“The standard is the standard.”
It’s a phrase that Matt Rhule has used many times. It even was the theme for Nebraska’s pregame tunnel walk.
Defensively, the Huskers more than met the standard against Michigan State. On special teams, Mike Ekeler’s bunch exceeded the standard.
It’s hard to an honest claim that the Huskers’ offense met the standard. You can try, but it’s a dishonest endeavor. Were there extenuating circumstances? Yes, the gusty wind made it harder to throw the ball…but that doesn’t explain it completely either. And this was an across-the-board failure, for the most part. Everyone will agree that the offensive line struggled mightily much of the game. More controversial are the issues with the offensive skill players. Receivers not getting open at times? Yes. The quarterback holding onto the ball too long, and not seeing the field? Yes. Play calls that didn’t try to adapt to the offensive struggles until late in the third quarter? Yes.
Nebraska scored 38 points on Michigan State, which looks pretty good. How Nebraska got those 38 points is the point of contention. Yes, flashes of good to great. But there was way too much meh, and a disconcerting amount of bleach offensively.
But for all that negativity, there’s something more important to take away. Nebraska may have blown a 14 point first quarter lead, but finished the game on a 24-0 run. They didn’t turtle in the corner; they didn’t say “here we go again.” They just found a way to win the game in the end.
Something that’s been in short supply the last ten years or so. It’s never been a talent thing. Nebraska has simply found ways to lose games in the most mind-numbing ways. Is Nebraska starting to figure out how to win games now?
I think we’re starting to see real evidence of that.
With that, it’s onto the report card. As always, your feedback is welcome in the comments.
QB: Yes, the protection was not good. Yes, receivers weren’t always open. But Dylan Raiola was also struggling as well. He held onto the ball too long (even when protection was OK) and took sacks when receivers WERE open. Many people will credit playing with the wind in the fourth quarter as being the turning point; I think the turning point was earlier, with several quick pass routes that simplified Raiola’s decision making and negated Michigan State’s pressure packages.
Last week, ESPN’s Bill Connelly (a CN friend from his SB Nation days at Rock M Nation) pointed out that despite his high completion percentage, Dylan Raiola ranks poorly in terms of time to throw (108th nationally), yards per attempt (123rd nationally) and sacks relative to pressure (119th nationally). This came back to burn him and Nebraska against the Spartans. Raiola has five-star talent, and while he’s a good quarterback, he’s not great and certainly not playing at an elite level. And on Saturday, it wasn’t good for much of the first 40 minutes of the game. Grade: D+
I-Back: Nebraska’s most consistent offensive performer by far was Emmett Johnson, with 19 touches for 120 yards and three touchdowns. Nebraska’s offensive incompetence left little room for the backups to see much action (55 snaps). Grade: B+
WR: Very quiet day thanks to discombobulation at the line of scrimmage. A couple of big plays by Jacory Barney (again) and Nyziah Hunter were huge. Grade: C-
Offensive Line: The line wasn’t good…but probably wasn’t as bad as many thought. Matt Rhule, Dana Holgorsen and Donovan Raiola made the move we all anticipated, inserting Alabama transfer Elijah Pritchett in at left tackle, but the surprising move was Gunnar Gottula moving to the right tackle spot. I liked the way Jeremiah Sirles framed it on the postgame call-in show: injuries to Turner Corcoran and Teddy Prochazka limit their athletic ability, so turning the tackle spots over to the younger players with more potential seems to be the best long-term play. But not all that was bad fell on the tackles; the line was not up to the standard all over. Grade: D-
Defensive Line: The tone was set up front, with Williams Nwaneri leading the way with five tackles and 1.5 sacks. Cam Lenhardt had a huge sack along with a quarterback hurry. Grade: B+
Linebackers: Javin Wright might have had his best game as a Husker, leading the way with 10 tackles (3.5 for a loss). Vincent Shavers wasn’t far behind with nine. A stout run defense, to be sure. Grade: A
Secondary: Hello, DeShon Singleton, who was MSU’s Aidan Chiles fourth most-targeted receiver on Saturday. I was surprised that the officials let Singleton return that incomplete pass into the end zone; it was pretty clearly a forward pass. The only squabble I have with Nebraska’s nation’s best pass defense was the red-zone penalties. Grade: A
Special Teams: Let’s start by pointing out Michigan State was struggling mightily on special teams even BEFORE Nebraska blocked that punt with two penalties on their first three punt attempts. But add a blocked kick, a beautifully called pooch kickoff into the wind, forcing the Spartans’ upbacks to field a kickoff now coming backwards, and a couple of nifty returns by Jacory Barney. (Yes, one came back on a penalty, but Barney ran elusively enough to earn kudos for it.) The only negative was Archie Wilson not knowing how to spin the ball on a day like this; he’ll learn this over time, I’m sure. Grade: A
Overall: B- Despite the offensive doldrums much of the day, hanging 38 points on a Big Ten foe is a good day. It was an ugly rockfight at times, but Nebraska found a way to win in the end.
