Nebraska not only dispatched Michigan State Saturday with a 31-13 victory, but they exorcised a couple of old demons as well. It was Nebraska’s first win to open conference play since 2019, and Anthony Colandrea became the first Husker quarterback to win in East Lansing since Taylor Martinez donned the scarlet and cream. And yes, just like exorcisms in the movies, at times it was scary and disgustingly messy.

Shortly before this game I predicted a 31-10 victory for the Big Red. So, while the score may have ended up like I envisioned, the way Nebraska arrived there was something very different. However, you must give the Huskers credit, they rose to the occasion, but not before Pat Fitzgerld’s group tried to muddle things up and make it ugly. The problem was most of the ugly slopped off on his own team.

Afterwards, not everyone was ready to crown the Huskers Big Ten contenders. Because of that, some of the media are asking why fans can’t be happy with the win and demand perfection. It isn’t perfection the fans are looking for, it’s consistency. Rhule’s team has yet to play a complete game. Sooner or later, they must resolve the third quarter doldrums. Fans recognize Michigan State for the 2-2 team they are. It only gets tougher from here.

The Game

The Huskers won the opening toss and differed, kicking off to Michigan State. On first down Spartans running back Cam Edwards rushed straight up the middle for eight yards. The Blackshirts held up the next four plays and sacked Alessio Milivojevic forcing a punt, but it was evident early that running on the Blackshirts might be a possibility.

After Michigan State punted the ball away to the Huskers, Anthony Colandrea threw an incompletion on first down. On second down, Jamal Rule, who started for the Huskers, ran up the middle for five yards. Colandrea threw another incompletion on third down and we saw our first action from punter Archie Wilson.

 And so, it went from there. Two Big Ten teams at battle, each trying to out physical the other by running the ball and getting after the quarterback. At times it seemed like the two were equal, and then a turnover, a sack, or a dumb penalty would occur. Fortunately, the Huskers found themselves on the winning side of things most of the time.

The Husker’s used those gifts to sustain drives and put points on the board, but there were times when Michigan State appeared they could take control of the game.

Michigan State Offense

Five separate times the Spartans put together drives that put points on the board three times. In the first quarter they went 8-plays for 51-yards and a field goal. In the second quarter it was 10-plays for 79-yards and a touchdown. And in the third quarter they did it twice, controlling over 8 minutes of the clock. First, it was a 9-play 34-yard drive that ended in a field goal and then a 10-play 36-yard drive that ended on an attempted field goal that was blocked. In their next to last possession of the game, they went on a 9-play drive for 72 yards.

In those five drives the Spartans gained 200 of their 257 total yards and 13 points. They did so by running tempo and keeping the Blackshirts off balance with gashing runs up the middle and quick strike passes. Of their 37 plays on those five drives they had 20 runs for 73 yards averaging 3.54 yards per carry and 17 completions for 194 yards averaging over 11- yards per catch. And need I remind you that on the opening drive of the second half, if the catch, which looked eerily similar to Gilmer’s 44-yard TD, hadn’t been overturned the Spartans would have had the ball first and goal with a chance to make the score 24-17. Had the Spartans not killed themselves with penalties and turnovers it could have been a potentially long day for the Huskers.

The Huskers did what they needed to win, and they deserved the win. But not since they joined the Big Ten has so many things gone their way. Some refuse to call it luck, but I can’t find another word for it. You could say karma. But that’s the word I’d use for what happened to Michigan on Saturday.

Nebraska Defense

On the first depth chart of the season several fans were surprised to see Riley Van Poppel and Williams Nwaneri weren’t starters. However, in the fourth game of the season the pair led the defensive line in snaps taken. Van Poppel had 46, Nwaneri 43, Jahsear Whittington 41, and Anthony Jones 34. The foursome seems to be distinguishing themselves for more playing time.

The Blackshirts pressured Spartan quarterbacks 18 of their 28 dropbacks, 14 of those pressures and 3 sacks came from the defense front. Nwaneri had his best game as a Blackshirt logging two sacks.

When it comes to playing time, linebacker is a different story, it’s been Owen Chambliss, Vincent Shavers Jr. and Dexter Foster taking the bulk of the snaps since day one. Against the Spartans Chambliss had 55, Shavers 34, and Foster 32. Also making contributions were Dawson Merritt 9 and Derek Wacker 2.

Chambliss continues to display why he is a potential All-Big Ten player as he led the team in tackles with 8 and had 1 interception. Shavers had 4 tackles and a quarterback hurry. Merrit had 1 sack and Wacker made the most of his time with 2 STOP tackles in his 2 snaps.

