One Hurdle in the Books

How fitting that the week after losing a game on the road that Nebraska had all but locked up, Nebraska bounced back, only to give up another lead, yet hold on for their first victory.  2018 has not been kind to the Huskers, but all the hard work finally paid off.

Scott Frost took a lot blame for the loss at Northwestern.  I felt like he should have been blamed. Last week we even wrote that Frost had likely mismanaged the clock in two games that may have cost Nebraska a win.  Not this week, not against Minnesota.

Frost is a great play designer, you can tell, week to week, Nebraska has the ability offensively to completely out maneuver the opposing teams.  Against Wisconsin, Nebraska figured some things out in the second half to get back in the game. Against Colorado, a 14 point deficit was over came when the offense started putting the screws to the Buffs.  Against the Wildcats, a team that had given up few rushing yards, Nebraska continued to be effective on the ground.

For some reason though, between clock management, questionable play calling and outright horrible play from the offensive line, Nebraska looked like they were outcoached when it mattered the most and that’s why they were 0-6.  

That all ended against Minnesota.  When the Gophers came back and closed the gap, Frost didn’t panic.  In fact he did something he was unable to do in any previous game. He ran clock when they needed it, to give the defense some rest.  He also threw on running downs and ran on passing downs in situations that proved to be overwhelming matchups for the Minnesota defense.

All those things that Frost was able to do at Central Florida finally showed up in Memorial Stadium.  Adrian Martinez is one of the most talented quarterbacks in the country. Devine Ozigbo and Maurice Washington provided a 1-2 punch that looks like it will carry the Huskers the rest of the season.  Throw in J.D. Spielman and Stanley Morgan Jr. and Nebraska finally seems to have the offense that can score on anyone in the country.

The defense is still a work in progress for the Huskers and the special teams has been so far below average that at times I wondered if they are even coached.  These problems continue to persist, but it may just be an issue that takes time to figure out. The defense needs a different style of athlete to compete with great teams, but it also requires depth.  Those lapses in depth are due as much too lousy recruiting the last five years before Frost’s arrival as anything.

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All of these things are correctable though.  We’ve seen Frost has finally figured out his offense.  I suspect as he runs the Big Ten gauntlet and gets acquainted with the other teams in the league, the defense and special teams will improve as well, even if it won’t be until 2019 or beyond.  It is clear Frost has a plan, and for the first time all season, there was a victory to show for it. Hopefully it’s the first of many more to come.

ON WITH THE REWIND…

Our previous score prediction for the Gophers’ game was Nebraska 34 – Minnesota 28.  The actual score was Nebraska finally winning a game 53-28. Even when Nebraska was up 28-0 I wouldn’t allow myself to get super excited.  This team was going to need to win before they could start to whip teams in the back of the wood shed. This time when the Gophers cut it 28-22, they responded like they hadn’t so many other times before.  Everyone in Lincoln breathes easier this week.

Quick Notes:

Running Game…  All those rushing yard totals Frost had at Oregon and Central Florida each week looked like they may be fool’s gold when it came time for Big Ten play.  That is clearly not the case however, as Nebraska continues to put big yardage totals on the board each week. Credit Nebraska’s design in the running game.  I don’t know that the Offensive line is loaded with talent, but they have done a great job getting holes opened and setting the edge. Nebraska can run the football and that is going to pay off big time down the road.

Adrian Martinez is the man…. I promise this is the last week in a row that I will praise Martinez specifically in our blog.  Problem is, you can’t quit praising him. He was 25 of 29 passing last week without throwing a pick and he topped that off with 125 yards rushing.  Every week he gets better and better. It is hard to imagine where Nebraska would be without him, and it’s clear to me that while Tristan Gebbia may end up being a really good quarterback, 2AM as the kids call him, has potential to be an all-time great at Nebraska.

Offensive Line … I give Greg Austin a mountain of credit.  He has taken kids that have played in a completely different system since the arrived in Lincoln and continuously improved them in the new system week after week.  We’ve all been frustrated by the penalties and the blown assignments, but this unit has continued to grow and mature into a really good group. We will know in two weeks if they have evolved into a great group when they go to Columbus, Ohio.

Score Prediction: Nebraska 46 – Bethune-Cookman 17

This game has a purpose, and that is to allow young kids to play and to get a 12th game.  That’s about the extent of it.  Bethune-Cookman really has no business playing at Nebraska during the conference season.  This isn’t the SEC, and if Akron hadn’t decided that they needed to get out of dodge it wouldn’t be on the schedule at all.  A big “thank you” to Bethune-Cookman for agreeing to play in Lincoln. Nebraska needs to get out of this game with no big injuries.  Get up quick and big and get the young kids in the game. GBR!!

Will it Ever End?

