Same Old Big Red Story...

If you were like me watching the Nebraska game last week against the Golden Gophers, you probably had that sour feeling in the pit of your stomach after Nebraska was down 10-0 in the first quarter.  I texted a friend and told them that if Nebraska couldn’t take the lead before halftime, it was already over.  This Husker group just can’t have nice things.  They took the lead, but just before the half, they gave up a drive that ended up with Cam Taylor-Britt kicked out and a halftime deficit.  They never recovered.

This season has been a microcosm of 2020 for me.  We all wanted the Huskers to play.  We knew it wouldn’t be easy, but damn it if we didn’t want something to drag us away from the hellscape that is this pandemic.  Coach Scott Frost made bold declarations that Nebraska would play anyone and anywhere.  It all seemed like it was going to be a fun season, regardless of how few games would be played.

Then the Big Ten cancelled the season before it ever got off the ground.  I think that was a big loss for everyone, including Nebraska.  When the Big Ten relented and fired it back up, some of the steam that was building in Lincoln went out of the tailpipe for a lot of people.  National media mocked the Huskers and wondered aloud why Frost would want to play with a team that wasn’t likely to have much success.

From my perspective, I felt like Frost wanted to play, because he knew that there would be no spring season.  I think he has been behind the 8 ball since he arrived in Lincoln.  Imagine all the things that could going wrong in your first three years.  Then imagine that they do go wrong.  First game cancelled due to lightning.  Players leaving, either of their own accord, or because they were no longer wanted.  Second season, you lose a game at Colorado that you shouldn’t lose.  Follow that up by playing with multiple kickers that can barely kick off let alone hit a 30-yard field goal for most of that season.  Your quarterback is hurt early in the second season and your team never really takes off.  You think you have a great incoming recruiting class and 2020 will be better, but then Covid hits and half the four star recruits take off before the season even starts and of those that do stay, they miss spring football, off season workouts and a regular fall.

It has not been easy in Nebraska.  Scott Frost hasn’t exactly helped himself out.  The offense that is supposed to be the bread and butter of any Frost team has been average to lousy in 2020.  Special teams have improved, but not at a clip that any fan would be clamoring for.  The defense, while playing above average has imploded at crucial times during the season.

In closing, the Huskers get at least one more chance to play football, this time in New Jersey. We sit back and wonder what could have been, but more likely what should have been.  We have seen a lot of games the last three years, but most of it hasn’t been what we were hoping.  If Nebraska could close out with a win, that might propel a lot of people to get excited for 2021.  2020 has sucked the excitement out for a lot of us.

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ON WITH THE REWIND…

Last game prediction was Nebraska 31 Minnesota 24.  The actual score was Minnesota 24, Nebraska 17.  In a game that Nebraska not only needed to win, but should have won, this final home game was awful.  Nebraska’s offense was chaotic and had one good quarter.  The defense bowed up for the most part, but when they needed a stop at the end, they just couldn’t get one.  Chalk it up to another one score defeat for Scott Frost.  I’m generally an optimist by nature, but if Nebraska continues to lose games that they should win at this clip in 2021, there will be a drastic change in Lincoln next winter.

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Quick Notes:

Scott Frost…I write this blog to give kudos to players each week.  At this point though, Scott Frost has practically killed any offensive fireworks.  For whatever reason, Nebraska’s inability to pass the ball like a Power 5 team should, continues to define the Frost era at Nebraska.  Think about it.  Since Martinez’s game against Illinois last year, Nebraska has yet to make anyone pay for loading up the line of scrimmage.  You can’t win in the Big Ten if you can’t throw unless you have a monster run game.  Nebraska doesn’t have that either.  Whether it is play calling or quarterback play, Frost needs to have a big improvement next fall.  It’s unbelievable that with Frost’s pedigree the Nebraska offense struggles as much as it does.  This offseason will define the Frost era at Nebraska.  For all our sakes, lets hope it’s for the better.  

Austin Allen…He is the most improved player on the team, from 2019 to 2020.  With Jack Stoll nursing an injury most of the season, Allen’s performance has risen above what I could have hoped for.  Allen is a legit All Big Ten type player.  If he continues on this path, I see no reason why he won’t be an NFL draft pick when his college career is over.  He really could use a consistent passing game to take his own game to the next level.  It’s nice to see from an in-state player.  Nebraska could use more like him.

