Can Nebraska Deny The Illini A Win In Lincoln?

If the first half the Husker season was soap opera, it would have won multiple daytime Emmy awards.  Intrigue, sudden twists, surprising results, and out and out drama have been the focus of the first half plus one game.

What’s the stretch run going to bring?

We already know that a coaching search is already over one month in and still has a month to go.  That alone has been a crazy ride.  Rumor and innuendo radiate all over Husker Nation, be it on the radio airwaves, message boards or newspaper articles.  I can barely talk to anyone that doesn’t ask me who the frontrunner might be, who is a dark horse candidate, will Mickey Joseph get the job or is it going to be Lane Kiffin?

On the inside of the University, the players and coaches are still trying to put together a season to qualify for a bowl game.  While it’s not likely, the fact is, winning three more games is within reach, but Nebraska will need to pull an upset somewhere along the way.  It’s also doubtful that they will be favored in more than one game going forward.  That would mean they will have to win at least two games they aren’t expected to win.

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After the Purdue game, it became apparent that Nebraska simply doesn’t have the horses on defense to keep up with many good offenses.  I’m not talking about great offenses, I’m talking about good ones.  The only team left with a poor offense is Iowa, but they would be just as happy winning 5-3 as they would be scoring 24 points in a game and winning, so that’s far from an easy victory.

Nebraska has proven to have likely the best wide receiver in the conference outside of Columbus, Ohio.  Unfortunately, they can’t seem to put together a running game to compliment him.  If you throw in a defense that can’t seem to stop the run, then you start to wonder if Nebraska will win any of their remaining five games.

Each team left on the schedule is a power team.  Each one will make Nebraska pay for not fighting to own the line of scrimmage, both offensively and defensively.

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So far Mickey Joseph has surprised us by making Nebraska more competitive and a little tougher than they thought they were a month ago.  If he truly wants to be the head coach at Nebraska, finishing with three more wins, with this team and this schedule, might be enough to get it done.

(Predictions are at the end if you don’t want to read the rest!)

ON WITH THE REWIND…

Last game prediction was Purdue 31 Nebraska 23.  The actual score was Purdue 43, Nebraska 37.  Nebraska’s defense didn’t bother to show up and Nebraska still had its chances to take this game.  If the defense had made two more stops in the game, it’s likely the offense would have done enough to win.  With the sieve for an offensive line, the offense itself was a minor miracle.  Trey Palmer made Purdue’s defense look like they were in high school.  Unfortunately, the former Blackshirts made Aiden O’Connell look like an NFL All Pro.

Quick Notes:

Trey Palmer…What else can you say about Palmer after a game like that?  He was unstoppable.  He dropped a pass that was costly during the game, but he more than made up for it by beating his coverage so often that I was beginning to wonder if anyone was even covering him.  For good measure he added a 60-yard run to tack onto his career night.  If Palmer has anywhere near as good of a game the rest of the season, it’s likely that he will be in the NFL next year.  Not bad for a transfer.

Sacks…Nebraska was unable to touch O’Connell for most of the night.  I was surprised that he had 19 incompletions because it felt like he was throwing against the air most of the night.  If Nebraska is going to have any chance the remainder of the season, Garrett Nelson, Caleb Tannor and Ochaun Mathis are going to have to deliver at least two combined sacks a game.  Not getting to the quarterback is simply unacceptable.

Casey Thompson…If you remember one thing about this season, remember Thompson’s toughness.  Thompson has been hit so many times, I’m starting to wonder if he can feel his arms.  To his credit, he has hung in their and provide Nebraska with only offense that they have in the majority of their games.  If Anthony Grant doesn’t get it back together, it’s doubtful Thompson will play more than three more games this season.