Another week and another Husker loss.  I swear, if there was a way to break your heart every week and you asked a team to do it to you, this Husker team has been on it.  You couldn’t have written a script for how this Husker season has went that would be approved in Hollywood. It wouldn’t be realistic.

Last Saturday was the final straw for me.  With Nebraska leading by 10 points with less than six minutes to play, it really seemed that the Huskers would finally get a victory in 2018.  What followed was heartbreak for the coaches, players and fans. I felt like a gut punch had landed. What cruelty is someone putting on this team?  Is it Voodoo? A hex? A curse?

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After some inner anger had subsided, I decided to look at the team and see if there was something that would tell me why the team has struggled to get a victory so far.

What I have come to realize is that the coaching may have as much to do with Nebraska losing at least three games as anything the players have done.  I really have stayed away from criticizing Coach Scott Frost too much, simply because we knew that the culture around Lincoln needed to be fixed and that it would take some time.  I know that a poor effort in recruiting by the previous two staffs was going to cause issues this season. Nebraska lacks depth in key areas and is playing a young player at quarterback.  That is going to bite you in the rear end a few times during the season.

The Huskers lack key playmakers on defense on third down.  They have failed to build a pass rush without blitzing in Big Ten play and even when they have blitzed, they have left themselves vulnerable to open men down field.  The blitzes barely get to the quarterback and that simply can’t happen if you want to put a stop to long drives.

A lot of these things were known prior to the season starting.  I will give the coaches a break for the Troy loss and Michigan and Wisconsin were simply better teams.  That leaves three games though, that Nebraska could have and probably should have won.

Against Colorado, Nebraska failed to manage the clock properly.  Against Purdue, bad play calling probably cost Nebraska on third and short plays with questionable reads and runs.  Northwestern had a combination of the two and it allowed the Wildcats to come back from their own 1 yard line with less than a minute and a half on the clock and no time outs.

Some of that has to lie at the coach’s feet, specifically Coach Frost. I’m sure that Coach Frost knows this, but you have to ask yourself why?  Our conversion rate on fourth down is horrible. I know the offensive line isn’t going to win many awards, but give them a chance with some different play calls.  

Don’t let off the gas when you have the lead.  Use your dynamic quarterback to try to get to the outside on plays that typically go up the middle on short yardage situations.  Run some type of bootleg or option. Just don’t continue to try and line up and blow people off the line. This team isn’t built for that.  It will be in time, but you have been bitten by the same issues over and over the first six games.

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This offensive line is built to pass block and to run block on passing downs.  You can see it in their sets. They do really well when there aren’t eight guys on the line.  The have blocked well enough to get Devine Ozigbo over six yards per carry and they have blocked well enough to let Adrian Martinez get to the edge for run pass options.  Let them do what they do best, even if you have the lead and running the clock is imperative. Maybe try letting the play clock run down, but don’t get Martinez out of his rhythm.  It’s ok to continue to do what you did to have success. Don’t give up on that, just because the “normal” game that you know should work. It clearly doesn’t with this team. Embrace the difference.  It might just start winning you some games.

ON WITH THE REWIND…

Our previous score prediction for the Northwestern game was Nebraska 32 – Northwestern 31.  The actual score was Northwestern winning 34-31. If you had told me that the Huskers would lose in overtime on the road, normally I’d say, ok, good game.  In this case though the Huskers had them on the ropes and couldn’t finish. To say it was deflating was putting it mildly. I couldn’t even drink an adult beverage after it was over…there was no joy in it.

Quick Notes:

Culture…  Coach Frost continues to tell everyone that the Culture is getting established.  I believe him, but we need to start seeing some tangible wins to back it up. The excitement of adding Frost as the head coach has worn off, results are going to be necessary and soon.  Credit to the players for continuing to fight, for many of the seniors they could cash it in. As a fan, I hope they don’t, but it won’t be easy for Frost to keep the ship afloat without a win soon.

Adrian Martinez is the man…. Despite a costly fumble by Martinez that possibly let Northwestern steal momentum, he continues to play great most of the time.  Martinez is one of the top signal callers, not just in the Big Ten, but the entire country. For the bigger part of his last two games he hasn’t played like a freshman.  His ability to beat teams with his legs and his accuracy has been better than even I could have imagined. He will win plenty before he leaves Nebraska, even if it isn’t his first year.

Defense Needs a Break … I feel like the defense is improving week to week, but the offense and special teams need to win a game for Nebraska and give the defense a rest.  From the start of the season, the Huskers have been playing just well enough to lose. That will wear down a great defense, let alone one that is closer to average.  The Blackshirts aren’t going to win games by themselves, but don’t blame them alone. I think they will continue to answer the bell this weekend.

