Shatel: Horns provide measuring stick

If it's the first Saturday in December and I'm still covering football, then I must be headed to Jerry World and looking to see:

• How close is Nebraska to a national championship?

That's what tonight is all about. Well, sure, it's about winning the Big 12 for the first time in 10 years and accelerating the Bo Pelini learning curve and reservations at that little Mexican joint called the Fiesta Bowl a year ahead of schedule.

But assuming that doesn't take place, here's my question: Just how close is Nebraska to the top shelf of college football?

That's where Texas stands today. The Longhorns are 60 minutes from a date with Tim Tebow or Nick Saban in the BCS national championship game in Pasadena, Calif., where Mack Brown has plenty of fond memories. This year's college football has been a muddied pool, but three teams have made up an elite level. Florida. Alabama. Texas.

So tonight the Huskers get to stand up against the wall measurement poster and see how much they've grown.

We've seen them beat a decent Clemson team in the Gator Bowl. They were one play away from a good win at Virginia Tech, which has been a top 15-level team this year. They had a psychological breakthrough against a wounded Oklahoma team that still has plenty of BCS-level talent but is your basic 7-4 Sooner team. And they did all of the little to-do check list things like win at Missouri and Kansas and assert themselves again in the gales of November.

But this Bevo animal is a beast of another kind. And since most of us self-styled experts know/think that Pelini is going to drag Nebraska back to the top at some point, tonight provides a clear snapshot of the progress made at the Osborne Complex — mentally and physically.

Texas comes with incentive, and that's even better. Mack and Colt McCoy and the Hatfields and everyone else in burnt orange have been on a mission since the Bevos lost only twice last year — to Texas Tech and to the Big 12 South tiebreaker. Tonight, there are championships and Heismans and legacy and history at stake and all of those reasons schools such as Texas and Nebraska offer Division I-A football as an extracurricular activity.

In other words, if you're going to measure yourself against the best, you might as well do it against their best shot.

I don't expect Nebraska to win (more on that later). But I think that it's important that the Huskers show they belong, push Texas, into the second half and the fourth quarter, if possible. NU is set up to get back to the title game next year and be a favorite to win the Big 12. To that goal, you want to take something positive from tonight, if not victory. What you don't want to do is get flattened in the dust of a stampede.

• Can NU get physical with Texas?

This is the story of the game. The Horns are big and talented up front, on both sides of the ball, but they played a soft schedule. Can Nebraska get pressure with its four-man front on defense? The only team similar to NU's defense on Texas' schedule was Oklahoma, and the Horns rushed for 142 yards and threw for 127 while scoring 16 points. What does that mean? Who knows? That's a rivalry game. But the Horns don't run that well, and I wouldn't expect them to start tonight.

Can the Huskers pound it on offense against a Texas defense that ranks No. 1 in the country against the rush? But, again, Texas played against a bunch of teams that don't run it that well. Texas A&M rushed for 190 on the Longhorns last week, but most of that came on the legs of quarterback Jerrod Johnson.

With a healthy Roy Helu and Rex Burkhead, I would expect Nebraska to get in the big formations and run, run and run some more. But I haven't had a feel for what Shawn Watson will do in any game this season. Who knows?

• Will Ndamukong Suh have a huge game in a huge game?

The spotlight will be on the big guy, especially with college football Oscars Week approaching. He's been pretty good in important games this year, with eight tackles, one-half sack and a quarterback hurry against Virginia Tech and there was his signature game at Missouri. He had four tackles and three hurries against OU, but by then, Jared Crick was introducing himself to the All-Big 12 voters. So tonight will be interesting. Do the Longhorns double-team him? Does their ego allow for that?

• Can Alex Henery hit the monster video board above the field?

Yes, of course, he can do anything he wants with a punt. But why would he want to?

• How many touchdowns can Nebraska score against Texas' defense?

This will be the deciding factor. My best guess is not more than one or two. Nebraska plays it tough and it goes long, but in a game of playmakers, this is touchdowns vs. field goals and you can guess which team is going to have which. Texas 28, Nebraska 13. And they have good Mexican food in San Diego, too.

Contact the writer: 444-1025, tom.shatel@owh.com

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