John Koch's Blogging From Lincoln, Nebraska

by John Koch

It is great to be back in Nebraska. Having covered Nebraska football from 1983 to 1990 and Western Michigan Football from 1991 to 2004, this is a match up of the two teams that I covered in my broadcasting career.

Lincoln is a unique and wonderful place to see college football. Fans here know as much, possibly more then the media! To see Western Michigan in this environment is really fun.

On O street there is a movie theatre that invites fans who do not have tickets to the game to watch it on a 35 foot screen. It is pretty exciting to actually see people scalp Western football tickets. Not that I would condone this, but we should have picked up as many Western tickets as possible, profit is a good thing.

Can Western hang Saturday night? If the WMU team that showed up against Iowa does, of course. If the WMU team that showed up in the opener at West Virginia last year takes the field, no. WMU Coach Bill Cubit is convinced it will be the former, that West Virginia had too much speed and Western simply was not ready with a new defensive coordinator in place.

What makes this game so interesting is that Western played so well at the tail end of last season and comes in with so much experience. Nebraska could not stop anyone last year but now has Bo Pelini, a great defensive coach at the helm. Can they improve over the spring and summer that much?

We will find out in less then 24 hours. What is certain is that win or lose, the WMU athletes will not ever forget playing on this stage. And if they can pull off an upset, well I would say it would be the greatest in school history.

For Bo Pelini, that would be a nightmare. He is carrying the collective ego of the entire state right now and it is a bit fragile right now. Nebraska fans expect a return to the glory days. They love Pelini now, but as Tom Osborne has often said, "Nebraska fans are always with us...win or tie."