Nebraska QB TJ Lateef is returning home. With him he takes the confidence of knowing what he’s capable of and a band of brothers who have his back. This team is rallying around TJ. The loss of Dylan Raiola stinks, but it may be a turning point for this team. They’ve been on a mission all season, but now the mission is different. Now rather than playing for results or a record, they are playing for each other. It’s what Matt Rhule has been working towards since his arrival.
It was a big hurdle to get over for this Husker team. But for many Husker fans it’s a hurdle they’ll never clear. For most fans the expectations of Matt Rhule’s year three do not change with Dylan Raiola being lost for the season. Rhule doesn’t get any slack. The Nebraska fan base is on edge. It’s understandable. It’s November, Matt Rhule’s year three record is being scrutinized. Husker fan’s expectations before the season were for 9 to 10 wins. Anything less will be a disappointment. Fans will accept 8 wins because it shows a small amount of progress. But less than 8 will be looked at as a failure and the Rhule year three myth will be busted.
The mistake of the fans, clinging to their expectations while not believing this team can win the next three games without Dylan Raiola. They are underestimating Dana Holgorsen, TJ Lateef, and the Blackshirts. I’ll be the first to tell you that Raiola is a good quarterback with top notch leadership abilities. Thus far, this has been his team. Now, it’s the player’s team, led by one of their own, a young hungry guy who is ready to prove he has what it takes.
When Raiola went down, I felt bad, but I wasn’t ready to crawl in a hole. I like TJ Lateef, and I like what he brings, I have great confidence in him. Will I sit here and tell you he’ll get out of LA unscathed? I will not. More than likely, he’ll make freshman QB mistakes, lose a ball, throw an interception, it happens.
Raiola wasn’t flawless, but when he made a mistake, this team waited for him to make up for it. Now, the players have TJ’s back, they won’t expect him to carry them, they’ll pick up the load. Holgorsen will call the right play. The offensive line will make blocks, the receivers will get open, the Blackshirts will rise, make a stop or have a takeaway. Mike Ekeler’s special teams will take the field and say, “Watch this.”
It isn’t just TJ Lateef and a bunch of fans going to LA to play UCLA, it’s Matt Rhule and his “TEAM”.
A Defense we don’t give enough credit to.
Husker fans underappreciate DC John Butler and this Blackshirt defense. I know I’m one of them. I’ve been very vocal about their inability to stop the run. After the USC game all I could do was spew rhetoric about how they gave up 200 yards rushing and how they were gashed with 10 yard runs 10 different times. But then I stopped and looked at what they did do. Well, you must give them credit.
The Blackshirts held USC, the number one scoring offense in the nation, to 337 total yards, 202 yards rushing and 21 points. Trojan QB Jayden Maiava passed for 9/13 for 135 yards, 1 interception, 2 intentional grounding penalties and 62 yards rushing after sacks.
WR Makai Lemon was targeted 4 times and had 2 receptions for 18 yards. Coming in he had 48 receptions for 758 yards and a 15.8 yard per catch average. Last night, in a 38- 17 win over Northwestern, he had 11 catches for 161 yards and 1 TD. The Blackshirt secondary shut him down.
What happened against USC was that the Trojans gashed the Blackshirts for 107 yards on 6 plays in two scoring drives. The big plays have bitten them on the butt all season. Still the Blackshirts held USC to 21 points under their scoring average. Nebraska’s defense was good enough to win.
Nebraska’s biggest issue is on the defensive line due to youth. Three of their base starters, Williams Nwaneri, Riley Van Poppel, and Keona Davis are all only in their second year. Yes, Van Poppel is in his third year, but due to redshirting he’s only played a handful of games. Another player who has seen action is Kade Pietrzak, a true freshman. How effective were Nash Hutmacher and Ty Robinson in their first or second years. They were a far cry from the finished products we’re all trying to compare these young pups too. This bunch still has a ton to learn.
If you take a way Javin wright, Marques Watson-Trent, and Desan McCullough, the second level is just as young with Vincent Shavers Jr, Dawson Merritt, Dylan Rogers, and Jacob Bower all seeing substantial playing time. Overall, it’s an extremely young front seven on the field most of the time. The real experience is on the back end, and we’ve seen that all season.
Nebraska ranks 13th in the country in overall defense. On average they allow 290 total yards a game, 162 rushing, and 128 passing. They give up an average of 20 points a game. On third down efficiency Nebraska is the 24th best team in the country. However, in the redzone they are 126th on points allowed.
When facing UCLA, one statistic to note, Nebraska has given up 8 rushing TDs to quarterbacks.
The Huskers in LA.
Going into the UCLA game there are at least three predictable scenarios. One UCLA will try to run the ball with QB Nico Iamaleava, 6’6” 230lbs. Iamaleava is UCLA’s leading rusher with 81 carries for 388 yards on the season and they didn’t have any real success until he started using his legs. But don’t underestimate him as a passer, he’s thrown for 1,468 yards and 10 TDs this season. The snag, he’s also thrown 7 interceptions.
But this is UCLA, they have talented running backs, wide receivers and Big Ten linemen. The Blackshirts will need to play good defense with a focus on Iamaleava. He won’t beat them just rushing the ball, he’ll need to be able to convert third downs with his arm as well. UCLA’s 3rd down efficiency is 36.8%. They are better on 4th down at 61.9%. Look for Iamaleava to get his yards running, but the Blackshirt secondary shows up again.
The second given scenario, the Bruins will get a big dose of Emmett Johnson. Johnson is one of the leading backs in the nation with 1,002 yards rushing, 197 yards receiving, and 11 TDs.
The third scenario, Because of what they saw from Lateef against USC, UCLA defensively will stack the box to stop the run and try to force TJ Lateef to beat them with his arm. And he will. TJ can run, and Holgorsen will have the RPO game working. You’ll also see Johnson freeze the defense with play action. I think this team rallies behind TJ Lateef and he has a big day. Two names to watch, Cortez Mills and Luke Lindenmeyer.
Numbers of note, defensively UCLA is 134th on 3rd down defense, last in the FBS. And 124th in rush defense, allowing 195 yards per game.
There are several people who have said Nebraska doesn’t lose to USC if Dylan Raiola doesn’t get hurt, and I believe that is probably true. But don’t take that as they lost because of TJ Lateef. They didn’t. They failed as a staff and as a team to rise to the occasion when needed. That won’t happen again because Matt Rhule is taking his year three “TEAM” to UCLA.
GO BIG RED!!
~Lyle Harmon
Photo courtesy of The Falls City Journal
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