Go ahead, I deserve it. I’m an idiot, a Husker Homer, and I don’t know diddly-squat about Nebraska football. I said Nebraska would win in Happy Valley, but what they did was finally convince me they are in the bottom half of the Big Ten and a 7-5 team. There was nothing good that came out of this game for Matt Rhule and the Huskers. So much so, I’ll declare the whole Matt Rhule ‘Year Three Thing’ a farce. There is nothing to it, it’s simply a myth. It was some coincidental event that occurred in a 50/50 coach’s career. With this loss, Matt Rhule is 66-60 in ten seasons, a 54% winning percentage. Put that in your podcast and smoke it.
Okay, I know I sound critical, so just imagine if I had written this before I had time to cool off. My frustration lies in the fact that Nebraska has failed to get better throughout the season at their two biggest weaknesses. Run defense and redzone offense. We saw it against Penn State again last night. It’s as if Rhule believes it will fix itself or some year three magic is going appear and fix it for him.
Penn Sate needed no magic. They simply lined up and kicked the Husker’s butts in all three phases of the game. It was Minnesota all over again. I had said the Blackshirts needed to hold Penn State to under 200 yards rushing. I was generous. I expected 180 yards or so from running backs Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton because they are that good. But Allen rushed for 161 yards and 2 TDs, becoming Penn State’s all-time rushing leader. His long for the night was 50 yards. Singleton, who only had 44 yards rushing and 2 TDs, is now on the cusp of being Penn State’s all-time touchdown leader. I also warned of Singleton as a receiver, against the Blackshirts he was PSU’s leading receiver with 3 receptions for 51 yards.
I had said the Blackshirts could allow 180 yards rushing (231) because I thought the secondary would shut down QB Ethan Grunkemeyer. That didn’t happen either, Grunkemeyer was 11/12 for 181 yards and 1 TD. That’s 15.1 yards per completion. When Penn State did pass it was easy-peasy, with no Blackshirt defender within five yards of the receiver. It was the first time this season the Blackshirts allowed more than 400 yards of offense in a game.
Defensively the Nittany Lions targeted Emmett Johnson and took Nebraska’s running game away for the most part. It was what we expected, forcing the young QB TJ Lateef to beat you with his arm. In my mind, I said, “go for it Jim Knowles, TJ will beat you with his legs.” Knowing Penn State gave up over 100 yards rushing to both UCLA QB Nico Iamaleava and Iowa QB Mark Grownoski, I expected Holgorsen to set TJ up to do the same. It didn’t happen. TJ ended up with 10 carries for 15 yards, and only a couple of those were designed runs, the rest were TJ trying to get out of trouble. He was sacked 3 times.
Nebraska received the opening kickoff, and after a 52-yard run by Emmett Johnson, was set up at the 11-yard line. So, what does Nebraska do, four runs up the middle, no first down, no touchdown. Where was TJ? Against UCLA the Huskers set the tone with Lateef running for 14 yards on the first offensive play of the night. Yet, with first and goal from the 11, there was never a threat of Laeet at QB, not passing or running. Mind blowing. The failure to score was tone setting. And with the Blackshirts allowing PSU to drive the length of the field and score, the butt kicking was on.
Nebraska had 140 total yards of offense in the first half, turning the ball over on downs twice, and punting twice. They would turn the ball over on downs three more times in the second half and finish the night with 318 total yards of offense.
Special teams weren’t any better. Yes, Barney had 111 yards in kick returns, but that’s only due to receiving the ball 4 times. The bad, Nebraska allowed Penn State to convert a first down with a fake punt and later punter Archie Wilson received a fifteen-yard penalty for a late hit out of bounds. It was comical really, as poor Arch just kind of ran up and stood in the way, absorbing a big blow. If you’re going to make the hit out of bounds Arch, make it worth your while.
We heard before the game that this Penn State team may be the most talented team Matt Rhule has faced since coming to Nebraska. If that is in fact the case, the talent differential is staggering between the two teams. Especially in the trenches. Rhule can forget all the year three hogwash. He has a couple more years of work to do to reach double digit wins.
Having said that, I don’t hold out much hope for the Huskers against Iowa on Black Friday. Something must change between now and then, because this is a 7-5 team unless these coaches and these players surprisingly get it figured out after eleven games. Everything this Nebraska team is bad at. This Iowa team does well.
GO BIG RED!!
Photo courtesy of The Falls City Journal.
Stats gathered from ESPN – Serving Sports Fans. Anytime. Anywhere.
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