Huskers Survive Red Zone Miscues In Front of the Sea of Red in Chicago

It seems that whenever Nebraska plays Northwestern, weird things seem to happen.  In some respects, the 2016 game resembled the 2012 game in that Nebraska’s domination on the stat sheet wasn’t reflected on the scoreboard. In 2012, it was costly turnovers and ill-timed penalties; in 2016, it was fumbles inside the one yard line. In fact, I’d argue that Terrell Newby’s fumble changed the entire tone of the game.  If he’s down at the one yard line, it’s not unreasonable to think that Nebraska punches it into the end zone on the next play.  That would be 75 yards in four or five plays and a 7-0 lead just over a minute into the game. Instead, Nebraska’s momentum complete deflates, and the Huskers only gain another 32 yards the rest of the first quarter.

As a long time believer in Mikale Wilbon, I was pleased to see him see even more playing time against Northwestern.  In fact, he surely was Nebraska’s most effective I-back in the second half.  I don’t think he’s going to start next week, but if he runs the ball like he did in the Windy City in future weeks, he’ll be starting games before too long. He’s definitely earned more playing time next week.

Tommy Armstrong continues his impressive run this season; maybe his completion rate hasn’t improved, but his turnover rate has. And more importantly, he’s making plays with his legs and proving the importance of a dual-threat quarterback in today’s age in college football. I’m not sure he had a lot of help from his offensive line today, though.

Nebraska’s defense had their worst performance of the year, in my opinion.  Justin Jackson got his 4 yards per carry average that he put up against MAC and 1-AA competition, and Clayton Thorson once again made NU look silly.  Thorson had a net loss of negative two yards rushing this season prior to facing the Huskers and was completing under 50% of his passes…but the Huskers let him go 42 yards untouched and complete 65% of his passes. Can we please put the whole #LockDownU notion under a lockdown?

Good win?  Absolutely! Every win is a good win, and there’s nothing to apologize about being 4-0.  Especially after last season, when Nebraska seemed to be magnetically attracted to the banana peel. But let’s put those wins in perspective: Nebraska’s four opponents have only won three games against division 1-A opponents this season.   2-2 Oregon has beaten Virginia and lost to Colorado.  2-2 Wyoming beat Northern Illinois and 1-3 Northwestern beat Duke. 1-3 Fresno State, like Oregon and Wyoming, has a 1-AA victory on their resume.