NCAA Football Free Pick: Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. Texas A&M Aggies

Odds have it, this game will mean absolutely nothing to Big Red. Regardless of whether this game is won or lost, a win over the Colorado Buffaloes in the regular season finale will set up the Huskers for a trip to the Big XII Championship Game, where it must beat someone from the Big XII South to go to the Fiesta Bowl, where it will probably be favored by at least two TDs over the Big East champs. However, if enough heck breaks loose, there’s a chance that the Cornhuskers could slip back into the BCS Championship race. It doesn’t seem all that likely, but a few losses here and there could go a long, long way towards the impossible happening. Freshman QB Taylor Martinez has been forgotten just a bit in spite of the fact that it was only a few weeks ago that he threw for five TDs against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. With just 43 rushing yards though, he’ll become the third QB this year to reach 1,000 rushing yards in the nation. His teammate, RB Roy Helu has rumbled for 991 yards this year and will also reach the 1,000 yard barrier in the first quarter on Saturday.

HC Mike Sherman knew that he had to take some drastic measures if he wanted to save his job at A&M, and he basically went all in with a quarterback that he knew very little about. Out came QB Jerrod Johnson, a man that many thought could be a Heisman Trophy award winner, and in went QB Ryan Tannehill, a junior who had thrown just nine passes in his career before this year. Now all of a sudden, Tannehill is a star in College Station, as he has thrown for 1,134 yards and ten TDs since taking over as the starting QB. He is likely to make WR Jeff Fuller a 1,000 yard receiver this week, as Fuller has 61 grabs for 923 yards and 11 scores on the season, but WR Ryan Swope is a man to watch too with 61 receptions for 711 yards and four TDs. The Aggies have posted at least 33 points seven times on the campaign, including in each of their last four games with Tannehill calling the shots. Defense can be an issue sometimes, but even in games like last week when 30 points are conceded to the Baylor Bears, there are still enough offense weapons in place to lead A&M to victory.

This is a new challenge for the Aggies, though. Sure, that home win two weeks ago against the Oklahoma Sooners was great, but let’s be real. The odds of beating the Cornhuskers are slim. Nebraska has more offensive choices that can rip apart the Aggie ‘D’ than most teams do, and as long as the Black Shirts don’t end up falling on their collective faces, Big Red is going to lock up the Big XII North on Saturday.