The numbers get pulled out of the drawer sometimes when rehashing Nebraska’s wayward 2017 campaign, or when recalling how the Huskers played two-plus quarters of inspired football against Wisconsin before Badgers coach Paul Chryst pulled out the pile driver.
Chryst called 30 rushing plays in Wisconsin’s last 32 snaps in a 21-0 closing stretch to drop Nebraska to 3-3. His team’s fourth-quarter stats looked like this: zero pass plays, 22 rushes for 125 yards and two touchdowns.
Much has changed in Lincoln between that October night and the upcoming one. In Madison, not so much. That makes Nebraska’s challenge a pretty simple one: Handle the Badgers’ run game, and you’ve got a chance to win.