Man, talk about a crazy start to the season. First, we get lightning firing across the sky to cancel the Akron game, then we give up 14 quick points to Colorado, scratch and claw back to get the lead, only to see it evaporate and almost come with a season crusher of losing Adrian Martinez. You almost wonder if the Huskers have a curse on them. I don’t think that’s the case, but you never know.
Nebraska had Colorado beat, they controlled the line of scrimmage in the first half, really on both sides for the most part. They had multiple times to put them away, but give the Buffs credit, their quarterback Steven Montez was money when they needed it most. Despite having 565 yards in total offense, Nebraska turned the ball over three times and missed a field goal. When you have a tight game against a good team, those types of things get you beat.
So that leads us to this, is Nebraska good, going to be good or probably not going to be the year that they win 8 or 9 games? Nebraska was dealt a pretty bad hand missing out on the Akron game. Most of the time, you get to work the kinks out on a subpar opponent, then follow that up with a game against a decent Power 5 program. When Akron was canceled, it not only cost Nebraska a win, but many people argue it cost them the Colorado game as well. When you are 0-1, when you really planned on being 2-0, you must admit this is not the way you wanted the season to start.
Nebraska needs some momentum and they need it now. If for some crazy reason Andrew Bunch is the starting quarterback for more than this weekend’s game against Troy, Nebraska could easily be 1-2 and the confidence that this staff has tried to implement all off season could start to wear down. This group of kids has been pretty numbed by losing a lot of games since they have been here. Sometimes it is easy to start down that path, you know the one, with the least resistance.
I think they will get it going though. Whether Adrian Martinez misses one game or two games, Scott Frost doesn’t seem to me like the coach that will allow things to start slipping away. This week he said he didn’t want to reschedule Akron in December because the Huskers plan on playing in the Big Ten title game that weekend. Considering where things were when Martinez had to be helped off the field, I’d say that Coach Frost isn’t short of confidence in himself, his staff or his team.
It’s all just another reason why this thing is going to get turned around. When you play with passion like the Huskers did last weekend, and you are consistent in your beliefs and philosophies on offense and defense, you will see wins start to pile up. It may not all happen this season, but it is going to happen. Nebraska fans haven’t had much to cheer about since about 2016, it would be nice if the Huskers could break the losing string and show everyone that this is about to get turned upside down.
ON WITH THE REWIND…
Our previous score prediction for the Colorado game was Nebraska 33 – Colorado 26. The actual score was Colorado winning 33-28 basically the reverse of what we predicted. I’ve said it already, but that game will sit in this team’s craw for a while, they had to work hard to get it and they had it. If we have learned anything, this Husker program needs to get their groove back.
Quick Notes:
Adrian Martinez… There are two things that stand out about this kid. First, he is the best athlete we have had at quarterback since Taylor Martinez played at Nebraska. The next thing is, because he is so good, this team isn’t going to go far without him. He changes the game for the entire team. You have to account for him in the run game, and he looks like he is going to make some plays with his arm. I think of his passing like Tommy Armstrong. We are going to have to live with some mistakes once in a while, but when he makes it work, it’s going to be as good as it’s been in a long time. He is going to take some hits, and we knew he may not play an entire season. I’m just thankful that this injury wasn’t a season ending one, Nebraska fans have suffered enough.
Sacks, Sacks, Sacks…. After Colorado scored on their first two possessions, I started to get a little worried. Last season was such a train wreck on defense, I thought even if they were only a little better, we would be ok. The start of the game sure looked like they weren’t going to be much improved. After those drives though, you could see the team started to settle down. Let’s face facts, they were put in some pretty sad spots to start out and once they figured a couple things out, they let it fly for the most part. The defensive line put consistent pressure on Montez and Nebraska had multiple tackles in the CU backfield. If Nebraska can continue to put pressure on the quarterback like they did last week, this defense could actually win Nebraska a game or two this season. Sacks may have been overrated to some of our previous defensive coaches, but they aren’t overrated to me. They change the outlook for this team completely.
Running Back Committee… It didn’t matter if it was Greg Bell, Devine Ozigbo or Maurice Washington, the running back group looks to be much stronger than last season already. That bodes well for the season, as it will take pressure off Martinez and give the Huskers some life on the road. I still think that some other people will emerge out of that position as the season wears on, but for my money, they are all keeping the seat warm for Washington. Once that kid figures out what he is doing, he could be a game breaker for Nebraska. At this point, there will be a lot of carries to share, it seems like this group is doing a good job with their opportunities.
Secondary…One of my biggest concerns this year was going to be the secondary. Last weekend was a cornucopia of good and bad plays by this unit. They really supported the run and made some great open field plays that we haven’t seen in a long time. On the flip side, the safeties being out of position on long sideline plays and Antonio Reed’s crazy personal foul in the fourth quarter show that this group has a way to go to be great. On the other side of the pillow, they actually settled down and allowed a few coverage sacks on Montez. We haven’t seen that against anyone good for years. This group is going to be solid, maybe not All Conference type, but they will probably be better than we thought.
Score Prediction: Nebraska 31 – Troy 21
This is a must win for the Huskers. I don’t care if Lady Gaga was going to play quarterback this week, Nebraska has the talent on offense to put up yards on this Troy defense. Nebraska needs to take care of the ball and create turnovers and they should come out of this game alright. If the Huskers stumble and go to Ann Arbor 0-2, the natives will be a little restless. Andrew Bunch is a serviceable back up and he will prove that this weekend. Nebraska will dominate the lines of scrimmage an come out on the other side ready for Big Ten play. As always, GBR!!
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