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Stukenholtz: Bad Habits Die Hard
New head coach, same bad habits.
Matt Rhule may indeed be able to right the Nebraska football ship. Before he can, though, he will have to untangle a rat’s nest of mental blocks, muscle memory, and resignation that has plagued the program for a long time.
With a conference road win in their grasp, the Huskers failed to seize the opportunity in their 13-10 loss at Minnesota to begin the 2023 season. Close games like these turn on many little moments. However, it’s worth taking the time to note just how critical Nebraska’s mistakes were, and how eerily similar they felt when set against the backdrop of the past few seasons:
- On the cusp of a late first-half score, a false start took an NU touchdown off the board. The next play was a Jeff Sims interception in the end zone that doomed the chance for even a field goal attempt.
- After forcing the Gophers’ offense into a 3rd and long, Ty Robinson, the most seasoned defensive lineman on the team, lowered his helmet into the quarterback’s facemask and was ejected for targeting.
- One play after making an excellent one-handed catch to set the Huskers up with 2nd and goal at the 4-yard line, tight end Nate Boerkircher committed a momentum-killing false start penalty, knocking them back to the 9 and leading to merely a field goal which kept it a one-score game at 10-3.
- As he crossed midfield with a 7-point lead and less than 5:00 remaining, running back Anthony Grant had the ball punched loose, which Minnesota recovered.
- During the ensuing drive, freshman defensive end Cam Lenhardt grabbed the Gopher running back’s face mask on 4th down, giving Minnesota a free 15 yards on what became their game-tying touchdown drive.
- Finally, with about a minute to go, having moved the ball across midfield again, a mere 10-15 yards away from game-winning field goal range, Sims faded away on his last throw of the night and tossed his third interception.
False start.
INT.
Targeting.
False start.
Fumble.
Face mask.
INT.
That’s not a full listing of Nebraska’s four turnovers and seven penalties, by the way. Those are just the ones that either directly or indirectly took Husker points off the board, led to or bettered Minnesota’s scoring chances, or got a starter kicked out of the game.
Nebraska was the tougher team on Thursday. They out-rushed a very committed and established running team. They won the special teams and field position battles. They drew even on 3rd downs. The Blackshirts lived up to their name too, holding the Gophers to a mere 251 total yards. And they even had some luck on their side, scoring their only touchdown of the game on a trick play that featured a fumbled backwards pass to the quarterback.
Credit to Minnesota for catching the errant passes, for punching out the fumble, and for converting two 4th downs on their tying TD drive. While they were undoubtedly on the ropes, they did not beat themselves. Had NU not done just that in the game’s critical moments, this would have been an awe-inspiring performance in Matt Rhule’s Husker debut.
Instead, more of the same Nebraska.
* * *
During the summer months, the bugs come out. Those flies, moths, and mosquitos can find their way inside your home. You catch one in your field of vision, and maybe you take it out. But then their cousin buzzes in and you’re right back in a fight you didn’t want. Sure, some summer days don’t have any flies around, but they’re lurking. Just a matter of time until you see another one.
That’s what the Scott Frost era felt like. Whether it was critical turnovers, ill-timed penalties, or busts that allowed big plays by the opponent, it was a never-ending battle trying to swat away all the annoying little reasons why NU lost game after game.
It’s going to take some time for Matt Rhule and his staff to swat at and kill these bad habits. Getting the offense into hurry-up situations and making them execute without jumping before the snap. Working on under-pressure passing form with Jeff Sims to improve his reading of the defense and knowing when to live for another down. Ball security drills with running backs. Fundamental tackling, including how you can and cannot contact a QB.
One off-season and one single game is not enough time to coach yearslong habits out of players.
Those damn annoying bugs die hard.
- More coverage & commentary: HuskerMax game page
