Howdy College Football fans, and welcome to the Week 4 Reflection post. I've been so reluctant to write this post for a variety of reasons, but nonetheless, I must give my thoughts and opinions. I'm sure you all have plenty as well, but we'll dive into the Huskers' heartbreaking loss to Michigan State.
It seemed nearly impossible for the Huskers to find a new way to lose a football game, but where there's a will, there's a way. All I felt was pure pain as the Huskers fell 23-20 in overtime to Sparty despite one of the best defensive performances I've ever seen from the Blackshirts, let alone any football team. This post breaks down my GOOD, EXPECTED and BAD sections of the game, but I'm sure most of you can guess what I'm going to say. Without further ado, here is my analysis of the game.
GOOD: The Blackshirts. They get to own place in this category for the incredible performance they put on Saturday. Michigan State came in with one of the statistically best offensive attacks in the nation and were completely stifled by the Huskers. The busted coverage on the Flea Flicker is really the only successful scoring the Spartans had on offense, otherwise the Huskers held them to just a couple of field goals. In the second half, the Blackshirts were absolutely amazing. Michigan State ran 15 plays in the second half for a grand total of 14 yards. With five straight 3 & outs the Husker offense had plenty of opportunity to put up points and walk out of East Lansing with a solid victory. The Blackshirts plugged up the run game, holding Kenneth Walker III to just 61 yards and 71 yards for the team as a whole. They racked up 3 sacks and 9 tackles for loss as well. Giving up just 14 yards in an entire half and 13 points overall should always win you a ball game and I tip my cap to Chinander and the defensive squad. One of the best performances I've seen.
EXPECTED: Adrian Martinez is the only dangerous factor on offense, even with poor play calling. Despite the poor decision to force the slant route in overtime, Martinez once again proved he is the only true source of offensive production on this team. After a very scary start by being knocked out of the game with a big hit on the third play, Martinez returned and gave the Spartan defense headaches as he rushed for 72 yards and 2 TDs. He threw the ball fairly well and a few into some tight windows. He's had a very impressive season thus far and has helped Nebraska have a chance at winning all of these games. Imagine what he could do if the receivers got separation or the offensive line blocked for him. As for the play calling issue, there were numerous head scratchers from the game. The redzone play calls are always too conservative in my opinion as the slow-developing handoff out of shotgun to the pile in the middle of the line will not get you many points. Neither will throwing a swing pass to Brody Belt in the flats with 3 defenders around him. The true worst play call I picked up on from Saturday was the Option Fake TE Screen pass to the short side of the field where Nebraska had 1 blocking receiver on the edge to take on 4 Michigan State defenders. All the Spartan defenders flowed that direction due to the Option Fake handoff in that direction, and easily ran by the 1 blocker (who didn't even touch anyone) to blow up the play for a loss. I'm not sure what planet anyone thinks that will work, but it seems Scott Frost wants to run those plays until they break free. Good luck with that one. One last expected note is that Sparty hits hard. Their defense was also quite tough, but they brought the lumber when they hit the ball carrier.
BAD: We all know what this category is all about, SPECIAL TEAMS and the O-LINE! We'll start with the boys up front, they once again did nothing in terms of protection. Immediately on the first play of the game Martinez was sacked as the interior line dissolved way too quickly. The Spartans finished with 7 sacks and 11 tackles for loss against the Husker O-line and to be honest, I thought Rahmir Johnson gave better pass protection from his running back spot. He picked up blitzes better than any of the linemen. Until they open up the run game and give 2AM just a little bit of protection, this offense will continue to miss the mark. Now we move onto my favorite problem to talk about with this team, the Special Teams unit. The Husker Special teams has lost all three games this season, and from the simplest of mistakes to fix. With Michigan State, most of the blame will go to the punt return late in the 4th quarter that tied the game at 20 because Daniel Cerni kicked the ball to the wrong side of the field. However, the bigger issue is Nebraska's punt returns, or lack thereof to be more specific. Michigan State punted 6 times on Saturday, 5 of those in the second half, and Nebraska returned 1 for -1 yard. Samori Toure let 5 kicks bounce, including the one before the drive that ended in Michigan State's punt return for a TD. That punt hit at the 41 yard line and rolled to be downed at the 21. Nebraska lost 20 yards of field position there and instead of starting out near midfield, they started back with a full field in front of them. These hidden yards are causing far more issues than the poor coverage themselves as it puts the already struggling offense in a bigger hole. I cannot fathom, let alone believe that there is not a single player on that Husker roster that couldn't be sent back to wave their hand and fair catch every punt. I'm not even worried about a return, just wave your hand immediately when the ball is kicked and catch the ball. I imagine a Special Teams Coach would have the same suggestions as I do, but apparently those aren't necessary for a Division I football team. Pathetic.
Last statement on this game is that Frost needs to at least fight for the last chance field goal. You have time and two timeouts, there's no reason not to go for it. Personally I think that shows a lack of fight from the team and there's nothing worse than playing not to lose. It's BIG 10 Football, you have to play to win if you want to win.
Quick Hit Thoughts from around College Football:
- Notre Dame romped Wisconsin as Graham Mertz turned the ball over 5 times, including 2 picks taken back to the house. The Badgers have struggled on offense all year long, but this was an especially rough performance. Notre Dame continues their unblemished season as Brian Kelley becomes the winningest coach in Irish history.
- I alluded to the idea of a big upset from the Hogs, but just didn't have the guts to pull the trigger. Arkansas went all out then and racked up nearly 350 yards on the Aggie defense as they won it in Jerry World 20-10. Look out for these Hogs!
- True Big XII defense came in the form of Texas Tech on Saturday as the Longhorns routed the Red Raiders 70-35.
- The Cowboys knocked off the pesky Power Cats in Stillwater and are starting to figure out their offense.
- SMU had too much offense for the Horned Frogs as they won the Iron Skillet. Following the victory the Mustangs attempted to plant their flag in the TCU midfield turf, which led to a bit of a scuffle between the two teams.
- Another upset I didn't have the guts to fully predict was that of NC State over Clemson. The Wolfpack missed a game winning field goal at the end of regulation, but were still able to come out with a victory over the Tigers in overtime. Dabo and crew have lost two regular season games for the first time since 2014.
- Despite having the crowd call for the backup QB, Spencer Rattler and the Sooners survive a visit from the Mountaineers with a last second field goal to win 16-13.
- Another Big XII matchup featured the Bears and the Cyclones who could not quite complete the comeback and have now fallen to 2-2 on the season. Bears Sic 'em 31-29.
- Michigan holds off Rutgers as BIG 10 play starts for most of the conference.
- Staying with the BIG 10, the Golden Gophers were upset by Bowling Green.
- Auburn came back in the 4th to beat Georgia State at home.
- LSU held off a late comeback by the Pirate and beat Mississippi State 28-25.
- Despite a 17 point 4th quarter and forcing overtime, Mizzou was not able to knock of Boston College at home. The Eagles won in overtime and that should wrap up all my SEC Tigers.
- A quick I TOLD YOU SO on my UTSA upset prediction!
Thanks for reading all my post-game reflections and be sure to watch for a special post along with my predictions this weekend. GO BIG RED!
#CFBKnowItAll
Alex Fernando
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