Northwestern vs. Nebraska: Keys to victory, HOL score predictions

Nebraska will try to stop a three-game losing streak against Northwestern today, as the Huskers have not beaten the Wildcats in Lincoln since 2013. In fact, Pat Fitzgerald's team holds a 3-1 record in Memorial Stadium since the Big Red joined the Big Ten in 2011.

As things get closer to kickoff, here are today's keys to victory for Nebraska against Northwestern.

The Huskers enter today's contest as a 7.5 point favorite over the Wildcats, and the 3 pm game can be seen nationally on FOX.

KEY 1: Offensive line play

The one match-up that really concerns me for Nebraska is their offensive line going against a very talented Northwestern defensive front. The Huskers have to find a way to keep negative plays at a minimum, and not let the Wildcats control the line of scrimmage.

KEY 2: Limit mistakes on offense

It's well documented this Nebraska offense leads the conference in turnovers. That has to change today. If you give the Wildcats free opportunities, it's going to be very hard to win this game.

KEY 3: Field position

Northwestern has one of the worst offenses in the country. Nebraska has had some of the worst special teams play in the country in terms of the kicking game. NU can't afford to give the Wildcats good field position off of poor execution in the kicking game.

KEY 4: Contain Drake Anderson

One of the lone bright spots for Northwestern on offense has been sophomore running back Drake Anderson, who has averaged over 5 yards per carry and 20+ touches per game. NU can't let Anderson get good yardage on early-down run plays. They have to shut this down and put the pressure on Northwestern's struggling quarterbacks.

KEY 5: A fast start

After one of the worst starts ever in Memorial Stadium against Ohio State, Nebraska needs to come out swinging today. They have to give this crowd something to chew on early. A sloppy start could be detrimental in terms of the atmosphere in the stadium.

Sean Callahan - HuskerOnline Publisher

Expect the unexpected. As we know over the last eight years, nothing has been easy to predict with this series. With that said, I like this match-up for the Huskers. I think Scott Frost showed last year he had a sound plan on how to attack Northwestern's defense. I think Nebraska pulls out a win, but it will go down to the final possession.

Nebraska 27, Northwestern 23

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Robin Washut - HuskerOnline Senior Writer

This one probably isn’t going to win any beauty contests, but Nebraska will find ways to make enough keys plays on defense and special teams to pull out a win in another Northwestern game that goes down to the wire.

Nebraska 27, Northwestern 24

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Nate Clouse - HuskerOnline Lead Recruiting Analyst

This game is all about which team bounces back from its most recent loss. The Huskers were beaten up at home against Ohio State while the Wildcats lost a hard-fought battle at Wisconsin. If the Big Red can some how find a way to limit turnovers on offense and make Northwestern’s offense one dimensional by taking away the run then they should win the game. It’s rarely that easy for NU against Pat Fitzgerald though so whatever the outcome, expect it to be a close one.

Nebraska 28, Northwestern 24

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Mike'l Severe - 1620 the Zone

This is one of those games where I am going to go against my line. It only has Nebraska as a two-point favorite but I just can't see Northwestern being able to keep up with the Nebraska offense. Yes, the Wildcats played well defensively vs Wisc, but that is against a scheme Northwestern usually plays well against. Nebraska's spread should give the NW corners issues and challenge the Wildcats lack of overall speed. Plus the blackshirts should have a blast against the NW OL and have 4 or more sacks this week.

Nebraska 30, Northwestern 21

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Andy Kendeigh - KETV Channel 7 Sports Director

It's "get back on track week" according to Nebraska Offensive Coordinator Troy Walters but with Northwestern coming to town this may be more challenging than you think. The Wildcats held Wisconsin's offense in check last week in Madison and if they can jump-start their offense, Northwestern will be a tough out. They normally are. The 'Cats have won back to back overtime games against Nebraska and six of the eight Big Ten contests have been decided by 7 points or less. The close games continue however, the Huskers do just enough to win.

Nebraska 28, Northwestern 24