The Weekly Buzz

With all the Big Ten news, injury updates, and the excitement of college football officially starting, it's almost easy to forget that Nebraska actually takes the field tomorrow evening for the first game of the season.  That's right, Western Kentucky rolls into town, so it's not really a surprise that there were news bits that overshadowed this week's opponent.  In case you've missed any of the important news of the week, here's what happened, as well as what to look for this weekend.

Hello Big Ten
It's starting to feel a little bit real now that you can actually see a Big Ten schedule up on Huskers.com.  It's a forage into the unknown for Nebraksa, but Bo Pelini's the guy to lead us into the west so to speak.  As Nebraska prepares for it's gauntlet/trial by fire, I'm sure some fans are salivating at the thought of selling one ticket to pay for the entire season.

Compton Out
Prospective starting Linebacker Will Compton injured his foot and will be out for an extended period of time.  It's not clear what Bo Pelini meant by "out for some time", but it's clear he won't be available for at least the non-conference schedule.  With Fisher breaking his leg this summer, losing two of the more experienced members of the LB squad is cause for concern of the depth at Linebacker.

Opponent Watch
There will be three games this weekend to keep an eye on to see how some of our future opponents stack up against legitimate non-cupcakes.  Washington heads to BYU in what might be determined by the coin toss.  This should clarify if Jake Locker can live up to the hype surrounding him right now.  BYU's defense should be an accurate test of his abilities.

Missouri faces off against an athletic Illinois team in St. Louis.  While on paper it's a mismatch, it will be interesting to see how MU responds to the turmoil that happened in the Tigers off-season along with the permanent suspension of their top running back.

Kansas State will host UCLA in Manhattan with a chance to redeem last year's loss.  This time around, they have a quarterback who isn't seeing his first start.  In addition, they field a returning running back who led the Big 12 in rushing numbers last season.