I am sure we all collectively thought “here we go again” on the opening offensive drive of the game. Where last week the defense took the field first and gave up a large play and score to open our collective groans, this week the offense threw an interception (if you can even call it that—the ball was simply taken out of Jacory Barney’s hands on what looked like a completion). The stadium held its breath for a second, that familiar knot forming in the gut. However, it was only up from there. The Huskers flipped the script completely, poured in 35 points before halftime, and finished with a 56-7 thrashing that never really felt in doubt.
Here are my three takeaways:
The offense is clicking
The offense looks largely improved—albeit against lesser opponents. It appears Offensive Coordinator Dana Holgorsen is finally running the offense he wants, and you can feel the difference in the rhythm and confidence. Anthony Colandrea is explosive and is turning out to be a clear improvement over Dylan Raiola. He completed 20 of 24 passes for 222 yards and a career-high four touchdowns (all in the first half), creating with his legs when needed and delivering the ball with zip. The running backs, especially freshman Jamal Rule and Mekhi Nelson, are both averaging strong numbers—Rule finished with 8 carries for 88 yards and a 59-yard touchdown (exactly 11.0 yards per carry), while Nelson added 48 yards on eight totes. When your backs are hitting the hole that hard and that often, everything else opens up. The unit is starting to look like it has an identity, and that identity is physical, explosive, and fun to watch. Nebraska piled up 546 total yards (282 passing, 264 rushing) for the second straight week over 500.
Penalties need to be cleaned up
Seven penalties for 65 yards is several too many. Those self-inflicted wounds keep drives alive for the opponent and kill momentum on your own side—three of them came on special teams alone in the first half. It was refreshing to see Head Coach Matt Rhule visibly angry and upset on the sideline, tearing into players after a holding call on a special teams play. That fire matters. The announcers aptly pointed out that he is going to hold people to a standard, and you could see it in real time. After the game, Rhule took the blame for some of the special teams penalties, saying he coached his players to be aggressive in order to set up returns, and that the Big Ten is calling it differently this year. They need to adjust how they coach to account for that.
The angst over the third quarter is an overreaction
I might get hate for this take. Fans were upset and vocal about a slow third quarter where the Huskers gave up a touchdown and didn’t score a single point after dropping 35 in the first half. The energy in the stands dipped, and the second-guessing started flying. I think this is all an overreaction. Bowling Green switched it up in the second half. They went from a spread, RPO-heavy attack out of shotgun/pistol to I-formation and singleback looks. That sudden offensive identity change took a minute for the defense to dial in. Even so, although Bowling Green had a long possession that chewed more than 8 minutes off the clock, they only managed limited yardage before finally punching in a score early in the fourth. All told, that long drive only yielded 33 yards. No cause for concern. People saying this is a giant red flag for the defensive line—I would not go that far. Holding an opponent to short gains on a long possession while they try to slow the game down is actually a quiet win for the front. Rhule himself wasn’t thrilled; in fact, he said,
“Certainly I wasn’t happy about that third quarter”
But he also noted the desire to get more guys playing time and the overall standard the team is chasing.
Bonus:
Special teams looked improved, minus the penalties, which we learned about because of the way the officiating has changed. Quinn Clark blocked a punt that flipped field position, and Kyle Cunanan almost hit a 55-yarder that was just short. Those are the kinds of plays that shift field position and swing games later in the season. Rhule said he was happy with the blocked punt and the number of players who touched the ball. The unit is clearly trending in the right direction; now they just need to keep the flags in their pockets while staying aggressive.
