Feeling Right At Home: How Does Nebraska Fit Into and Change the Big Ten?

Feeling Right At Home: How Does Nebraska Fit Into and Change the Big Ten?

The Cornhuskers will begin their 2011 campaign in unfamiliar territory - the Big Ten. Nebraska moved from the Big 12 to the Big Ten following the 2010 season. No longer will Nebraska battle Oklahoma every year, a matchup that college football has seen a historic 86 times. Now Nebraska will be pitted against powerhouses like Ohio State and Wisconsin. Nebraska joins a conference that already boasted three of the seven college football teams that have won over 800 games (see table below); Nebraska’s new membership entrusts the Big Ten four of them.

With the celebration of Nebraska’s inaugural year in the Big Ten let’s take a look at what the move means to the Big 10 and how Nebraska compares with other teams in their new conference.

What Nebraska Means to the Big Ten

The Big Ten will enter the 2011 season with 12 teams, the first time in the history of the conference. The move also shifts the conference makeup, splitting it into two divisions. One division, the Legends, will embody Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Northwestern; while the other division, the Leaders, will comprise of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, and Wisconsin. With two divisions, the Big Ten will also play their first ever conference championship game.

How Nebraska Compares to Their New Competition 

Nebraska believes in the same principles to winning the Big Ten was founded on, run the ball and play great defense. Most teams in the Big Ten are run heavy, with several having power run schemes.

Looking at Nebraska’s offense, although very similar in style and philosophy, it has its own unique wrinkle in Big Ten play. A deeper look into the stats will show just how vital the quarterback is to Nebraska compared to the other top three power run, pro-style offenses in the Big Ten; Illinois, Wisconsin, and Ohio State. Although both Ohio State and Illinois leaned on their QB’s to balance the rushing attack and keep defensives on their toes, neither relied on their signal caller’s run production like Nebraska did.

Illinois ran the ball 569 times last year, for 2,908 yards, whereas the Badgers attempted 538 runs and gained 2,968 yards. Ohio State had 502 rushing attempts and netted 2,636 yards. Nebraska committed to the run 593 times and totaled 3,375 yards. Of these attempts, Illinois QB’s accounted for 34.6% of them and Ohio States are credited with 28.5%. Nebraska quarterbacks are responsible for 36% of their attempts. Wisconsin is the outlier of the group, as their QB’s only ran the ball .06% of the Badgers attempts, for negative yards. When it comes to yardage it is a similar story. Illinois QB’s accounted for 24% of their rushing yards, Ohio State’s 22%, and Nebraska 23.9%. Wisconsin is the outlier again, having QB’s responsible for 0% of the yards gained by their potent rushing attack.

Looking at the touchdown numbers is where you begin to see how QB Taylor Martinez is the heartbeat of the Nebraska offense. Illinois quarterbacks are accredited with 17% of their rushing scores, Ohio State QB’s totaled 15%, and Wisconsin’s QB’s did not score at all on the ground, giving them 0%. Nebraska signal callers scored a whopping 40% of their rushing scores.  Take a look at the table below to see the ranks of QB influence in the running game between these schools.

When you look on the defensive side of the ball Nebraska is also similar to most of the Big Ten. They run a four man front with three linebackers. They have a big powerful defensive line that looks to disrupt the pass, but their defense is really designed to shut down the run. This is right in line with most Big Ten Teams and is the reason so many Big Ten games are tightly contested. Just about every team in the Big Ten is built to run the ball and to stop the run. Nebraska is no different.

Nebraska looks like they found a new comfortable home in the Big Ten. The Cornhuskers values are similar to those already in power in the Big Ten and they will look to compete with them for an automatic Rose Bowl bid. Nebraska has a similar make up to most Big Ten teams and will fit in very nicely. Even when Nebraska competed in the Big 12, if you were to look at their style of play and guess what conference they were in you would probably say the Big Ten.  So this move should actually help them feel more comfortable than they were in the Big 12.

Teams with 800 or more all time wins

Read the in-depth preview for Nebraska football