On a sunny November day in Memorial Stadium, the Nebraska Cornhuskers fought valiantly once again but succumbed to the #5 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes 26-17 in a game that wasn’t decided until the last 1:29. It was the largest margin of defeat this year and the first “more than one score loss” for the Huskers who battled four Top Ten teams and have lost by a combined total of 22 points. Nebraska has performed well on national television this year but have consistently failed to close the deal. As a result, for the fifth year in a row, there will be no post-season bowling as the Huskers fall in their fourth straight game and move to 3-7 overall and 1-6 in Big Ten play. Meanwhile, Ohio State kept its College Football Playoff hopes alive and improved to 8-1 and 6-0 with tough games against Purdue, Michigan State and Michigan remaining.
Ohio State came into the contest leading the nation in total offense (548 yds per game) and scoring offense (47.2 points per game). The Huskers held the Buckeyes scoreless in the first quarter for just the second time this year and Ohio State lost to Oregon in the only other time that happened. The Blackshirts limited the Bucknuts to just two offensive touchdowns and three second half field goals, but that was not enough to overcome critical special team failures and a leaky offensive line. The Huskers even won the all-important turnover margin, but a slow start by the offense stranded the defense as they faced a 46-29 deficit in first half snaps while the offense went 0-6 on third down conversions. In fact, the Huskers had just one drive the entire game longer than 2:49 and that 11-play 58 -yard drive that consumed 5:03 ended in a missed field goal from the 14-yard line.
Not to bash Husker players, but how would this game (and season) have gone had the two teams swapped place kickers? Ohio State’s Noah Ruggles was 4 for 4 hitting from 26, 35 and 46 yards twice and is now perfect on 15 attempts this season. Nebraska’s Chase Contreraz missed from 45 and 31 yards and converted from 39 yards as the Husker kickers fall to .500 0n the year (8 for 16). Any chance those missed 24 points plus the missed extra points make a difference in that 3-7 record? Of course, they do. Whatever happened to last year’s Big Ten kicker of the year? He’s on the bench because Conteraz beat him out. Ouch. Nebraska needs a special teams coordinator that is solely devoted to special teams. We knew that at the beginning of the year. Mike Dawson, the current coordinator, also coaches outside linebackers and obviously can’t do both well.
There are three factors determining whether Scott Frost is retained. 1) How does Nebraska finish against Wisconsin in Madison and against Iowa in Lincoln? If Nebraska wins both, he is likely retained. Nebraska has improved in its ability to be very competitive against the better teams in college football and has played down consistently against lesser teams. If Nebraska had beaten Illinois, Minnesota, and Purdue, there would be no discussion about Frost’s continued tenure. However, Frost’s teams have yet to defeat either Wisconsin or Iowa. Even worse, Nebraska has lost 7 straight to the Badgers and six in a row to the Ditch Chickens. 2) Will he be willing to shake-up his coaching staff? If Trev Alberts gives him a shot at year five, he will likely be forced to replace an assistant or two. Offensive line coach Greg Austin and Quarterbacks coach Mario Verduzco are likely candidates and we have already discussed the need for a special teams coach. Frost has been stubbornly loyal to his staff, but this may be non-negotiable for Alberts. 3) Is Nebraska willing to set a record for the price of the buyout as $20 million would be an all-time high? Not to mention the cost of the salary of a new coach which would not be less than Frost’s current contract.
Nebraska has improved in many ways under Scott Frost, even noting that the bar was pretty low coming in. The talent, the athleticism and physical strength is much better, but even more so is that the culture has improved. Despite the mind-numbing losses, the team keeps battling. They are not nearly the psychologically fragile mess that Frost inherited. They haven’t given up and it would have been very easy to do so. The team is much stronger mentally than many of the Husker faithful. But sooner or later, you have to actually win games.
Despite the slow start, the offense did manage to answer quickly when they went down 17-3 and looked to be on the verge of getting blown out. It took just two plays highlighted by a 72-yard touchdown pass from Adrian Martinez to Samori Toure to bring the score back to a one-score deficit. This was Nebraska’s fifth play of the season covering at least 70 yards, and the second connection between the two of better than 70 yards. Nebraska entered the game tied for the national lead in plays of 70 yards of more, and now has five such plays in 2021. The Huskers now have 10 plays of at least 50 yards. Part of the Husker struggle has been that they have often been big play or bust and that has led to difficulty sustaining drives. We learned after the game that Adrian Martinez has been playing with a high ankle sprain and a broken jaw. Despite losing 33 yards on five sacks, Martinez managed 51 net rushing yards on 18 carries. A puzzler was the designed run for Martinez on third-and-7 from the OSU 22 in the second quarter when it was clear that Martinez was gimpy. Offensive tackles Turner Corcoran and Bryce Benhart really struggled against Ohio State’s trio of monsters in Tyreke Smith, Zach Harrison and Javontae Jean-Baptiste. The only other rushing yardage by the Huskers was by running back Rahmir Johnson (16 carries for 62 yards) who also appeared leave the game hobbled in the fourth quarter. The lack of a dependable backup at running back has hurt the Huskers down the stretch.