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Score Prediction: Nebraska 34 – Minnesota 28

I haven’t even talked about the discrepancy in penalties at Northwestern, even though it continues to be a huge issue for Nebraska.  If the Huskers can get out of their own way this weekend, I think coming back to Memorial Stadium should be the fire needed to finally get over the hump.  Nebraska must protect the football and continue to build on creating turnovers. The Gophers aren’t exactly a world beater, but they play hard and they just gave Ohio State a game.  Nebraska can ill afford to continue to hurt themselves if they want to win this game. I’m going back out on a limb again and the Huskers get a pelt this weekend. GBR!!

Is This The Week We Get A Win!?!?

Bring on Those Wildcats!

I text back and forth with my brother in law quite a bit during the football season (Hi Dave!) and he asked me how I was going to spin another week into, “Hang in there, it’ll get better,” for the Huskers. We had our usual jovial back and forth and right away I told him Nebraska will win this weekend against Northwestern.

I actually told some buddies that right after the Wisconsin game.  I believe it in my heart. In my head? Well that is a different story, but we will get to that in the game prediction.

You see, being a fan is different things to different people.  If you are a message board fan, you know the types out there. Message boards are a microcosm of your family and friends.  There are the nutty ones that really don’t know what they are talking about. Then you have the eternal pessimists, “Scott Frost is an idiot, he has managed to be worse than Riley.”  That kind of person makes me laugh. It’s as if the current Nebraska staff has completely lost their mind when they left Orlando to come to Lincoln.

Then there are the eternal optimists.  Unfortunately, I fall in that category quite often.  The funny thing about being an optimist is you can rationalize anything.  For instance, when I found out Greg Bell was leaving the team last Friday, my first inclination was, “great, more carries for Maurice Washington!”  It didn’t matter that Nebraska continues to hemorrhage players. In my mind I was alright with Greg Bell leaving. He hadn’t really shown me anything that said, “You know, that kid could be an All American someday!”

And so you have a situation where less has become more.  As players leave the team, you start to think, man, maybe they did need to weed some malcontents out.  Sometimes, whether at work, at play or even on vacation, you just have to rid yourselves of people that don’t want to be there.  Coach Frost knows that, heck I suspect players still on the team were happy to see some of those players leave.

Pat Riley wrote a book some years back after coaching the L.A. Lakers to an NBA title.  He talked about this thing called the “disease of me” that can affect a team. Nebraska isn’t coming off from winning any titles, so that isn’t an apples to apples comparison, but basically the disease of me is when players on the team become so enamored of the things that are important only to them, that they lose sight of how they can contribute and be part of something bigger than any one individual.

Teams go through this all the time.  Nebraska has endured some really bad leadership, some bad mistakes in recruiting and some bad seeds in the program the last 24 months.  Scott Frost and his staff continue to weed that out, sometimes week to week. They are getting things done to alleviate the “disease of me.”  Unfortunately, it’s come with a cost of losing a lot of games. Hang tight Husker Nation, I think it’s about to get better. Read on to find out why!

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ON WITH THE REWIND…

Our previous score prediction for the Wisconsin game was Wisconsin 35 – Nebraska 17.  The actual score was Wisconsin winning 41-24 and while the defense continues to not be able to stop teams on 3rd down, I somehow felt like Nebraska found another spark that is about to light the flame.  The Huskers offense again put up yards on a good defense. Maurice Washington, J.D. Spielman, Adrian Martinez and Stanley Morgan are enough talent to start to win games.  If the defense can improve, even in small increments against the teams left on the schedule (not named Ohio State) I can see the Huskers winning 3 or 4 games going down the stretch.  I think it starts this week.

Quick Notes:

Wisconsin’s O-Line…  That was rough watching Wisconsin continue to bully their way through the Huskers defense based on sheer will.  For the second consecutive year, Nebraska had to learn the hard way that we are a way away from being able to slow down NFL lineman from opening gaping holes in the defense.  It’s going to be at least 2 or 3 years before Nebraska will truly be back, even with the hardest work and great recruiting. That is a sobering thought.

Offense is good, when they don’t screw up…. Nebraska moved the ball up and down the field in the second half against Wisconsin.  They even found the end zone to make the game interesting. The problem is they continue to be their own worst enemy.  Holding calls are killing them. Throw in an illegal block in the back and illegal hands to face and they can’t seem to get out of their own way.  I thought the game wasn’t reffed consistently at all and you could argue that Wisconsin was holding all over the place as well, but until Nebraska starts winning some games, they won’t be given the benefit of the doubt.  Hopefully as the Huskers face less talented defensive lines, they will have fewer of these penalties.

We have some Playmakers! … When Nebraska signed Maurice Washington, it was a big deal.  Last week you started to see why. The kid is special. He has a different gear than everyone else on the field.  Nebraska needs to find more like him, but that’s for another blog. J.D. Spielman continues to make teams pay for over protecting to Stanley Morgan’s side of the field.  As teams start to adjust, it should open things up more for Morgan and the tight ends down the field. With Washington showing that he can catch the ball as well as run it, Nebraska may have finally found how they can do what Frost did at Central Florida.  You need playmakers all over the field for the offense to work and I think they are finding the players that can do that.

