There's that kids rhyme about the girl who, when she was good, was really, really good, but when she was bad she was awful. That's kind of Nebraska. When they are good, you see what Frost is going for. But then the flip side is blowing winnable games at the end, and stupid mistakes. Can the Huskers win a close game? I don't know if they are just missing IT, or it's just a series of coinflip endings, and they just happen to keep landing tails. I think this is the game we learn. Bad Minnesota is bad enough that Nebraska has a shot at putting it on them. If this were in Lincoln I might feel pretty good about that happening. Not that Minneapolis is the most hostile of Big Ten environments, but I'd be surprised if this Husker team can do that on the road. Particularly against a Gopher defense which has continued to play well, in spite of an offense that seems to be regressing. Now they are without Trey Potts for the season, which leaves them without their top two running backs going into the season. The top guy now appears to be Mar'Keise Irving, the freshman out of Illinois. He showed some promise against Colorado, but in the last two games, has mustered just 2.3 ypc. And the defensive cracks are beginning to show. Even though they were able to beat Purdue, they were outgained by 150 yards, and mustered 12 first downs to 28 for Purdue. They won the turnover battle, 2-0, and held the Boilers to field goals on 3 of 4 red zone trips, one of which they missed. They also let Aidan O'Connell throw the ball all over them, 371 yards, his best game of the season. That was Aidan O'Connell. Adrian Martinez is playing on a whole other level right now, which is largely getting ignored due to Nebraska's sub-.500 record. But in terms of Expected Points Added, he's #2 in the nation, behind only Liberty's Malik Willis, who is getting a lot of buzz as being the first quarterback taken in the NFL Draft next year. I'm not convinced that it is just bad luck with Nebraska, but I'm even less confident in Tanner Morgan having to win a game on his own with no healthy running backs. |