Nebraska Football: A Win is a Win

It was ugly, horrible to look at, frightening to children, vomit inducing, and shouldn’t be for public viewing. But enough about me when I look in the mirror, what about that first half between Nebraska and Purdue? Between the absolute gong show that was the officiating, multiple drive stalling penalties (actual ones), the unseemly snapping and field goal attempts, the wretched idea of scoring points, and Brian Buschini being the leading tackler for Nebraska, that was…something.

I know there are multiple concerns with what transpired in West Lafayette on Saturday. In the end, job done. Moving the football almost at will but not scoring still reeks of the “older regimes” but the difference was the last 20 minutes. As soon as Purdue took the lead, Nebraska responded with almost immediate effect. Once the Huskers finally scored, they took complete control of the game. If this doesn’t give you a hint as to what my life’s motto is, well this game should give you a huge hint. But in case you needed to know, “It doesn’t have to be pretty, just effective.”

Purdue came into this game with one of the worst rushing defenses in the country, and eventually it showed. The running game slowly wore down the Boilermakers, particularly after Purdue took the lead. It wasn’t going to be 1990s Nebraska; there were no 55+ running plays for nearly 250+ yards filled with options and fullback traps. Sometimes you have to do what the opposite is true, that the pass can open up the run game.

The receivers did an excellent job of getting open and eventually they all needed new wallets after getting mugged multiple times by Boilermaker defensive backs. This would be a good time to donate to the 1890 initiative so the players can buy new wallets in case future teams try the same non-defending tactics. Raiola was frustrating at times with underthrowing guys, but he’s just a freshman. Arm strength is a workable thing, and he’ll need time. Had he hit three or four guys in stride, they would have been TDs instead of pass interference calls. Better to get your guys mugged then getting them laid out in the middle of the field.

Dylan Widger-Imagn Images

Finally, let me give a shout out to Coach Rhule. He wants “Kegs and eggs and football” but noticed his guys might be lacking some energy early in the day. He changed the warmup slightly to include the famous “Oklahoma drill” to spark his team. He backed his guys up with multiple looks like the one above when it came to officiating stupidity. He even said a magic phrase to draw an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. That might not seem like much, but to set the tone is how you progress the culture. It shows true leadership. Past performances like this one would have resulted in a loss and players being thrown under the bus.

Nebraska is 4-1, and most of Husker nation isn’t exactly sure if they’ve put together a solid 60 minutes yet. Good teams can grind out the ugly games, the “it’s not pretty, but effective” games. Find a way to keep improving and rack up the wins. A win is a win, even if it looked more disgusting then when I look in the mirror in the mornings.