I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving weekend and enjoyed all the great football games that took place! This post will have my reflections on the Nebraska-Iowa game (it'll be short, not much to say) as well as my thoughts on some of the other rivalry games and the playoff rankings that will come out tonight as we prepare for Championship Weekend. Let me know if you have any questions or comments, enjoy!
Out of position, out of sync, and straight up out played. Nebraska looked arguably the worst they have all season during their trip to Iowa City that concluded with a 40-10 loss to the Hawkeyes. Iowa had a number of big plays that broke the game open early on, and Nebraska just struggled to get anything going to begin with. There were plenty of opportunities for the Huskers to keep pace and/or climb back into the game, but Tommy was not able to hit any of his deep passes. I would venture to say that an 80+% Tommy is still better than any of our other QBs, especially with Ryker injured as well, but it was obvious Tommy was not in game condition. He was not able to run or be very mobile at all in the pocket, and there's a lot more legs than you would think that goes into throwing the ball. I could tell his hamstring injury was still bothering him quite a bit and definitely didn't help his deep passing accuracy. The Hawkeyes dominated Nebraska on all sides of the ball, rushing for 264 on the Blackshirts while holding Nebraska to only 90. Having a limited Tommy Armstrong allowed Iowa to load up the box, focus on the RBs and bring pressure, but the Husker offense was so out of sync that I'm not sure it really would have mattered. Again, the play calling still frustrates me to no end because I am still able to predict our entire offensive series before the first snap. Also, I understand that the match up may be favorable, but on third down YOU DO NOT HAVE THE BOMB IT DEEP EVERY TIME. Nearly every third down for Nebraska ended in an incomplete 30+ yard pass when the sticks were only 5-8 yards away and the middle of the field was wide open. Sometimes, you just need to get the sticks and keep the drive moving, you don't have to score a TD on every single play.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Blackshirts were no where to be found. Constantly out of position, drifting too far on play fakes, and again missing tackles. Tackling should be a huge focus during bowl prep, because there have been far too many missed tackles the past couple of weeks. Coverage-wise, #LockDownU was out of position as well. CJ Bethard only had 144 yards passing (77 on one play alone), but completed 67% of his passes. The defense will need to get on the same page soon, I'm not really sure where they went for this game. The entire team honestly seemed like the overlooked the Hawkeyes, which puzzles me because they have not played well enough against anyone to have the ability to overlook a team, especially your rival who knocked off a top 4 team just a few weeks before hand. Iowa had a great game plan to focus on the ground game, and both Wadley and Daniels tore apart the Huskers, not only with their big runs, but the normal runs as well. They were not touched until 6 yards past the line of scrimmage, and the Husker's front 7 were knocked back at least 5 yards on nearly every snap. Lot of work to do for the Huskers, this game was bad. One positive note though is the firing of Husker Special Teams Coordinator Bruce Read. I have not been a very big fan of Read, so this was very exciting news. It's also good to see that Coach Riley, although loyal, means business. He wants to bring Nebraska back to a championship level team, and if results are not being produced, he'll find someone else.
Overall, Rivalry Weekend produced a great slate of games. The biggest was by far the game in Columbus between Ohio State and Michigan. (I would like to send my thoughts and prayers to those associated with Ohio State and their campus after the terrible attack yesterday). Harbaugh and Meyer's squads gave us everything we wanted in that game, and then some! The double OT game ended up with the Buckeyes winning and likely holding onto a playoff spot even though they will not play for a conference championship. The loss likely knocked Michigan from Playoff contention, but there are some that would argue a 2OT loss on the road could possibly give Michigan an argument over other playoff contenders. Most people believe the top 4 will likely consist of Bama, Ohio State, Clemson and Washington. The Tigers and the Huskies have difficult match-ups in their conference championships though, with Clemson facing off against Virginia Tech and Washington hosting the Buffaloes. If either of them were to lose, what team would fill their place? Would it be a 2-loss BIG 10 Champion Wisconsin or Penn State? Or would Michigan jump back into the picture, especially since they have the head to head wins over both Wisconsin and Penn State (and the possible Pac-12 Champion Colorado). Would a Big XII or Pac-12 Title weigh more than a 2-loss Michigan with no title? I can't wait to see the rankings and the championship games this weekend! In my opinion, (based on certain teams winning and losing for each other) there are 10 teams that could argue their way into the playoffs. Bama, Ohio State, Clemson, Washington, Michigan, Wisconsin, Penn State, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State. Some teams obviously have more of an argument than others, but I think the committee needs to keep an eye open for all of these teams. I still stand by my statement from the summer that NO BIG XII TEAM WILL MAKE THE PLAYOFF though. However, you never know what the committee is going to do! As always, chaos runs amuck in College Football, so the best thing we can do is sit back, watch and enjoy the madness! Thanks for reading and GO BIG RED!
#CollegeFootballKnowItAll
Alex Fernando
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