A solid effort across the board by Erik Chinander’s unit included six tackles for loss, three quarterback hurries and five passes broken up. NU’s third-year inside linebackers, Nick Henrich and Luke Reimer, missed several tackles at the line of scrimmage when they were simply outquicked by OU running backs, but if Nebraska’s third- and fourth-year offensive linemen would show as much improvement as its linebackers, the Big Red would be a force to be reckoned with.
Outside of allowing two or three third-and-long pass plays they’d like to have back, the Blackshirts played as well as they have in years. Chinander’s deep zone coverage kept preseason Heisman favorite Spencer Rattler stymied for much of the game. NU’s defense doesn’t have a good enough pass rush to be deadly, but it’s steadily improving.
Speaking of improvement, in his fourth season as Nebraska quarterback, Adrian Martinez has elevated his play. He’s reined in his natural impulse to try to win the game himself. He is no longer a turnover machine. Against OU, he produced two touchdowns and one meaningless interception where he did exactly what he should have done — tried to make something happen on fourth and long deep in Sooner territory. He’s playing well enough to beat good teams. Even though handicapped by a porous offensive line, Martinez outplayed Rattler. His touchdown pass to Omar Manning was a thing of beauty, and so was the catch by Manning, who has more natural talent than I’ve seen in a Nebraska receiver since Johnny Mitchell 30 years ago, if he can develop it. As for Martinez, though, if he had even a mediocre run game to lean on, he’d be deadly.
Of course, to beat Oklahoma, Nebraska had to run the ball well between the tackles, and the simple truth is its offensive line was too rattled and too undisciplined to get it done. NU would have scored a touchdown on its first drive aside from four penalties by its offensive line. The Huskers couldn’t even crack the 100-yard mark in team rushing, mainly because their o-line allowed five sacks and 10 tackles for loss and committed a half-dozen penalties. It also caved on a blocked extra point that Oklahoma ran back the length of the field for two Sooner points.
Yes, there were the usual special-teams breakdowns, including a missed 35-yard field goal, things Nebraska fans have come to expect every week.
With all due respect to outside linebackers coach Mike Dawson (who also coordinates the kicking game), if Frost had hired an upper-echelon special-teams coach last winter, the Huskers just might be undefeated now. After the game, the main topic of conversation among FOX’s college football commentators (which included former OU coach Bob Stoops) was that the kicking game was the difference in the outcome.
A solid kicking game would indeed make a huge difference. Then again, if Greg Austin were getting the results that Chinander, Barrett Ruud and Travis Fisher are, the Husker would be a threat to win the Big Ten West.
Ahead loom the remaining eight conference games. The Huskers need to make a decisive run to offset the effects of the loss at Champaign, which stinks worse every week. They have a defense good enough to keep them within striking distance in every Big Ten game they play this season. They won’t win many of those eight without a dependable run game, though. What adjustments, if any, will they make to turn it up a notch?
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