I hope everyone had a great weekend and enjoyed all of the great games that were played! I had a wonderful Saturday relaxing and watching football all day long and then getting to watch the Husker game with a good friend of mine I haven't seen in a while. This post will focus on my reflections on the Huskers' win over the Wildcats, and also how scary Wisconsin is looking after they DEMOLISHED the Spartans 30-6. Enjoy!
My prediction for the Husker game was a 38-20 win for Nebraska. Had the Huskers not fumbled TWICE in the endzone, and left so many points on the field, they probably would've matched my 38 point prediction or even beaten it! Overall it was a very well played game by Nebraska, and I will get to all the positive aspects in a minute, but the big negative point we need to focus on is the dumb turnovers at one of the worst spots on the field. Yes, the whistle probably should've been blown on Ozigbo's goal-line fumble, but nonetheless, YOU CANNOT FUMBLE IT IN THE ENDZONE!!! Newby could've easily lowered his shoulder and rolled over the defender into the endzone, or just waited one more play and push it in from the one yard line. I understand that he's trying to make a play, but you need to be smarter with the ball, especially against a defense like Northwestern which has a number of play-makers waiting to strike. On Ozigbo's fumble, if he's going to be the big, bad back that everyone thinks he is, a goal-line run should never end in anything less than a TD. Granted, the offensive line did not provide much of a push on that play, but Devine's size should almost always guarantee him a couple yards, and he should never drop that ball. Sadly, fumble's weren't the only way the Huskers left points on the field. Tommy left a few throws too high for his open wideouts in the back of the endzone, the two easy ones to Westerkamp were the most painful to watch. I have been impressed with Tommy's development as a passer so far this season, and he's making much better decisions with the ball. He'll need to continue to work on his accuracy as we move farther into conference play, because even tougher defenses loom on the horizon.
Okay, now that we got rid of all the negative points, we'll focus on how well the Huskers played on Saturday. First off, they had the most prolific offense output of the season, totaling 556 yards, including 310 yards rushing. Tommy once again was the focal point of the offense, and I was very impressed with how Langsdorf and Riley used him in the running game. Armstrong came away with a career high 132 rushing yards on just 13 carries! The QB draws have really allowed the rest of the offense to flourish, because teams have to drop down an extra defender into the box just to focus on Tommy. In the passing game, Tommy was able spread the ball around to 9 different targets, causing all sorts of headaches for Northwestern's secondary. There were a couple instances where I got a little nervous when Tommy let it fly, (specifically when he nearly gave Anthony Walker Jr. an easy pick 6 while throwing it over the middle) but his accuracy is improving. With the number of weapons Nebraska has on offense, I expect a lot of defenses to be out of position when trying to figure out who to cover. If the Husker offense keeps up this kind of efficiency throughout the season, they will be tough to stop. The biggest issue again is finishing off each drive with a score and not turning the ball over or stalling around mid-field.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Blackshirts did a very good job of limiting Justin Jackson and keeping the ball out of Solomon Vault's hands. They were burned on a couple plays throughout the game, but held the struggling Wildcat offense in check for the most part. Clayton Thorson's big run was an easy score for them, and before the play started I could clearly see how out of position the linebackers were for that QB run. The other big play was Thorson's lone TD pass over the middle to Austin Carr. From the reaction I saw on TV, it looked like there was some miscommunication between the safeties on who was supposed to pick him up. Other than those two plays, the defense played very well, holding Northwestern to only 388 total yards of offense and only 137 on the ground. The defensive line got good pressure on Thorson and was able to take him down for a couple sacks throughout the game. Two late picks sealed the game and a 4-0 start for the Huskers!
Overall a good showing for the team, I just hope they're ready for the schedule ahead. The trip to Madison looks more intimidating by the week, and following that with a trip to Columbus will not be easy. The Badgers still have a pretty tough slate of games coming up with a trip to the Big House this week, followed by Ohio State at home, Iowa on the road, and then the showdown with the Huskers. However, after thier performance against Michigan State, I am considering them as a serious threat to compete for not only a BIG 10 Championship, but possibly even a playoff spot. I still see thier offense as a work in progress, but now that they've settled on Alex Hornibrook at QB, they will focus on improving each game. Their defense seems to be scoring plenty for thier team though, and when you only give up an average of 11 points per game, you're going to win a lot. The match-up this weekend against the Wolverines will show a lot because the Badgers have yet to face an offense as high-powered as Jim Harbaugh's. I'm so excited conference play has begun, and cannot wait for more great games this weekend! We have three games between top 10 teams this weekend, and since Stanford and Washington play on Friday night, I will have my game predictions up on Friday afternoon! Thanks for reading and GO BIG RED!
#CollegeFootballKnowItAll
Alex Fernando
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