PFF snap counts and grades for Nebraska’s defense vs. Fordham

Here are the final snap counts and grades for Nebraska’s defense against Fordham, courtesy of PFF.

HOL Take: Nebraska only recorded one sack against Fordham, and that was by cornerback Quinton Newsome. However, the defensive line was still able to create a solid pass rush. Ty Robinson (3) and Ben Stille (2) combined for five total pressures and the d-line had six of NU’s 11 pressures on the day. After playing just five guys last week at Illinois, the Huskers got a whopping 11 defensive linemen on the field on Saturday.

HOL Take: Nebraska got a whopping 15 linebackers into the game against Fordham, and several players shined in their opportunities. After playing just 15 snaps at Illinois, Chris Kolarevic saw 24 snaps on Saturday and ended up as NU’s highest-graded linebacker (82.6) with three tackles and two STOP tackles. His coverage grade of 78.6 was the second-highest on the team behind only Deontai Williams. Luke Reimer had four tackles (3 STOP) but was also credited with two missed tackles.

HOL Take: Deontai Williams had as good of a day as any Nebraska defense, scoring the highest grades overall (83.6), coverage (80.3), run defense (80.7), and (tackling) to go along with his two interceptions and team-high five tackles. Per PFF, Williams allowed just one completion on five targets. It was also a solid performance for Quinton Newsome. After struggling mightily against the run at Illinois, Newsome bounced back with the second-highest run defense grade of any defensive back (78.3) and did not miss a tackle. However, he did give up three catches on four targets his way. It was also not a good day for Marquel Dismuke, who posted the lowest overall grade of any defender (48.8). He gave up two completions on four targets for an average of 18.0 ypc, and missed a tackle.