Week 4 has come and gone, but not without some chaos! College Football is starting to heat up as we move through September and there were some great games this past weekend. The Huskers came away with a comeback victory on the road at Illinois and some ranked teams fell in a number of surprising games. This post will break down my analysis of the Huskers' victory along with my thoughts from the other happenings around College Football, enjoy!
After nearly two full calendar years, the Huskers have won a game on the road. Nebraska beat Illinois 42-38 in Champaign over the weekend and there was no shortage of fireworks in this game. Adrian Martinez and crew put up nearly 700 yards of offense and took their first lead of the game with just over four minutes to play. The defense did not have their best outing, but were often times back up against the wall due to the four Husker turnovers. To break down this win, I'll have my GOOD, EXPECTED and BAD categories.
GOOD- Wandale Robinson. The star freshman had his break out game against the Illini, racking up 168 total yards and 3 TDs. Robinson played both WR and RB for the Huskers, after Maurice Washington and Dedrick Mills were both banged up a bit late in the game. His versatility really made him a threat all over the field, and this is something I expect the Huskers to utilize a lot moving forward. Wandale was a workhorse for Nebraska, really causing havoc on the edge. This kid is every bit of awesome he was advertised as, and he's going to be a key factor in this offense as the Huskers move into conference play.
EXPECTED- Special Teams struggles. Yes, we've come to know this is the big problem area for the Huskers, but there were a few key moments in this game where this fact was even more apparent. The first would be the issues on kickoffs. Illinois averaged a starting field position of their 40 yard line throughout the game, mostly due to multiple Husker turnovers, but also because of poor kickoffs. The line drive kicks allowed the Illini to return the ball with little pressure as the coverage team still made their way down the field. Nebraska was able to contain Illinois, but future teams will have more dynamic playmakers (*cough* Rondale Moore *cough*) returning the ball, and just a few extra seconds for them is more than enough. Secondly, the struggles on special teams have forced Nebraska to take more chances on fourth down and go for two-point conversions. With three PATs blocked so far this year, I would expect more two-point conversions to be tried by the Huskers. Many fans are quick to blame the kicker for all special teams issues, but I would push some blame to the offensive line. Lane McCallum did miss his lone FG try of the evening, but that was after his made attempt was taken off the board due to a false start penalty. The blocked kicks are a combination of poor blocking and slow timing on the kick, but all around this unit is going to keep the Huskers in hot water throughout the season. I think Frost and company are realizing they're better off with Adrian and the offense on the field once inside the 40 yard line.
BAD- Turnovers and misleading statistics. Knocking the obvious one out of the way early, Nebraska football players need to learn how to hold onto the football. Against Illinois, the Husker offense fumbled four times in their own territory, leading to 21 Illini points. The Huskers are dead last (130th) in the nation in both fumbles (13) and fumbles lost (9) so far in the 2019 season... which is only four games in. The Huskers finished 103rd in the nation last year with 28 total fumbles, losing 11 of them. This is a big issue that needs to be addressed immediately. Under Mike Riley, the Huskers totaled 39 fumbles over the three years, losing 13 of them. Those numbers are staggering in my opinion, and not in a good way.
Now to shift focus, there are a lot of misleading statistics from the Illinois game. Most notably is the final score, 42-38. Again, the Illini scored 21 on short-field turnovers, giving them 17 points without. The stat sheet shows how dominant Nebraska's offense truly was in this game, racking up nearly 700 yards and going 11 of 19 on third down conversions. Turning the tables, Illinois finished with 299 yards, most of them coming on the ground with 221. The Huskers shut down their air attack and held the Orange and Blue to just 1 of 11 on third downs. The defense gave up some big plays early on, but statistically played quite well if you take out the fact that 21 of their points were scored with Illinois starting on the Huskers' side of the 50. Penalties and turnovers (two common issues over Frost's first couple seasons at Nebraska) kept this game close, but with 15 extra minutes of possession and 18 more first downs, Nebraska gave a lot of points to the opposition. So yes, Illinois played Nebraska tight, but only due to the self-inflicted wounds. There's a lot to clean, but this team is really starting to click once they get the chaos out of the way.
To conclude, the Huskers are now 3-1 under Frost in year two, which is far better than the 0-6 start that plagued this team in 2018. Much of the nation expected more from this team, which is why this team is always under the microscope. They're young, still learning how to run this system effectively and are only a third of the way through the season. Nebraska has a long way to go, but has the talent to hang with any team on their schedule and will be looking to pull some upsets as tough teams come to Lincoln. Not a great performance at Illinois, but more to build on than meets the eye.
Now for some other news and analysis from the happenings of Week 4 in College Football!
- USC is on their 3rd string QB, but apparently they still have Utah's number when playing at home. The Trojans knock off the 10th ranked Utes and the PAC-12 continues to show how difficult conference play is out West.
- Speaking of the PAC-12, if you stayed up late to watch UCLA and Wazzu, you got quite the show! The Bruins secured their first victory of 2019 with an insane comeback victory on the road up in Pullman. Even with Washington State QB Anthony Gordon throwing for a school record 9 TDs, UCLA wouldn't quit after a 49-17 deficit. After forcing 6 turnovers, they come away with a 67-63 victory.
- On Wisconsin! The Badgers rolled over the Wolverines in a game that was never really in doubt. They went 10 quarters before giving up any points in 2019, and Jonathan Taylor looks absolutely unstoppable. This game was also a good indicator of why I stated Michigan will have at least three regular season losses.
- Pitt with one of the biggest upsets of the year thus far in College Football, knocking off the Golden Knights of UCF 35-34. The Panthers were up 21-0 at one point, but had to battle back late to come away with the victory. This is UCF's first regular season loss since 2016.
- Georgia edged out Notre Dame 23-17, but I would expect both of these teams to push for playoff consideration later on in the season. The Irish have a favorable schedule and other than their annual game with the Gators and a road trip to Auburn, the Bulldogs look to be the favorite in the SEC East yet again.
- Justin Fields and the Buckeye offense scored 42 points... IN THE SECOND QUARTER! I've done that on Xbox before, but damn. Those were all 6 of Fields' TDs in the game, and they came in just 15 minutes of game time. As a Husker fan, I am terrified. As a college football fan, I am excited to watch this kid play.
- LSU has offense now? Joe Burrow threw for a school record, 6 TDs against the Commodores on Saturday, and the LSU offense is averaging a national best, 57.8 points per game. Never thought I'd say that. The Tigers still have to get through the SEC West, but if their offense can keep up with the likes of Bama, this year could get interesting down south.
- A couple of sneaky teams are undefeated as we begin to wrap up non-conference play. SMU is 4-0 for the first time since 1984 and have a deadly offense led by Texas-transfer Shane Buechele at QB. While the Golden Bears out West edged out the Rebels of Ole Miss on a controversial play that wasn't reviewed. Nonetheless, these teams will be fun to watch as the season continues.
- Clemson played 111 different people on Saturday. They had nine different running backs with a carry and five QBs take snaps. That's insane. That's probably everyone on their roster who wasn't injured... goodness. ONE HUNDRED AND ELEVEN?!
Thank you for reading my Week 4 Reflections and be sure to watch for the Week 5 Predictions coming your way later this week! Gameday is coming to Lincoln!
#CFBKnowItAll
Alex Fernando
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