Milk Carton…I feel like there are too many faces on the Husker bench that need to contribute as the season goes on.  First is Rahmir Johnson.  Nebraska is at its best when Johnson was able to stretch the field horizontally and vertically last season.  Hopefully he is healthy now.  Tack on Alante Brown and Omar Manning.  Those two guys have virtually disappeared from the game plan.  Nebraska needs at least two of those three to come back and provide some help.  If Tommi Hill can somehow get worked into the offensive game plan, maybe Grant and Palmer will have their load lessened to keep them fresh for the rest of the season.  And why can’t there be a Logan Smothers package?  Why keep your fastest quarterback out of the action each week?  Bring him in for some surprise plays once in a while.

Score Prediction:  Illinois 34, Nebraska 28

I so badly want to pick the Huskers this weekend.  Coming off from a bye week, getting a chance to heal up a bit, should be great for Nebraska.  The fact that the game is at home, and the crowd can help them when momentum seems to be shifting should be worth at least 10 points in this game.  My biggest concern is the Illini’s ability to create turnovers.  Nebraska won’t play a more aggressive defense until they play Iowa when it comes to trying to create big plays on defense.  How the Huskers offensive line handles the Illinois front, along with the turnover differential will be the reason the Huskers win or lose this game.  I hope I’m wrong, I’d love to see this score flipped.  Cheer loud Husker Fans and GBR!!

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Mickey Continues to Work

It wasn’t pretty.  It wasn’t easy.  I said to my family after Nebraska turned the ball over after a blocked punt in the first half that the game was probably over at that point.  No way the Huskers would come back from the debacle of the first half of the game.

Something happened though, something that we have not seen for a long time.  Rutgers didn’t take advantage of Nebraska’s screw ups.  The inability to move the ball on offense wasn’t offset by a myriad of defensive blunders.  Nebraska continued to fight.  The fought, almost to the point that I was surprised they weren’t down 24-0 at halftime.  I let my mind wander.  Could Nebraska come back? 

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I’ve harped often that in the last five years, something was missing in Lincoln.  Nebraska was so close so many times but fell short way too often.  There was a sense of dread under Scott Frost, wondering how Nebraska would blow it in the end.  In a strange way, Mickey Joseph has cleared that hurdle in two weeks.  Nebraska has bowed, but they have not been broken.  At least not yet.

Nebraska’s defense has completely flipped the script from the first quarter of the season.  They play with passion, energy, and a fight that they didn’t have until after Oklahoma.  They also play with a sense of togetherness that we may not have seen this season without a change in coaching.

The other thing I noticed is that the team seems to be a team now.  Special teams, defense, offense, all celebrating one another when they come off the field.  I’m not saying it never happened under Coach Frost, but it seems like it stands out more.

The season is halfway over.  Nebraska hits the meat of their schedule with a beat-up offensive line, limited running backs, a banged up tight end room.  These are not markers of a team that is about to go on a run.  In the past, I had a hard time seeing how Nebraska would win another game this season.  After last week, I don’t know that I can tell which games Nebraska will win on their schedule, but for the first time in years, I feel like they will win more games.  That has been a big change.  You can thank Mickey Joseph for that. (Predictions are at the end if you don’t want to read the rest!)

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ON WITH THE REWIND…

Last game prediction was Nebraska 35, Rutgers 27.  The actual score was Nebraska 14, Rutgers 13.  So, I was a little off on how the offense would do last week.  It happens.  Nebraska could barely block long enough to hold Rutgers out of the backfield at all last week.  They must improve or Casey Thompson won’t make it through six more games.  On the flip side, the Blackshirts (even if they aren’t coming back this season, they earned them back in my mind) played with the fury of a team that wouldn’t be beat.  Nebraska did what they had to do to win.  It’s been a while since we have seen a game like that.

Quick Notes:

Trey Palmer…The best transfer in Nebraska history?  Well maybe not yet, but Palmer is making the case.  The former LSU Tiger has been everything the Huskers could have hoped for and more.  He is on pace to shatter multiple receiver records for a season.  Nebraska must continue to find other receivers to take pressure off of Palmer as teams start to shift coverage.  If the Huskers can do that, Palmer can continue to make big plays when teams lose sight of him.

