Nebraska recovered from an ugly night in Minnesota and a good Northwestern team went down fighting Saturday at Memorial Stadium with the Huskers winning 28-21. On a side note, a pathetically poor officiating crew gave the worst performance Big Ten fans have seen this season. I’ve heard multiple media outlets comment on how Nebraska got lucky with not getting a holding call on Northwestern’s last drive. How do I answer that? When Virginia asked if there was a Santa Clause, she should have doubled down and asked if there were football Gods too. Because the answer she would’ve gotten, “Yes Virgina there are football Gods.” I’m a believer, always have been, and if you’ve watched college football as long as I have you know they exist. The football Gods are there to protect the officials from themselves and that happened Saturday. In football, the Gods play as big of role as the football itself. Embrace them.
Controversial Take
Someone who is not a God and needs to realize it, is Dylan Raiola. Give Raiola props, he’s a good young quarterback, and he does seem to have the ability to come back from bad, bad interceptions, but his play and numbers Saturday were pedestrian. For the game Raiola had his second lowest number of attempts in his 21 games as a starter at Nebraska. Going 16/22 for 141 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. And until the last drive, he was miserable on third down. Now let me clarify, Raiola doesn’t need to be spectacular for this team to win games.
But, in the same breath, Raiola must get better. No one questions his talent, but we’ve yet to see him throw and hit a receiver on a frozen rope. Each time I mention this I’m always told Raiola is a touch quarterback. But we didn’t see that Saturday either. There were times that if he threw better, receivers get first downs. We saw that with Barney once, who had to reach for the ball and then turn, only to be tackled a yard short of the first down. We saw it again when Nyziah Hunter made a great catch by dragging his toe for the touchdown. That play was all Hunter because the ball was thrown too far outside. Raiola doesn’t seem able to thread the needle. Almost all his completions are to receivers who are wide open. When was the last time he gave any of his receivers a shot when covered tight. Is it because he’s worried about interceptions? When he throws those, they are just flat-out bad throws, it’s never trying to fit the ball in a tight window.
Okay, oaky, I’ll back off. Again, he’s what the Huskers need, but let’s see him for what he really is. A good solid young QB with potential, not the savior of the program.
Not Controversial
Raiola only needs to be solid and consistent, because the real star of the Big Red is Emmett Johnson. Hopefully after this week OC Dana Holgorsen recognizes that. Johnson is the heart and soul of this Nebraska team. Show me someone who plays harder. When he’s on, the offense is on. This offensive line rallies around him and plays better when feeding Johnson. Saturday Johnson ran his guts out once again, carrying the ball for a season high 27 times while picking up 124 yards and 2 touchdowns. There was a point in the season when there was concern that Johnson couldn’t carry the ball 20 plus times a game and make it through the season. But eight games in, we are past that, turn him loose, give him 30 plus touches if needed. On the season Johnson has 146 carries for 837 yards, a 5.7 yard per carry average, and 9 TDs. He’s also caught 31 balls for 182 yards, a 5.9-yard average and 1 TD. Give the man the ball, because that dog will hunt.
To magnify the point, Nebraska’s second leading ball carrier this season is Kwinton Ives with 16 carries for 119 yards and 2 TDs. He did not touch the ball on Saturday. Can you say, running back room and transfer portal?
The Offensive line had a good game only allowing one sack Saturday. Much of that can be attributed to Holgorsen’s play calling and running the football. The Huskers will need to repeat that performance over the next four games if they want to keep playing winning football.
Consistency or Inconsistency
Nyziah Hunter continues to be the hot receiver with 6 catches for 70 yards and 1 TD Saturday. He leads all Nebraska receivers on the season with 33 catches for 525 yards, 15.9 yard per catch average, and 5 TDs. Over the last three games Dane Key and Jacory Barney haven’t seen the ball. Each had 3 receptions for a total of 35 yards and 0 TDs Saturday. Part of that is fewer pass attempts by Raiola, but Barney, who had 6 receptions for 120 yards and 2 TD against Michigan has been non-existent since. And as for Key, I’m sure his expectations for the season when coming to Nebraska have not been met.
One other thing, Luke Lindenmeyer needs to see the ball more. He needs to be a priority. We saw it again Saturday, he only had 1 catch for 15 yards. On the season he has 24 catches for 263 yards, 11 yard per catch average, and 2 TDs. The man is a weapon, and the Huskers need use him more.
Blackshirts Still Struggling
The Blackshirts looked better Saturday than they did against Minnesota, but that wouldn’t take much. As a fan it was frustrating watching Northwestern continue to make 3 to 4 yards after contact when running the ball. What makes it worse, DC Jon Butler and the defense knew what was coming and still couldn’t stop it. The Blackshirts continue to lose containment on the outside, we saw it again when Wildcat RB Caleb Komolafe bounced outside and took it to the house for 56 yards. It’s something we’ve seen every team do since Michigan, and we knew it was something Northwestern was capable of. Expect every team remaining on the schedule to take notice.
We again saw the Nebraska defense give up a long 78-yard drive that ate up the clock and cut into the lead with a TD. Not getting a single sack or a tackle for a loss in the game, the Huskers let Northwestern tie the score after being up by 15 points late in the third quarter. It was only Northwestern QB Preston Stone’s impenitency to throw picks that bailed the Blackshirts out, with LB Javine Wright intercepting the ball on what could have been the winning drive for Northwestern.
Best Drive & Stop of the Season
After the Wright pick, Nebraska went on what might have been their best drive of the season. Raiola converted 4 third down passes during the 14-play, 64-yard drive that ate 6:27 off the clock. Emmett Johnson finished the drive with a 4-yard TD run with 2:44 left in the game. Not done, Northwestern took the ball and drove down the field until the Blackshirts finally applied pressure to Stone making him uncomfortable and causing him to make a couple of bad throws. The Huskers took over on downs, converted a first down of their own and then ran out the clock.
Special Teams are in Fact Special
Before the season it was said that if Nebraska had any kind of special teams at all the last two seasons, they would’ve won two more games in each. We are seeing that play out now with the addition of special teams coach Mike Ekeler. It happened again Saturday. Other than the missed FG by Cunanan the special teams once again paid dividends. Archie Wilson only punted twice, but both kicks changed field position. And we’ve seen that Jacory Barney’s ability to return punts has changed how teams approach the punting game. We are about to see teams approach kickoffs differently as well, as Kenneth Williams is a legitimate breakaway threat if given the opportunity. Williams had 2 returns against the Wildcats for 124 yards and a TD. Look for Ekeler and his special teams to continue to have a direct effect on the outcome of Nebraska’s four remaining games.
Up Next
The Huskers take on a 5-2 USC team Saturday night at Memorial Stadium. In their two losses the Trojans dropped a heartbreaker to Illinois and were soundly beaten by Notre Dame. They handled a Michigan team that the Huskers lost to. In my estimation USC will be the best team the Huskers have faced this season, and Nebraska will have to play their best game and get past their inconsistency if they are going to win. I’ll break down USC later this week, until then GO BIG RED!!
Photo courtesy of The Falls City Journal
Stats gathered from ESPN – Serving Sports Fans. Anytime. Anywhere.
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