I keep wondering when the team that Husker fans can be proud of will show up? It’s not as if this team was going to win a National Title this year, but dang man, I thought for sure they would at least give good effort each week. The team was beat as soon as the first turnover happened. You could feel it, even if you were 750 miles from the action sitting in Lincoln.
So what’s it going to take to get this team on the plus side for a change? First, it starts with repetition. Unfortunately, Nebraska has only had one real game where Adrian Martinez was guaranteed to start the week before the game was played. He played really well against Colorado. You have to hope that taking all the reps this week will help him get back to how he played that game.
Next, the defense has to play with their hair on fire, especially at home. They were listless in Michigan. It felt like it was midway through the second quarter before they were on the same page. That can’t continue to happen, or you will see a repeat against teams like Ohio State, Wisconsin, Michigan State, and God help us Iowa. Cripes, you could see it from Purdue this weekend or even Minnesota or Illinois for that matter.
The special teams play can’t get any worse, but it can remain awful. I expect that the coaches will experiment with that until they get it right. There may be more growing pains, but I suspect we will see some new bodies out there this week, especially on the punting team.
Top it all off with horrible penalties at inopportune times and you have a recipe for 0-3. Nebraska operates on a razor thin margin against decent teams; they have no room for error against a team as talented as Michigan. Those penalties have to be cut in half at a minimum for Nebraska to start having a chance to win ball games.
I think what you will find eventually is that they younger players will start getting more time earlier in games. If the older players continue to play with substandard effort, you might as well start playing the kids that may not know what they are doing, but they do it 100 miles per hour.
This is a big weekend for Nebraska. They have played two games that they could have won and they missed out. Games won’t get any easier and the Huskers have to hold serve this weekend at Memorial Stadium. Purdue has great athletes on offense and a quarterback who has a lot of starts and a lot of ability. Nebraska has to make him uncomfortable from the start. They did that against Colorado and it made a big difference on their ability to stay in the game.
Nebraska also can’t afford turnovers this weekend. I know you expect them in an offense like Coach Frost runs, but they can’t be careless with the ball. If Nebraska has any chance to win this game, they have to win the turnover battle.
The fans will be there to help the Huskers all they can. If Nebraska can give them something to cheer about, I expect an eruption at Memorial Stadium. We need a win, they need a win, I need a win, and I suspect you do too. Otherwise, this season is going to be even longer than I could have imagined.
ON WITH THE REWIND…
Our previous score prediction for the Wolverine’s game was Michigan 37 – Nebraska 17. The actual score was Michigan winning 56-10 and the game was over after the Huskers’ first offensive possession. Nebraska looked like 2017 wasn’t over and they were beaten in every phase of the game. It was worse than the score and it’s amazing that the Wolverines didn’t put up 70.
Adrian Martinez… Every week I will harp on this, but this team is going to go as far as Martinez can take them. He needs better blocking, but he also needs to be able to use his speed to keep defenses honest and open up the passing game. He didn’t look quite ready at Michigan. Until he is healthy enough to pull away from defenders, Nebraska will struggle to score.
Offensive Line…. Offensive is right, they were offensive to my sense of football watching. That was as bad a performance as I can remember from the offensive line and this line let Tanner Lee take a beating last season. When does it start to improve? If it doesn’t, I think it’s time to start playing younger guys. You might as well get beat with youth if your veterans are going to allow the quarterback to get beaten up anyway.
Coach Frost … I remember something said last spring when Coach Frost first got back to Lincoln. It wasn’t that he said it to me, or to the media, but he told someone close to me that there were maybe 3 players on the team that could have played at Central Florida last season. That doesn’t mean that there isn’t talent on the roster, but it has a long way to go before it can play at a championship level. Recruiting and development take time. Coach Frost needs more time for both. He knew it then, we know it now.
Score Prediction: Purdue 33 – Nebraska 27
Folks, it pains me to say this, but Nebraska is currently the worst Husker team in my lifetime. I don’t know if the players felt like Coach Frost would wave a magic wand and they would just play better. This week is on the players. They didn’t show up in Ann Arbor, I’m not so sure they will show up this week either, but I’m putting my faith in the fact that they won’t quit. Purdue is further along in the rebuild process than Nebraska is. It pains me greatly to say that, but until I see it on the field, it will be hard for me to predict a Husker victory. I will still be in the stadium, cheering loud, so with that…GBR!!
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