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| It's Game Day! |
When I started writing this blog for Cornhusker Memes, I knew it wouldn’t be easy, everyone always tells me I’m too much of a sunshine pumper. Heck, I even saw the good things in Bo Pelini the entire time he was here, even though I did feel like they held on to him one year too long.
I mention this, because I feel like I need to take a step back from the Tanner Lee hype train for a minute. Against Arkansas State, I felt like Lee played really well, in fact with the defense being the whipping horse for a great deal of the game, I didn’t really even think much about Lee playing poorly in the fourth quarter, overthrowing wide open receivers and generally not being very efficient.
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| Carriker Chronicles |
Against Oregon, the defense again was atrocious, at least in the first half, but Lee looked like he was going to keep us in a game like all the great gunslingers do. Quick slants, easy go routes and some basic passes up the middle to tight ends on seem routes look to be his cup of tea. Then in the fourth quarter, something happened we weren’t expecting. The defense kept making stops and the offense kept shooting themselves in the foot. But why? It wasn’t because guys weren’t open, even though Nebraska couldn’t seem to get good separation much of the day. It was because when a throw needed to be on target, Lee simply had too much on the ball and resembled Tommy Armstrong more than Aaron Rodgers.
I know, Lee isn’t in the same category as Rodgers, but my point is, he shouldn’t be in Armstrong’s category either. Whether or not you liked Armstrong, Tommy was a running quarterback. He wasn’t recruited to play in the NFL and when Tommy was healthy, he passed just enough to make great plays once in a while, but he certainly was no sure thing.
When you watch Tanner Lee at practice, you don’t ever worry about him not throwing well. If he didn’t throw well in practice, you wouldn’t think much of his scary fourth quarter performance in Eugene. That’s the problem, Lee is expected to be accurate, that’s why he plays over Patrick O’Brien and Tristan Gebbia, because of his ability to hit the open man.
Nebraska can’t afford Lee to play as bad as he did last weekend if they want to have a chance to win the Big Ten West. I recognize that Oregon was loaded with playmakers and had much better coaching than a year ago, but Lee looked hesitant and bewildered last Saturday. The Big Ten has great coaches as well and it isn’t going to get easier. I hope that Lee isn’t overwhelmed a bit by the pressure of playing at Nebraska. He wouldn’t be the first one to crack in Lincoln. I have a feeling he will get it together by the end of the year, but if that fourth quarter against Oregon becomes the norm, it will be an icy fall, regardless of weather.
Our previous score prediction for the Oregon game was Nebraska 31 – Oregon 34. The actual score was 42-35, Ducks, but how it ended up there was the story, not the final score. Nebraska’s defense looked like it was a junior high team the first half. The 42 points given up by halftime was as stunning as Melvin Gordon running wild for 408 yards up in Madison a few years ago. The fact that Nebraska was able to shut them out the second half, no matter what or how it happened was almost just as stunning. Had Tanner Lee hit a few more passes, Nebraska could have came back all the way. It’s a razor’s edge sometimes between winning and losing, but Nebraska can’t be so Jekyll and Hyde or it will be a long season.
Quick Notes:
What was that defense? I don’t even know what to think of that first half. I quit looking at twitter before halftime, because I knew it was just going to make me more angry, and the Ducks were already doing a pretty good job of that. Then in the second half, Oregon went into a shell and Nebraska played with their hair on fire. It gives me hope that the coaches are figuring out their personnel packages finally and the fighting Diacos are actually ready to turn the corner.
Nebraska may not be great, but who is in the Big Ten West? Iowa was about ready to lose to Iowa State, Northwestern has already been way below their supposed expectations and Wisconsin has played some shady football. Purdue has surprisingly looked the best in my eyes of all the teams that may be more of a challenge for Nebraska than we thought. Ohio State even looked mortal getting railroaded by Oklahoma. It looks like it could be a wide open year in the conference, it would be nice if Nebraska wasn’t eliminated from the conference title game by Halloween.
Tre Bryant, Josh Kalu, David Knevel all out… When Chris Jones and JoJo Domann were injured before fall camp, I was concerned, but not to the point of panic. When you get to your third game and three of your four most important players are all out due to injury, that is when you start to get worried. I know that Bryant, Kalu and even Jones will be back this season, but when a team is young like Nebraska, losing big time veterans is a tough hurdle to overcome. Let’s hope these cats make it back before Wisconsin and Ohio State come calling.
Black Friday may stay… I was a little surprised the athletic department was so quiet about the change from Iowa at the end of the season to Minnesota in 2020. I wasn’t so broke up about not playing Iowa, although playing in Minneapolis around Thanksgiving will be worse for fans than anything else that changed. The thing is, until Shawn Eichorst came out and said that the will work toward making sure it was a Friday game, I honestly thought that this was the Big Ten sticking it to Nebraska one more time. Turns out, it looks like the Athletic Department didn’t realize Husker fans would come out of the woodwork to try and keep the Black Friday game. You have to listen to your money source and stand up to your conference once in a while. Husker fans made that point this week.
This game needs to be a blowout… Unfortunately for Husker fans, it probably won’t happen. Under Mike Riley, Nebraska has rarely blown anyone out. I can’t quite put my finger on the problem, but Nebraska just doesn’t put it on anyone anymore. A blowout in this game would tell me if this team will be good or not. If this game is close, all bets are off on the nine win mark and Nebraska will be concentrating on not finishing below 4th in the division.
Score Prediction: Nebraska 28 – Northern Illinois 24
I don’t know how Northern Illinois is going to score 24, but I’m not 100% sure how Nebraska will score 28. With Tre Bryant ou this week, that is a lot of responsibility to put on Mikale Wilbon at the I-Back position. Wilbon is explosive, but he is prone to killing Nebraska with fumbles and missed blocks. If Devine Ozigbo ever gets out of the doghouse, maybe Nebraska will be able to run the ball. Northern Illinois has a really good defense and they can get to the quarterback. Nebraska should be able to put points on the board early, but I don’t know if they can run the ball to shorten the game once they have the lead. This game will be closer than it should, let’s just hope there are no more injuries to worry about heading into the Big Ten play. All I can say is GBR!!
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