Andrew Marshall is clearly one of the best cornerbacks in college football. He participated in 62 snaps and didn’t allow a catch on the three times he was targeted. He also had 1 interception.

Dewayne McDougle had 59 snaps, Donovan Jones 58, Jahmir Conn 48, freshman Danny Odem 36 and Victor Evans 30. Jones continues to be a wrecking ball at the nickel position with 3 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 fumble recovery while playing lights out in coverage. McDougle and Evans teamed for 14 tackles, 2 of which were for a loss. Odem continues to grow, seeing the most snaps of his young career. Nebraska’s secondary appears to be a position of strength again this season.

The Blackshirts finished with 10 tackles for a loss, 3 turnovers (2 interceptions, 1 fumble) and six sacks for -49 yards on the day. To put things in perspective, the defensive unit currently has 15 sacks after four games. They had a total of 22 last season.

For the game they gave up 267 total yards, 22 first downs, allowed 3/8 on third down and gave up the ball for 29 minutes and 41 seconds of possession time.

Nebraska Offense

Anthony Colandrea ended up being Nebraska’s leading rusher, going 66 yards on 10 carries. It’s never good when your QB is your leading rusher. I can tell you right now that is not sustainable going forward. Especially in the Big Ten. The top three running backs for the Huskers, Nelson, Mozee, and Genatone, rushed for a total of 88-yards on 25 carries for a 3.52 yards per carry average. Far below the Husker’s three game non-conference average.

Nelson saw the brunt of the action with 42 snaps, Mozee had 13 and Genatone 5. Genatone made the most of his opportunities, scoring twice. I’m not sure missing Rule was a factor in the lack of rushing yards. It’s more a reflection of offensive line play.

Colandrea finished the day 15-of-27 with 212 yards and 2 touchdowns. He was 3-for-7 on third down plays, converting two first downs. I said in my game preview that the Spartan’s secondary could be beaten over the top, and that appeared to be the case as Colandrea went 3-for-3 on passes over 20 yards down the field. He had a 44-yard touchdown to Kwazi Gilmer in the first quarter, and he had another 38-yard reception on third-and-seven late in the fourth.

The big story of the game was that Jacory Barney only played 21 snaps, leaving the game with an injury. It’s unreported as to what the injury is. Quinn Clark came in for Barney and finished the day with 2 receptions for 34 yards. Luke Lindenmeyer had 4 receptions, a season high, for 25 yards.

The Nebraska offensive line may have not allowed a sack, but they did give up 6 quarterback hurries and 1 quarterback hit. The O-line struggled throughout the game with Michigan State stunting the gaps to stifle the Husker running game. As always Evans, Pritchett, and Mubenga led the O-line in snaps with 68, 68, and 67. In what was perhaps their worst performance as a group for run blocking, we saw Tree Babalade get more snaps than Gunnar Gottula for the first time this season, 37 to 32. We also saw Brendan Black’s snaps fall, but this was due to injury. Gibson Pyle took 9 snaps in his place. There have been questions all season about this group’s ability to line up, fire straight ahead and control the line of scrimmage. We saw that once again Geep Wade’s group is still a work in progress.

Michigan State Defense

The Spartans were without their best defender for the game in linebacker Brady Pretzlaff and it didn’t get any better when linebacker Jordan Hall was carted off the field mid game. Hall was credited with 3 stops before retiring. Defensive linemen Ben Roberts and Mikeshun Beeler along with linebackers Dion Crawford and Caleb Wheatland were left to step up.

Roberts had 4 solo tackles and 1 tackle for a loss while Wheatland had a career high of 9 tackles, 6 solo, and a quarterback hurry.

The Spartans were unable to get pressure on Nebraska’s quarterback, producing just 9 plays in which they did so, and didn’t produce a sack. They had a total of 3 tackles for a loss and were unable to create any turnovers.

They gave up 369 total yards, 22 first downs, including 6/13 third downs and allowed Nebraska to possess the ball for 30 minutes and 19 seconds.

Overall

I may sound negative or disappointed in the Huskers performance, I’m not. Being a Husker fan I’m happy for the win. I said before the game all the Huskers needed was a win, even if were only by a single point. However, I’d like to see more consistency, and I have some hesitancy to get too excited as I thought the offensive line’s performance dropped off against what was significantly better competition. The schedule will gradually get tougher and a wounded Maryland team could be dangerous.

GO BIG RED!! SIMPLE, FAST, VIOLENT!!

Art worked designed and owned by Lyle Harmon and ‘Off the Cob’.

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