Well, here we are yet again football fans. I probably sound like a broken record at this point, but the Huskers have yet again put a dismal performance on tape as they fall at home to the covid-stricken Gophers 24-17, ultimately losing the Broken Chair Trophy for the second straight year. There are a number of family members and friends who texted me during and after this game, all with a similar thought... Is this one of the worst coaching performances we've ever seen? I'll break down all of that along with the highlights from a wild weekend in College Football below. Read on!
After bouncing back from yet another sluggish start, the Huskers looked primed to take this game over and were ready to turn that proverbial corner everyone in Nebraska hears so much about. Unfortunately, the offense still lacks the ability to move the ball (or score) in any form of consistency, resulting in a second half that didn't really feature a collapse, but more just a mundane routine of going through the motions of what looks like a football team, but never yielding any results. The undermanned Golden Gophers walk out of Memorial Stadium with the Broken Chair in hand while the Huskers are still trying to figure out how to make their opening play of the game a positive gain rather than a loss. I've got the full breakdown with my GOOD, EXPECTED and BAD categories below, enjoy!
GOOD - Husker Defense and batted balls. These two go together, but the Blackshirts stepped up against Minnesota, despite every attempt by the Husker offense and special teams to make life hard on them. Late the in the game Minnesota ran away with it thanks to momentum and a strong push up front, but if the defense for Nebraska can consistently hold teams to 24 or fewer points, they should win most games. The Huskers were able to slow down the Gopher passing attack with 7 batted balls on Saturday, 3 of which came from the d-line. This does highlight the lack of pressure on the QB from the front seven (just 2 QB hurries), but at least they were able to make an impact on the play. The front seven did play well against the run early on, ultimately recording 6 tackles for loss in the game. Coverage in the secondary was good for the most part, even with Cam Taylor-Britt out for the second half due to targeting. Overall, the defense has improved quite well since last season and while they're far from what is needed to win championships at Nebraska, they are much closer than the offense. A hat tip for the Blackshirts and their performance on Saturday.
EXPECTED - Mohammed Ibrahim and Adrian Martinez. The star running back for the Gophers didn't disappoint, despite being limited in the game with an injury. Ibrahim bested his total from a year ago with 108 rushing yards and 2 TDs against Nebraska on Saturday, helping the Gophers for over 200 yards on the ground for the third time all year (Maryland & Illinois). The potential All-BIG 10 RB has 925 yards and 15 TDs so far this season. He'll be a headache to deal with during his senior year.
For the Huskers, we saw the bad Adrian again. It seems almost inevitable that once the confidence starts to build for this team and most importantly the QB, it's cut away twice as fast. AM2 had a rough outing, completing just 59 percent of his passes for 111 yards and 1 TD. Martinez did rush for 96 and another score, but I've said it all year long, the Huskers won't win without a downfield passing attack. Now we've established that Martinez is the better passer between him and Luke, but weeks like this show that's not much of a compliment. Inaccurate passes are a given with him and it cripples the offense into a handoff and QB draw corner that they can never seem to get out of. I like Martinez a lot, and he's had a couple of good games throwing the ball, but there needs to be someone else under center (in the shotgun) next year. Move Martinez to running back since apparently someone doesn't think Mills is enough and find a QB who can accurately throw a 15 yard pass. This has been an issue all year and will continue to be an issue until the Huskers have a QB who can throw the ball. Adrian is a fantastic runner and will continue to be QB, but the Huskers will not improve with him throwing passes.
BAD - Play-calling, play design and the Scott Frost 2 minute drill. These all go hand in hand yet again, but there's a few issues of play calling and design separate of the 2 minute drill. I might as well start with the opening play of the game because the Huskers refuse to start with positive yardage. Once again, opening the game with a ill-advised bubble screen resulted in a near turnover and set the Huskers up with 2nd and 19. I understand the desire to get a "quick and easy" completion, but there has to be another play that actually moves the ball forward. I honestly think the best version of the bubble screen in the last 3 seasons has gotten Nebraska -2 yards rather than the typical -6 to -12 yards. There's no excuse for play calls like this any more. I can script this offense in my sleep and it's completely obvious what plays are working and not working. The lack of a downfield passing attack cripples this offense into short yardage routs, basic handoffs and QB draw, we've known this for a while. The bigger issue is how those plays are being run. It's not ideal, but with how well the defense has played this season, Nebraska could have won a couple more games even with the limited play script I just mentioned. This is where the design flaws come into effect. If you're going to run the ball on 3rd & 2, looking for a push up the middle, it should be given to Dedrick Mills, the 220 lbs. Senior running back who has no issues running through any defender who steps in front of him. The ball should NOT be given to the 185 lbs. speedster in Wan'Dale Robinson who is better suited for making defenders miss in space. At the very least Frost can call a QB Power with Martinez following Mills through the hole. Another example of poor play design leads into the horrific 2 minute drill we see every couple weeks. Running a 4 yard crossing route to start a two minute drive when you only have 1 timeout isn't the best option, but if you're going to run that play it should most certainly be with your aforementioned speedster, Wan'Dale Robinson. The 4 yard crossing route should NOT be run with Kade Warner as he is extremely unlikely to make defenders miss if he does catch the ball (which we've seen can be a big IF). Getting your ball to your playmakers is key, but getting your ball to playmakers in position to make plays is actually unlocking the door with said key. The two minute drive before the half where the Huskers had 1:16 seconds to drive down the field against the 2nd worst defense in the conference and score some points to gain momentum into halftime was terrible. It resulted in a 5 play drive that gained just 13 yards, and due to poor clock management ended with a punt that gave the ball back to Minnesota with a few seconds remaining. Despite the Gophers taking a knee (knowing they would receive the second half kickoff thanks to Frost always taking the ball to start the game), the Huskers weren't even good enough to run out the clock on a failed two minute drive. Minnesota shouldn't have gotten the ball back for those few seconds, but due to poor play calling and design Nebraska wasted yet another opportunity to score points. This offense lacks a lot more than consistency, and those issues will need to be addressed along with everything else.