Score Prediction: Nebraska 32 – Northwestern 31

I think Nebraska has a great shot to win this game.  I know Northwestern knows that too and they will be ready.  I just think Nebraska has worked to improve the last two weeks and is about to show it.  Northwestern isn’t filled with great athletes all over the field, especially on defense. Nebraska has shown that they can take advantage of that.  Offensively, Northwestern has a great quarterback in Clayton Thorson. What they don’t have is a great running game since Jeremy Larkin had to retire.  If the Husker Blackshirts can somehow put pressure on Thorson and not give up more than 2 big plays in the game, I like Nebraska’s chances. Hopefully the Husker Faithful that traveled to Evanston bring their lungs with them and that will help the Huskers finally get over the hump.  Nebraska gets an overdue victory this weekend, GBR!!

The Husker Road Remains Filled with Holes

I keep writing week after week, wondering when it is time to start thinking the Huskers are going to win a game.  After Nebraska failed to win early games they were favored in, it probably won’t be a stretch to say they may not win until they play Bethune-Cookman.

We have already covered the fact that this year’s Husker team has razor thin margin for victory week in and week out.  We know that the defense is going to need to improve to a level that isn’t probable or maybe even doable this season. As fans, it can be frustrating, but every week I come back and I’m thinking, maybe they have a chance?

Now this week may not be THE week that it happens but hear me out.  We finally saw a glimpse of what Adrian Martinez and this offense can be in the second half against Purdue.  We saw a lot of it during Colorado, but when Martinez hurt his knee, the process had to start over again. Devine Ozigbo started to show out as the lead running back, and the wide receiver corps may be about to start a solid rotation.

Adjustments have been made on special teams, but there is still a way to go.  Caleb Lightbourn had a tragic week punting, but J.D. Spielman started at punt returner and looked solid.  Jaron Woodyard seems to be settling in as a kick returner. With any luck, hopefully that part of the equation will start to provide some dividends.  Barrett Pickering hasn’t elevated himself yet, but as a true freshman, you have to think that he will continue to improve as the season goes on.

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Defensively, Nebraska is going to have to figure out a way to establish a pass rush.  Nebraska is toward the bottom of all FBS teams in the country on stopping 3rd and long, but the Blackshirts are in the middle of the pack in overall 3rd down conversion defense.  It’s not like they are big time stoppers, but if the offense doesn’t make any turnovers, Nebraska could upset someone that they aren’t supposed to, just by being a bit above average stopping a team on 3rd down.

If Nebraska can figure out a way to improve their blocking on offense and start to pressure the quarterback on defense, they could fight their way out of this losing streak and start heading the other direction.  It’s a lot to ask, but we see glimpses of it each week. Going to Madison to play the Badgers might not be the time to see it up front, but I think Nebraska will show up this week and give it the old college try. You never know, they might even keep it close.

ON WITH THE REWIND…

Our previous score prediction for the Purdue game was Purdue 33 – Nebraska 27.  The actual score was Purdue winning 42-28 and the Blackshirts again failed to hold up their end of the bargain for most of the game.  They did make some stops in the 4th quarter, but by then the damage was done and the offense couldn’t bail them out.

Quick Notes:

Blackshirts…  David Blough took Nebraska apart for the majority of the game.  Defensively, Nebraska is reaching too much and not filling their responsibilities and it continues to kill them with big plays.  The Huskers held Rondale Moore somewhat in check, which was surprising, but plenty of other playmakers made Nebraska pay.

Wide Receivers…. Losing Tyjon Lindsey may seem like a bad week for the Huskers, but I honestly don’t know if Lindsey was ever going to be a big part of the offense.  Nebraska looked for ways to get him involved and he just never seemed to stand out. Kade Warner starting was a bit of a shock to most of us, but honestly, he played well in his first career start.  Stanley Morgan and J.D. Spielman are all Big Ten performers week after week. Nebraska needs at least one more wideout to step up and really help them out. It would be nice if Mike Williams, Jaron Woodyard or Andre Hunt could be that player.  I expect that we will start to see more of a rotation, if for nothing else, Morgan and Spielman will be burned out by November otherwise.

Tearing it out by the Root … This team has some underlying issues that are keeping the Huskers from reaching their potential.  Whether it’s too many penalties, players not listening and doing their own thing in games, or simply not knowing how to play hard, Coach Scott Frost has had to continuously establish a new culture.  We can face it, it is probably worse than most of us could have imagined. What is happening now is that players that aren’t “all in” continue to disappear from the team or have less playing time. It won’t be pretty and it won’t happen overnight, but Nebraska continues to rip out the old to start planting the new.

