDs with two interceptions. Tyler Wortman's six tackles led a stingy Nebraska defense. Iowa State managed just 214 total yards, 111 yards coming through the air.

Nebraska 37, Baylor 3 -- No. 7-ranked Nebraska improved to 6-0 at home on the season with a lopsided win over Baylor, holding the Bears to just 140 yards of total offense. Converted running back Cody Glenn had his best day on defense, recording a team-leading eight tackles with four tackles for loss and a sack.

Todd Peterson had 10 receptions for 110 yards and a TD for the Huskers. Nebraska's Joe Ganz was 26-of-40 passing for 336 yards and three TDs and also rushed 11 times for 83 yards.

Oklahoma 42, Nebraska 31 -- It wasn't quite Game of the Century material, but top-ranked Oklahoma won a shootout over No. 5 Nebraska to knock the Huskers from the ranks of the unbeaten at Norman, Okla. The Sooners trailed 28-21 heading into the final quarter, but used three TD passes from Sam Bradford in the final period to pull away.

Bradford finished 19-of-23 passing for 246 yards and five TDs for Oklahoma. Joe Ganz countered with a 22-of-32 passing day for 273 yards and three TDs with one interception for Nebraska (8-1, 4-1).

Nebraska 24, Kansas 21 -- No. 11-ranked Nebraska bounced back from its first loss of the season with a narrow victory over No. 13 Kansas in a key Big 12 North Division matchup at Lincoln.

Once again Joe Ganz was a double-threat for the Huskers (9-1, 5-1 Big 12), passing for 210 yards and two TDs and rushing for a team-best 97 yards and a score. Middle linebacker Phillip Dillard and defensive end Zach Potter each had seven tackles to lead Nebraska's defense.

Nebraska 24, Kansas St. 14 -- No. 9-ranked Nebraska used a pair of field goals from Alex Henery and Joe Ganz's 15-yard TD pass to tight end Hunter Teafatiller to overcome a 14-10 halftime deficit and beat Kansas State at Manhattan, Kan. The Wildcats came into the contest with a 3-7 record.

Nebraska's defense's defense sacked Kansas State quarterback Josh Freeman six times and limited him to 155 yards passing. Tyler Wortman paced the Blackshirts with eight tackles, including four for loss, and a sack.

Nebraska 27, Colorado 7 -- No. 7-ranked Nebraska put the finishes touches on its Big 12 revenge tour with a 27-7 victory over Colorado on Senior Day at Memorial Stadium, breaking open the contest with 17 straight points in the fourth quarter.

Marlon Lucky led Nebraska's ground attack with 103 yards rushing on 16 attempts, while teammate Nate Swift had nine receptions for 103 yards. Defensive ends Zach Potter and Barry Turner combined for 12 tackles for loss, including five sacks for Nebraska (11-1, 7-1 Big 12).

Nebraska 27, Oklahoma 24 -- Nebraska's improbable turnaround continued as the No. 5 Cornhuskers upset top-ranked and previously unbeaten Oklahoma 27-24 in the Big 12 championship game at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. NU survived 17 unanswered points by the Sooners after taking a 27-7 lead with 9:52 left in the third quarter.

Joe Ganz was 17-of-27 passing for 241 yards with two TDs and three interceptions for Nebraska (12-1). Defensively, Phillip Dillard had seven tackles, including four for loss as the Huskers avenged their previous loss to Oklahoma.

Nebraska 45, Clemson 28 -- The dramatic transformation from a 5-7 record in 2007 to the second-ranked team in the nation concluded for Nebraska as the No. 3 Huskers defeated No. 11 Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl at Glendale, Ariz.

Marlon Lucky made his final game as a Husker his best of the year as he rushed for 187 yards and four TDs. Joe Ganz passed for 244 yards and a TD -- an 84-yarder to Menelik Holt in the first quarter -- for the Huskers (13-1).



Final analysis

Admittedly, the EA Sports simulation of Nebraska's 2008 season was a little surprisingly. Even the most optimistic fans probably aren't counting on the Huskers winning a BCS bowl game and only finishing behind national champion Southern California in the final polls.

A somewhat more "scientific" sampling where the 2008 season was simulated 10 times produced slightly more believable results as the Huskers finished anywhere from 7-6 to 10-3. Nebraska's average was slightly above 8.5 victories per season.

In our original simulated season, Bo Pelini was selected as the Big 12 Coach of the Year -- he'll be Coach of the Galaxy if he actually goes 13-1 -- and was offered a four-year contract extension at Nebraska. Interestingly, he was also offered the head coaching job at Michigan as apparently the Rich Rodriguez era went south in a hurry?

Certainly, it all seems a little far-fetched here in the dog days of August. Then again, what do you expect for eight bucks?