Garrett Nelson…People often ask me if I think Nelson will play in the NFL.  I think there isn’t much doubt that he will.  If he plays with the fire that he brings to the table every week, he will make a roster out of sheer will.  Nelson is a throwback to the 90s if there ever was one.  It’s unfortunate that he had to play so much when he was young and wasn’t quite ready.  If he stays healthy, Nelson is Nebraska’s best chance for an All-Conference defensive player.

Luke Reimer…No one seems to have unleased themselves under Bill Busch as defensive coordinator, quite as much as Reimer.  Reimer has always been fast, but he seems to be playing with more freedom and a better understanding of his role this season.  Reimer is playing banged up this week, but if Nebraska has any chance to win, he must play at a high level.

Colton Feist…Talk about a walk on story to use to recruit small town Nebraska kids.  Feist has been a huge blessing on the defensive line.  The Yutan native played arguably his best game against Rutgers.  Along with Ty Robinson and Devin Drew, the defensive tackles are starting to be a strength for the Huskers.  If Nebraska is to have any chance against the run heavy teams at the back end of their schedule, these three will have to continue to stand tall.

Score Prediction:  Purdue 31, Nebraska 23

At the beginning of the week, I thought Purdue would cover the two touchdowns they are favored by, possibly easy.  After hearing about their injury woes, that may be worse than Nebraska’s, I think the Huskers will be in this game.  Aiden O’Connell is likely the best quarterback in the Big Ten outside of Columbus, Ohio.  He has tormented Nebraska fans for the last few years, and I doubt that stops this week.  Nebraska will have to play sound in the defensive backfield to have any chance at winning this game.  Nebraska should move the ball on offense and hopefully they will get their running game going enough to keep the ball away from O’Connell.  I expect a hard-fought game, even if Nebraska comes up short. GBR!!

Friday Night Husker Lights

What an interesting week in Lincoln.  For the first time in a long time, it was ok to think about football and not the circus surrounding the program.  Winning will do that to you.

It won’t be an easy season for Mickey Joseph and the Huskers, but it may not be impossible either.  It is easy to think that Nebraska really could have been 0-4 going against Indiana, and you could argue maybe they should have been.  

Last week did something I didn’t know if we would have again this year.  It gave Husker Nation hope.  

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Nebraska has never been as bad as their record under Scott Frost.  The most maddening thing about his regime was that Nebraska lost close games at a rate that we may never see again.  It was so frustrating to think that Nebraska was close every week, only to see it slip away, or the Huskers were unable to come back even with momentum on their side.

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As Nebraska moves forward with their Big Ten schedule, the Big Ten West seems more wide open than ever.  Nebraska probably is still a long way from competing for the division title, but the Huskers could be a major pain the ass for all the other teams fighting to come out on top.  

Nebraska still has a premier running back (Anthony Grant), along with what I think is a premier quarterback (Casey Thompson).  Add in what is likely a premier wide receiver with Trey Palmer, and it’s hard to find an offense in the west that has as many solid players as the Huskers.

So, what will Joseph and offensive coordinator Mark Whipple be able to shake out of this outfit the rest of the season?  Nebraska still has one of the worst offensive lines in the Big Ten and unless they start to protect the quarterback at a much more consistent manner, one or two more wins might be a stretch.

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We also have to wonder if the defense actually made a leap, or if they just played a bad Indiana team?

What will we see going forward?  Will there be actual improvement as the season moves forward?  We haven’t seen that since Scott Frost’s first year.  Can the special teams continue to find ways to help and make plays that change games in Nebraska’s favor?  Will new players continue to come out of the woodwork to provide playmaking that the Huskers desperately need?

So many answers to be had, and a lot of season left to find out.  Finally, we may have a little hope.

(Predictions are at the end if you don’t want to read the rest!)

ON WITH THE REWIND…

Last game prediction was Nebraska 35, Indiana 34.  The actual score was Nebraska 35, Indiana 21.  It wasn’t always pretty.  Nebraska likely should have been up at least 24-14 at the halftime and you could argue they should have been ahead more than that.  The defense showed up in the second half to dominate an opponent.  It has been a long time since Nebraska made adjustments that shut down a team in the fourth quarter.  It was an ugly game, but a beautiful win for the Huskers.

