Last Saturday was a tough day for Nebraska football. It’s been a while since we witnessed our Huskers take a butt kicking like they did. It raised several questions about where Matt Rhule is in his rebuild at Nebraska. Rhule said he didn’t see this coming. I guess I could say the same thing, but my question is, what did Rhule see to make him think it wasn’t coming? This offense has no identity and has been inept over the last 16 quarters of football. Are they a running team or a passing team? And who is there on this offense that opposing teams fear?
Right now, there isn’t a defense on the remaining schedule saying, “if we can just shut down the run,” or “if we can just take away the pass.” Right now, they are saying, “just play sound defense, this offense isn’t consistent enough to piece tighter a drive and score. Give them time and they’ll stop themselves, either with mistakes or play calling.”
It didn’t help that the Blackshirts had their worst outing ever under Tony White. What was thought to be an elite defense showed that they were far from it. The biggest disappointment from this Husker team was their lack of heart and fire coming off a bye week. They had everything to play for, bowl eligibility, knocking off a ranked team, and momentum going to Ohio State. Yet they came out looking like they were just going through the motions. This will be a hard week for the coaching staff, between game planning and getting this team’s confidence back. They will need to burn the midnight oil.
Ohio State must be licking their chops after seeing what Indiana did to the Huskers. Ohio State is far more talented than Indiana, and their coaching staff is equal or better.
Will Howard isn’t as talented as Ohio State’s last few quarterbacks, and in fact with the season Kyle McCord is having at Syracuse, it’s questionable Howard is an improvement. However, the 6’4” 235lb Howard is 121/165 for a 73% completion rate, for 1,574 yards, 14 TD’s and 3 interceptions. And with Howard’s ability to run, he’s only been sacked 3 times.
The Buckeyes also have two of the best running backs, not only in the B1G but in the nation, in Quinshon Judkins and TreVeyon Henderson. The 6’0” 219lb Judkins has rushed for 491 yards in 71 carries for a 6.9-yard average and 6 TD’s. The 5’10” 208lb Henderson isn’t far behind with 424 yards in 52 carries for an 8.2-yard average and 4 TD’s.
Howard is good at QB and Judkins and Henderson are two of the best, but the real talent of this offense is at the wide receiver position in Jeremiah Smith and Emeka Egbuka. Smith, a 6’3” 215lb true freshman has 32 receptions for 553 yards and a 17.3-yard average with 7 TD’s. He has made several spectacular catches this season. The equally gifted 6’1” 205lb Egbuka has 40 receptions for 526 yards, a 13.1-yard average and 6 TD’s.
As a team, the Buckeyes average 209.8 yards per game rushing, 311.4 yards passing per game, and 45.2 points per game. They are elite in the redzone going 21/21 for scores and 19/21 touchdowns
On defense, three of the top four tacklers play in the secondary. I always take this in a couple of ways, offenses are completing passes down field, or the running game is getting to the third level. Top tacklers are Sonny Styles, a 6’4” 235lb safety with 39 total tackles, 16 solos tackles, and 1 sack and Lathan Ransom a 6’1” 210lb safety with 28 total tackles and 19 solo tackles. At defensive end 6’5” 260lb Jack Sawyer leads the team in sacks with 2.5.
As a team Ohio State only gives up 80.4 yards rushing per game, 176 yards passing per game, and 11.8 points per game. And while Ohio State is talented on both sides of the ball, Oregon was able to expose some cracks in both the offense and defense.
Against Oregon, Ohio State was 4/12 on third downs and had 2 turnovers. Defensively, the Buckeyes gave up 341 yards passing for a 14.8-yard average and 2 touchdowns with no sacks. They also allowed 5 yards per rush.
Granted, Nebraska isn’t as talented as Oregon, but if they put things together and execute at a high level this team will allow them to move the ball on them. And as we saw with Oregon, they will give up the big play.
Everyone has counted this game as a loss since the beginning of the season. That hasn’t changed. And with losing to Indiana like they did, everyone is watching to see if this team lays down. Matt Rhule can’t allow that to happen. Rhule stated a loss is a loss. I don’t agree, the loss to Indiana was demoralizing and a confidence killer. And a second loss of that magnitude could easily send this team into a downward spiral. Standing at 5-3 with those types of consecutive losses and needing one win in the last four games, it will feel all too familiar. The pressure will be enormous. Nebraska needs to believe they can win and keep it respectable.
Good things need to happen.
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All stats gathered from ESPN.com