Wan’Dale Robinson…This kid is so special.  He needs help though.  Nebraska needs another player that can take the stress off Robinson.  It could be a running back or another wide receiver, but Robinson is so much better than anyone else at those positions, he is forced to play both.  Nebraska needs an offset so teams can’t key on him.  He is tough as nails.  He takes hit after hit each week and bounces right back up.  It’s flabbergasting that he has yet to score a touchdown in 2020.   

JoJo Domann…I don’t know if Domann is coming back to the Huskers next season, but he has been a lot of fun for Husker fans to watch this year.  He has been a bright spot on a team without many.  Domann is at his best using his versatility, either making plays at the line of scrimmage or knocking down a would be catch on a deep route.  He will be missed severely next season, if he does leave.  His persistence after early career injuries should be admired.

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Score Prediction:  Rutgers 24 Nebraska 21 

Nebraska will be fresh off a devastating loss at home.  Rutgers is limping into a final game of the season.  Unfortunately for the Huskers, Rutgers plays about as physical on defense as Minnesota did.  Nebraska simply wasn’t good enough or smart enough to make the Gophers defense play the run and it was costly.  If Nebraska can’t run the ball with their running backs this Friday, it is likely they will come home with another loss.  I’d like to tell you that it will all work out, but Rutgers has been playing better football than Nebraska.  I hope I’m wrong and the overall talent wins out, but I’ve been burned too many times this season.  Yeah, you guessed it, I’ll still be watching the entire game from start to finish, cheering my butt off so, GBR!!

Gopher Game!

The weather swings of fall are stupefying.  That’s what it’s like watching Husker football.  Last weekend, Nebraska finally put the pedal to the metal and won a game by more than one score.  It’s not that we weren’t nervous.  Heck, since Coach Scott Frost came to Lincoln every game seems like a heartbreaker.  It’s a lot like the fall weather, great one day, blizzard the next.  

Last week we talked about those swings and when is Nebraska going to right the ship into consistency.  This week, the Huskers have another opportunity to start a winning streak.  The last three years have been a constant up and down roller coaster.  You never know which Husker squad you are going to see.  The last two games have been more consistent.  Even though Iowa snuck another victory out, the Huskers played even keeled.  Last week, they did it again, getting out to a large lead, then slowly maintaining it throughout the game.   Purdue challenged, but Nebraska put it away in the end.

That’s what has been missing from this group.  Can they close?  One thing we have discussed before is that this group of Huskers has forgotten how to simply put teams away.  A lot of losing will do that to you.  Nebraska needs to put together a string of victories.  I’m reminded of the 2012 Husker team.  They did get blasted in the Big Ten championship game, but they also strung together a line of victories that was impressive to get into that game.  That team knew how to win, week in and week out.

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The biggest lift, in my opinion, has been the play of Adrian Martinez.  The team seems to have figured out his comfort zone in the passing game.  It’s not much down the field fly routes, but a more under controlled, precision passing game.   If Martinez continues to be accurate in this offense, it really does hum a lot better and gives Nebraska a chance in most games.  Minnesota will have a much better defense than Purdue.  It will be interesting to see if they can put more pressure on the Husker QB.

On top of Martinez, the Blackshirts are also playing with more consistency.  Throw in kicker Connor Culp and you have the beginning of a team that won’t let itself down from one piece to the next.  That is the consistency that will allow Husker football to put together a string of wins.  If they can close this week against the Gophers, we might get to see something we haven’t seen in 4 seasons, a three-game winning streak.  

I’m not one to get ahead of myself.  I question if Nebraska can even win this weekend as a 10-point favorite at home.  The Huskers haven’t earned that trust from fans yet.  We have been burned too many times.  Coach Frost keeps saying it’s close.  It will be nice to see that become reality this Saturday.  Less like the up and down Fall weather and more like the Husker teams of old.

