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

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

HOL Take: Deontre Thomas continued his strong play with another solid effort against Northwestern, posting four tackles and two quarterback hurries while playing the second-most snaps of any defensive lineman. Casey Rogers also had arguably his most significant impact yet this season despite playing only 13 snaps. The sophomore finished with a tackle, a quarterback hurry, and a hit on the QB. Ty Robinson had another low grade-out across the board, especially with his tackling. He did not record a tackle in the game and was charged with a missed tackle.

HOL Take: It doesn’t get much better than JoJo Domann’s final stat line of nine tackles, three TFLs, two sacks, and two forced fumbles while playing a defensive-high 63 snaps. Six of his tackles were charted as STOP tackles, and he added a QB hurry, but his grades were dinged by a missed tackle and allowing four catches on five targets. Garrett Nelson also had a strong night, tying Caleb Tannor with three quarterback pressures and finishing with a sack and two STOP tackles. Inside linebackers Nick Henrich (3) and Luke Reimer (2) both recorded low grades after combining to miss five tackles, while Henrich gave up five receptions on six targets in coverage.

HOL Take: Quinton Newsome struggled against the run earlier this season, but he stepped up in a big way against Northwestern with five stops, zero missed tackles, and recorded the highest tackling and run defense grade of any defensive back. He also only allowed three catches for 26 yards on a team-high seven targets. Cam Taylor-Britt gave up the two big completions, including a 28-yard touchdown, on Northwestern’s lone scoring drive. In all, he allowed four completions on six targets. Despite allowing catches on all three of his targets, Marquel Dismuke had the defense’s best coverage grade and second-highest tackling grade.