Another great weekend of football is in the books, and the rankings have been shuffled up quite a bit. I'll be the first to admit that I have not been very accurate on some of my picks so far this season, especially last week. Hopefully I can improve during the second half of the season, but either way, that's the beauty of College Football!! I don't think anyone could have predicted how this season has gone thus far. Some teams have really surprised me, and others have puzzled me with their uncommon starts. I'm excited to see how conference play progresses over the next couple weeks. Today's post will focus on my reflection of the Husker game against Illinois this past weekend, enjoy!
I think everyone can agree that this BYE week is very much needed. After a tough fought, 31-16 victory over the Illini, Nebraska remains undefeated at 5-0, but very beaten up as a number of key players have gone down with injuries the past couple weeks. I'm thankful for the Huskers' deep receiving corps, because a number of Tommy's weapons have been sidelined recently. Leading receiver Alonzo Moore did not suit up for Saturday's game against Illinois, and both Cethan Carter and Jordan Westerkamp left Saturday's game with injuries and did not return. Starting Guard Tanner Farmer did not suit up as well, and RB Devine Ozigbo also left the game and did not return on Saturday. With all these injuries, and a tough BIG 10 road schedule coming up, I really hope this BYE week provides our guys the rest they need.
Moving into my analysis of the game, we'll start with the defense. I thought the Blackshirts played very well throughout the game, only allowing a couple of big plays. I expected Wes Lunt to make some good throws and scramble out of the pocket on occasion, but for the most part, he was very well contained, and my good buddy Freedom even brought him down for a sack in the first quarter. The Illini used a lot of quick routes and short passes, so applying pressure was tough, especially on a Senior QB. Overall, the defense only allowed 270 total yards of offense, and held the Illini offense to 2/9 on third down conversions. The Blackshirts failed to get any turnovers though, first time all year. If they can force enough punts, that's not a deal-breaking stat in my opinion, but turnovers always help. My biggest issue with the defense however, was tackling. Nebraska consistently missed tackles or failed to wrap up hard and bring guys to the ground, allowing for much bigger gains. Plus, on Illinois' lone Touchdown, their running back broke a couple of tackles on his way to the endzone. Wrapping up has seemed to have gotten worse for the Blackshirts over recent weeks, so look for that to be a point of emphasis during the BYE week. All things considered a very good performance by the defense, but they need to finish plays and make tackles in the open field if they want to compete in the BIG 10 moving forward.
On the offensive side of the ball, for the first 3/4 of the game, they seemed very flat. There was no creativity, no energy, and most importantly, not very many points! Nebraska only scored 10 points through the first three quarters, and seemed to be running up against a brick wall. Illinois' defensive line is easily the best and most athletic front four Nebraska has faced all season, but as I watched throughout the game, it seemed as though our offensive line was getting knocked two yards into the backfield on every play. The Huskers were not able to move the ball very well during the first half, apart from the opening drive, and they often stalled just after crossing the 50. Two dumb turnovers did not help their case as Mikale Wilbon fumbled on a drive that was working its way into the 20, and Tommy threw a very poor pass directly to an Illini defender later in the game. Tommy has played very well, and completed nearly 70% of his passes on Saturday, but he had a lot of help from his receivers. He was under pressure and had to scramble for most of the game, but there were a number of throws that were not the easiest to catch. The most memorable is Sam Cotton's reaching grab up and behind him as Tommy floated it away as he was taken down in the backfield. Moving forward Tommy will still need to work on his accuracy if he's going to get by some of the tougher defenses like Wisconsin and Ohio State. His line will need to give him some better protection to start though. Moving into the 4th Quarter, it was like watching an entirely different game! Nebraska had no problem pushing the Illini defense around, no problems moving the ball, and no problems scoring! After their 21-0 fourth quarter on Saturday, Nebraska has now out scored opponents 78-6 in the final 15 minutes of the game. As much as I would love to see more points throughout the game, if you're rocking a scoring margin like that in one quarter alone, I have no issues with the Huskers waiting until the 4th. It's frustrating to see teams hang around, but this also shows the work ethic of this team, and the trust in the coaching staff that everyone has. The run game struggled all day long, but they kept trying it, and were able to overpower the Illini in the fourth quarter and run wild. The system is working well, the players are playing at a much higher level, and when you close out a game with a 21-0 route, you're doing something right. Some people might be concerned that we're not blowing teams out right away with the offensive power we have, but sometimes it just takes some time to wear a team down. A little more effort in blocking up front and tackling on the defense, and I really think Nebraska has a shot at competing for a BIG 10 Championship! GO BIG RED!
#CollegeFootballKnowItAll
Alex Fernando
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