10 things we learned from Nebraska’s loss at Northwestern

Here are 10 of our biggest takeaways from Nebraska’s 21-13 road loss to Northwestern on Saturday afternoon in Evanston, Ill.

Head coach Scott Frost said earlier this week that Nebraska had a chip on its shoulder going into its game at Northwestern because of how frustrating the past nine months had been on and off the field.

The Huskers sure looked like a team that had a big point to prove on Saturday – for a half, at least.

After playing tough, gritty football to take a 13-7 lead into halftime, NU reverted to all of its old bad habits the rest of the way. Poor tackling, bad penalties, and an overall lack of execution on both sides of the ball turned a winnable game into a 21-13 defeat.

Nebraska’s lack of discipline has become a more significant concern than ever. Against a Northwestern team that feasts on opponents’ mistakes, the Huskers committed nine penalties, turned the ball over twice, and managed just one touchdown in seven trips inside Northwestern’s 25-yard line.

NU has been called for 17 penalties through two games, given away four turnovers, scored three touchdowns in nine red zone opportunities, and are 8-for-26 (30.7 percent) on third downs.

As a result, NU’s hill to climb in the Big Ten West standings is now steeper than ever. With just five (hopefully) more games to go before the conference championship, the Wildcats improved to a perfect 3-0 while the Huskers dropped to 0-2.

Nebraska did a lot of things well on both sides of the ball, well enough to win that game on Saturday.

But when a team moves the ball inside its opponent’s 25-yard line and scores just 13 points, it’s not likely to beat anyone.

The numerous missed opportunities in the red zone seemed to pain Frost more than anything as he looked back on what went wrong for his team at Northwestern, as they should.

In NU’s eight trips deep into Wildcat territory, those drives ended with: field goal, field goal, missed field goal, touchdown, interception, interception, and turnover on downs.

The only touchdown came when Myles Farmer and the defense spotted the offense at the NW 3-yard line after an interception.

“It’s inexcusable that we only had 13 points in that game…” Frost said. “Discipline in this program begins with me and the coaches.”

Just when it seemed like Nebraska had figured out a balance with junior Adrian Martinez and redshirt freshman Luke McCaffrey, the quarterback position again seems completely up in the air after two games.

Martinez got the start as expected, but inconsistent play, missed throws, and finally, a key third-quarter interception in the end zone prompted Frost to give McCaffrey the keys for the rest of the day.

After the game, Frost said that the move was intended to try and “provide a spark” to the offense, but it seemed to go well beyond that when NU stuck with McCaffrey with the game on the line and just 2:14 left on the clock.

Martinez completed 12-of-27 passes for 125 yards and an interception while rushing for a game-high 102 yards on 13 carries. McCaffrey, who didn’t touch the ball at all in the first half, finished 12-of-16 passing for 96 yards and a pick with 49 yards on the ground.

Frost said he “wouldn’t read too much into” McCaffrey taking the reins on Saturday, but it’s clear that Martinez’s leash looks shorter than ever going forward.

“I think we have two really good players, Frost said of his quarterbacks. “I feel for Adrian, that’s a tough position to be in, and he’s poured his heart and soul into this. But those guys are going to compete. I’m comfortable with both of them in the game.”

After getting torched by Ohio State two weeks ago, Nebraska’s defense did its part and more to beat Northwestern.

It wasn’t a perfect performance by any stretch, but the Huskers still forced two turnovers and held the Wildcats to just over 300 total yards, including 23 yards in the second quarter.

Excluding the 41-yard touchdown run by Drake Anderson to open the game, Northwestern only ran for 107 yards on its 37 other carries. The defense also only committed one accepted penalty – an offside in the third quarter.

Wildcat quarterback Peyton Ramsey shredded the Huskers a year at Indiana, completing 27-of-40 passes for 35 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 42 more yards and a score.

Ramsey has kept in check, for the most part, this time around, going 16-for-27 for 169 yards with two touchdowns and two picks and only rushing for 28 yards on nine carries.

It should be noted that Northwestern was without starting running back Isaiah Bowser, who was injured last week against Iowa. Bowser led the Wildcats with 48 carries over the first two games, including 25 rushes for 85 yards against the Hawkeyes.

