Going on the road and outplaying a top team in the country will do that to a person’s memory. The question becomes, can Nebraska come back without a hangover?
Anytime you play well on the road, you hope that it filters into the next week, but often that isn’t the case. It is not easy to put all the work into a game plan, come up short, then do it all again. Really good teams struggle with back-to-back road games against top 25 teams.
So, is Nebraska a good team? On the surface it is starting to look like they are. They are consistent on defense, and they are becoming very efficient on offense. Special teams? Well, let us just say that they exist and that’s about the best way to put it. Nebraska really could be a good team, but they have continued to hammer their own foot at the worst possible time with special teams’ gaffes.
It’s like a consistent beating metronome that the Huskers special teams produces errors. And it has been shared by multiple people, so it’s not just one piece. You could argue that both of Nebraska’s losses were cemented with awful special teams plays that undermined otherwise solid efforts.
Now this isn’t to say all else is perfect. Nebraska still misses tackles that really good teams make. They have yet to consistently sack the quarterback. Forcing fumbles is so foreign that I couldn’t tell you the last time we recovered one.
Offensively, the inability to run the ball for any significant yards is a problem. In fact, the entire offensive line is like having a sharp blade and a dull blade on the same sword. They continue to pass block well enough that Adrian Martinez has played like an All Big Ten quarterback, but they also let players come through so often that you wonder if they are taking tolls on the turnstile.
It’s not hard to imagine why the Huskers are sitting at .500 at this point in the season, but it’s not difficult to see that they are closer to turning the corner than they have been in five seasons. The blade of a sword is narrow. It isn’t hard to think Nebraska could fall to either side of it moving forward.
ON WITH THE REWIND…
Last game prediction was Oklahoma 38, Nebraska 28. The actual score was OU 23, Nebraska 16. In a game that most thought would be a blowout, Nebraska had plenty of chances to take down a top five team on the road. I was at the game and OU fans were sweating it pretty hard. The blocked extra point was such a lift for Oklahoma because it honestly felt like Nebraska was the better team until that happened. I’m not sure that they weren’t the better team.
Quick Notes:
Omar Manning…I know a lot of people keep saying that Manning hasn’t really shown them enough to know what all the fuss was about when Nebraska earned his commitment. After last weekend I think you can start to put those thoughts in your back pocket. Manning is an athlete that Nebraska fans haven’t seen in red for a long time. He is everything you want when you look at a wide receiver. Nebraska needs to continue to look for him downfield. He will make the game a lot easier for everyone if teams have to game plan for him.
Travis Vokolek…You don’t have to look far to see the benefit of have Vokolek back last week. He provides a big lift on the edge to help out in blocking, but he also takes pressure off from Austin Allen in the passing game. Vokolek is a big reason why Nebraska had more success running the football last week with the running backs. It should help Nebraska’s run game this weekend against Michigan State, which they will need to keep the Spartans off balance.
Rahmir Johnson…Just when you think you have the running back rotation figured out, Ryan Held and Scott Frost give you another change. Johnson started his first game ever for the Huskers and he played the best game of his career. He didn’t necessarily blow up the stat sheet, but he pushed the ground game enough to make Oklahoma respect it. I don’t know if he will be the guy moving forward, but he certainly earned another shot at it.
Cam Taylor-Britt…I feel like he is one of my kids that is really good at something but is trying so hard that they are making themselves worse. Calm down Cam. He keeps trying to reach for interceptions when the easy play would do. He is positioning himself trying to bait quarterbacks and he just isn’t consistently in the flow of the game yet. I think Taylor-Britt will get it going this week. If he does, this will catapult him into the discussion of All Conference.
Score Prediction: Nebraska 30, Michigan State 28
Who knows what we will see this weekend? On one hand, it’s is a rough environment in East Lansing, especially at night. Michigan State coach Mel Tucker has already handed Coach Frost one road defeat in their last encounter. Michigan State has blown out the first three teams they have played. Everything points to a Spartan win and Frost still searching how to get above .500. So why am I picking the Huskers? For one, Adrian Martinez. He is playing at a level he has never played at in college. Second, the Blackshirts. They went into Norman and held the Sooners to their lowest point total in five seasons. Last, I think this team is starting to finally believe they are good. Sometimes, getting a team to believe in itself is as difficult as anything a coach has to deal with. I think Frost has finally channeled this program into what he wanted it to be when he got here. Now is the time, or it probably never will be. GBR!!
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