Score Prediction: Wisconsin 35 – Nebraska 17

Nebraska figured out some things on offense last week against a Purdue team that was better than anyone probably thought.  They wore the Boilermakers out in the 4th quarter and they made them defend the entire field and the Huskers put up a lot of offense.  I expect Nebraska to put up a lot of yards per play this week, but it probably won’t show up on the scoreboard.  Wisconsin is the worst type of matchup for this Husker team, they physically try to beat you up and Nebraska isn’t quite ready for a game like that.  I think it will be close at half but Wisconsin will keep the ball and wear down the Blackshirts in the end…Don’t worry, we will still be cheering like crazy, as always, GBR!!

Will it be Purdue or Purdon’t for the Huskers?

Ok, when is this madness going to stop?  Nebraska is in a gulch right now that I’m starting to wonder if they will ever be able to climb out of.  The Huskers went to Ann Arbor and were served a steaming pile of dog crap and then forced to eat it. It seems as though Coach Frost isn’t immune to the Big Ten teams looking to pile on to the Huskers.  Jim Harbaugh wanted to send a message and he did. The Huskers turned the ball over on their first possession and the route was on.

Seriously, the Huskers were down 39-0 at halftime and it might as well have been 100 to nothing.  It was if the previous year’s team came back to life. Nebraska looked listless, they looked confused, they were outmanned and they were outplayed.  

I keep wondering when the team that Husker fans can be proud of will show up?  It’s not as if this team was going to win a National Title this year, but dang man, I thought for sure they would at least give good effort each week.  The team was beat as soon as the first turnover happened. You could feel it, even if you were 750 miles from the action sitting in Lincoln.

So what’s it going to take to get this team on the plus side for a change?  First, it starts with repetition. Unfortunately, Nebraska has only had one real game where Adrian Martinez was guaranteed to start the week before the game was played.  He played really well against Colorado. You have to hope that taking all the reps this week will help him get back to how he played that game.

Next, the defense has to play with their hair on fire, especially at home.  They were listless in Michigan. It felt like it was midway through the second quarter before they were on the same page.  That can’t continue to happen, or you will see a repeat against teams like Ohio State, Wisconsin, Michigan State, and God help us Iowa.  Cripes, you could see it from Purdue this weekend or even Minnesota or Illinois for that matter.

The special teams play can’t get any worse, but it can remain awful.  I expect that the coaches will experiment with that until they get it right.  There may be more growing pains, but I suspect we will see some new bodies out there this week, especially on the punting team.

Top it all off with horrible penalties at inopportune times and you have a recipe for 0-3.  Nebraska operates on a razor thin margin against decent teams; they have no room for error against a team as talented as Michigan.  Those penalties have to be cut in half at a minimum for Nebraska to start having a chance to win ball games.

I think what you will find eventually is that they younger players will start getting more time earlier in games.  If the older players continue to play with substandard effort, you might as well start playing the kids that may not know what they are doing, but they do it 100 miles per hour.

This is a big weekend for Nebraska.  They have played two games that they could have won and they missed out.  Games won’t get any easier and the Huskers have to hold serve this weekend at Memorial Stadium.  Purdue has great athletes on offense and a quarterback who has a lot of starts and a lot of ability.  Nebraska has to make him uncomfortable from the start. They did that against Colorado and it made a big difference on their ability to stay in the game.

Nebraska also can’t afford turnovers this weekend.  I know you expect them in an offense like Coach Frost runs, but they can’t be careless with the ball.  If Nebraska has any chance to win this game, they have to win the turnover battle.

The fans will be there to help the Huskers all they can.  If Nebraska can give them something to cheer about, I expect an eruption at Memorial Stadium.  We need a win, they need a win, I need a win, and I suspect you do too. Otherwise, this season is going to be even longer than I could have imagined.

ON WITH THE REWIND…

Our previous score prediction for the Wolverine’s game was Michigan 37 – Nebraska 17.  The actual score was Michigan winning 56-10 and the game was over after the Huskers’ first offensive possession.  Nebraska looked like 2017 wasn’t over and they were beaten in every phase of the game. It was worse than the score and it’s amazing that the Wolverines didn’t put up 70.

Quick Notes:

Adrian Martinez…  Every week I will harp on this, but this team is going to go as far as Martinez can take them.  He needs better blocking, but he also needs to be able to use his speed to keep defenses honest and open up the passing game.  He didn’t look quite ready at Michigan. Until he is healthy enough to pull away from defenders, Nebraska will struggle to score.

Offensive Line…. Offensive is right, they were offensive to my sense of football watching.  That was as bad a performance as I can remember from the offensive line and this line let Tanner Lee take a beating last season.  When does it start to improve? If it doesn’t, I think it’s time to start playing younger guys. You might as well get beat with youth if your veterans are going to allow the quarterback to get beaten up anyway.

