Stukenholtz: To Reach Lofty Goals, Husker Offense Must Improve

If you score 38 points in a Big Ten football game, the offense must be cooking, right?

Riiiiight??

Anyone who watched Nebraska’s 38-27 victory over Michigan State, especially those with a Big Red rooting interest, could not say with a straight face that the Husker offense was a well-oiled machine. Sure, there were moments of good scheme, nice execution, and straight-up domination. But most of NU’s possessions ended in frustration.

Why did that happen? Where did Nebraska struggle? And, most importantly, what can Dana Holgorsen, Dylan Raiola, and company do differently going forward to be more consistent?

First, let’s unpack the MSU game drive by drive. The Huskers started with a touchdown (then the blocked punt return touchdown), followed by punt, punt, turnover on downs, punt, turnover on downs (the failed fake punt), interception, touchdown, field goal, punt, touchdown, touchdown, kneel downs.

Subtracting the blocked punt score (beautifully done, Coach Ekeler – and happy birthday!), that makes 31 points. 31 points in spite of six straight empty drives.

I know, I know…the wind! No doubt it had an impact on this game, and it’s not a coincidence that the mid-game struggles were all when NU had to go against the wind. Blame Mother Nature all you want, but the wind didn’t forget the run game and call *13* consecutive pass plays in the third and fourth quarters. It wasn’t the wind unsuccessfully blocking Michigan State’s pass rush.

Yes, the Huskers did find the end zone on their only first-quarter drive, but the trouble signs were evident. Raiola had to scramble for a first down on third down, and he scrambled again on a second and long to set up an easier third down inside the 5-yard line. Straight drop-backs were not yielding passing yardage, and while it’s great that DR can improvise, I’m betting his coaches would rather not risk a season-altering injury too many times per game if they can help it.

The four second-quarter chances were very even run-to-pass, with eight run calls and nine pass plays. The best result was 19 yards and a punt. Read that again! After that came the three sacks for negative-32 yards series (technically, the third down wasn’t a sack because of the bad snap, but I’m calling it a sack). Then seven plays for seven yards and a turnover on downs. Finally, the three-and-out was highlighted by the personal foul penalty committed literally in a referee’s face. Oh yeah, those last three drives all started in Spartan territory after a huge Jacory Barney Jr. punt return and a pair of DeShon Singleton interceptions. Opportunities wasted.

By halftime, Raiola only had 24 passing yards. What’s more, the stat sheet may have said 5-for-7, but that really came from 16 designed pass plays. The other nine non-attempts were scrambles or sacks. That’s only 1.5 yards per pass play. Embarrassing!

Nebraska quarterback Dylan Raiola fires a pass to Nyziah Hunter against Michigan. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

After halftime, Raiola hit Nyziah Hunter right off the bat for 14 yards. Then, four-and-out after the fake punt try. Michigan State tied the game on the ensuing drive.

Next came Raiola’s worst play, an interception where not only did he not see the linebacker in coverage over the middle, but he didn’t really have an open window to throw to, either. Short field for MSU quarterback Aidan Chiles, and he took advantage of it with another touchdown. 21-14, Sparty.

The passes kept coming from Nebraska. Finally, on third & 10, the spark that lit the late-game rally as Raiola slid to his right and fired downfield to Barney for 45 yards. Two runs from Emmett Johnson later, and NU tied it back up at 21-21.

Getting another special teams gift with a muffed kickoff, Holgorsen dialed up six straight passes. First came another sack, then Raiola picked up a first down through the air. With a first and goal from the 7-yard line? Incomplete, incomplete, incomplete, field goal to take a 24-21 lead.

Following a three-and-out from the Blackshirts, it got really pass-heavy. Again, six straight pass plays were called. Gains of eight, six, and 10 yards moved NU to near midfield at their 44-yard line. But as Michigan State continued to pin their ears back and rush the passer, eventually they got home again for another sack, their fifth (I’ll say sixth) of the game. Two more pass completions sandwiched around a false start, and it was another punt, clinging to a three-point lead.

Yet another three-and-out from the defense gave the Husker offense the ball back at their own 41. Surely they had to run it here, right? Nope! The 13th consecutive pass play was a good one as Hunter housed a receiver screen for the dagger score and a 31-21 lead with 6:45 to go. Johnson scored again on the ground after MSU turned it over on downs to put the cherry on top of a frustrating yet ultimately successful day.

So what did we learn? How can the Huskers get better and more consistent on offense?

Nebraska offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen looks on from the sideline against Michigan. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

More creativity! Show me the fun stuff. Once or twice a game, bust out a wrinkle that you’ve repped over and over in practice and catch the defense off guard. Bonus points if you do it in the red zone, where NU has really struggled this year. On three red zone trips, the Huskers came away with two touchdowns and a field goal.

That first score involved Heinrich Haarberg’s unique skill set as he both took the snap and was a lead blocker for Johnson after a double handoff. It’s been too predictable inside the 20. Gimme more of this, please.

More single-read, quick-release passes! Michigan State put a lot of dudes in the box and dared Nebraska to throw. Raiola obliged, which more or less allowed the Spartans' defense to dictate the terms of the fight. If NU sees this defensive philosophy again, add in more screens and more “go routes” to use their aggression against them. Fewer reads for Raiola should also minimize the negative plays like sacks.

Raiola needs to take more chances downfield, too. I get the controlled, “first read-second read-try and scramble-take the sack” style he’s playing. It’s risk-averse, and it’s a big reason why this team is positive in turnover margin. Objectively, a sack is not as bad as an interception. But it’s also the opposite of explosive, and while there were a couple of big pass plays, they felt more lucky than designed. Barney’s 45-yard catch was created by Raiola extending the play, and Hunter’s 59-yard single-shoe catch and run was a screen. He’s got the arm. Let’s see him go deep. You can catch it, get pass interference, or at the very least scare the opposing defensive coordinator into loosening up the underneath stuff, which in turn makes life easier on yourself.

Finally, and probably most obviously, run the damn ball! Seriously, people had to be losing their minds with seemingly every second-half play sending Raiola back into a pocket that was quickly collapsing due to a Spartan group that was allowed to get into a pass rush rhythm.

Even though this offense’s strength lies in its pass game, and even though defenses may fill the box with seven or eight defenders, Holgorsen cannot abandon the run game. Emmett Johnson toted it 13 times at 6.4 yards per carry and scored three touchdowns. Mekhi Nelson and Isaiah Mozee are coming around, too. Pass to set up the run, just don’t forget to mix in that run call every 2-4 plays.

Maybe it really was just so windy that it offset anything Nebraska could have done offensively for half of this game, and this entire column will look silly by the end of October.

Regardless of the weather or the opponent, it would serve the Huskers well to adjust their approach. Learning your lessons in a win is a gift, if you are wise enough to recognize those lessons.

Will Nebraska take this experience and use it to keep improving? To get to where this program wants to go – back to national relevance – they must.

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