The Fighting Hawks have won three straight by routing LIU, St. Thomas and Portland State, outscoring that trio by an average of 27 points a game. None of those three programs bring anything close to Big Ten size or speed up front, which is the obvious gap Nebraska is banking on closing in a hurry Saturday.
Nebraska has scored 105 points across two games, running through Ohio and Bowling Green by a combined 77 points. Saturday's forecast calls for steady rain in Lincoln, which is the one variable neither team's hot start has had to account for yet.
A wet Memorial Stadium turf tends to level things out — more clock-eating runs, fewer chunk plays through the air — which could keep this from turning into the track meet both offenses have looked like through their first two and three games, respectively.
Either way, Nebraska hasn't seen a team quite like this FCS group walk into Lincoln unbeaten and ranked, and North Dakota hasn't faced a roster with this much size and speed. That gap is usually as wide as it looks on paper — Saturday's question is just how fast it shows up.