Coach Frost … I remember something said last spring when Coach Frost first got back to Lincoln.  It wasn’t that he said it to me, or to the media, but he told someone close to me that there were maybe 3 players on the team that could have played at Central Florida last season.  That doesn’t mean that there isn’t talent on the roster, but it has a long way to go before it can play at a championship level. Recruiting and development take time. Coach Frost needs more time for both.  He knew it then, we know it now.

Score Prediction: Purdue 33 – Nebraska 27

Folks, it pains me to say this, but Nebraska is currently the worst Husker team in my lifetime.  I don’t know if the players felt like Coach Frost would wave a magic wand and they would just play better.  This week is on the players. They didn’t show up in Ann Arbor, I’m not so sure they will show up this week either, but I’m putting my faith in the fact that they won’t quit.  Purdue is further along in the rebuild process than Nebraska is. It pains me greatly to say that, but until I see it on the field, it will be hard for me to predict a Husker victory.  I will still be in the stadium, cheering loud, so with that…GBR!!

Road Game

Ann Arbor, why worry?

After the Nebraska game against Troy was finished last week, I walked back to my vehicle from Memorial Stadium and all I could think about was what I would say this week in this blog.  I had plenty of things to chew on as I walked. Was it Scott Frost’s fault that our back-up quarterback was a walk on junior college transfer that had no other Division one offers? Why when the chips were down, couldn’t the Blackshirts get a stop on 3rd and long…again?  How does Nebraska continue to put up yards and fail to reach the end zone?  When I get home and watch the reply on the punt returned for a touchdown, how mad will I be that people didn’t maintain the integrity of their lanes and how many players went rogue?  Why do we consistently turn the ball over, yet very seldom create our own turnovers?

The conclusion to almost all those questions is that Nebraska is operating with a very thin margin for error.  When Nebraska makes a mistake right now, no matter when, where or how big it may seem, it may be the one break the other team needs to win the game.  When Nebraska has a backup walk on quarterback playing, you realize that as much as we may like Andrew Bunch, he isn’t going to make a defense hesitate.  You don’t have to worry about Bunch beating you with his legs, especially when he is probably limited by the staff from trying to make plays that would get him hurt.  It doesn’t get better if he were to go down for any length of time.

The Blackshirts continue to be solid, but when they get yet another penalty, no matter how ticky tack, on a crucial 3rd down, it seems like it kills them.  Never mind that they held Troy to 17 points, it wasn’t enough to help the team win.

Why don’t we have another scholarship quarterback on the roster than can play this fall?  Surely Coach Frost could have known that Tristan Gebbia not getting the job might end up forcing the kid to transfer, right?  I know I questioned the thought process of not bringing in Joe Burrow, now quarterbacking LSU or even Terry Wilson, the quarterback for Kentucky right now.  It was easy to see after the spring that Nebraska was going to be alright with their young quarterbacks, but what was the contingency if they both were hurt or if one left?  I imagine hindsight being what it is, Frost would have brought in another quarterback. Who cares what kids here thought at the time, this is big boy football. There is competition at every University.  The decision to not bring anyone else in may keep Nebraska from going to a bowl game.

Now, what if Adrian Martinez returns this week for Nebraska and plays for the next ten weeks in a row?  That decision is no longer looks at like a mistake if that scenario plays out. If Martinez stays healthy at all for most of the season, I don’t think anyone would argue that we needed another quarterback.  Of course, no one knew that Gebbia was going to leave when he didn’t win the starting job. It all becomes a moot point if Nebraska somehow rebounds and goes 6-4 down the stretch.

See, the point I’m getting at, is that Nebraska is operating on the slimmest of margins right now.  Scott Frost is trying to establish his “culture” and for better or worse, that’s not going to happen overnight.  As Husker fans, we all knew in the back of our minds that this team was closer to 4-8 than 8-4 that we all hoped they were.  Had Martinez played against Akron, maybe Nebraska wins that game. Then he has fewer hiccups against Colorado, Nebraska pulls that out.  Maybe he doesn’t get hurt against CU, then Nebraska clears Troy after a hard-fought game. Now you are 3-0, you only need to go 3-6 the rest of the season to get into a bowl.  Again, slim margin.

It's going to be that way for 2018 unfortunately.  Will fortune turn in the Huskers favor? I don’t know that it will happen this fall.  I will say this, I plan on watching every game, despite these situations. I still have hope.  I know that this staff, along with Coach Frost know how to win ball games. Wins will come. Maybe they won’t be at the pace that we want, but they will come.  As we watch the season, you must imagine that it is, ah, but part of the opening of a play. There will be many more scenes to watch before the end is written. Right now, the opening act is a bit frightening.  Will Husker fans be patient enough for the ride?

