The roller coaster that is Nebraska football took a huge dip two weeks ago. Since then it has dropped off on a slow slope that was the longest two weeks that I can remember in Lincoln.
Super sophomore and probably the best overall athlete on the team, Maurice Washington not only called it a day on the field, he left the team off from it as well. Nebraska was apparently being held together by glue and Popsicle sticks. An embarrassing road trip to Minneapolis revealed that while the team isn’t deep, it may not be good either.
In 2018 we all new Nebraska could have a rough year. The 0-6 start confirmed that. 2019 was supposed to be different. Nebraska brought back a lot of young talent on offense, including freshman All-American Adrian Martinez. Throw in some prize recruits like Wan’dale Robinson and Rahmir Johnson and you could see the Huskers not skipping a beat.
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Instead, the team has done the opposite of what it did in 2018. The 2019 version doesn’t seem to have the same drive and motivation the 2018 team had, despite all the losing. Nebraska is certainly young and they have little depth, but it is startling to see that the really don’t have many difference makers on the team. On offense, outside of J.D. Spielman, the only shining light from week to week has been Robinson. The offensive line has regressed to the point that I don’t see how they are going to play well enough to win more than one more game the rest of the season.
Losing Martinez was a huge blow two weeks ago, but I would venture to guess that John Elway in his prime would struggle behind this current construction of the once fabled Pipeline.
All is not lost. I think Nebraska can make a bowl game. They have three winnable games on the schedule. This is assuming that they can play up to the level that they reached against Northwestern. The Blackshirts struggled last week, but in their defense, the offense’s lack of production really stresses a defense that is designed to play with a lead, take chances and defend the pass. This variation of the defense isn’t a heavy run schemed unit. Minnesota used that against Nebraska and it paid handsomely. A 14-0 halftime deficit seemed like 100.
So where does that leave Nebraska? Well I have to think the Washington saga coming to a close may actually help the Huskers. That was a lot of drama the last month and honestly, when bad seeds left the team last year, the Huskers responded by playing harder and tougher. I’m not overall certain this group of Huskers can turn that around in 2019. They need to do it this weekend, otherwise, what was once a promising season, may turn into a bigger disaster than last. It will be a L-O-N-G off season if Nebraska fails to win another game.
ON WITH THE REWIND…
Last week’s prediction was Minnesota 34, Nebraska 28. The final score was Minnesota 34 Nebraska 7. A game that didn’t look great on paper, looked way worse in person. Nebraska was disinterested and played like it. Without Martinez and Robinson, Nebraska isn’t going to win many games, if any, the rest of the year. I don’t think they will go win less, but if they play like that moving forward, they will.
Quick Notes:
Adrian Martinez… People have been calling for him to step aside and let Noah Vedral have a crack in a game, but I think most Husker fans realize that Martinez is the best player to get Nebraska any chance at winning in the Big Ten. Nothing against Vedral, but this isn’t the 1994 Huskers where you can just plug in anyone at quarterback and let the Pipeline and Lawrence Phillips bowl everyone over. I’m not convinced that Martinez will play this week, but you have to hope that he gets healthy soon. A bowl game could be riding on it.
Offensive Line…. Offensive it right. This unit has been subpar to awful this season. One drive they look like they are going to dominate (Illinois), the next they can’t block my grandma. The inconsistency has destroyed any rhythm that offense had built up in the non conference season. By week 8 in the season you should be seeing some major improvement. If we don’t have a better unit this week, you might as well start playing younger players, like Ethan Piper and Bryce Benhart. Veterans are great, but if you are going to get your tail kicked in, you might as well let the young guys take the beating, in hopes of cranking it up the next season.
Scott Frost…Frost is juggling a lot of issues right now. He is an offensive wizard, at least we have seen some of that, yet this unit has been awful the last 3 games. Maurice Washington has been a sideshow this year, that Frost, looking back was probably better off avoiding until his legal matters played out. On top of that, expectations from Frost, his staff, the media and the fans have pushed him to do things to win today, that may not be what he wanted to do to build for the future. Frost is in a tight spot. He needs to recruit better, no doubt, but when you aren’t getting better on the field week to week, you start to battle that on the recruiting trail as well. I’m totally convinced Frost is the right man for the Husker head job, but I’m not entirely sure that he was ready for the team he inherited. The next 5 games will make a huge difference in how long this rebuild will last.
Maurice Washington…I won’t bring him up again, mostly because I’m pretty certain he will never play in Lincoln again, but he needs to be talked about one last time. Sometimes a player is so talented, that as a coach you put up with a lot of headaches, because you are always convinced that you are the one that can get the most out of him. We saw that talent with Washington. The problem is, when a kid is young, immature and doesn’t have a lot of things working for him in his personal life, sometimes you can’t reach him. Eventually, someone will get to him. Unfortunately, for Frost, it probably won’t be him. Like I mentioned above, I will miss his speed and that sudden burst for sure, but you have to wonder if him leaving might be a lift for the rest of the team.
Score Prediction: Nebraska 24, Indiana 23
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