Bruin Bites - Nebraska Gameday Edition

Well folks, we have made it. UCLA's kickoff at Nebaska is just a couple of hours away. Before we get started, I wanted to share a quick PSA for the Bruins that made it out to Lincoln today. The University of Nebraska is a dry campus; recent Nebraska alums have noted the University PD's love for writing up people for having open containers. So to be safe, don't drink in the area right around Memorial Stadium.

The Vegas line has been moving the Bruins' way throughout the week - from Nebraska opening the week as 6.5 point favorites to Friday night's line closing with the Huskers up by 2.5 points in the casinos' battle to balance their bets.

Chris Foster wroe a piece about the past UCLA teams that have traveled to Nebraska (and returned home with a loss), while Jack Wang looked at the on-the-field matchups and has predicted a 38-34 Bruin win today. Up in NorCal, Jon Wilner believes this weekend is going to be critical for the Pac-12 standing throughout this season - and especially at bowl selection time - and picks the Bruins to defeat the Huskers.

The Omaha World-Herald's gameday coverage includes a story examining Nebraska's need to win this game in order to cange the national perception of their program - in the wake of their blowout conference title game loss to Wisconsin and bowl game loss (hey, a team that finished last year worse than us!). Another OWH writer discusses the Huskers' need to win this game in a way that coud just as easliy describe UCLA's prediciment.

It's a must-win because it's time for Nebraska football to make a noise, be seen, show up on a radar screen, any radar screen.

A victory over the 16th- and 17-ranked Bruins would not be a signature win for Bo Pelini. The Bruins are good, but this is the kind of team Nebraska needs to expect to beat, especially at home. ...

ESPN's Big 10 blog adds to the discussion of how Nebraska responded to last year's failures by focusing on the speed of their defense and shedding some of their concern about playing young players. And Bill Connelly has his preview of the game for SB Nation.

Our open thread for the 1st half of UCLA @ Nevada will be up a little bit before the 9am Pacific time kickoff (tv-ABC). Until then,

GO BRUINS!