One of the day’s biggest stories unfolded when Nebraska was still going through pre-game warmups, as sophomore center Cam Jurgens did not make the trip to Evanston due to a “minor injury” he suffered at Ohio State.

As a result, the Huskers had to move senior Matt Farniok, who just moved from right tackle to left guard this offseason, to the starting center spot.

Senior Boe Wilson went from left guard to right guard, and redshirt freshman Ethan Piper made his first career start at left guard.

On the positive side, Nebraska rushed for 224 yards and averaged 5.2 yards per carry while only giving up one sack. However, the unit also committed five of NU’s nine total penalties, with three false starts and two holding flags.

One of the brightest positives from Saturday was the play of sophomore linebacker Luke Reimer in his first start as a Husker.

After missing the Ohio State game with an injury, the former walk-on who earned a scholarship this fall stepped in for senior Will Honas, who was ruled out during warmups with an injury of his own.

Reimer responded by racking up a team-high 10 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, a sack, and forcing a fumble. He had two stops and a quarterback pressure on Northwestern’s first offensive drive alone.

Reimer had just 11 tackles all of the 2019 season, and his previous career-high was four tackles at Maryland.

The Lincoln (Neb.) North Star showed a nose for the football that backed up all the praise he’d earned from his coaches and teammates over the offseason. He should remain a fixture in Nebraska’s inside linebacker rotation going forward.

Another big positive from the loss was the play of redshirt freshman safety Myles Farmer.

In his first career start in place of senior Deontai Williams, who was suspended for the first half for a targeting penalty at Ohio State, Farmer made two of the biggest plays of the day for Nebraska.

His first interception came off of a deflected pass in the second quarter and set up an NU field goal to make it a 7-6 deficit.

A few minutes later, Farmer jumped a Peyton Ramsey pass along the sideline and took it 37 yards down to the Wildcat 3-yard line. Dedrick Mills punched in the Huskers’ only touchdown on the very next play.

Farmer became the first Nebraska defender with two interceptions in a game since Eric Lee Jr. did it in the 2019 season opener against South Alabama.

Regardless of whether he starts again this season, Farmer solidified his spot in the secondary rotation with his impressive performance.

After getting just nine carries in the opener at Ohio State, senior Dedrick Mills looked far more like the “bell cow” running back Nebraska was hoping he’d be on Saturday.

Along with scoring the Huskers’ only touchdown, Mills rushed a game-high 19 times for 59 yards and caught a team-high six passes for 33 yards on seven targets.

His 92 all-purpose yards on 25 total touches weren’t anything to write home about. Still, his consistent involvement gave Nebraska’s offense a much better identity and kept drives on schedule, which are equally important.

We also got a look at a little further down the running back depth chart, as No. 2 back Ronald Thompkins did not make the trip to Evanston due to an injury. The only other running back to see the field was freshman Marvin Scott, who rushed three times for 14 yards.

Fans had been clamoring for two weeks for Nebraska to utilize some of its young and talented wide receivers, and they got their wish on Saturday.

True freshman Marcus Fleming led the way with five receptions for 75 yards on eight targets. Fellow freshman Zavier Betts also made his Husker debut by catching both of his targets for 17 yards.

However, freshman Alante Brown, who played 11 snaps and caught a 16-yard pass at Ohio State, did not have a ball thrown his way on Saturday.

Then there’s heralded junior college transfer Omar Manning, who made his Nebraska debut after not traveling to OSU. Manning was an afterthought in the passing game, though, only getting targeted once without a reception.

When Nebraska last played Northwestern in Lincoln a year ago, the Huskers needed walk-on and converted safety Lane McCollum to fill in as an emergency kicker and hit a game-winning field goal as time expired.

The Huskers seem to be in a much more stable spot at placekicker this season, as LSU graduate transfer has taken a lot of the drama out of field goals and kickoffs compared to 2019.

Culp nailed his first two field goals from 38 and 36 yards with relative ease, but he missed his third and final attempt from 38 yards out. In his defense, Northwestern’s Charlie Kuhbander missed almost identically on his 42-yard try on the same end of the field.

He’s now 3-for-4 on the season, with all four attempts coming from within 38 yards.

How bad has NU’s kicking game been lately? Culp’s 38-yard make was the team’s second-longest field goal over the past two seasons.