After another disappointing one-score loss at Minnesota on Saturday, a long two weeks awaits Nebraska. We reflect on that and more as we start your Monday off with the Weekly Rundown column.
Sure bets
You have to feel pretty good about these things right now:
Two weeks of hell on message boards and social media: Look, Nebraska deserves everything they get these next two weeks on social media and message boards from the fan base. The Huskers are now 5-17 in one-score games under Scott Frost and each one of them seems to hurt more. This fan base wants things to work so badly for Frost, but just when you think they are taking a step forward, they take two steps back.
There’s been too much of that the last couple of seasons. Yes, the losses have been close, but they are all still worth the same at the end of the day.
TE Austin Allen: It’s hard to see tight end Austin Allen back in Lincoln for a sixth season in 2022. Right now he’s ranked No. 1 overall in the Big Ten for all tight ends on PFF with a score of 87.5 as a receiver and No. 2 as a blocker with a mark of 87.0.
He’s second in tight end receptions (24), only behind Iowa’s Sam Laporta (28), but he’s been targeted 15 fewer times. He leads the Big Ten in yards per catch (14.3) for all tight ends targeted 15+ times in 2021.
CB Cam Taylor-Britt: As the weeks go, it’s also hard to see Cam Taylor-Britt back for another season in 2022. He’s played lights out the last two weeks.
He’s ranked sixth overall in the Big Ten for all corners. JoJo Domann is graded out at three. (For players over 284+ snaps.)
Taylor-Britt has really played his way up that list the last couple of weeks.
Surprises
These were my surprises of the week:
Haarberg traveled to Minnesota: We haven’t seen Nebraska travel four quarterbacks all season. Heinrich Haarberg made the trip to Minnesota. Why? Is there more going on in that room with the health of Adrian Martinez than we know?
New NU commit Gage Stenger: This one really came out of left field. Nobody had any idea Nebraska was courting Millard South’s Gage Stenger the last two weeks. Kansas State was obviously stunned too based on how they took the news.
Credit this staff for not turning their shoulder on an in-state guy that played his way into an offer his senior season.
LSU fires Ed Orgeron: LSU head coach Ed Orgeron won a national championship two years ago with Joe Burrow. On Sunday the school announced his firing. This has a similar ring to Auburn and Gene Chizik after he won a national title and was fired two years later. The titles were credited more to Heisman Trophy quarterbacks than the head coach.
This news obviously gets the attention of Nebraska fans as well, who are suffering through potentially their fifth straight season without a bowl game.
The jury is still out
Questions still surround these things:
Iowa: Most of us agree Iowa is a solid team, but I’m not sure anyone thought they were the No. 2 team in America. Purdue proved that on Saturday. The question is, was it just a one-week hick-up or could we see more Big Ten West teams trip up the Hawkeyes?
Husker kicking woes: Connor Culp’s ups and down: Nebraska’s margin for error is razor-thin. Missing a 27-yard field goal and an extra point cannot happen. How will Frost handle his kicker situation going forward?
Who is this team right now?: This season has the feel of the entire Scott Frost era thus far. Just when you think things are turning the corner, a setback happens. Frost has never won more than two games in a row at NU. He has never beaten a ranked team. NU has been close but has never turned the corner. Is that who this team is? Or can they change that?
Pass protection: Nebraska’s offensive tackle play has been an issue most of this season. Every week that seems to be the match-up that hurts this offense. Teams continue to only rush four at NU and they struggle to protect and make them pay in the running game.
When two safeties are high and you are only seeing six-man boxes, you have to win up-front and expose that. Nebraska has struggled to do that all season.
This has my attention
Moving forward, this has my attention:
QB Adrian Martinez’s health: Was Adrian Martinez injured at Minnesota? Are the rumors of him being held out of practice most of this past week true? You can’t ignore these facts: Martinez had zero QB scramble yards and only 2 yards on designed run calls vs. the Gophers.
Are these lingering effects from the shot to the jaw he took at Michigan State, or did he tweak his leg vs. Michigan last week? Something wasn’t quite right. Will an extra week off get Martinez right?
How much gas is left in the tank?: This team is physically and emotionally drained. Can a week off make a difference? How many close calls can this team take? NU will practice this week on both Tuesday and Wednesday. Then the coaching staff will be out on the road recruiting for the first time in over 620 days.
Nebraska AD Trev Alberts: What is Nebraska’s first-year AD thinking right now? Does he go back-and-forth like a Saturday night Red Sea Scrolls message board straw poll on Scott Frost? Or does he have a much more level-headed view on things?
Sean Callahan can be reached at sean@huskeronline.com and he can be heard each day at 6:45 am and 5:05 pm on Big Red Radio 1110 KFAB in Omaha during the football season. He can also be seen on KETV Channel 7 in Omaha during the fall and each week he appears on NET’s Big Red Wrap-Tuesday’s at 7 pm.
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