Nebraska’s offense moved the ball. Nebraska’s offense went backwards. The Blackshirts served up three and outs. The Blackshirts couldn’t get off the field. Nebraska creates multiple turnovers and gains possession of the ball in the opponent’s territory. Nebraska doesn’t capitalize on turnovers or field position.
That’s how the game went on Saturday for the Huskers, from impressive to disappointing, from visualizing an 11-1 team to seeing a 6-6 team. The day was a roller-coaster of emotions for Husker fans as they tried to figure out which Nebraska team would finish the game.
The Huskers played two quarters of football, the first and the fourth. The second and the third were something else, and I’ve heard numerous people, including long-time media members say it was the weirdest game they have ever seen. Matt Rhule commented after the game that at halftime it felt a lot like the UCLA game last season. I’m sure it did, I know at times the fans thought they were watching a replay.
There were plenty of questions going into this game and while there were some answers, others are just as big now as before the game. For one, it’s still unclear who running back number two is. We saw Isaiah Mozee and Mekhi Nelson get carries but never saw Kwinten Ives. And both Nelson and Mozee’s touches were limited. Mozee had 3 carries for 9 yards. Nelson had 1 carry for 11 yards. Neither were targets in the passing game. In comparison, Emmett Johnson had 13 carries for 83 yards, 3 TDs with 6 receptions for 37 yards. There is still a clear disparity at the running back position. Rumor has it the thing Dana Holgorsen said we had never seen before was Demitrius Bell lining up at running back. Bell, who had been out with an injury, was expected back but tweaked a hamstring and ended up being unavailable. So, what will we see at Maryland. The question remains.
As for the offensive tackle position, what we expected happened. Elijah Pritchett started at left tackle and Gunnar Gottula started at right tackle. The young guns, even with their mistakes, still have more to offer than veterans Turner Corcoran and Teddy Prochazka with their injury ravaged bodies. It’s not a knock it’s just the truth. And while Nebraska gave up five sacks to MSU, after giving up seven against Michigan, the offensive line’s PFF grades were solid (Pro Football Focus). In fact, from a grade standpoint this may have been their best game thus far. I know that sounds off, but three of the five sacks can be attributed to QB Dylan Raiola hanging onto the ball too long or moving into sacks. It’s a case of OC Dana Holgorsen and QB coach Glenn Thomas figuring out what’s going on with Raiola. He’s not seeing open receivers and often hearing footsteps. They need to get him back on track, because Maryland leads the Big Ten in sacks for the season with 19. It also doesn’t help that pass protection from the running back position is lacking. Even RB1 is struggling. Again, this falls on Holgorsen and RB coach EJ Barthel. If you feel like you don’t have the talent, then play design and scheme comes into play. What needs to be done to improve pass protection.
If Raiola can get comfortable in the pocket and the Huskers can put together even a mediocre running game, this offense can be dangerous. We’ve seen what the offense can be when clicking. What we need to see now is consistency.
As for the run defense, the Blackshirts looked like a different unit against Michigan State. We saw flashes of Blackshirt defenses from the 90’s. This bunch was playing with fire, flying around the ball and gang tackling. DC John Butler is on the right track and look for this group to just get better. The defensive line showed twitch and looked hungry picking up 3.5 sacks. Nwaneri had 1.5, Jeudy had 1, and Lenhardt had 1. The defense also had 12 tackles for a loss. Linebackers Javin Wright and Vincent Shavers Jr. had their best games of the season and were the top tacklers, which makes me think of guys like Barrett Ruud, Terrell Farley, and Lavonte David. Great defenses have great linebacker play. Once again, the secondary proved they are the strength of the defense. DeShon Singleton had 6 total tackles, 4 solos and 2 interceptions. Andrew Marshall was flying to the ball with 5 total tackles, 4 solos and 1 for a loss. And if you want to talk about young guns, throw in Donavan Jones and Rex Guthrie, who contributed 12 tackles, 6 solos. This group is the real deal. The Blackshirts held MSU to 156 yards passing and 86 yards rushing.
If there is one thing you can say, it’s that you can easily recognize the bad from the good with this team. We saw plenty of both from the Huskers against Michigan State. But still there were more positives than negatives. Yes, the Huskers are a work in progress. But other than allowing the long runs against Michigan, the team has shown improvement in each outing. Now, on the road to Maryland, we’ll see if that trend continues. The key word … consistency.
Stats gathered from ESPN – Serving Sports Fans. Anytime. Anywhere.
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