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.
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.
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.
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.
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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