In today's age of College Football, and especially in the BIG 10, the team who scores 30-35 points first wins a majority of the time. I'll have to run some numbers to get a solid percentage, but unless you're competing against the likes of Ohio State, almost every BIG 10 Conference games can be won if a team scores 30-35 points. The Huskers have fallen to 104th in the nation this year, averaging just 22.4 points per game. This is a downward trend from 30 points per game in 2018 and 28 points per game last season in 2019. During the Scott Frost Era, Nebraska has averaged 26.8 points per game each season. Now I was one of the first to admit that Frost would need to be ready for a shift in the BIG 10 coming from UCF where they led the nation with 48.2 points per game in 2017, but a 20+ point drop is not due just to the tougher competition. This offense has talent and it has play makers, it needs better play design and smarter play calls.
Quick hit thoughts from around CFB:
- Kicking off the weekend on Friday night, the Sun Devils won the Duel in the Dessert by demolishing the Arizona Wildcats 70-7. Arizona fired Kevin Sumlin the next day, but the true highlight of this game was Junior RB Jackson He scoring a TD by driving his legs to run over the defender into the goal line late in the 4th. Jackson He is believed to be the only Chinese born football player in the FBS and the first to score a TD.
- Also making history (again) was Sarah Fuller from Vanderbilt, becoming the first woman to score for a Power 5 football team in a game with 2 extra points in their game against Tennessee.
- Bama had no issues with Arkansas and Georgia rolled Missouri.
- My adopted Chanticleers had a scare against Troy, but another great performance by Freshman QB Grayson McCall keeps them unbeaten at 11-0. Someone get them AND Cincy into New Year's Six Bowl.
- The Hawkeyes have continued their winning streak after romping Wisconsin 28-7 to win all of their trophy games in 2020.
- Utah upsets Colorado on the road with a dominating 28 point second half. This ruined our chances to see how the PAC-12 screwed up their conference, but oh well, they were never really relevant this season.
- I once again was bested by Oklahoma State as they rubbed my Baylor prediction in my face with a 42-3 beat down. I can never figure out the Pokes.
- Penn State and Jahan Dotson turned on the jets in the second half with 21 unanswered points to beat Sparty 39-24.
- A (narrow) forward lateral negated one of the wildest finishes you will ever see as Western Michigan tossed the ball all around the field and Ball State failed to fully recover a fumble that led to a premature rushing of the field by the team while the play was still going! The Mustangs eventually got the ball to the endzone amongst all the confusion, but Ball State maintained the victory after finding the forward lateral. Still, it's worth the watch if you haven't seen it yet!
- Army beat Navy 15-0 in their first meeting at West Point in 77 years. Great uniforms, great game and a special rivalry.
- Memphis knocked through a game-winning 47 yard field goal to defeat Houston.
- Auburn defeated Mississippi State to finish 6-4, yet still decided to fire Gus Malzahn to the tune of a 21.4 million dollar buyout.
- Lovie Smith is also out at Illinois, meaning his final victory as Head Coach of the Illini was against my Huskers. Ugh.
- UCLA nearly pulled the upset with a 43 yard field goal with less than a minute left, but the Trojans weren't going to let the Bruins spoil another undefeated season. After returning the following kickoff out past the 50, a couple of big passes from Kedon Slovis led to a USC touchdown and 43-38 victory. Great game, but again, the PAC-12 was out before we even started.
- My sincerest apologies to UNC for picking Miami. They also rubbed that prediction in my face with a 62-26 victory over the 'Canes which featured 554 yards rushing by the Tar Heels, mostly done by Michael Carter (308 yards 3 TDs) and Javonte Williams (236 yards 2 TDs).
- The best thing I saw in College Football this past weekend was Florida DB Marco Wilson throwing the shoe of an LSU player after stopping them on 3rd down when the game was tied at 34. The shoe throw prompted a penalty that gave LSU a 1st down and led to a 57 yard field goal (in the fog). Florida was able to get into field goal range to try a walk-off kick of their own, but the kick sailed left and the Gators have thrown themselves out of a Playoff possibility. HE THREW A SHOE!! LOL
Thanks for reading all of my week 15(ish) Reflections and be sure to look for my predictions post coming on Friday this week!
#CFBKnowItAll
Alex Fernando
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