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Why money-down woes — offensively and defensively — start before third down for Huskers | Football



* Ohio State was 1-for-2 on third-and-long (9 yards or more) and 5-for-8 on third-and-short.

* Northwestern was 0-for-4 and 3-for-6.

* Penn State was 0-for-3 and 1-for-4.

“We need to get ourselves in more third-and-longs, obviously,” Nebraska defensive coordinator Erik Chinander said. “The third-and-3, third-and-4s, they’re tough on everybody. Obviously, the playbook is wide open, they can run the ball, they can pass the ball.

“That’s no excuse. We’ve got to get off the field.”

Chinander said the defense needs to do a better job applying pressure on the quarterback, and it needs to improve in coverage.

It starts, Chinander later added, by producing a negative play on first or second down, or forcing the offense off schedule.

“When it’s third-and-short, I think the real problem’s on first and second down,” senior linebacker JoJo Domann said. “Just everything in between, just the details on getting pass rush, trusting our pass rush lanes, covering down on defense, making it hard for them on first and second down to convert on third down.”

Opponents have converted 34 of 63 third-down tries through four games. And to further the issue, foes have converted 7 of 9 fourth-down attempts, including a run by Illinois’ Blake Hayes, who saw nothing but green in front of him and took off instead of punting the ball on a second-half opening drive. Illinois later scored a touchdown on the drive.



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