Quarterback Adrian Martinez completed 16-of-31 passes for 248 yards. His 299 yards of total offense increased his career total yardage to 10,418, moving him into second place on the NU career list. He passed Taylor Martinez (10,233) in today’s game is only 272 yards from Nebraska’s career total offense record (Tommy Armstrong Jr., 10,690). Martinez also eclipsed 3,000 total yards this season at 3,014 and is the third player in school history with multiple 3,000-yard seasons. He has thrown for more than 200 yards in a school-record 11 straight game, breaking a tie with Joe Ganz who had 10 straight 200-yard passing games. However, his overthrow miss of Levi Falck on 3rd and 4 from the Ohio State 13 was critical as an average throw would have led to a first and goal and a chance to take the lead with less than 9 minutes to go.
Samori Toure finished the game with 4 catches for 150 yards and almost two touchdowns. The 150-yard receiving game was the first by a Nebraska player since JD Spielman had 160 receiving yards at Illinois in 2019. Toure has four receptions this season of at least 68 yards (2 vs. Buffalo, 1 vs. Northwestern, 1 vs. Ohio State), and also added a 53-yard catch in the third quarter. Tight end Austin Allen finished with 2 catches for 33 yards including a 26-yarder. Allen increased his season yardage total to 404 and is the first Nebraska tight end with 400 receiving yards since Mike McNeill had 442 yards in 2008. Omar Manning added 3 catches for 26 yards but the no call on the defensive holding against him when he was tackled with less than 6 minutes to go may have been the most crucial miss of the many by the blind zebras. The officials did not decide this game, but they certainly had an influence on the outcome.
On defense, the Blackshirts did not deserve their fate as they played well once again in holding the Buckeyes to less than half their season scoring average. The challenge for the defense was containing a trio of future NFL receivers. Jaxon Smith-Njigba was virtually unstoppable as he was targeted 18 times and had 15 catches for 240 yards including a 75-yard touchdown. That touchdown pass in the second quarter was the longest opponent pass play of the season, bettering the previous long of 48 yards. Despite those eye-popping numbers, the defense did well in containing the Buckeye rushing attack holding them to just 90 total yards. Their standout freshman running back, TreVeyon Henderson, didn’t have a carry for longer than 6 yards until Ohio State’s final drive.
JoJo Domann played like a man possessed as he finished with had nine tackles including a tackle for loss, two PBU, a QB hurry and an interception. His interception was his second of the season (Fordham) and his two PBU tied his career high. He just missed another pick earlier on the drive in which he got the interception. Linebacker Luke Reimer made 10 tackles for his fifth double-figure tackle game of the season. Reimer increased his season tackle total to 96. Quintin Newsome also had 10 stops with an important tackle short of the sticks as the first half expired. Myles Farmer (7 tackles) had an interception that was set up by pressure by Luke Reimer. Caleb Tannor (5 tackles) and Garret Nelson (1 tackle) both added sacks with the Nelson play creating a fumble that Nelson just missed chasing down. Another near miss in a season full of them that could have turned the tide for the Huskers.
Special team play was briefly addressed above but after the game Scott Frost commented on the errors and said, “it wasn’t an issue of the teams playing poorly but with the ‘specialists.’” Chase Contreraz falls into that category as does punter William Przystup who followed up a 58-yard boot with a 13-yard shank out of bounds at the NU 49-yard line. The poor kick functioned like a turnover and OSU used the short field to score a touchdown and a 10-0 lead. Przystup punted well the rest of the game and still managed to average 43.1 yards on 8 punts. The kickoff and punt coverage remains solid and was highlighted by a nifty ankle tackle by John Bullock for a -5-yard punt return. The fair catch interference call against Alante Brown was bogus as the “halo rule” in no longer in effect and Brown came past the receiver’s side and was not in front of him as the rule states is necessary.
Time for another bye week before the final two contests. Garret Nelson said after the game that the two remaining trophy games vs. Wisconsin and Iowa still had a lot of meaning for Nebraska to try and build some momentum going into next season. “We haven’t had a trophy around here in a while,” Nelson said. That’s for sure.
Go Big Red!
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