Hey everyone, sorry for the later post, but WOW!!! What a crazy week of upsets!! I hope you all enjoyed the past weekend of football as much as I did and are geared up for another one. This post will have my reflections on the Huskers' win over Minnesota for the $5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy as well as some of my predictions for the College Football Playoffs. Enjoy!
Starting with the Husker game.... NEBRASKA WON THE CHAIR!! Again, if you're unfamiliar with the $5 Bits of Broken Chair Trophy, I highly encourage you to google it and read the story behind it, because it was created from a Twitter War between a mascot and a fake twitter account for a former head coach. Anyways, Nebraska beat Minnesota 24-17 on Saturday night, giving the Huskers their 19th straight win in home night games (45-5 all time). The biggest take away from the game was Tommy Armstrong's toughness. He came back to start against the Gophers just a week removed from being knocked unconscious, and he played one of his best games as a Husker, earning BIG 10 Offensive Player of the Week Honors in the process. Tommy posted an impressive 70.4 % completion rating for 217 yards and 2 TDs through the air. He also added 61 yards and the game winning touchdown on the ground. Not only did he just come back from concussion protocol, but he was also injured during the Minnesota game, having to be helped off the field with an ankle injury. At this point in the game, Nebraska had tied it up at 17, and did not look like the offense was going to move with Ryker in at QB. Tommy came back in after being taped up and lead a 91 yard game clinching TD drive where he hurt his hamstring on his rushing TD. I can honestly say that Tommy is one of the toughest competitors I have ever had the pleasure of watching. No matter what the situation of the team, himself or the game, he will fight until the very last second. No, he doesn't always make the best plays, but he is a valuable piece that Husker fans need to appreciate. Apart from Tommy, the offense is still struggling to get anything going. The Huskers finished with 157 yards on the ground (61 from just Tommy) and lost the time of possession battle by nearly 2 minutes. The offensive line is still one of the biggest issues, even with getting Jerald Foster back (had no idea he was game ready, that was cool). There's a number of issues that need to be addressed with the o-line, because their protection is not very good and there are no holes for backs to run through. I thought Langsdorf did a slightly better job calling plays this week, but there were still a large number of plays that my friends and I could call from the stands before the ball was even snapped. When individuals who have never played football can predict the play call before the snap, something is wrong with your offense. Either way, the only thing that really matters on offense is the health of Tommy. Battling a hamstring all week will be tough, and I will be surprised if he sits knowing how tough he is, but it's a possibility. That's an issue because it is very clear that the Huskers have practically a 0% chance of winning if Ryker plays. Getting the ground game back will be key this week against Maryland, not only to take some pressure off Tommy, but also to help Ryker if Tommy needs to come out.
On the defensive side of the ball, I thought the Blackshirts played fairly well. Definitely better than the previous week in Columbus where they could not stop anyone. The Blackshirts only gave up 265 total yards (180 passing & 85 rushing) and game away with another late game pick to seal the win. I was surprised that the Gophers did not try to run the ball with Mitch Leidner very much, but I know he's had concussion issues this year, so I don't blame them for being cautious. It's been made clear that the secondary wants to give up all the underneath routes to be protected from getting beat deep. I'm not necessarily opposed to this strategy (overall it's worked well this season), but I do think that this should be used situational. When it's 3rd and 5-12ish, there is no reason to play 10+ yards off of the ball giving such a large cushion to the receivers. You don't have to press in all of those situations, but a tighter cushion could help the defense get off the field more often. There are too many underneath passes on 3rd downs that keep drives alive for opponents. Minnesota finished with a 50% conversion rate on 3rd downs. There were also a number of dumb penalties on both sides for Nebraska in this game (I counted a number of big holding calls on the Gophers that were not flagged, but this comment is just beating a dead horse). Cleaning up the penalties will also help get the defense off the field and allow the offense to move the ball more consistently. Look for that to be addressed over the week.
Now onto my thoughts of the College Football Playoff rankings and my predictions of teams that will get in. I was surprised, but not shocked that the Playoff Committee chose to keep Michigan and Clemson in the top 4. I personally think that Louisville should be in the top 4, but they still need outside help because of their loss to Clemson. I'm surprised Michigan didn't fall more because they have been dominating nearly everyone on their schedule, but they lose to Iowa? I'm sorry (not that sorry) to my Iowa friends, but that is not a team that should have been locking down the Wolverines. Is Michigan's weaker schedule catching up to them? I think that they will lose in Columbus against the Buckeyes, which will likely send Penn State to the BIG 10 Championship if they win out against two of the worst teams in the BIG 10 this year (@Rutgers and home for Sparty). Then on the West side of the BIG 10, Wisconsin will more than likely beat Purdue and Minnesota, sending them to Indy over the Huskers due to their head-to-head overtime win. This scenario would put two 2-loss BIG 10 teams in the Conference Championship, both of which who are not likely to slip up over the next couple weeks. The winner of the BIG 10 Championship will (in my humble opinion) for sure lock in that team for the Playoffs. The BIG 10 Conference is too strong to leave out it's conference champion. However, IF this all happens and either the Badgers or Nittany Lions get into the CFP with 2-losses, what about the Buckeyes?? Ohio State would be sitting at 11-1, no conference title, but multiple wins over top 10 teams and having an impressive non-conference win against the likely Big XII champ Oklahoma (watch the WVU-OU game this weekend and Bedlam next weekend, ya never know). I believe the Buckeyes would have a strong argument to get into the Playoff, but the committee would have to put them in over Clemson, Louisville, or Washington (I stand by my pre-season statement of NO Big XII team getting into the playoff this year). Louisville will not get into the play off unless Clemson drops another game and gives the Cardinals a chance to win the ACC, so we'll take them out now. That means Ohio State would be compared to the likely ACC Champion Tigers and the likely Pac-12 Champion Huskies (Apple Cup & a sneaky Colorado could change that). How much does a Conference Champion Title matter to the Committee? That will be the biggest question at the end of the month if all the teams win like they're expected to. I personally would put Ohio State over Washington, and my friend Nate agrees with me on that. However, he thinks the committee will take a conference champion over the high-powered Buckeyes. It's hard to think of all the possibilities, and I do think an 8 team playoff will come in time because of this system, but all I know is that there is going to be some great football over the next couple weeks! One thing is ALMOST certain, and that is Bama. As much as I would love an upset on the Tide, they look nearly unbeatable. That's the good thing about College Football though, you never know what's going to happen on any given weekend! Thanks for reading and GO BIG RED!
#CollegeFootballKnowItAll
Alex Fernando
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