Quick Notes:

Anthony Grant…If Grant can stay healthy, he could have the best Husker running back season since Ameer Abdullah was All Conference a decade ago.  Grant continues to find space when there is little.  When the offensive line does make holes, he takes advantage.  As the season turns colder, the more Grant and Gabe Ervin are able to carry the ball, the better chance Nebraska has to win games.

Malcom Hartzog…Hartzog reminded me a lot of Cam Taylor-Britt when he committed to the Huskers.  Super athlete from the south that may have been overlooked but could be athletic enough to compete at corner right away.  It took a few games, but Hartzog started and played a big game against Indiana.  Nebraska will need Hartzog to learn fast as teams will start to pick on him.  A great special teams touchdown was a small taste of what we could see from Hartzog during his career.

Casey Thompson…Can’t get to upset at Thompson.  He continues to take hits game after game and still has three or four drives a game where you go, man, really missed something there.  The thing with Thompson is, he is so good on the other half of his drives that you just wonder what it would take for him to have a great, all around four quarters?  I think his best games are yet to come.  He needs another receiver to pop outside of Palmer, but Thompson continues to show he could be the class of the Big Ten West.

Score Prediction:  Nebraska 35, Rutgers 27

If Nebraska is able to continue the defense we saw against Indiana, then they will win this game at Rutgers by three scores.  I don’t know that the Blackshirts are back, but if they can be halfway consistent, the Huskers should pull this game out on the road.  Another thing about this game, if Mickey Joseph wants to have any chance at the head coaching job next season, this is a game that he must win.  A lot riding on this game.  Especially on a crazy Friday Night Lights schedule.  Rutgers will be physical, and Nebraska will need to match them.  It is time for Nebraska to win two Big Ten games in a row since 2018.  That’s exactly what they will do. GBR!!

Husk the Hoosiers!

If you thought the Husker season couldn’t get any stranger, or worse, along comes the Big Ten schedule.  Nebraska has been awful in the Big Ten for over half a decade.  It’s hard to imagine that much will be different this season, but the schedule is intriguing enough that the Huskers could squeeze out some victories if they hit the right chords.

The question is, what are those chords?  Oklahoma came to Lincoln to take care of business and they hammered a Nebraska team that was simply running on steam.  Nebraska scored early on scripted plays, but after that series, breakdowns by the line and then missed assignments made the offense predictable.  Unable to protect Casey Thompson, the Sooners crashed the line of scrimmage with abandon and the offense stopped working.

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Throw in a terrible defense, and you have the fixings of a good ole ass whipping.  Nebraska’s defense has so many holes, you might be hard pressed to find an actual defense right now.  Firing Erik Chinander was another move that needed to be made.  Now Bill Busch takes on a task that he never imagined would be his when he came back to Lincoln.

The Huskers have had two weeks off and although that isn’t enough time to fix everything, you can at least catch your breath.  Like it or not, Nebraska has eight more games to play.  They can either figure out that they can win a couple or pack it in and take beating after beating.  Something tells me they have a little more fight in them than that. (As always you may skip to the end to my prediction.)

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ON WITH THE REWIND…

Last game prediction was Oklahoma 41 Nebraska 31.  The actual score was Oklahoma 49, Nebraska 14.  As we said before, Nebraska was overmatched after the first series.  Nebraska looked like a team that had nothing left and OU took them to the cleaners.

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Quick Notes:

Turner Corcoran…Corcoran moves back to left tackle.  He was playing left guard before Teddy Prochaska went out for the rest of the season with an injury.  Corcoran was solid as a guard, but he will need to play at another level for Nebraska to have any success in the passing game.  This may be the one move Nebraska can make some lemonade out of some lemons.  Corcoran has the pedigree and the size to be all conference.  He will need to step up and play like it.

