By far the best performance of the season for the Huskers resulted in a 28-6 victory over the Fighting Illini on Friday night. This is hopefully a sign of what's to come for Nebraska as they head into the bulk of their schedule and come home to face #9 Wisconsin and #10 Ohio State in back to back weeks. For now, we'll focus on the win, and I'll preview Wisconsin in my predictions later this week.
Starting with the offense, Nebraska looked much improved from the past couple weeks. Tanner Lee had some protection, and although he wasn't (and probably never will be) the QB everyone imagined him to be, he didn't look too bad when he had time. Lee finished with 246 yards on 17-24 and 3 TDs. There were a few drops that you can take away, but there were also some inaccuracies. The most notable was the near interception that was broken up by TE Tyler Hoppes. Lee obviously still has a lot of improving to do, especially if he's going to lead Nebraska to victory against some of the tougher defenses coming up. Nonetheless, his performance against Illinois should give him, and the offense some much needed confidence. The other thing that the offense did well is run the ball. Again, still a lot of room for improvement, but having a consistent rushing attack will be crucial as the Huskers move deeper into conference play. Devine Ozigbo finished with 106 yards, giving him 2 straight 100+ yard performances. Mikale Wilbon also added 60 rushing yards, and the team finished with 165. Not great by any means, but they were consistent and wore down Illinois late in the game. I was especially pleased with the end of the game where the Huskers drove for the final 6:54 of the game on a fantastic 13-play game winning drive. That's how you put a game out of reach, and drives like that are going to be crucial in the tight games to come ahead. The Wideouts looked good, but drops were yet again an issue. The worst offender was easily Stanley Morgan, who was also one of the best in the game catching 8 passes for 96 yards and 1 TD thanks to one incredible Stiff-arm. However, that doesn't make up for the easy balls he dropped, he'll need to fix that issue heading into Wisconsin. Overall, very good performance from the offense.
On the defensive side of the ball, I cannot say enough about their improvement and consistency over the past few weeks. Since the 2nd half of the Oregon game, the Blackshirts have only given up 23 points. They have not played the most high powered of offenses, but the improvement is there nonetheless. The Blackshirts kept consistent pressure on Chayce Crouch and recorded 10 tackles for loss as well as 5 sacks. Easily the best game statistically for them as a team as they gave up only 93 yards on the ground and 199 total yards in the game. The Linebackers had a very solid game, and Redshirt Freshman Ben Stille even received BIG 10 Freshman of the week honors for his performance! Stille has appeared in the last two games for the Huskers and looks to be pushing for a starting position after his 4 total tackle, 3 solo, 3 TFL and 1 sack performance against Illinois! Be sure to watch out for #95. Regardless of their performance, there are tougher challenges ahead and the tackling issue needs to be addressed. The Blackshirts missed far too many tackles last week against Illinois, and that issue will not fly against teams like Wisconsin and Ohio State. Eric Lee Jr. and Lamar Jackson are two of the biggest offenders, but overall I think everyone needs to practice tackling this week.
Thanks for reading my analysis of the game and be sure to checkout the podcast of my radio show The 2nd String with my good friend Nate Muhlbach. Feel free to make comments on any games or teams you'd like me to go in depth on and GO BIG RED!
#CollegeFootballKnowItAll
Alex Fernando
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