TROY (+23.5) at NEBRASKA -- Granted, Nebraska should be able to do more offensively than it did against USC last week (only ten first downs), indicating maybe this West Coast offense is still a work in progress. Bill Callahan actually ran the ball a lot more than usual in L.A., because he wanted to "shorten" the game and keep his team in it late. Obviously, such a strategy didn't work. And he took some heat for it. Now he faces the Men of Troy yet again, and though the running attack might be able to find some room (Troy gave up 320 rushing yards against Georgia Tech), Callahan probably won't look at it that way. Troy has given life-and-death to a couple of good programs - there was Georgia Tech, and also Florida State the week before. In both instances, these Trojans caught those teams in schedule glitches - FSU was coming off Miami, had a short week, and had Clemson upcoming, while Georgia Tech was staring a Thursday game with Virginia in the face. Troy led FSU in the fourth quarter and was tied with GT with less than 15 minutes to go before a 21-point outburst by the Yellow Jackets. Here, Nebraska is coming back from California, against the #2 team in the country, and has the Big 12 opener against Kansas next week. And Troy's secondary, which has a lot of speed, can stay with Nebraska's receivers. The offense has been of a "bend but not break" nature for the most part, and the Trojans have benefited from the leadership of JUCO transfer quarterback Omar Haugabook, who shows a lot of poise in the pocket. Anthony Jones ( 6.5 ypc) leads a running game that provides some balance. Even though it's their third straight road game, Troy has enough to hang here.
JAY'S PLAY: TROY ***
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