Nebraska Cornhuskers Football vs Buffalo Bulls: Three Things We Learned

In some ways, it was the same. Yet it was different.

We saw the Husker offense get penalized at critical times.

They regrouped and found a way to score anyway.

Nebraska played a good team that was physical, mixed up their playcalling and broke a few big plays.

The Blackshirts lined up and smothered them on the next play. And usually the one after that too.

Nebraska special teams left nine points on the field and committed a critical turnover.

The team never panicked or played like they were waiting for the other shoe to drop. They took care of business.

The Nebraska coaching staff is on the hot seat. They could have done the expected and RUNTHEDANGBALL in the fourth quarter. After all, they were at the helm of a team that has imploded time and time again. A fumble or YOLO interception on the Martinez to Toure pass would have made Husker Nation scream louder even though it probably would not have changed the outcome. Scott Frost decided to try, once again, to teach his team an important lesson.

The offense executed the play call to perfection. A one-play scoring drive to put a dagger in the Bulls.

So, what did we learn about the Huskers this week?

Nebraska learned how to win a game

It may turn out to be a one-off. Maybe it was a mirage that will disappear, but for one shining moment, Nebraska fans saw a team team that found a way to win rather than finding even more ways to lose.

The Huskers will continue to play multiple running backs

The coaches said they wanted to identify a lead back, but their actions so far say that they are going to continue to switch guys in and out of the game. Given what we’ve seen so far, I’m okay with this. There are several good options. Just try to identify and ride the hot hand.

The Blackshirts can keep the Huskers in a game

We knew this team would need to lean on the defense, but it is still good to see they are up to the task. This offense still can’t get out of their own way at times and it is clear this defense is ready for whatever situations get thrown at them.

Bonus

This is not something I learned, but something I loved.

I loved seeing Scott Frost fighting for his backups to get credit for their touchdown when the game was in garbage time. Coach took a timeout just to yell at the refs for their sloppy replay review. And then he took liberties to yell some more whenever they were in earshot after that.

And if you want to accuse Frost of running up the score, he apparently was going to run out the clock until Buffalo called a timeout.

Say what you will about the Frost regime and results so far, but I guarantee that no one cares about fixing Nebraska football more than him.

Frost keeps saying that they are trying to teach their team that details matter; that little things matter.

The head coach dressing down the officiating crew in the waning seconds of a game that was already over is a detail that won’t go unnoticed in the locker room.