What went wrong in Nebraska’s 24 plays without Casey Thompson?

The moment Casey Thompson exited the game, everything changed.

After Illinois held Nebraska scoreless without Thompson during a 26-9 win on Saturday, it was clear that Thompson’s absence prevented NU from getting anything going on offense.

But, why is that? Was it play-calling, personnel groupings or simply execution? The film points toward a lack of execution.

When sophomore quarterback Logan Smothers entered the game in the second quarter, offensive coordinator Mark Whipple dialed up a quick pass to Trey Palmer along the line of scrimmage.

Palmer caught the pass for a 1-yard gain, which, incredibly, was his only catch of the game. Palmer had been unable to connect with Thompson earlier in the game, and none of his remaining 14 snaps resulted in a touch either.

“We could not get it to him (Palmer), but they (Illinois) were really handsy,” Nebraska interim head coach Mickey Joseph said afterward. “We talked to him during the week that they are just not going to let you run. He has to run through some of the contact. He understood that during the game that he had to run through it but some plays we just could not get it to him.”

One of Nebraska’s best play designs with its backup quarterbacks involved zone reads, a play that Thompson rarely runs. Smothers’ first crack at the play resulted in an 8-yard gain with Anthony Grant becoming a lead blocker, but when NU went right back to it on third down, Smothers was dropped for a 1-yard loss.

When Chubba Purdy led the Nebraska offense onto the field to begin the second half, Whipple again called a pass on the first play from scrimmage for his backup quarterback. Purdy’s quick throw to Grant behind the line of scrimmage resulted in a 7-yard gain, and Purdy then picked up a first down on the next play on another zone read look.

Immediately following that play, Purdy turned a designed pass into a quarterback scramble. A late hit from Illinois gave Nebraska another first down, but after gaining back-to-back first downs on those two plays, the Huskers wouldn’t move the chains again all game.

Operating near midfield, Whipple called deep passes on both first and second down. First, Purdy looked for tight end Chancellor Brewington on a wheel route, and then attempted a deep pass to Palmer. Neither throw connected, leading to an inside run for Grant on third-and-15 and a punt right after.

But, Nebraska’s next offensive series would be its most damaging. Taking over at the Illinois 23-yard line after a fumble, an attempted screen pass to Palmer on first down failed when Purdy threw behind his target.

Purdy then successfully operated a zone read on second down for no gain before throwing a mind-boggling interception on third down that had no chance of reaching his intended target, Marcus Washington.

“I think anywhere around the country, there’s a gap between one and two,” Joseph said. “It’s going to be a big gap, and I think there is a gap between them (Thompson and Purdy).”

While Nebraska had mostly operated out of its most common personnel grouping with three wide receivers, a tight end and a running back up to that point, things changed after the interception.

Of Nebraska’s final 11 plays of the game, only two featured a three-wide receiver set. Instead, backup tight ends Nate Boerkircher and Brewington joined the mix for several two-tight end sets, and the Huskers also operated with a sixth offensive lineman on their final drive of the game.

The final nail in the coffin came in the third quarter, when a third-and-2 opportunity came down to simple execution from Purdy. If Purdy led his intended target, Brewington, with a pass upfield the Huskers would have likely picked up a first down. Instead, the ball was behind Brewington, and he was stopped for no gain.

A Grant fumble on NU’s next offensive drive certainly didn’t help, either. Backup running back Jaquez Yant came on the field for a series, but an NU offensive line that hadn’t allowed a sack all game surrendered two in Nebraska’s last three plays of the game.

“I thought overall we picked up some things,” guard Ethan Piper said. “Maybe just a miss there, a miss there, we just needed one more man to do their job just a little bit better.”

Without Thompson, Nebraska ran 24 plays for a total of 29 yards and gained two first downs, and one came from an Illinois penalty.

Yes, perhaps some different plays would have helped Nebraska’s offense look like an FBS unit without Thompson. But, considering the rest of NU’s offensive personnel didn’t change, nor did Whipple’s play-calling style, it’s clear that Nebraska simply couldn’t execute with its backup quarterbacks in the game.

“Obviously, it’s unfortunate that Casey went down, but we’ve got great quarterbacks in our room,” Vokolek said. Guys trust Chubba, Logan and the other guys in that room, so nothing changed for us.  We came out and had a great game plan but we just didn’t execute.”