Carriker Chronicles: Addressing Some Genuine Concerns Surrounding Nebraska Football

Adam Carriker discusses the harsh truth regarding the very real concerns from Nebraska fans about Matt Rhule, Dylan Raiola, Donovan Raiola and the Husker football season so far.

Adam gives a detailed breakdown about how the Huskers have struggled to protect their quarterback. They’re just about the worst team in all of FBS when it comes to sacks allowed. They’ve allowed 22 sacks against their four Big Ten opponents, and 25 against their five Power Four opponents.

In Friday night's game against Minnesota, the Huskers allowed nine sacks, which is a school record. They allowed three more sacks than the number of points they actually put on the scoreboard vs. P.J. Fleck and the Gophers. If you go back to 1994 and 1995, in those two seasons combined Nebraska allowed a total of six sacks en route to winning back-to-back national championships in college football.

Nebraska has truly struggled in the trenches as a whole. On defense, they've allowed nearly 500 yards rushing in the two games they’ve lost so far this year to Minnesota and Michigan. Those two teams combined ran the ball 61% of the time and averaged almost 7 yards per carry against the Huskers. Meanwhile, Nebraska in those two games averaged 1.2 and 1.4 yards per carry respectively.

Dylan Raiola being sacked against Minnesota — Only two of the 134 FBS teams are allowing more sacks per game than Nebraska. | Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

Adam also feels it’s fair at this point to ask about Nebraska‘s offensive line coach, Donovan Raiola, For those who don’t know, Donovan is quarterback Dylan Raiola’s uncle. Adam asked if Nebraska fans are getting what they want out of their team, and if not, how do can it get fixed? If changes are needed, when will they happen, if at all? Adam states that only one man can answer those questions and that’s the head coach, Matt Rhule.

Adam does believe that Nebraska can get back on track by beating Northwestern, which would make Nebraska football bowl eligible before November. He still believes the Huskers can win eight games because at that point, if it were to happen, they’d only have to go .500 in November, with a bowl game yet to come.

The things Adam believes Matt Rhule, Dana Holgorsen, John Butler and Mike Ekeler need to work on are the same things Adam mentioned after the Huskers' loss to Michigan. Those things are blocking and tackling! Adam also believes the Huskers are faster than they are playing which is why they are getting beaten by less-talented teams. Just because you’re faster doesn’t mean you’re gonna play faster, and just because you’re big doesn’t mean you’re gonna be fit physically. Adam says Nebraska needs to make a few changes in how the team practices.

This is a raw, honest and revealing episode of the Carriker Chronicles that you don’t wanna miss, Husker Nation. Hit the play button below, Go Big Red, and always remember to throw the bones!

☛ Get more Carriker Chronicles here on Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, at Adam's website and on YouTube.

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