Another nail-biter on tap? Huskers and Northwestern are no strangers to close encounters | Football

Essentially, there’s no reason to think it will be anything but another one of those kinds of games.

“Every minute counts when you play them,” Nebraska senior cornerback Dicaprio Bootle said this week. “Every time I’ve played them, I’ve been a part of nothing but close games. I think it’s been two overtime games and one that went down to the wire last year. So this being my fourth one, you know, if it’s like that, I wouldn’t expect anything different. I know they are a tough, physical team that’s very sound. They are a very smart team and won’t beat themselves. They’ll keep themselves in the game as long as they can and wait for you to mess up.

“Going into this week, we just have to prepare like that is going to be the case.”

The Wildcats underwent more changes than usual during the offseason after an uncharacteristic 3-9 finish in 2019. Head coach Pat Fitzgerald fired a coordinator for the first time in his tenure and hired offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian from Boston College. Northwestern then paired him with Indiana transfer quarterback Peyton Ramsey.

The DNA of the offense, though, looks similar to recent years, as does the defense.

“It’s probably a lot of things. It’s good coaching. It’s having a veteran team,” Nebraska head coach Scott Frost said. “It’s probably having a lot of smart kids on your team. You can’t be a dummy and get into Northwestern. The kids that play football there are probably the type of kids every parent wants their daughter to marry: Extremely smart kids that are athletic and they are going to be successful in life, and those kind of kids are probably pretty good at being disciplined and not making a mistake.”