It seems everyone’s anticipating — between their yawns and breakfast sausage — that Nebraska will capture Saturday's tussle easily.

Let’s say, Nebraska 48, Ball State 17.

Nate Davis, a former high school basketball whiz and now a strong-armed quarterback, will dent the Blackshirts. Thus, Husker fans will continue their raging debate over full-pad practices vs. half pads. Nevertheless, the Huskers will thrash the Cardinals’ smallish defense. And at the end of the workday, it’ll be a nice rebound for Big Red, however mundane it might feel.

Mundane? Well, the game’s not even offered on regular television (unless you count pay-per-view as regular television). Thanks in large part to the Big 12’s extensive television package, Nebraska seemingly always plays on regular television. Since the start of last season, the Huskers have a record of 8-6 in televised games (10-6 if you count pay-per-view). Since 2003, the overall TV record is 30-16. That’s 46 of 53 games somewhere on the tube.

As recently as the 1989 season, Nebraska played only two games on television — a 27-21 loss to Colorado in Boulder on CBS and a 41-17 loss to Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl on NBC. That was before you needed a super-charged remote control to maneuver television-land and a law degree to understand conference television contracts.

Back in those days, the Huskers playing on television felt like an event to Big Red fans. It was still a somewhat novel experience. You’d almost plan your fall around the few TV appearances. Now you might not even plan your day around them, the appearances are so common.

I’ve never been a big fan of watching football games on TV. I get revved up to watch one, then fall asleep in the first quarter. My attention span is abysmal. In recent years, with the advent of the super-charged remote control, I really don’t watch anything. I’d guess I’m like millions of Americans: I just flip around and around and around for sometimes a couple hours until my brain feels like mush, or until I find “The Sopranos.”

My brain felt like mush as I watched the replay of last week’s Nebraska-Southern California game, complete with Brent Musburger referring to Frank Solich as “Mike” Solich and Lisa Salters referring to Maurice Purify’s two DUIs. They got it half right. Good enough for prime time.

I do retain vague recollection of Nebraska steamrolling opponents on television during the mid-1990s. The Huskers won a school-record 15 straight televised games from Aug. 28, 1994 (31-0 against West Virginia in East Rutherford, N.J.) to Sept. 7, 1996 (55-14 against Michigan State). The Huskers were extremely fine-tuned and very unique, what with their powerful run-based offense and gum-chewing legend working magic on the sideline.

Nebraska probably always will hold appeal to the myriad networks that broadcast games nowadays. After all, it’s still Nebraska, the Big Red machine, with all of its championships, tradition, prominence and border-to-border fandom.

Not everyone gets caught up in Big Red’s stature and tradition these days.

As kickoff neared last season at Oklahoma State, there were hundreds of empty seats in the stadium. I asked the sports editor from the Stillwater, Okla., newspaper, “Where’s all the fans?” His reply: “Hey, man, it’s just Nebraska.”

If nothing else, non-Nebraska fans will watch the Huskers to get a charge out of the possibility of seeing them falter, similar to the way many people seem to revel in seeing Notre Dame get torched. Of course, this is a compliment to the Husker program; only true sporting institutions elicit such venom from fans (the Yankees, for instance).

Make no mistake, Nebraska football, even with all of its struggles in recent years, is still a decent draw and sort of unique as a program. For example, where else but Husker Nation would people spend a week discussing the merits of practicing in full pads vs. half pads?

The debate sparked a fit of utter brilliance on my part.

There was buzz this week that there might be empty seats in the big stadium during today’s game. To help ensure a full capacity and rapt attention, Nebraska officials ought to consider posting ballot boxes near all the exits and handing out ballots that give you two options: Full pads in practice or half pads. Fans would formulate their opinions based on whether the Huskers improved their tackling today compared to last week’s rather uneven display against Southern California, on national television.

The vote, of course, would determine Nebraska’s use of full pads or half pads during the first two days of practice for next week’s nontelevised, anticipated barnburner against Iowa State. Bill Callahan, no doubt, would go for the voting plan.

Hey, just trying to help. Pass the bacon, please.

Reach Steven M. Sipple at 473-7440 or ssipple@journalstar.com.