Huskers Throw Victory into the Jaws of Defeat Against a Coach with Massive Road Struggles

It was Blackout Night in Lincoln. The crowd was pumped. The team came out firing. Our offense finally got the message and began the game by pounding the rock. Emmett Johnson - one of the two best backs in the Big Ten - turned in an Ahman Green-type performance with 29 (!) carries for 167 yards and a touchdown, the most carries in a single game by a Husker since Ameer Abdullah in 2014. The result? The USC Trojans spent a lot of time grasping hand-warmers and tossing bad passes. At halftime, the Cornhuskers led, 14-6. There was joy in Lincoln.

Then came the dreaded halftime adjustment. The Huskers were outscored 15-3 in the second half. This, despite facing quite possibly the worst big-game coach still employed in the Big Ten - Lincoln Riley. He needed an extremely fortunate trick play to get USC back into the game, when all they really had to do was run the ball over and over - as Nebraska could not stop the run.

Dylan Raiola did what he could to keep Nebraska pointed in the right direction until he got crushed on a sack and broke his leg. His injury - combined with an injury to offensive tackle Elijah Pritchett on the Huskers' next series - meant the Huskers would have some real challenges matriculating the ball down the field.

If you really think Nebraska has a leaky offensive line, then there’s an antidote that Nebraska firmly refuses to take - the 5-yard pass to the tight end. For three seasons, we’ve watched long-developing plays turn into sacks (and now, a broken leg) and this game was no exception. While you might want to blame offensive coordinator Dana Holgerson, the fact that it’s spanned two OC’s puts the blame squarely on head coach Matt Rhule.

It seems like it would be easier to find someone in the witness protection program than to find a Nebraska tight end. While SMQ appreciates the fact that being an OC is tough, we also know that throwing a 5-yarder to a tight end is way easier than a 20-yarder to a wide receiver, especially in cold weather.

Enter TJ Lateef, the dual-threat freshman from California. The coaching staff seemed to strap him with an ultra-conservative game plan, including NOT going for it on 4th and 1, taking a highly questionable timeout, then missing the field goal. Even if Nebraska had run the play and failed, it would probably not have been a worse outcome than what actually happened. The kid has a cannon. Let him eat.

Overall, Nebraska threw victory into the jaws of defeat, primarily because of coaching and an offensive philosophy that continues to ignore the realities of playing in Memorial Stadium. Here’s hoping that light dawns on the staff sooner rather than later.

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