ON WITH THE REWIND…

Our previous score prediction for the Troy game was Nebraska 31 – Troy 21.  The actual score was Troy winning 24-19 and while it looks close, Nebraska was never in control.  The Huskers failed to score touchdowns in the red zone and a returned punt for a touchdown from Troy probably sealed Nebraska’s fate.  Nebraska can ill afford to make mistakes, even against teams they are favored to beat.

Special Live Show Right
After the Michigan Game!

Quick Notes:

Adrian Martinez…  It is very clear that for Nebraska to have any success this season at all, Martinez is going to need to play most of the snaps in every game.  With all due respect to Andrew Bunch, Martinez is a guy that will win 30 or more games at Nebraska if he stays healthy. Mr. Bunch won’t touch that mark.  If Bunch starts against Michigan this week, Nebraska probably won’t be able to keep the game close. If Martinez can go and is fully healthy, this game takes on an entirely different dimension.

Special Teams, not so Special…. Be it Tyjon Lindsey returning punts, Caleb Lightbourn punting, or Barrett Pickering missing field goals, Nebraska’s special teams have been subpar in two games.  That may be putting it mildly. I think that Jovan Dewitt, the Nebraska special teams coach is feeling it as well. When the margins for winning are as thin as they are, special teams can be a great equalizer.  Nebraska must improve on that this week, if they have any hope of playing the Wolverines close.

Wide Receiver, where did you go? … If your name isn’t Stanley Morgan or J.D. Spielman, did you get to play against Troy?  I could hardly remember a sequence of plays if one of, if not both wideouts were on the field last weekend.  Offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Troy Walters said that both were worn out in the fourth quarter.  Someone else needs to step in and take some snaps from these guys. College wide receivers should have 5-8 players rotating in throughout a game.  I think Nebraska was lucky to have four that played consistently last weekend. Someone needs to step up.

Blackshirts…. They play so well at times, and yet they reverted to 2017 multiple times against Troy. By either allowing a long run by the backup quarterback, or committing crucial penalties, or getting a targeting call, the defense continues to be its own worst enemy.  This unit is on the come, in my opinion, if they can hold it together until the offense starts putting up some points to relieve some pressure. I think this unit could surprise us all. They still have problems in the secondary, but they can clean that up. I’d like to hope for a big jump this weekend in Ann Arbor.

Score Prediction: Michigan 37 – Nebraska 17

I’d like to say I’m as big a sunshine pumper as there is, but even I am skeptical about how this first road game will go for the Huskers.  Even if Adrian Martinez plays this week (I have my doubts that he will) Michigan will be looking to put it to Nebraska. The Big Ten has heard all off season about how great Scott Frost is, I expect teams to kick Nebraska while they are down.  I’m optimistic that this is going to get turned around, I just don’t think it will happen in the Big House. I hope I’m way off on this one, GBR!!

Let's Get Us A Win Today!

Man, talk about a crazy start to the season.  First, we get lightning firing across the sky to cancel the Akron game, then we give up 14 quick points to Colorado, scratch and claw back to get the lead, only to see it evaporate and almost come with a season crusher of losing Adrian Martinez.  You almost wonder if the Huskers have a curse on them. I don’t think that’s the case, but you never know.

Nebraska had Colorado beat, they controlled the line of scrimmage in the first half, really on both sides for the most part.  They had multiple times to put them away, but give the Buffs credit, their quarterback Steven Montez was money when they needed it most.  Despite having 565 yards in total offense, Nebraska turned the ball over three times and missed a field goal. When you have a tight game against a good team, those types of things get you beat.  

The Husker Blackshirts even showed up in style and they harassed Montez to the tune of seven sacks.  I can’t remember a game in the last 5 years that we had that many sacks. I’m not sure that Nebraska will get that every game this season, but the pass rush looks to be improved significantly.  Nebraska shut down the run, ran the football themselves and still couldn’t pull out the victory. Sometimes teams get beat in games like that, good teams though, generally do not.

So that leads us to this, is Nebraska good, going to be good or probably not going to be the year that they win 8 or 9 games?  Nebraska was dealt a pretty bad hand missing out on the Akron game. Most of the time, you get to work the kinks out on a subpar opponent, then follow that up with a game against a decent Power 5 program.  When Akron was canceled, it not only cost Nebraska a win, but many people argue it cost them the Colorado game as well. When you are 0-1, when you really planned on being 2-0, you must admit this is not the way you wanted the season to start.

Nebraska needs some momentum and they need it now.  If for some crazy reason Andrew Bunch is the starting quarterback for more than this weekend’s game against Troy, Nebraska could easily be 1-2 and the confidence that this staff has tried to implement all off season could start to wear down.  This group of kids has been pretty numbed by losing a lot of games since they have been here. Sometimes it is easy to start down that path, you know the one, with the least resistance.

