A much needed win for the Huskers came on Homecoming in the form of a 27-17 grinder. Before I get into all the football analysis, I would love to Congratulate my good friends Shayne Arriola and Laura Springer on their engagement after being crowned Homecoming King & Queen. It was a very fun experience being part of the Homecoming Royalty Court, and even more exciting watching their surprise engagement, especially because that was one of the biggest highlights in this game. Not a lot of flash as the Huskers beat Rutgers, but a decent performance that hopefully has given them some confidence. Overall, there's still a lot of work to be done, and injuries have plagued this team early in the year, but Nebraska fought well in this game.
Starting with the offense, we'll get the bad out of the way first. The offensive line, although dismantled with injuries, is still horrible. They were slightly less horrible in this game, but numerous mistakes, missed blocks and flat out knock backs were still a big issue. The Huskers were able to establish more of a rushing attack, finishing with 197 yards on the ground, so that's a good sign heading into the rest of conference play with tougher defenses on the rise. Devine Ozigbo finally got some significant game action, and he made the most of it. Ziggy finished with 101 yards on 24 carries and received a brunt of the workload in the second half. Mikale Wilbon looked good as well, ripping off a couple of nice runs early in the game and finishing with 78 yards on 15 carries. As for the passing game, it has continued its steady decline into the abyss. There was better protection up front, but still nothing to be impressed by. Tanner Lee still looks extremely uncomfortable in the pocket, continues to hold the ball too long and lock in on receivers from the snap. Plus, the banged up receiving corps has struggled mightily with drops, not helping anyone's confidence. The Tightend position is one that has been extremely frustrating to watch this season. Yes, Ketter and Hoppes have made some nice catches over the first 1/3 of the season, but there have been some really bad drops and terrible whiffs on blocking the edge. That's been a contributor to the lack of run game throughout the season, so we'll see what improvements occur as we move forward in the season. No matter what, this offense will run through Tanner Lee and I suggest anyone who dislikes that find a new team. Stop booing him and start cheering him on! Yes, he's not what we wanted him to be, but he's not going to get there without anyone supporting him.
Looking at the defense, I again want to credit them on a solid performance. It's not a very good stat to boast, but they've given up fewer TDs than Tanner Lee has over the past 10 Quarters! They looked very strong against the run game, giving up only 68 yards on the ground. The pass coverage was better, allowing only 126 yards and coming away with 2 INTs, but the thing I was most impressed with in this game was tackling. Probably the best tackling I've seen yet this season from the Blackshirts, and that charge was lead by Outside Linebacker Luke Gifford. Gifford has been one of the most consistent players for the Blackshirts this season, and he proved it yet again on Saturday with 6 total tackles, 3 on his own and 1 for loss. The secondary tackled better as well, even after losing S Aaron Williams early in the game to a Targeting Penalty. I'm still waiting for more QB pressure, but if the defense is only giving up 1 TD per game as of now, I'm not complaining! Again, lots of room for improvement, but there has been improvement from game 1. Finally, with Special Teams, it was good to see DPE have a little spark back, and Drew is still automatic. We'll see what a short week on the road brings as the Huskers travel to Champagne to take on the Fighting Illini on Friday! Thanks for reading and GO BIG RED!
#CollegeFootballKnowItAll
Alex Fernando
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