Luke Reimer…Reimer has played like he has to do it all.  The problem is, he has unable to do much of anything.  Reimer has overplayed the run and had little to do with defending the pass.  It may behoove Bill Busch to turn the uber fast linebacker lose in the passing game to rush the passer.  He also needs to maintain his gaps and do his job.  Reimer has the best chance of any defender to play at a high level moving forward.  Hopefully he allows himself to just compete and not get taken out of plays.

Trey Palmer…So far, Palmer has played at an all-conference level.  Palmer leads the team in catches and yards.  He has the ability to stretch the field and clearly has been able to get open against a better team like Oklahoma.  Palmer will have to stay healthy to help Nebraska, but I can see him eclipsing 1,000 yards this season if he does.

Score Prediction:  Nebraska 35, Indiana 34

Nebraska needs to come out and set the tone on offense early and the defense has to make a couple stops in the first half.  If they are able to do that, I think Nebraska can ride the home crowd to a victory.  Fail to stop the Hoosiers and their go, go, go tempo and the game can get out of hand in a hurry.  Nebraska will have the nighttime crowd behind them.  I believe that this time they will come out with a Big Ten victory.  Here is to a good game and GBR!!

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A Different Era Off and Running 

I thought about writing this earlier in the week but decided to let the dust settle a bit.  I think I was more emotional about Scott Frost being let go on Monday, for some reason that has all kind of faded away as we get ready for Oklahoma to come to Lincoln.  Mickey Joseph has taken over the interim coaching job, and I guess I feel like we are just moving forward. 

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What a strange feeling it was to read Sean Callahan’s report that Frost was likely going to be let go on Sunday morning.  I knew the aftermath of losing to Georgia Southern was bad, but I didn’t think it would be 7 million dollars of buy out money bad.  I was like a lot of people, if Frost was going to get fired it would be after the Indiana game and we would have 7 weeks to figure out who was going to be on the hot list of new coaches.

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After the news broke, and Mickey Joseph was named the interim coach, I also had a sense of relief.  I thought at the beginning of the season, if they made an in season coaching change that it might be Erik Chinander the defensive coordinator, who would be given the title.  While I think Chinander is a good coach, Joseph has the energy and the temperament to light a fire under what has so far been a listless team.

Nebraska is in a bad place right now.  I feel like the pressure to perform had killed whatever joy there was in the team and coaching at Nebraska for Coach Frost.  He brought a lot of that on himself.  He never seemed to embrace the job, all the work that it entails and the actual fun of coaching college kids.  It was more as if he wanted to be home, be around friends and old college teammates, but really wasn’t interested in putting in the time that is required to be a topflight Big Ten coach.  Nebraska never really seemed to bring him the joy that he had at the University of Central Florida.

These jobs are intense.  You need to have a one-track mind all the time, trying to make your team better, no matter what.  Frost didn’t act like he wanted to do that.  He made massive changes to the offensive staff, but it was probably two years too late.  He failed to upgrade certain position coaches with better coaches when some chose to go elsewhere.  Frost never seemed like he wanted to go after the really big fish in recruiting and the losing certainly brought down the cache that Frost had earned at Central Florida.  Not everyone can be successful being a big-time college football coach.  There are multiple reasons why it didn’t work for Frost, but to be honest, the next person will probably have to grind twice as hard to help this program get back to the level it was before Bo Pelini was fired.

Whatever is going to happen in December, when the new coach is hired, there will be optimism in place once again in Lincoln.  How much optimism will be short lived unless that new coach can make a huge splash in recruiting or come out and win multiple games out of the gate next season.  Nebraska is in a major slump right now.  The next coach certainly will have his work cut out for him.  Hopefully it will provide some excitement for the beat down fans that are simply losing faith that anyone will turn it around.

(Predictions are at the end if you don’t want to read the rest!)

ON WITH THE REWIND…

Last game prediction was Nebraska 38, Georgia Southern 28.  The actual score was Georgia Southern 45 Nebraska 42.  It felt like going into the game that the defense might give up a lot of points, but this was astonishing.  I would say that this was the most devastating loss in Husker football history, but honestly, losing to Troy State and Northern Illinois had softened me up for this one.  I sat in disbelief watching the “Blackshirts” give up big play after big play.  You can’t imagine how bad you need to play to lose a game to a Sun Belt conference team, while your offense puts up 42 points and basically has there way with them.  Nebraska still found a way.  Like I said, astonishing.

