Special Teams, Special Plays and a Schizzy Offense Spank Sparty

On a hot and very windy afternoon in Memorial Stadium, the Nebraska Cornhuskers scored 24 points in 11:44 of clock time late in the game to defeat the Michigan State Spartans 38-27. The win allowed the Huskers to rebound from their 3-point loss to Michigan two weeks ago and move to 1-1 in the Big Ten and 4-1 overall. It was also 14th time in the past 16 seasons that the Huskers have won their Homecoming Game. Although, I’m not sure why it was homecoming as Nebraska’s last four games have been at home.

Nebraska started fast by stuffing and sacking the Spartans in a three and out and driving 48 yards on 9 plays to take the lead 7-0. After another Sparty three and out, Jamir Conn blocked a MSU punt that Carter Nelson took the remaining 3 yards into the end zone for a 14-0 lead.

Michigan State then drove 75 yards in 17 plays taking 9:45 off the clock, converting three third downs (two by penalty) and a 4th down, before scoring the first touchdown pass against NU all year with a 1-yard toss by freshman backup QB Alessio Milivojevic.

By the time Nebraska got the ball again, almost 40 minutes of real time had elapsed, and it appeared the Huskers had hit the snooze button. The nap lasted nearly two and a half quarters. From 9:09 in the 1st quarter to 2:37 left in the third (36:32), the Huskers totaled 29 yards of offense…29 yards. But, over the next 11:44, Nebraska amassed 195 yards (out of their 261 total) and 24 points. Merriam-Webster defines schizzy as “characterized by conflicting or contradictory elements or attributes.” Without attempting to be offensive regarding the mental health connotation, I think the word accurately describes the Husker offense at this point in the season. They have the capacity to be explosive or pathetic.

As an example of the latter, Nebraska’s third possession was set up by a Jacory Barney 57-yard punt return to the MSU 26-yard line. Three plays and three sacks and a penalty later, the Huskers were faced with a 4th and 42 from the NU 42-yard line. The blustery wind led to an 18-yard punt and the Spartans got the ball at their own 40 (a net loss of 14-yards in field position after the punt). That has to be one of the worst drives in Husker history. In the first half, Nebraska started possessions at the MSU 26, 44 and 45-yard lines without scoring. Despite going 3 for 3 in the red zone, the Huskers can ill-afford to waste such opportunities.

Nebraska punt returner Jacory Barney Jr. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

The wind was definitely a factor as 52 of the games 65 points were scored with the team that had the breeze at their back. It was a 20 mph blow from the south that gusted to 35 mph. Some of the kickoffs with the wind ended up in the North end zone seats. The lone NU kickoff against the wind was muffed by an upback that the Huskers recovered.

Before the final Spartan drive for a late score, the Blackshirts had held MSU to just 165 yards in total offense including just 97 yards through the air. The Husker defense had been the only team in the nation to have not yielded a pass for 20 yards or more. Unfortunately, on that last drive Milivojevic completed a 24-yard toss the NU 1-yard line. The defense recorded a season-high four sacks totaling 42 yards in lost yardage and had 12 tackles for loss for -60 yards. DeShon Singleton had two second-quarter interceptions, the second and third interceptions of his career as the Huskers won the turnover battle 3-1.

The defenders harassed and hammered MSU starting QB Aidan Chiles that was punctuated by Elijah Jeudy’s first career sack in the second quarter. Before that hit, Chiles had gone 5 for 8 passing and after he was 4 for 15 with two picks. The defense kept the Husker offense in the game until they finished their somnambulism. But there is still work to do as they allowed Chiles to scramble for a 16-yard TD and a 4-yard score up the middle on a QB sneak. Also, despite holding the Spartans to 2 for 14 on third down, they surrendered firsts on 4th down four times in a row.