ON WITH THE REWIND…

Last game prediction was Purdue 37 Nebraska 31.  The actual score was Nebraska 37, Purdue 27.  It may be that the Blackshirts had an outlier against Illinois.  We expected Ohio State to score a lot, but I don’t know that we imagined the Huskers defense being this consistent in 2020.  Illinois was the only team other than the Buckeyes to get out of the 20s against them.  They have made big plays when needed and for the most part have been solid considering they have been given awful field position.  Outside of one blown play to David Bell, they were solid against the Boilermakers.  Big props to them for keeping it together after the Illinois disaster.

Quick Notes:

Adrian Martinez…I know, I know, Martinez is in this list every week, but let us be honest with ourselves, he really is building a solid resume this fall.  He has been more consistent in his passing attack, delivering on those short routes that he too often missed last season.  It helps that he has been able to find Wan’dale Robinson more often.  Robinson can help any team and the fact that a concerted effort to get him the ball has made Martinez more consistent has paid off.  Nebraska has had very little consistency at wide receiver this season and that hasn’t helped.  Throw in a pandemic and the inability to have time to work with all those guys and you can understand how there could be some struggles.  If Martinez continues to improve, the Huskers record should too.

Dedrick Mills…Last weekend just goes to show that a running back that can consistently hammer out positive yards helps your offense.  Mills wasn’t at 100 percent, but he was good enough that Purdue couldn’t just pin their ears back and go after the quarterback play after play.  He also does a really good job blocking for Martinez on designed quarterback runs.  If Mills is closer to healthy this week, I expect him to have his best game of the season.  Just in time for the cold weather.

Special Teams…As much as the kickoff teams continue to frustrate Big Red fans, the rest of the special teams had a big week for a change.  Connor Culp continues to be the best field goal kicker that Nebraska could have asked for.  He continually puts points on the board when drives stall.  Last season, those drives ended in fourth down misses and lost opportunity.  Better punt returns and better field goal kicking has changed games for Nebraska this season.  A blocked punt last week was a huge play for a team that needed some momentum.  If the Huskers can continue to take advantage of special teams play, that by itself would be worth one or two wins a season.  It certainly helped last week.  

Cam Taylor-Britt…Britt seems to be coming into his own.  Combined with Dicaprio Bootle the two cornerbacks took on a heavy load against Purdue and their All-American wide receivers.  For the most part they kept them contained.  Yes, David Bell had a long touchdown catch, but that had as much to do with a missed help from the safety as anything.  Taylor-Britt made big plays against big time players last week.  You often see players really come into their own as Juniors and have big Senior years.  I’m predicting a big Senior year for Taylor-Britt.  

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Score Prediction:  Nebraska 31 Minnesota 24

A much-needed win on the road has left the Huskers open to possible bowl eligibility.  They absolutely must win this weekend for that to happen.  Minnesota will be limited by players in quarantine and will only travel about half their team this weekend.  Nebraska hasn’t been done many favors by their schedule this shortened season, but if there was a time to take it out on a team, this is it.  I could see Nebraska pulling away in the fourth quarter.  With this team, it just never ends up that easy, and I reflect that in my prediction.  Nebraska should get a second win in as many weeks though and for that, we can all celebrate, GBR!!

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Nebraska Stuck In Neutral 😐

Here we are again.  I always want to write immediately after a game, especially a loss, because it’s therapeutic, but also, you remember exactly how you felt when then game finished.  Life happens sometimes and you can’t put everything you feel into a half page blog about Husker Football.

After a while, the feeling you had after a loss, especially a close loss either builds up into anger or it turns into apathy.  I can’t help but feeling a few days after Nebraska lost yet another game to Iowa, that my anger is getting harder to get over.  I talk to a lot of Husker fans throughout the week.  I spend way too much time on a Rivals and 247.  Sometimes that anger is drawn outward because other sensible people see the big picture and that one game in a vacuum is not a good way to judge a program.

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Since Coach Scott Frost has returned to Nebraska, he has coached 29 games.  His record is 10 wins, 19 losses.  You can’t sugar coat that.  By record, he is the worst Husker coach in over a half a century.  What’s the one thing that makes that worse?  When you look at the 19 losses that Nebraska has suffered, 10 of those losses are by a touchdown or less.  Last week the same thing.  A 26-20 loss that with one touchdown could have been a victory.

