Highly motivated.
Watched the Wisconsin game, Nebraska is talented and they play their asses off. They make *lots* of mistakes (which is why they are 1-7).
They walloped 3 weak teams and have played a whole host of really good teams extremely close. The only team who has beat them by more than a TD + 2 pt conversion is OSU, who beat them by 9. The closest they've had to a truly bad loss was in week 1 vs Illinois.
Massey had their strength of schedule at #10 coming into today (ours is #12). Massey also had their defense at #13. Massey has the game at a perfect 50/50 toss-up coming into this weekend's action. These numbers will certainly all adjust based on today's outcomes of course, but this gives an idea of who we're dealing with here.
If you're looking at their record an inbred looking mfer of a coach and thinking "Hawks should win easy", I'd suggest taking a closer look. They are *not* a cream puff.
They are staring in the face of a looooong off season and have a ranked hated rival (with designs on an Indy trip) coming to their place. If they don't come at us with playoff-level intensity, I'll be absolutely shocked. Walking out of Memorial Stadium with a big L is very much on the table.
I don't know where HN's brain is at, but I'm personally expecting a 60 minute fight. The records are a mirage - we're not as good as 9-2 nor are they as bad as 3-8.
Buckle up.