Penn State Football: Keys to the Game (Game #10 – Nebraska Cornhuskers)

Penn State travels to Lincoln, Nebraska to face the Cornhuskers in their final road game of the 2012 campaign.  Penn State has done remarkably well on the raod going 3-1 this year.  Without some problems on special teams in Virginia, the Nittany Lions would be staring at a perfect road mark.  However, none of those road contests will be as challenging as the game against Nebraska presents.  Nebraska is currently in the lead of the Legend’s Division, but the lead is razor-thin.  Michigan and even Northwestern still have a shot to win the division and play for the Big Ten title.

Nebraska has three games remaining including Saturday’s showdown with Penn State.  If Nebraska can win Saturday, they should be able to win out and claim the Legend’s division half of the Big Ten championship game.  Penn State, though, won’t be a pushover, and coach Bo Pelini knows it.  Nebraska has one of the most potent offenses in the Big Ten, but coach Pelini knows that the Cornhuskers have to sure up their defense to keep Penn State from scoring.  High scoring affairs against UCLA and Ohio State haven’t gone the way of the Huskers.

Under the old Penn State regime, a game like this would elicit thoughts of ball-control running and clock management.  No doubt Penn State wants to limit the number of times Nebraska quarterback Taylor Martinez has the ball, but they are going to have to score in order to win this game.  Penn State will take their chances through the air, but they will have to be more physical than the Cornhuskers secondary in order to be successful.

Continue reading to find out what are my keys to the game as Penn State takes on Nebraska.