2021 Minnesota Game Poster No. 6: Nebraska

Click to enlarge.

Previous game posters:

Ohio State

Miami (OH)

Colorado

Bowling Green

Purdue

This week's poster is straightforward: It's the player selection screen from NBA Jam, but with players from the Gophers and Cornhuskers. The original hardwood backdrop is now turf, the teams are all from the Big Ten, and the basketball-related attributes are now for football. Each player's portrait is pixelated like in the actual game. Minnesota and Nebraska's logos are true to the era, with football-toting Goldy and the Tom Osborne-era "Huskers" script over the N.

I have only a couple of things to point out about my process here. The first is that Adrian Martinez has been so good that this week, I had to change the attributes I gave him in May, when I first finished the poster. I thought if I had to change anything, it would be because he played poorly enough to be benched. Instead, I had to bump his throwing and speed ratings to not look like a fool.

The second item is the concept of the ratings and how I imagined a two-on-two football video game looking. I thought of how backyard football games go and what the traits are you need in those: You have to run, you have to catch, and you might have to avoid being tackled and fumbling. Sometimes, you have a real quarterback, and sometimes you don't. Imagine Big Ten Jam (an incongruous pairing, I know — a game that is loudly fun and an organization that is stodgily self-important) as something like that: backyard football, but with superhuman leaping catches and over-the-top jukes. You can run the option or throw the ball. Most attributes are self-explanatory. We'll say strength determines how often a player fumbles or forces a fumble. Maybe Gus Johnson does commentary. I think that sounds alright.

Next week, Minnesota hosts Maryland, and you can once again expect a game poster in this space.