I think they will get it going though.  Whether Adrian Martinez misses one game or two games, Scott Frost doesn’t seem to me like the coach that will allow things to start slipping away.  This week he said he didn’t want to reschedule Akron in December because the Huskers plan on playing in the Big Ten title game that weekend. Considering where things were when Martinez had to be helped off the field, I’d say that Coach Frost isn’t short of confidence in himself, his staff or his team.

It’s all just another reason why this thing is going to get turned around.  When you play with passion like the Huskers did last weekend, and you are consistent in your beliefs and philosophies on offense and defense, you will see wins start to pile up.  It may not all happen this season, but it is going to happen. Nebraska fans haven’t had much to cheer about since about 2016, it would be nice if the Huskers could break the losing string and show everyone that this is about to get turned upside down.

ON WITH THE REWIND…

Our previous score prediction for the Colorado game was Nebraska 33 – Colorado 26.  The actual score was Colorado winning 33-28 basically the reverse of what we predicted.  I’ve said it already, but that game will sit in this team’s craw for a while, they had to work hard to get it and they had it.  If we have learned anything, this Husker program needs to get their groove back.

Quick Notes:

Adrian Martinez…  There are two things that stand out about this kid.  First, he is the best athlete we have had at quarterback since Taylor Martinez played at Nebraska.  The next thing is, because he is so good, this team isn’t going to go far without him. He changes the game for the entire team.  You have to account for him in the run game, and he looks like he is going to make some plays with his arm. I think of his passing like Tommy Armstrong.  We are going to have to live with some mistakes once in a while, but when he makes it work, it’s going to be as good as it’s been in a long time. He is going to take some hits, and we knew he may not play an entire season.  I’m just thankful that this injury wasn’t a season ending one, Nebraska fans have suffered enough.

Sacks, Sacks, Sacks…. After Colorado scored on their first two possessions, I started to get a little worried.  Last season was such a train wreck on defense, I thought even if they were only a little better, we would be ok.  The start of the game sure looked like they weren’t going to be much improved. After those drives though, you could see the team started to settle down.  Let’s face facts, they were put in some pretty sad spots to start out and once they figured a couple things out, they let it fly for the most part. The defensive line put consistent pressure on Montez and Nebraska had multiple tackles in the CU backfield.  If Nebraska can continue to put pressure on the quarterback like they did last week, this defense could actually win Nebraska a game or two this season. Sacks may have been overrated to some of our previous defensive coaches, but they aren’t overrated to me.  They change the outlook for this team completely.

Running Back Committee… It didn’t matter if it was Greg Bell, Devine Ozigbo or Maurice Washington, the running back group looks to be much stronger than last season already.  That bodes well for the season, as it will take pressure off Martinez and give the Huskers some life on the road. I still think that some other people will emerge out of that position as the season wears on, but for my money, they are all keeping the seat warm for Washington.  Once that kid figures out what he is doing, he could be a game breaker for Nebraska. At this point, there will be a lot of carries to share, it seems like this group is doing a good job with their opportunities.

Andrew Bunch…If I had told you last season that Andrew Bunch would be the starter for the second game of the 2018 season, you probably would have told me to get my head examined.  Well turns out, it is happening this weekend. Bunch looks like a good if not above average quarterback for this system. Nebraska is lucky he is on the roster, and Bunch will have multiple opportunities to show what he can do against Troy.  Like any first-time starter, he needs to keep his turnovers in check, and Nebraska should have success. I’m not certain that Martinez won’t play, but I’m almost positive Bunch will be the starter Saturday morning.

Secondary…One of my biggest concerns this year was going to be the secondary.  Last weekend was a cornucopia of good and bad plays by this unit. They really supported the run and made some great open field plays that we haven’t seen in a long time.  On the flip side, the safeties being out of position on long sideline plays and Antonio Reed’s crazy personal foul in the fourth quarter show that this group has a way to go to be great.  On the other side of the pillow, they actually settled down and allowed a few coverage sacks on Montez. We haven’t seen that against anyone good for years. This group is going to be solid, maybe not All Conference type, but they will probably be better than we thought.

Score Prediction: Nebraska 31 – Troy 21

This is a must win for the Huskers.  I don’t care if Lady Gaga was going to play quarterback this week, Nebraska has the talent on offense to put up yards on this Troy defense.  Nebraska needs to take care of the ball and create turnovers and they should come out of this game alright. If the Huskers stumble and go to Ann Arbor 0-2, the natives will be a little restless.  Andrew Bunch is a serviceable back up and he will prove that this weekend. Nebraska will dominate the lines of scrimmage an come out on the other side ready for Big Ten play. As always, GBR!!