Huskers in search of a signature win this weekend

It's been well documented that Nebraska has struggled on the road against top 20 teams over the last 12 years.

In fact, the previous two Huskers head coaches - Frank Solich and Bill Callahan, never won a road game against a top 20 team during their tenures at NU.

The last time Nebraska won a big time game on the road against a top 20 opponent was in 1997 against No. 2 ranked Washington in Seattle. That's why when the Huskers travel to Lane Stadium to take on No. 14 ranked Virginia Tech they'll be trying to fight history.

Redshirt freshman linebacker Sean Fisher has been following the Husker program for his entire life growing up in Omaha, and he said on Tuesday that he can't remember the last time NU won a game like the one they'll play on Saturday.

"It's been a few years where I can think of one that really stands out in my mind," Fisher said.

"I think it would be a statement win. Obviously going on the road and playing against a ranked team like them is a big deal. They've got some pretty good athletes, so to be able to come out with a win would be a big deal for us."

When senior offensive lineman Jacob Hickman looks back to last year's 35-30 loss to Virginia Tech in Lincoln, he still has a bad taste in his mouth.

Hickman said if there was one game the team wishes they could have back from last season, it would be the Virginia Tech one.

"They scored enough points to beat us, so obviously I can't say we gave it to them," Hickman said. "It was obviously frustrating because we felt like we could go out and win that game and we didn't go out and play the way we could've to do that."

Senior defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh also looks at the Virginia Tech game as a major opportunity for the Huskers program.

Suh said the team knows it's been a long time since NU has won a big time road game, and he's hoping they can snap that streak on Saturday.

"We are in a situation to where we are a very historic program, well known and everything and we've had great years here," Suh said. "I think we are in position where we need to play back up to that level and that's kind of our chip on our shoulder.

"We want to get back up to where we want to play and know how we can play. That's our own personal chip that we have with ourselves."

NU head coach Bo Pelini to no surprise doesn't get caught up in the past history over Nebraska's struggles on the road with ranked opponents.

Pelini said he feels like if the Huskers do what they're supposed to do and execute soundly on Saturday, the rest will take care of itself.

"I don't care about that," Pelini said of NU's past struggles on the road. "I don't care about all of that. It would be the next win. It would be the next win. It wouldn't be any bigger than the first two as far as I'm concerned. It's the next step and that's how I approach it and that's how this football team approaches it.

"All those things mean nothing. National TV means nothing. Where we are playing means nothing, it's about executing between the lines and executing our football-period and end of story. If we are able to do that, we'll like the outcome. If we aren't, that's the challenge that lies ahead of us."