Linebacker Javin Wright had 10 tackles in the game, including a career-high 3.5 tackles for loss (and a sack shared with Williams Nwaneri). Wright had 10 tackles in the previous game against Michigan, and is the first Husker to have consecutive games with double-figure tackles since Luke Reimer in 2021. Vincent Shavers, Jr added 9 stops with two TFLs and Donovan Jones had 7 tackles. Two Husker defenders made their first career starts including true freshman linebacker Dawson Merritt (2 tackles) and redshirt freshman safety Rex Guthrie (5 tackles). In addition to his two picks, DeShon Singleton had 6 tackles and an almost fumble recovery for a 25-yard score on a pass that was forward by a foot. Nwaneri had 5 tackles and 1.5 sacks, and Cameron Lenhardt had a late sack that finally put Chiles on the bench.

Dylan Raiola was 16 for 24 for 194 yards to increase his career passing total to 4,150. He is the ninth player in school history with 4,000 career passing yards. He had one TD toss and threw a very ugly interception right into the chest of the Spartan defender. Raiola was sacked 5 times for -35 yards and has now been sacked 12 times in the last two games. Elijah Pritchett made his first start at Nebraska at left tackle as Gunnar Gottula moved to the right tackle spot. When Nebraska played well, these guys looked decent. When they played poorly, they looked despicable. Raiola still holds the ball too long and receivers were struggling to get open.

Despite the paltry rush total of 67 yards, Emmett Johnson averaged 6.4 yards a carry in netting 83 yards on 13 carries with 3 rushing TDs. Johnson has a team-leading six rushing touchdowns to go with a team-high seven total touchdowns this season. A #2 running back has yet to emerge. I did like the creativity on Johnson’s first score as Heinrich Haarberg took the snap and handed to Raiola who dished it to Johnson as Haarberg made the lead block on the corner springing EJ to the goal line. Johnson also added 37 yards receiving on 6 catches to total 120 yards of offense. Nyziah Hunter had 4 catches for 93 yards including the 59-yard shoeless score after breaking an ankle tackle. Jacory Barney added two receptions for 47 yards, with the long being a 45-yard reception in the third quarter to set up a game-tying touchdown. Barney has had multiple receptions in 17 straight games. Three tight ends combined for 3 catches for just 7 yards. That can improve as well.

Special teams had their best game of the year highlighted early by the blocked punt for a touchdown in the first quarter. Jamir Conn literally took one for the team in his nether regions to garner his second blocked punt for the season. Carter Nelson’s score on the play was his first of the season and his second career TD. Nelson apologized to Barney in the press conference for his block in the back negating a 82-yard scoring punt return. Barney still had a career-long 57-yard punt return in the second quarter, bettering a 39-yard punt return against Akron. That punt return was Nebraska’s longest since JD Spielman had a 76-yard punt return touchdown against South Alabama in 2019. Barney had four returns for 81 yards today and has 192 punt return yards this season, the most by a Husker since De’Mornay Pierson-El had 596 punt returns on 34 returns in 2014. On the other side, MSU had no punt returns as Archie Wilson placed two of his 4 punts inside the 20-yard line. The wind cut the Aussie’s average to just 30 yards today. Mekhi Nelson also recovered a muffed kickoff at the MSU 28 that the offense turned into 3 points with Kyle Cunanan’s 27-yard field goal. In the presser, Matt Rhule defended the fake punt as the right call even though it fell less than a yard short but led to MSU tying the game at 14-14.

Nebraska wins the first of four October contests in which they are likely to be favored. Next week’s opponent, Maryland, led 20-0 with 3:44 to go in the third quarter before Washington reeled off 24 straight points in an impressive comeback to give the Terps their first loss this season. The turtles may be angry as Nebraska faces its first true road environment this year (although there will be plenty of Husker fans in College Park). The team needs to figure out how to be more consistent in their search for a four-quarter game. Last year’s team would have likely lost that contest Saturday, so improvement is noted. Just get a little better each week and the season has plenty of promise. Go Big Red!!!

Related: Nebraska-Michigan State game page.

More From Nebraska On SI

Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, subscribing to HuskerMax on YouTube, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.