On the penalties hounding Nebraska halfway through 2024

A fourth-and-1 for Illinois in Nebraska territory initially looked like a Blackshirts rebuttal on a run play before a late push. Then came the big blow.

Personal foul. Unnecessary roughness on MJ Sherman, whom officials caught punching at the ball after the running back was down. Fifteen yards. Four plays later the Illini were in the end zone celebrating a third-quarter tie game they would eventually win in overtime.

“Eliminate the stupid stuff,” Sherman said a few days later. “…Everything would have been just fine.”

In a crowded Big Ten where an ill-timed infraction can swing a result, Nebraska has yet to set itself apart. Its 67 penalty yards per game rank 13th in the league, and its average of 7.8 penalties each week is better only than Maryland.

Rhule, the second-year Husker coach, can stomach some defensive pass-interference and offensive holding calls. Part of the game. What hurts are the pre-snap mistakes and 15-yarders.

“That’s something I’d like to see us improve,” Rhule said.

Nebraska largely did against Rutgers in a game where the bulk of its seven flags for 37 yards came on defensive holds and intentional delays of game on special teams. Not the case against Purdue (11 for 94 yards), Illinois (10 for 89) or Colorado (12 for 105).

As Rhule noted this week, the mistakes haven’t skewed heavily against the Huskers — yet. They’ve been penalized 47 times costing 404 yards. NU opponents have been flagged 47 times for 488.

Yellow laundry is up this year across the FBS level and more starkly in the Big Ten. Conference teams are averaging 5.91 penalties per game and 52.4 penalty yards per game after respective marks of 5.08 and 45 last season.

Flags have aided nearly half of Nebraska’s opponent scoring drives. A targeting violation on linebacker Mikai Gbayor moved Colorado close to the goal line for a touchdown midway through a lopsided fourth quarter. A Sherman offside call on second and 8 near midfield helped Northern Iowa continue a drive that produced a field goal.

The Illinois contest featured three moments including the Sherman roughness flag. A facemask on safety Malcolm Hartzog at the end of a 16-yard Illinois run tacked on 15 more yards to help in an eventual go-ahead fourth-quarter touchdown. A first-half Illini field-goal drive came about via a Cam Lenhardt offside and personal fouls from fellow defensive linemen Vincent Jackson (hands to the face) and Ty Robinson (facemask).

Obviously consequential offensive mistakes have been fewer. A false start on right tackle Bryce Benhart on fourth and 1 from the Purdue 19 when Nebraska was set to go for it — prompted a field-goal try and miss early in a stalemate. Left tackle Gunnar Gottula, thrust into his first significant action after an injury to starter Turner Corcoran against Illinois, false started on the first play of overtime on a doomed possession.

The Colorado game saw 12 NU infractions for 105 yards — a high for the Rhule era — with multiple flags bringing back long scoring plays. An 18-point win could have approached double that.

Other penalty-related trends of note for Nebraska midway through the regular season:

The Huskers are trending for far more total flags than a year ago when they finished with 61 for 513 yards to put them inside the top 35 nationally in both categories.

They’re on pace to exceed those totals in the next two games.

NU has already matched its 2023 total for defensive personal fouls with six (two late hits, a facemask, hands to the face, roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct).

Four illegal blocks in the back (three on offense, one on special teams) and three offensive pass interferences have also added up. Rhule himself was whistled for a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty at Purdue.

A veteran offensive line has cut down on offensive false-start calls.

NU has committed six, with five spread among four linemen. The team ended last year with 17, by far its most prevalent type of mistake.

Meanwhile, the D-line has more offside violations (five) than all of 2023 (four).

Twenty-nine different Huskers have been flagged, up from 27 last year.

No one has more than three penalties or 35 yards, with tight end Thomas Fidone and receiver Isaiah Neyor tied atop the list.

The most common violation is offensive holding (eight).

NU’s most penalized quarter is the fourth (16 for 161 yards).

Special teams: 7 (48 yards)