When Garin Higgins was asked on Wednesday how big an upset would be over Nebraska-Omaha, the No. 5 team in Division II, he immediately flipped the switch to coach-speak.
“Every game is a big game,” Higgins said.
And they take them one at a time and there’s still nine games left on the schedule and they can’t look ahead and all that jazz. Yawn.
But Higgins was holding back, of course, trying not to provide any bulletin-board material. Then he cracked, almost.
“It’s an opportunity for us to get a big win,” he said. “We haven’t had a big win here at Emporia State since we’ve been here.”
Higgins’ team has certainly had big blowouts so far this season, a 42-0 laugher in week one against Western State and a 27-14 win over Augustana last week in a game that wasn’t actually that close. But now the league is starting — and yeah, the Hornets have shown something in the first two weeks — but they want to prove they’re not the MIAA whipping boy they were last season.
“I really don’t think we’re surprising anybody right now, because last year we won our first two games and lost all the rest,” freshman running back Adrian Abner said. “We’re going to prove ourselves this game.”
At MIAA media day this year, Emporia State was picked to finish last in the league and MIAA-newcomer Nebraska-Omaha was the media-day darling. UNO coach Pat Behrns was one of two coaches to take the podium that day — the other being league champion NW Missouri coach Mel Tjeerdsma — and the Mavericks were picked to finish second in the conference.
UNO is the top ranked team in the league, and Emporia State is the team with something to prove. However, the Hornets 2-0 start has not gone unnoticed by Behrns.
“If that is the 10th team in this league, this is going to be a very interesting year because that is a very impressive football team,” Behrns said.
The Hornets have been impressive at home and have yet to take their freshmen — 20 of whom have played so far — on the road. With that comes dealing with crowd noise on offense for the first time and a change in routine.
“I think sometimes it can fuel you to play a little bit better, hearing guys chirping in your ear,” freshman Ben McKaig said. “We can just go out there and prove them wrong.”