THE HUSKERS WERE ALL TOGETHER ON THIS ONE.
by Jim Rose, 11/6/11
“Have at it.”
That was the first thing out of Bo after the stunning home field loss to Northwestern.
It might be a lot of things. It might be a metaphor for what the Wildcats were able to do. It might be the early Christmas gift the Huskers gave to now division favorite Michigan State which is a spot in the Big 10 Title game.
It might just be the most defensive thing that happened all day.
All together, a big bummer.
And hard to figure.
Just over a week ago, this was the same Northwestern defense that played like purple Kool-Aid to Indiana! Huh? Yep, the Hoosiers rolled up 300+ yards rushing in a blowout loss to the Wildcats. NW just simply outscored them. Reading that we all thought this will be child’s play on Saturday in Lincoln.
Not so fast. The Husker run game was anemic. Good for just over 120 yards the whole day. Consistently, the little NW defensive lineman stuff NU’s power game, zone read game and option game. On top of that, NU returned to a nasty habit of just fumbling the ball. Even Superman Rex got a touch of fumblitis. Offensive Co-coordinator Tim Beck benched a couple of OL starters in the 2nd half pushing any button to fix the bad day. It never got better.
Shame, really. Taylor Martinez had a signature day. He threw sharp, crisp passes most of the afternoon. He hit a variety of receivers. Rarely forced the ball into difficult spots. What we all saw was an example of the kind of passer T-Mac can be. Short, quick, high percentage beauties that spread the defense out and open up big lanes for the ground game. Then again, nothing much works if your offensive line has a bad day.
Still, with 8 minutes to go, it was a 3 point game. NW 21, NU 18. All Martinez needed was one, measly stop by the Blackshirts, at home, against a 2nd string QB whose team went on a five game losing streak through Sept and Oct.
Didn’t happen.
With the crowd roaring, the Wildcats started with a 14 yard gash, then 11, then 14 more. When it was over, NW had run the ball 13 straight times, chewed up 7 minutes and scored the kill shot touchdown. That drive was just a symptom of a bad, bad day for the defense. Even without star QB Dan Persa who NU knocked out of the game in the 1st half, NW racked up 25 first downs and 468 total yards. Went 9 of 14 on 3rd down. Scorched the supposed improved secondary for key interior route passes. The Huskers helped out with missed assignments and poor tackling.
All of this is quite disappointing. It gives new life to Penn State’s and Michigan’s power running game plans and makes 8-4 a distinct possibility for Nebraska this year.