Quick Notes:

Casey Thompson…I tweeted it out after the game on Saturday, but Nebraska is wasting a star on offense.  Thompson may be the best quarterback at Nebraska since Eric Crouch.  Thompson has had a couple of rough drives, but he is a college player, and you expect some of that.  Thompson continues to make the passing game look simple and is remarkably accurate.  I just shudder to think what Thompson would have been like with a defense like last years Husker team.  The offense is almost single handedly winning games for Nebraska.  He just needs some help from defense and special teams.  Will he ever get it?

Blackshirts…I don’t know what to say.  Smarter football people than I can explain the scheme problems that plague the Huskers so far.  The one thing I do know, you will never win games if you allow the opposing teams’ quarterbacks to sit in the pocket as long as they like.  Nebraska should be getting a pass rush and they need to figure it out now.  The personnel are supposed to be adept at that, but they have failed immensely.  Right now, nothing is working, so it’s possible we need to see different players out there because the current group simply isn’t good enough.

Next Coach…I will go on record today, if I’m Trev Alberts, my first call would be to Urban Meyer.  I understand the background on Meyer, and I get why people would have trepidation.  If Nebraska wants to be a big time program, Meyer would make it that the day he put on the “N”.  My second call would be Lane Kiffin.  Kiffin would be a home run hire.  He recruits at a high level, is a phenomenal offensive mind and he would surround himself with great coaches and staff.  After that, I’d look at Dave Aranda at Baylor.  He has turned that program around and is very familiar with the Big Ten and all that it entails.  

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I think all three of those choices would have Nebraska competing for the Big Ten west division title in 3 years or less.  Nebraska is not an easy place to recruit at, and all three of those coaches have proven their abilities to coach and recruit at a high level.  They all have some type of tie to Nebraska as well, be it through current staff, or former staff that they have worked with in the past.  

I get that people are going to say that you might want a dependable program builder like Lance Leipold at Kansas or Matt Campbell at Iowa State, but if you don’t try and hit a home run this go around, you may not get another opportunity if you are Trev Alberts.  And for good measure, I’d steal Kendal Briles from Arkansas as my offensive coordinator while I’m at it.

Score Prediction:  Oklahoma 41, Nebraska 31

I would love to see Mickey Joseph come out and waste the Sooners in his debut as Husker head coach.  Nebraska should see an increase in juice in Memorial Stadium this weekend.  I just don’t think that will be enough.  Oklahoma has a strong defense and great pass rush.  Nebraska’s offensive line is playing better, but they still are about average at best.  If Nebraska puts up more than 35 points, they have a great shot to win, but I think we may just come up short.  I’m all aboard the Mickey Joseph train, either way! GBR!!

Will Nebraska’s Run Game Grant Us Another Win?

As Nebraska gets set to play Georgia Southern in the last “pre-season” game before the regular season kicks in, the Huskers have one last chance to work out the kinks.  I think for obvious reasons, going to Ireland was very costly to the Huskers.  They took a hard loss in Dublin, then followed that up with an asleep at the wheel performance to open the home season in Lincoln. (As always you can skip to the end for my prediction)

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It would be easy to see that there are many issues that Nebraska will have to overcome to be a bowl eligible team.  You could argue that they may look like a three-win team again.  

I’m going to wait a couple weeks to go down that road.  One thing that we have learned since Bo Pelini left Lincoln is that the non-conference games are not always a cake walk, but they can be a harbinger of things to come.

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I did see something in the second half that gives Nebraska fans some hope.  Anthony Grant and to a lesser extent, Ajay Allen.  Nebraska has suffered at running back since Devin Ozigbo went to the NFL.  They haven’t had a 1,000 rusher since 2018, which happened to be Ozigbo.  When Scott Frost came to Nebraska, I was fairly certain that Nebraska would run the football at an epic clip.  Unfortunately, most of that came from Adrian Martinez and it was far from epic.

