Nebraska beat Bowling Green 56-7 on Saturday night in Lincoln, and it was 35-0 at halftime, and it seems like we need to complain about something? Bowling Green held the ball for most of the third quarter. Bowling Green scored a touchdown. The world was apparently ending.
Two games into the season, here is what I actually see.
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I’ve been watching Ohio State and Texas. Texas has Arch Manning. I’d take our quarterback 99 times out of 100.
Colandrea was 20-of-24 for 222 yards and four touchdowns Saturday, and all four came before halftime. He added 33 yards on the ground and had a gorgeous touchdown run wiped out by a holding call. The one blemish was the second play of the game, when a pass bounced off Jacory Barney’s hands and got picked. Looked like it might not have even been a catch. Big deal. Then we came out and beat the hell out of them.
What makes him good is between the ears. He’s quick up there. He decides, he gets the ball out, and you never worry about him standing around absorbing a sack. We suspected that after week one. It’s obvious now.
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A note on timing: I recorded this while Texas trailed Ohio State 23-17, and Manning proceeded to bring the Longhorns back for a 24-23 win. Good for him. I’m not changing the take.
Our Identity Is Pace
People keep asking what our identity is, because around here identity is supposed to mean a fullback and 40 carries. Watch the tape. Our identity is pace. This offense lines up, goes, and executes plays better than any Nebraska offense in a long time.
The clearest evidence wasn’t a stat. On the first long touchdown to Barney, our left guard came out of his blocking position to pick up an extra rusher. He saw it coming. That hasn’t happened at Nebraska in God knows how many years.
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We finally have an offensive line coach who knows how to teach the position. The trap blocking is better. The pass protection is better. And the balance is exactly right: 546 total yards, 282 passing and 264 rushing. Almost dead even. That’s what you need if you’re going to compete in the Big Ten.
Everybody Played, and That’s the Point
Jamal Rule took eight carries for 88 yards and ripped off a 59-yard touchdown. I’m sure somebody wants him to carry it 25 times. Why? Isaiah Mozee got eight carries and a seven-yard score. Mekhi Nelson got eight. TJ Lateef came in and threw a six-yard touchdown to Kwinten Ives. Nine different guys rushed the ball, ten different guys caught it.
That’s what a 35-point halftime lead is for. Rhule got everybody on the field. In the old Osborne days we bragged about this — the third team playing, the line still executing. Now it’s a grievance. I don’t get it.
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Kwazi Gilmer caught two touchdowns, by the way, and so did Barney. That’s the first time two Huskers have each had a pair of touchdown catches in the same game since 2010.
The Defense Gave Up 169 Yards
One hundred sixty-nine. Under 100 rushing and under 100 passing. Bowling Green sat on the ball for 11:37 in the third quarter and got exactly seven points out of the entire evening, and that came on the first play of the fourth.
Derek Wacker returned a fumble 25 yards for a touchdown, which is a nice night for a young guy.
Twenty-six different defensive players recorded a stat. Twenty-six. Other teams are allowed to do things when you’ve got that many backups on the field. If you’re complaining about the defense in this one, you’re not complaining about the defense, you’re just complaining.
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What Actually Needs Cleaning Up
There’s a short list, and it’s real:
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Seven penalties for 65 yards, including the hold that erased Colandrea’s touchdown run. That number gets you beat in October. Clean it up now.
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Special teams. The long field goal and it came up short. Although we blocked a punt. Holds on returns.
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Barney is an amazing player. He fields punts and you find yourself yelling at the television. At some point he’s going to settle down and run straight, and he’ll be better for it. He doesn’t have to turn every touch into a highlight. He just has to do his job.
On the penalties, I’ll say this: officials across college football are calling holding far more than they used to. It’s starting to look like the NFL. Call it when it affects the play. If it didn’t affect the play, what are we doing?
Nobody Out There Looks Great Either
Michigan beat Oklahoma 17-10 and the Oklahoma offense looked like middle schoolers who’d never seen the playbook. Oklahoma State — a team that had lost 12 straight — knocked off No. 6 Oregon 39-31, the first time in history a team has broken a losing streak of ten or more by beating an AP top-10 team. Dante Moore was god-awful. Oregon looked lost.
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I thought Illinois would be stronger. They lost to Duke.
So when somebody tells you we’re a 6-6 team, remember that everyone else has problems too, and most of them aren’t sure what they’re doing yet either. That’s what makes this season interesting.
One More Thing
Nebraska’s band wore gold and black ribbons Saturday and did a halftime tribute to Derek Phillips, the Iowa marching band member who died last week after suffering heat stroke at Kinnick. My future daughter-in-law was in the band at Minnesota, so I know how band people are — they’re their own tight little world, all of them, everywhere. Good on our band for that one.
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Anyway. It was a great game. We’re playing decent football. Tell me what you saw.
Go Big Red.
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