Man, woman and child, did that Wisconsin game suck. This Ohio State game may not be much better. Nebraska, which has sometimes played well this year, played really poorly last week against the best team in their division. The crazy thing is, they were tied at 17-17 after a pick six and it really seemed like momentum was on their side.
Three long drives later, basically after the Badgers ran the ball down Nebraska’s throat, the game was a blow out. Nebraska couldn’t or wouldn’t get their run fits correct and the Badger line basically pushed the Huskers into the end zone, one run at a time.
I have to admit, I thought the Huskers had a chance last week. I even predicted an upset. Unfortunately, my thought process with this team is clouded by practice performances. I am absolutely flabbergasted that Nebraska can run the ball and gain yards all over Wisconsin and yet they were never really in the drivers seat.
So why is that? Nebraska is a young team overall, but there are plenty of juniors and redshirt sophomores on the team. Tanner Lee has played 2.5 seasons already. He should be a qualified leader by now, if he ever will be. I think that is part of the problem. I saw in practice is that Tanner Lee may not be a great leader, but he throws a really pretty football. Problem is, throwing the football isn’t leadership. Not so much that he can’t play quarterback, I think he is going to be a good to great one down the road, it just isn’t going to be this season.
Another thing to look at is coaching. Nebraska is consistently penalized and turns the ball over, at an alarming rate. Good teams, let alone great teams, don’t do those types of things. I mean, what are we up to in returned pick sixes this year, 6? I don’t know how any team in the nation can deal with that, let alone a team trying to compete in a top conference. What type of play calling are we doing that we put guys in positions to fail? If you think it isn’t in the playcalling, then who is coaching the kids during the week to make sure that if you don’t have your head around, you at least have your hands ready, or maybe the quarterback doesn’t bounce the ball off the running backs helmet? Game day coaching is one thing, but what goes on during the week?
The next thing is on defense. Nebraska’s safeties and cornerbacks may be as bad as any in the country when it comes to being physical. Wisconsin’s safeties and corners made every route runner and Ozigbo know that they were going to be dealt with physically when they made it to their level. That wears on a team. Nebraska simply didn’t have the toughness to compete in the fourth quarter against Wisconsin and it showed. Nebraska’s defensive backs were soundly beaten and got obliterated on long runs.
This week doesn’t get any easier, in fact it may be a lot tougher. The Huskers will need to be able to run the ball effectively and make sure that when they do throw that Lee has plenty of time. Ohio State has great athletes at every position on defense. Nebraska will need to be assignment sound and physically ready to play four quarters to have a chance. We haven’t seen that from Nebraska yet this season. I hope we see it this week.
ON WITH THE REWIND…
Our previous score prediction for the Wisconsin game was Nebraska 31 – Wisconsin 27. The actual score was Wisconsin 38 and Nebraska 17. Nebraska had multiple opportunities to cash in on the Badgers in the first half and couldn’t do it. I still think if Nebraska doesn’t throw the pick six, gets out to a 7 or 10 point lead, the game switches a lot. Wisconsin isn’t able to just run the clock and beat Nebraska into submission and the Huskers have a shot to make quarterback Alex Hornibrook work harder. Unfortunately, none of that happened and the Huskers were steamrolled in the fourth quarter.
Quick Notes:
Where do the Huskers go from here? The Huskers reach the halfway point at 3-3 and are probably going to be 3-4 going into their bye week. The Huskers have a chance to get to a bowl game, but they likely won’t be favored in any matchups the rest of the season. I think Nebraska can get to 6 wins, but it’s going to be awfully difficult. If Nebraska can play Ohio State well, maybe it will give them confidence to keep improving the rest of the season.
Nebraska for all their faults continues to play hard…. Even as Wisconsin beat the stuffing out of Nebraska in the fourth quarter, the Huskers continued to play hard. The team, for all it’s problems is still giving effort. As long as that is still there, Nebraska and this coaching staff will still have a chance to keep this team together. If you see them give up against Ohio State, it will go a long way on any decisions that will be made after the season.
Devine Ozigbo keeps churning… The Huskers have continued to run the ball well with Ozigbo. I thought they should have given Jaylin Bradley a few plays last week to keep Ozigbo fresh. I thought he was gassed in the fourth quarter. Hopefully Mikale Wilbon plays this week so that Nebraska can at least have a fighting chance to run the football and shorten the game against Ohio State.
Score Prediction: Nebraska 21 – Ohio State 48
It’s getting a lot harder to think Nebraska can keep it together this season. It’s probably wishful thinking that the Huskers can get to 21. Nebraska needs to run the ball, run it well and try to shorten the game. It’s clear that the Huskers simply don’t have the horses to compete against the best Big Ten teams. I would love to be wrong. As always GBR!!
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