Nebraska’s battle vs. penalties important vs. Rutgers

Penalties, penalties, penalties.

Some, of course, are intentional — like taking delay of games before punts. Some, of course, were called incorrectly, like the pass interference call on tight end Thomas Fidone in the Purdue game.

But, in the grand scheme of things, those few exceptions don’t eliminate the overarching problem: Nebraska’s among the worst in the country in penalties, regardless of which metric you look at.

Average penalties? Tied for No. 106 out of the 133 FBS teams with an average of eight penalties per game. Average penalty yards? No. 107 with 73.4 yards in penalties per game.

Total penalty yards? No. 117 with 367 penalty yards. The only Power 4 teams with more? Purdue, Maryland, Michigan State, TCU, Washington and Mississippi. Total penalties? Tied for No. 118 with 40. The only other Power 4 teams with the same amount or more? Colorado, Maryland, Mississippi, Texas Tech, Washington and North Carolina.

Not great. In fact, there’s an argument to be made that Nebraska lost the Illinois game because of personal foul penalties. The post-quote from defensive lineman Ty Robinson — “It hurts because we really kind of beat ourselves” — is accurate.

Both Robinson and defensive lineman Vincent Jackson were dinged with personal fouls on the same drive in the second quarter, which helped set up a 26-yard field goal for Illinois to tie the game. Then, in the third quarter, jack linebacker MJ Sherman was flagged for unnecessary roughness — which led to an Illinois touchdown, putting the game back at a tie. Then, in the fourth quarter, safety Malcolm Hartzog Jr. was flagged for a facemask which gave Illinois 15 free yards that helped lead to another score that once again tied the game.

“Defensive pass interference? Those things happen. I’m not here to talk offensive holding. That’s part of the game. But pre-snap penalties and 15-yard penalties have to be eliminated,” Rhule said. “Whether we agree with every call, don’t agree with any call.”

Of Nebraska’s 40 penalties so far this season, 12 of them were personal fouls or for 15 yards or more.

Against Purdue, there were two: Rhule’s unsportsmanlike, and the phantom OPI on Fidone. Against Illinois, there were four: the personals on Robinson, Jackson and Sherman and the face mask on Hartzog. Against Northern Iowa, there were three; roughing the kicker, a face mask and a personal foul. Against Colorado, there was one: a targeting ejection on linebacker Mikai Gbayor. Against UTEP: there were two: two offensive pass interferences

Of the 40 penalties, 14 of them came before the snap.

Against Purdue, there were five: the intentional delay of game before a punt, two false starts and two offside penalties. Against Illinois, there were four: two false starts and two offside penalties. Against Northern Iowa, there was one: an offside Against Colorado, there were three: an intentional delay of game penalty, one offside and one false start. Against UTEP, there was one: a false start.

Why is this a talking point this week?

Rutgers is one of the cleanest teams in the country in penalties, regardless of metric.

The Scarlet Knights have only been flagged for 16 penalties this season. That’s tied for the fourth-fewest in all of FBS. That average of four flags per game is tied for the fifth-fewest. The 131 yards total lost in penalties ranks No. 7 nationally. For those doing the math at home, that’s an average of only 32.75 yards per game — also ranking seventh among FBS schools.

“The reality is, Rutgers is (top 10) and we’re (not),” Rhule said, using numbers that were slightly off from the publicly available ones. “We have to get that correct. That’s been a big point of emphasis this week for us — getting penalties corrected.”

Looking at Rutgers’ numbers makes Nebraska look undisciplined.

Against Howard, Rutgers was flagged three times for 40 yards: offensive holding, unsportsmanlike conduct and roughing the passer. Against Akron, Rutgers was flagged five times for 35 yards: ineligible receiver downfield, offside, delay of game, a personal foul and an illegal block in the back. Against Virginia Tech, Rutgers was flagged four times for 20 yards: two false starts and two, likely intentional, delays of game. Against Washington, Rutgers was flagged four times for 31 yards: two false starts, offensive holding and a personal foul.

On Saturday, every single yard will count.

Rutgers is undefeated. Rutgers is disciplined. And it’s going to be toasty.

The team that makes the fewest mistakes will win.

So, what’s it going to be?

Tune in at 3 p.m. Saturday to find out.