While chasing a bowl birth Nebraska drops 3 in a row, this time to a team that had 2 wins coming into today. The defense got off to a very bad start before shaping up to give the Huskers a chance down the stretch. Raiola exits the game in the fourth quarter with a presumable lower back or hip injury. With Raiola out, Haarberg played well but not well enough to win.
Dylan Raiola needs to get rid of the ball. Time and time again passing up open receiver for down field progressions worked well early in the year against inferior competition, but as the competition got better so did the pass rush. Passing up on multiple five to ten yard gains for a chance at a downfield pass came back to hurt the Huskers today. The running game seemed to be consistent without given a shot at consistency. Adam Carriker said it three weeks ago in a Carriker Chronicles video that the offense needs to find its identity, but at this point it’s like they have found it amd are doing all they can to stay away from it. Dowdell wasn’t the only back that performed well today, Rhamir Johnson shined on limited carries late in the game.
The offensive line seemed to be getting their lunch money stolen early and often, partially due to UCLA’s speed and Raiola’s want to hold onto the ball longer and longer. Once the run game started to gain steam, the offensive line opened up enough for Dowdell’s downhill running style.
The defense did not play well early. The defense allowed the Bruins to drive up and down the field in the first half, putting the Huskers in a hole that they couldn’t climb out of.
The Bruins are a better team than their record shows, but let’s not forget they were still 2-5 coming into today. There’s the line from the movie Moneyball that goes “if he’s a good hitter then why doesn’t he hit well”. And that’s where both UCLA and Nebraska are. They are just not there yet. Husker fans do get irritated due to the fact that Rhule is building culture to win close games like this. Yet this makes 2 out of the past 3 weeks that the Huskers have lost to 1st year coaches. There is still time to make a bowl game and I believe we will. There is still time for Raiola to learn to get the ball off quicker. There is still time. Coach Rhule is doing things right, just not on the timeline we would all like.
