Well once again, it wasn't very pretty, but Nebraska got the W and moved to 7-0 on the season. This post will focus on my reflections on the Purdue game, and what issues need to be worked on this week headed into the showdown with Wisconsin. Feel free to comment or open any discussions about this game or anything else going on in football! We had a great weekend of upsets and big games, so there's always a lot to talk about. Enjoy!
It seems to be the same story every week; start off hot, offense disappears for the 2nd and 3rd quarters and then they come alive and finish with a dominating 4th quarter. However, as I mentioned before, the Huskers keep winning, and in the end, that's the main goal. It gets frustrating at times, especially when you watch the offensive line get knocked 2-3 yards into the backfield on every play, and you realize the Huskers only manage 157 yards rushing on the worst run defense in the conference. Purdue played very well, especially for a team that just lost their head coach, but with the amount of talent and experience on Nebraska's offense, they should not struggle as much as they did with the Boilermakers. Tommy played fairly well, didn't have much room to run, but still managed 51 yards. His interception before halftime was another one of his terrible decisions to just throw the ball over the middle, but he was much better in the second half. If Tommy can keep the mistakes to a minimum, Nebraska should be able to keep winning. However, it's pretty obvious that the injuries are causing a majority of the issues up front. It was clear that Gates' ankle was still bothering him, and I was surprised that he played to be honest. I saw Farmer limping in the 1st quarter of the game and David Knevel didn't last very long. I appreciate and applaud the toughness of these guys, but if you're not healthy, it's not going to be beneficial to have you out there limping and getting pushed around because you can't plant your foot down and drive. Our offensive struggles stem from the lack of protection and push from the O-line. There was no running room up the middle throughout the entire game, and Tommy was constantly under pressure in the pocket. This is probably my biggest concern moving forward, because Wisconsin and Ohio State both have relentless pass rushers, and they cause a lot of havoc on early downs, putting their opponents behind the chains. Nebraska has been consistently behind the chains during the 2nd and 3rd quarters, not only because of the lack of execution, but partly because of the play calling in my opinion. Langsdorf has improved quite a bit from last season in using his talent and exploiting weaknesses in opposing defenses, but there are still stretches where they play calling just makes you scratch your head. Like how he refused to run towards the outside when his offensive line was pushed back into the backfield on every run play up the middle. I've been very excited with how he sticks with the game plan and sets up some of the bigger plays for later in the game, but I really think that some extra creativity earlier on in the game will help open more things up. Plus it could give our play makers more room to work away from the offensive line disaster. Again, I understand the injury issues, but if so many are still playing while hurt, then what happened to their backups? Why are they not good enough to play over someone who is injured, or at least give them a break? The offensive line and play calling are my two big concerns for the offense moving forward.
Defensively, once again, apart from just a couple of big plays, the Blackshirts were very impressive. Purdue would move the ball on occasion, and that was expected with their BIG 10 leading passing attack, but overall, they were not able to find any rhythm. The defensive line caused lots of pressure on David Blough, and although the secondary gave up 309 yards, they still came away with 2 Interceptions. As I stated before, only a couple big plays are the reason Purdue had any points at all. If the defense can keep Nebraska in these close games and shut down opposing teams in the second half like they have been, this could be an interesting season. Another big stat to consider is that Nebraska held Purdue to only 24 yards rushing, and 6/16 on 3rd downs. I expect our next couple games to be tight defensive battles, making the offenses really work for the victory. The Blackshirts are looking great this year, and there are not many leaving after 2016!! Let's keep it rolling Huskers, GO BIG RED!
#CollegeFootballKnowItAll
Alex Fernando
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