So last weekend sucked. I don’t want to belabor the point, but Wisconsin having an outbreak of Covid-19 within their players and staff put a blunt reminder that this season isn’t going to be easy. Early in the week, we knew that Wisconsin would be without their starting quarterback, Graham Mertz. On Wednesday, Nebraska’s game with the Badgers was cancelled.
Nebraska made a very interesting move to try and play Tennessee-Chattanooga as a replacement game, but the Big Ten put a stop to that, as the vote was made that no out of conference games would be played by Big Ten teams in 2020.
I believe this was a mistake on the part of the Big Ten. Wisconsin is missing another game this weekend, this time against Purdue. If the Badgers miss another game, and remember, it doesn’t have to be them that has to cancel, they are out of the title hunt in the Big Ten conference. You can’t miss more than three games and qualify for the Big Ten title game. Nebraska is also at the mercy of that rule, with limited room for error. What happens if an outbreak occurs in the East division of the conference? Ohio State has bigger fish to reel in. If they miss enough games, they won’t qualify for the end of year playoffs. That is a killer for a team that looks like they are going to be a threat to win a National Title in a shortened season.
If the Big Ten had allowed replacement games, that could have given the rest of the conference a cushion to avoid a situation like this. Nebraska did everything that they could in order to play more football this year. So far, the Big Ten has punished Nebraska’s efforts by limiting their games to in conference only.
It is not an option to leave the Big Ten conference for Nebraska. It might seem like a smart move in the short term, but the reality of it is, athletics is only a small part of what being a member of the Big Ten is all about. Academic standing is important to the University as well. While most of us Husker fans feel cheated about missing more games, it will just have to be par for the course for 2020.
The great thing is that so far all systems are a “go” to play at Northwestern this weekend. Nebraska has a real opportunity to make a statement this weekend in Evanston. The Wildcats are 2-0, with a big win over Iowa last week. Nebraska has two weeks to stew on football. If they can build on their experience against Ohio State, the Huskers should match up well this weekend. Nebraska showed that they should be able to limit the run. Northwestern is a running team.
The big question? How can Nebraska produce yards with players other than their quarterbacks? Nebraska has a lot of weapons on offense, they need to get them more involved moving forward. Losing Jack Stoll for a few weeks isn’t ideal, but they have capable backups at tight end. Nebraska needs to get Dedrick Mills more involved, along with Wan’Dale Robinson. If they can get them both a combined 30-35 touches, Nebraska will be in great shape. Nebraska needs to take advantage of better recruiting the last three years at the skill positions. If they do, they should have a good outcome on Saturday.
ON WITH THE REWIND…Last game prediction was Ohio State 54 Nebraska 28. The actual score was Ohio State 52, Nebraska 17, a game that was close for a little less than two quarters. After the first two Nebraska scores, it looked like the Huskers were going to give the Buckeyes a game. Eventually, errors by Nebraska and overall talent for OSU won out. Nebraska didn’t score anything other than a field goal after a couple of quick, early touchdowns.
Quick Notes:
Defensive Backs Missing a Half…Nebraska had some lousy luck on penalties against Ohio State. Deontai Williams and Cam Taylor-Britt both had personal fouls and were ejected in that game for targeting. Now they sit the first half of this game against Northwestern. If there was a pronounced weakness in the first game, is was Nebraska’s inability to stop the pass. The Wildcats are nowhere near as potent as Ohio State, but Myles Farmer and Quentin Newsome will have to be ready to go. Nebraska lost Braxton Clark for the season before camp was over, but Newsome played last season as a true frosh and has been someone DB Coach Travis Fisher has groomed to be ready for this. If Nebraska can survive the first half by not giving up any big pass plays, they should be in good shape.
Quarterbacks…Luke McCaffrey is electric. There is simply no way to not be excited when he enters a game, either at quarterback, running back or wide receiver. His combination with Adrian Martinez gave Husker fans a lot to ponder for the future. Martinez played very well against Ohio State. He wasn’t given enough time to push the ball down the field, but he ran the ball well. The biggest issue with these two, is simply turnovers. If Nebraska is going to have any chance to win games, these guys can’t put the ball on the turf. The two of them seem to get along, so no QB controversy is looming. If they continue to play off each other, it could be the rare season that two quarterbacks can play well.
Defensive Line…A big unknown coming into this season, the defensive line showed well against a powerful Ohio State offensive line. Nebraska limited Ohio State to 222 rushing yards. The line also played well enough that the linebackers were able to get three sacks. I will take that against a top 3 team. If the Huskers continue to rotate fresh bodies up front, they should be able to wear lesser teams down as the season goes on. Casey Rogers, Ben Stille, Damion Daniels, Ty Robinson and Keem Green are all Big Ten looking players. They are big, strong and seem to finally fit the defense Coach Erik Chinander wants to run. The linebackers looked much improved, but it helped that the defensive line played at a high level.
Offensive Line…Nebraska imposed its will on Ohio State on two early drives. It was beautiful to watch. On the face of it, it was one of the best offensive line performances I have seen from Nebraska since at least 2016, and possibly since 2012. Cam Jurgens continues to have some issues with snaps and Matt Farniok was beaten a few times, albeit by a stud tackle, with a quick inside rush. For a unit that is playing together for the first time, to show out like that against the Buckeyes, well…it was a sight for sore eyes. I expect this unit to be the leader for the Huskers this season. I must admit, they did not disappoint. They have a lot of room to get better. If they do, by the end of the year, they could be a top 3 unit in the entire conference.
Nebraska has been sitting back, taking grief from national press about wanting to play football. They were laughed at, basically because when they were fighting to play. They were given a difficult schedule, as if it was some type of comeuppance for making noise. They came out and punched Ohio State in the mouth. They couldn’t maintain it, with a couple of bad turnovers and some questionable penalties and they ended up getting blown out. I think this week, Nebraska will push the ball down field better than they did in their first game. If Nebraska controls the run game as well as they did against Ohio State, Nebraska should win this game. Northwestern won’t make many errors and it will be a close game, but I see the Huskers taking out frustration this weekend. GBR!!
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