It is SO frustrating.  Nebraska fans have been the big dog on the block for fifty years before 2017.  We suffered through 3 losing seasons in that time frame and we hated it.  Now we have had 4 straight losing seasons (yes, I know this year isn’t finished, but it’s not looking great) and people that were born after 2005 have seen more losing than winning since they could start paying attention.

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So, what is the bright spot?  For me, when I look at Nebraska, I see a team that is young on offense.  There is so much room for improvement, that these close losses should eventually start turning into wins.  We can do so much better on special teams.  Another muffed punt last week and terrible field positions on our kickoffs show that you can pick up a lot in that area.  Defensively, we played relatively well, but we only created one turnover and that was a gift from the Iowa quarterback.  Again, room for improvement.

I will never take a Husker game for granted.  We only get so many every year, and this year they have been a welcome respite during a time of global pandemic.  So, I will cheer like hell again this weekend.  The anxiety of these losses has started to pile up though.  It might not always be this way under Frost, but if the anxiety turns into apathy, I know a lot of people that will find other things to do on Saturdays in the fall.    

ON WITH THE REWIND…

Last game prediction was Iowa 31 Nebraska 17.  The actual score was Iowa 26, Nebraska 20.  The Huskers had their chances and even had the lead 20-13 in the third quarter.  Nebraska continues to kick themselves in the teeth though.  A muffed punt, poor field position for Iowa and a missed block on the final drive doomed an otherwise solid effort.  Other teams simply just need to play well and wait for Nebraska to implode.  It continued last week.  How long before Nebraska does that to someone else?

Quick Notes:

Adrian Martinez…He has been a whipping post for Husker fans since his rough 2019, but he seems to be the best option for the team moving forward.  He played really well against Iowa, with only one turnover on the final drive.  That turnover, like a lot of his plays was affected by bad line play.  Martinez has been cursed with bad offensive line play for two seasons now.  One has to wonder how well he would have developed if he was protected better.  I’d like to see him take more chances down field, but you can’t argue with his passing last week, he was 18 out of 20.  Can’t get much better than that.

Luke McCaffrey…There is little doubt that McCaffrey is one of the best athletes on the Huskers.  He was able to get a couple series against Iowa.  I don’t mind the changing from series to series to create a change of pace.  What I would like to see more is McCaffrey on the field, even if it isn’t at quarterback.  The kid is clearly a competitor.  He isn’t going to be getting the snaps that a starter should be getting this season.  What’s the harm in using him like Nebraska did against Ohio State?  He knows all the plays, so it should be easy for him to run one spot.  I just can’t help but think with him, Zavier Betts and Wan’Dale Robinson at wide receiver, you could open things up vertically.

Kickoffs…I understand that Iowa has one of the better kick returners in the country.  What I don’t understand is where the kickoff through the end zone has went?  I can’t believe that Nebraska doesn’t have a kid on campus that can consistently boot the ball through the end zone.  It has been a big disadvantage under Coach Frost.  It would provide a big boost in field position changes and would eliminate the chances for long returns.  

Luke Reimer…The “other” Luke on the team is really starting to look like he will be an All Big Ten player.  He has that sixth sense that you look for in defenders, that he seeks the ball as well as anyone on the team.  He is blessed with great speed as well.  If you are looking for someone to hitch your wagon too the next few years, Reimer is as good as anyone.  With Colin Miller out for the season, Reimer should get plenty of opportunity to make plays.  That should be a good thing for the Blackshirts.  

Score Prediction:  Purdue 37 Nebraska 31 

I want to tell you Nebraska will get a win this weekend on the road.  I want to tell you that the offense will break out against a poor Purdue defense.  Unfortunately, since Coach Frost has come back to Lincoln, Jeff Brohm’s offense has been a Rubik’s Cube for the Blackshirts.  Purdue has been able to exploit Nebraska’s linebackers in the passing game, pretty much at will.  If the Huskers want to get a road win, they will need to take advantage of the Boilermaker’s weak run defense.  If they fail to control the ball and turn it over, Purdue will put up a lot of points.  I really hope I’m wrong.   As always, GBR!!