And while Nebraska dominated a suspect Buffalo team, they left plenty of meat on the bone to work on before Big Ten play starts against Illinois. A surprisingly good Illinois, now that the season has started.
Nebraska missed another field goal with Tristan Alvano. It has been a rough start to the season for Nebraska’s kickers. Alvano and John Hohl have each had mistakes, missing field goals and kicking the ball either out of bounds on a kickoff or to Jimmy Horn versus Colorado for a big return. Top it off with Head Coach Matt Rhule opening up the long snapping and short snapping duties for competition this week, and it’s clear that special teams, at least in the kicking department need to work out some kinks.
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| BLEED HUSKER RED TEES |
And while freshman quarterback sensation Dylan Raiola has at times looked like a pro, Nebraska’s wide receivers were relatively quiet against Colorado. Jamal Banks and Isaiah Neyor did not provide a lot of stats against Colorado’s defensive backs. Freshman Jacory Barney, Jr. however did provide explosive plays, but the run of holding calls against Nebraska negated most of those. Top it off with Rahmir Johnson’s long touchdown run being called back and the second half of the game really was kind of a bummer on offense.
The great thing about all those problems? As Matt Rhule said, it’s a perfect game to teach because Nebraska won easily despite struggling in so many areas. It means Nebraska hasn’t hit their ceiling yet.
Nebraska has another opportunity to work on their own team this week against Northern Iowa. This is basically the end of the preseason for the Huskers. Once Big Ten play starts, that’s where the rubber hits the road. Illinois, Indiana, USC and Rutgers have all shown that those games are probably going to be more competitive than they seemed prior to the start of the season. Nebraska needs to work out the kinks, because the difference between 28-10 versus Colorado, might be the difference between 13-10 scores in the Big Ten and we all saw how that worked out in Matt Rhule’s first year. After last week, Nebraska seems to be trending up for those games, rather than down.
ON WITH THE REWIND…
Last game prediction was Nebraska 37, Colorado 21. The actual score was Nebraska 28, Colorado 10. The Huskers made sure this game was over at halftime. They sucked the venom out of Colorado and spit it on the turf in front of them in that first half. The crowd didn’t disappoint and the Blackshirts rode that wave of fury and noise and dominated the high scoring Buffaloes. This game score could have and probably should have been 45-10. If that is any indication of where things are going this season, Nebraska is going to be a lot of fun!
Ty Robinson…Look who is back again! Robinson set the tone against Colorado from the first snap. Batting down passes, hitting Shedeur Sanders, getting a sack and blocking a field goal were all in a night’s work from the stud defensive tackle from Arizona. Robinson was a highly recruited four star when he was in high school. That potential is being realized this season and should make him an easy draft pick for the NFL.
John Bullock…Bullock was a nightmare against Colorado. He made multiple plays on multiple drives and played like a man possessed. Bullock was instrumental in the pick six by Tommi Hill and dominated and entire series in the second half making seemingly every play on defense. Bullock and Mikai Gbayor have been stalwarts for the defense. Bullock coming back for one more season has paid huge dividends for the Huskers.
Tommi Hill…Hill made the play of the game against Colorado, a 7-yard interception return for a touchdown after a great punt by Brian Buschini. That play lit an already fired up crowd, and really put doubt and fear into Colorado. That play cemented the Blackshirts as the dominant force on the field and made the Huskers almost unbeatable against the Buffaloes.
Dante Dowdell…Dowdell set the tone on offense, running over Shilo Sanders and breaking the safety’s arm in the process. While we didn’t want to see Sanders get hurt, the play set the tone for the Husker offense that it was going to pound away at their defense and that is exactly what Nebraska did.
Jacorey Barney Jr.…I’ve stated it before, but Barney is the most explosive player I can remember for Nebraska since Bobby Newcombe. He completely changes the game when he makes a reception or does an end around. While Jalen Lloyd also has some of those same skills, Barney has been able to showcase more of his speed the first two games. If Lloyd gets healthy, he and Barney together will be a hard duo to contain. Barney had a game of yards overturned by holding penalties that had little effect on the actual play itself. Nebraska needs to stay more disciplined, and those plays will help blow out games.
If Nebraska is as good as I think they are, they will be playing the backups early in the third quarter. I expect Nebraska to work on their passing game and get the tight ends more involved in this game. I also expect to see Dowdell and Rahmir Johnson both with big days. Nebraska shouldn’t be run over by the Northern Iowa rushing attack. That is all Northern Iowa has to counter the Blackshirts and it likely won’t do much. Nebraska should roll in another night game, and then the Big Ten season begins. GBR!!!
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| Bleed Husker Red Tees |
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