Nebraska found another way to lose a close game. It appears that the football Gods don’t want to see the Huskers in a bowl game, yet again.
Here are three takeaways following the 28-20 loss at USC:
Holgorsen made a difference
New offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen simplified the playbook. Freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola was able to get the football out quickly, but Nebraska was not able to capitalize in key moments. The biggest problem for the Huskers’ offense is that they can’t score touchdowns in the red zone.
Sophomore running backs Emmett Johnson and Dante Dowdell ran the ball hard. Johnson had 55 yards on the ground, for a 5.5 average and 36 receiving yards, with a touchdown. Dowdell added 52 rushing yards, averaging 6.5 yards per carry.
Raiola didn’t play great and he didn’t play horrible. He still completed 71 percent of his passes, being 27/38, for 191 yards. He’s still a rookie, his first interception was right to the defender. For a 19-year-old, he’s doing a solid job. He just doesn’t have enough game-changers around him.
The new wrinkle of using junior quarterback Heinrich Haarberg besides a decoy worked well and took some pressure off of Raiola.
Holgorsen’s play-calling made sense, such as the nice tight end delay to sophomore tight end Luke Lindenmeyer. Overall the offense showed some improvement but not being able to get touchdowns instead of field goals, significantly cost them a better chance of getting a victory.
Blackshirts were out of position
The Blackshirts came out firing when junior cornerback Ceyair Wright had a pick-six against his former team. Other than a few good plays here and there, the Husker defense did not play to its best standard against the Trojans.
The linebackers and defensive backs did not know what to do. Nebraska’s defense needs to take ‘proper pursuit angles 101,’ after that performance. USC senior running back Woody Marks tore apart the Blackshirts. He had 19 carries for 146 yards, which is a 7.7 average. For a defense that has prided itself on stopping the run, they’ve now allowed 324 yards for a 5.3 average the past two games.
Sophomore UNLV transfer quarterback Jayden Maiava settled in after throwing the pick-six early. He threw for 259 yards and three touchdowns, but not stopping the run was what killed Nebraska in not being able to get off the field. Defensive coordinator Tony White has had a poor game plan in three of the last four contests.
Big Ten officiating is horrible
The Big Ten officiating is completely inconsistent towards Nebraska. All season the refs have missed blatantly obvious calls that would have been in the favor of Big Red.
The no-call pass interference against senior wideout Jahmal Banks at the end was pathetic, especially when a field judge was standing right next to them. The Huskers got hosed in not getting an untimed down.
The Big Ten refs missed another one on USC and it was Banks again going for the football. This led to Nebraska having to kick a go-ahead field goal to put them up 17-14. The horrible officiating in college football is ruining the integrity of the sport.