If Grant and Allen can stay healthy, they could between them, easily eclipse 1,700 yards rushing this season.  If they can do that, Nebraska can keep their head above water in the Big Ten.  This is a big if, but after two games, I feel confident in saying that it could happen.  Taking pressure off Casey Thompson will be a great counterbalance for the Husker offense.  This hasn’t happened since Frost’s first year, which is arguably the most complete season Nebraska has put together after they started 0-6.

I know the defense has a long way to go, and I understand that the offensive line must compete better than they have the first two games, but for the first time in a long time, the best player on a Husker offense might be a running back.  We haven’t seen that since Ameer Abdullah left Lincoln.

ON WITH THE REWIND…

Last game prediction was Nebraska 38, North Dakota 28.  The actual score was Nebraska 38, North Dakota 17.  I wasn’t surprised about the first half of the game to be honest.  It was a short week for Nebraska, and it looked like they weren’t ready to go in the first half.  The great part of last week’s game was that Nebraska put it together in the second half and ran away with the game.  I expect more fire from a Nebraska night crowd this week.  Although the opponent may be a bit better, Nebraska should rebound from last weeks game much quicker as well.

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Quick Notes:

Anthony Grant…Grant is the one.  The one that we have waited for.  I know, people keep saying it was against Northwestern and North Dakota.  The thing about that is, those types of runs are runs you can earn against better teams as well, if you have blocking.  If the offensive line can improve enough to be above average, Grant will be in the mix for an All Big Ten pick.  The best part is, Ajay Allen looks like he is going to be a player as well.  The entire season likely rests on Nebraska’s ability to run the football.  This was a huge lift of hope for the Huskers.

Omar Manning…As much as Omar was hyped coming out of Junior College and as much as he teased fans last year with some great looking catches, it was a relief just to see him last week.  Manning has the build of an NFL wideout right now.  Very few players on the team walk off the bus looking like a star.  If Manning can give Nebraska 30-40 snaps each week, that would be a tremendous boost for the team.  Manning can block as well as anyone and he is a bear to cover in the open field.  I hope for his sake he is able to take over more as he gets more comfortable in the Mark Whipple/Scott Frost offense.

Garrett Nelson…Nelson is the fire in the Husker belly.  I see people bashing him for celebrating early game tackles and just making regular plays, but be honest with yourself, should he not try to get them to play with that type of energy for the entire game?  Nelson is the best player on the defense, he is their leader.  Let the kid play with his heart on his sleeve.  I can guarantee the Blackshirts from the 90s love his enthusiasm.  They probably wish more players would step up like that.

Timmy Bleekrode…There was a moment that I choked a little hard during the game and that was when Bleekrode missed his first field goal in Memorial Stadium.  Nebraska has struggled so bad in the field goal kicking game the last half decade, I thought maybe Bleekrode had earned part of the curse himself.  He certainly redeemed himself with a 46-yard field goal in the second half.  If Bleekrode can give Nebraska enough of a threat of points every time they cross the 35-yard line, it gives Nebraska confidence to try bolder plays, knowing that Bleekrode is a safety blanket.

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Score Prediction:  Nebraska 38, Georgia Southern 28

I know, same score as last week’s prediction.  I think Nebraska’s offense has figured out their strengths enough that they will put much more than a touchdown on the board in the first half.  I also think that they will have this game in hand much sooner.  Georgia Southern will throw the ball all night and the Husker secondary is still trying to find their sea legs.  I expect a few fireworks from Georgia Southern.  I also expect Nebraska to have a lot of yards in this game and could possibly score into the 50s.  All I care about is a clean win. As always, GBR!!

Let The Craziness Of Husker Football Begin!

Welp…normally you could say that any press is good press, but I’m convinced that’s not the truth after last week in Ireland.  (Predictions are at the end if you don’t want to read the rest!)

