Photo by David Max
Thot Doc’s Brain Droppings on the Nebraska-North Dakota Game
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On a breezy but sunny September afternoon, the Nebraska Cornhuskers prevailed in their home opener against the North Dakota Fighting Hawks 38-17 in a game that wasn’t decided until the fourth quarter. The Huskers improved to 14-0 all-time against FCS opponents but it was struggle as the opponents dominated time of possession in the first half (20:38-9:22) and the Huskers had just 24 offensive snaps before intermission.
Between the Blackshirts' sloppy tackling and the offensive line’s inability to gel, the Huskers stumbled after a quick score on their opening possession and had subsequent drives end with a fumble, a punt, and a missed field goal. Meanwhile, North Dakota, put together a 16-play 80-yard scoring drive that consumed nearly half the second quarter and knotted the score at seven a piece. They were aided by SIX timeouts as head coach Scott Frost contributed the Huskers’ three stoppages in order for the Hawks to score with :13 remaining. The lack of clock management allowed Nebraska to kneel to end the half. It was also puzzling to see Husker defenders celebrate the Hawks conversion of a 4th and 1 with a 2-yard completion from the 5-yard line. I can only conclude that the players thought that North Dakota was in a 4th and goal situation. The lack of game awareness is concerning from both players and coaches.
Today marked the fourth game in a row dating back to last season that Nebraska scored on its opening drive. When the Huskers went 75-yards in six plays to start the second half scoring (in just 1:48), it marked the second week in a row that they scored on their first drive of the second half. Perhaps the Husker offense should run back into the tunnel after every score since they do so well coming out of the locker room. Following a North Dakota fumble, Nebraska added a field goal to again to again command a double digit second half lead. And, for the second week in a row, it took just 4:14 for them to surrender that advantage.
But the difference this week is that the Husker defense bowed up and limited the Hawks to just 55 yards in the final 19:22 of the game. Meanwhile, in that same span, the offense had just one poor possession and tallied 183 yards while scoring 21 points to put the game out of reach. The key play came with 10 minutes to play and the Huskers leading just 24-17. Facing a 3rd and 14 from their own 7-yard line, a Casey Thompson pass found Trey Palmer who out jumped two defenders for a 31-yard gain. That contributed to a game-clinching 89-yard scoring drive in which the Huskers ran for seven of the next eight plays, culminating with a 14-yard TD scamper by true freshman Ajay Allen.
The Huskers have a multitude of problems on both sides of the ball as both lines have faltered against mediocre competition. But it was encouraging this week to see them wear down an opponent and win the 4th quarter. The new players have added a much-needed spark and may not be fully polluted with the tendency to expect the worst when adversity strikes. I would include defender Ochuan Mathis in this group as he battled in the middle throughout, despite being repeatedly held by offensive linemen.
What defines “targeting” for Big Ten officials? After today’s game, I am more confused than ever. When a defender launches, hits an opponent in the helmet and is not going for the ball, I was under the impression that was targeting. Apparently, not when the receiver has a “N” on their helmet. Also, when you hit a quarterback late, but it’s not ruled targeting, it is apparently also not a late hit. Puzzling or just poor officiating?
Casey Thompson completed 14 of 21 passes for 193 yards and threw touchdown passes to a pair of backup tight ends. He also threw a horrible ball that was picked off and returned to the Husker 8-yard line after the Huskers had taken a ten-point lead. A big change this week was that the Huskers threw just 22 times compared with 41 rushes. Thompson rushed six times for -2 yards. He had two nice runs for 10 and 14 yards, that was negated by two sacks that lost 27 yards. It appears that Thompson is a decent scrambler and could do well to pull the ball and run on some of the run-pass options, but he seems hesitant to do so. Perhaps a couple of trips to the injury tent just adds to that hesitation.
The offensive star of the game was running back Anthony Grant who rushed 23 times for 189 yards including touchdown runs of 19 and 46 yards. Grant is best when he has some space and there is precious little up the middle. His ability to cut and slide outside makes him a dangerous back and he will only be better if the offensive line can start to create the kind of push they did in the latter stages of today’s game. Perhaps his best run was when he turned a bobble in the backfield, and near turnover, into a 16-yard gain. Grant is the first Husker back to have back-to-back 100-yard games since Devine Ozigbo who had three in a row in October 2018. Ajay Allen added 60 yards on just 11 carries ( a 5.3 yard average) and it is all but assured that the true freshman will burn his redshirt.
Trey Palmer (4 catches for 82 yards) set a career high in receiving yards. Nate Boerkircher (2 catches for 32 yards) garnered his first career touchdown with his 19-yard grab over the middle in the third quarter. Marcus Washington (2 catches for 31 yards) had a beauty on the sideline that was initially ruled incomplete. Alante Brown and Omar Manning each added two catches as Manning made his season debut. Chancelor Brewington can do more than blow up defenders when running in motion. Today he caught a 5-yard TD pass and also got nailed in the head “that was not targeting.”
The Blackshirts gave up 306 yards in 70 plays. Probably most surprising is that they surrendered just 7 points in a first half where North Dakota held the ball for 20:38. There were still far too many missed tackles, especially in the first half, preventing the defense from getting off the field. The defense was led by an emotionally charged Garrett Nelson who tied for the team lead with 8 tackles, forced a fumble, had a sack, and knocked down a pass. He has at least one tackle for loss in 13 of 17 games played. Isaac Gifford added 8 stops including a tackle for loss with Luke Reimer contributing 7 tackles, leaving him just one shy of cracking the Top 50 in career stops. Ernest Hausman (5 tackles) became just the fifth true freshman to start at linebacker since 1993. Marcus Buford (5 tackles with a TFL) saved a touchdown twice on one drive when he tackled Isaiah Smith after a 63-yard gain at the NU 6-yd line and then broke up a pass in the end zone of 3rd and goal. I acknowledged Ochaun Mathis (2 tackles) above who was very disruptive in the middle and garnered a sack as well.
Special teams were a mixed blessing in this game as Brian Buschini continues to be a strength with his punting even though he only had two kicks averaging 42.0 yards. The wind was blowing consistently at 15-20 mph and it made kicking and catching a difficult challenge. Timmy Bleekrode notched his first Husker field goal from 46-yards with the wind and missed wide left from 37-yards against the wind. The squib kickoff from midfield was not the bonehead onside call like last week and only cost the Huskers 6 net yards in field position. Brendan Franke was solid with kicking five touchbacks in seven kickoff attempts. What Wyatt Liewer was doing trying to pick up a punted ball about to be downed is anyone’s guess. It could have resulted in a turnover but didn’t and he is certainly fortunate that stupidity wasn’t costly in that instance.
The Huskers are still a work in progress. There are many flaws to address, and they are clearly not ready to play Oklahoma, let alone the balance of the conference schedule. But next up is Georgia Southern who today scored 28 fourth quarter points in route to a 59-7 trouncing of the Morgan State Bears. Nothing will be easy for this Husker squad, but let’s take it one week at a time and see how it plays out. I along with many Husker fans just want to see some ongoing evidence of improvement. Go Big Red!!
Related
- HuskerMax BBS discussion
- North Dakota game page
- Fanalytix interactive page