With about 11 minutes to go in the game and Nebraska up comfortably, I felt like this is it, Frost has new coaches and a new quarterback and the light is turning on!  And then we went down the same damn rabbit hole we have gone down every week before with Scott Frost coaching Nebraska.

Frost can’t get out of his own way.  I won’t rehash the onside kick, mostly because I didn’t think it lost Nebraska the game, but the kind of “get it all back right now” attitude is not helpful when you are behind, and it certainly wasn’t helpful when you are ahead.  

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It was more than that though.  The Blackshirts, after so much improvement last year, were destined to reload through the transfer portal and home-grown talent.  Instead, they imploded, got no pressure on the quarterback, and couldn’t stop the run when they needed.  Northwestern figured out they didn’t have to do anything different to come back. They just let Nebraska beat themselves.

And therein lies the problem.  Other eyes, other ideas and new players were supposed to help fix these issues.  Now the spyglass is clearly only on Scott Frost.  He needs to be more mature with the media this season.  He needs to understand that Nebraska fans are out of patience.  He says he didn’t charge his phone last weekend.  That’s smart if you want to block out the people that worry about you the most.

Frost has eleven games to turn around this narrative that he is an awful power five level coach.  For three quarters I was convinced.  It only took one quarter to remind me that it’s going to take a lot more than this for Frost to have any hope of being in Lincoln in 2023.

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ON WITH THE REWIND…

Last game prediction was Nebraska 31 Northwestern 16.  The actual score was Northwestern 31 Nebraska 28.  Nebraska’s offense looked like a thing of beauty for 2 and ½ quarters.  It was silent in the fourth.  We have come to expect that from Frost, but Mark Whipple having the same issue is a bit alarming.  Nebraska must find a way to run the ball consistently until the defense has their feet under them.  If they don’t, there isn’t a game left on the schedule outside of the next two that Nebraska will be favored.

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Quick Notes:

Casey Thompson…In all the direness of last week’s loss, if there was a bright spot it was Thompson.  He struggled a bit in the second half, but he was so on the money in the first half he seemed superhuman.  Thompson is the most polished passer at Nebraska since Joe Ganz and could set a lot of records this year.  He needs more help from his wide receivers.  He also needs another tight end that can catch.  Travis Vokolek’s injury may be the biggest loss of the season last week.  It made teams defend the middle of the field.  When Vokolek went out, Northwestern was able to sit on the downfield throws and shut off the outside of the field.

Anthony Grant…Grant is clearly the number one back in the Husker depth chart.  He had multiple nice runs, including a 46-yard touchdown run.  He breaks tackles and can break past the linebackers for long runs.  Grant should be a great addition.  I was disappointed that Rahmir Johnson didn’t play more against Northwestern.  Nebraska is going to need to use his speed to keep defenses honest and allow Grant to have more room inside.

Tommi Hill…You couldn’t pick out many bright spots in the Blackshirts in the second half, but Hill looks like a keeper.  He made multiple pass breakups and played well in man-to-man coverage.  I think Nebraska has the talent to play more man.  They certainly didn’t play zone well enough to win.

Brian Buschini…I was going to bring up Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda, who had a great game, but Buschini was such a welcome sight to Husker fan’s eyes, I couldn’t leave him out.  Nebraska has struggled with the punt game about 90 percent of the Scott Frost tenure.  To see Buschini be able to give the Huskers an edge in special teams gave me a warm fuzzy feeling.  When it’s 20 degrees in November and Nebraska needs a lift, I think this new punter might save a game for the Huskers.

Score Prediction:  Nebraska 38, North Dakota 28

Can the loss to Northwestern have the opposite effect on this year’s Husker team?  I don’t know, but we do know that there are certain players on the Huskers that are working hard to turn this thing around.  If Nebraska has a close game this weekend, don’t let it dampen your spirits.  The Huskers have a lot of newness to work out.  Their offense should take advantage of a smaller North Dakota defense and the Blackshirts will have their hands full with a veteran quarterback.  I expect Nebraska to have the game in hand, but it will be closer than the spread. GBR!!