For the fourth time this season, the Nebraska Cornhuskers had their defense on the field, while their opponents scored the game winning points. Despite the Huskers’ 23-21 loss to the Wisconsin Badgers, Nebraska continued to progress defensively. However, they weren’t able to hold the lead, which is not entirely their fault.
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So far this season, the Nebraska Cornhuskers haven’t been playing well late in games. The trend continued at the end of the Wisconsin game. In the final 16 minutes of the game, the Badgers scored 16 points. During the prior 44 minutes of the game, the Blackshirts held the Badgers to seven points. Blame can be placed on both sides of the ball, but the defense has to take a step forward when the game’s on the line.
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At times this season, the Badgers have been offensively challenged. Yet, they have punished the Huskers with a dominant running attack in recent games. It was going to be interesting to see if the Huskers could stand up to the Badgers up front. For most of the game, Nebraska more than held their own in the trenches. However, the Badgers’ offensive line, and running backs gained confidence in the latter part of the second half. Despite the Huskers holding onto a four point lead, you could see the momentum change.
With the offense unable to produce early in the third quarter, the stage was setting up for the defense to fail. One of the biggest possessions came in the third quarter. The Huskers had Wisconsin pinned on the one yard line. A three-and-out could have been the difference between a win and a loss. On third down quarterback Joel Stave connected with WR Robert Wheelwright for a 30 yard gain. Instead of punting from their endzone, the Badgers flipped the field. Moments later, Nebraska had the ball on their own one yard line.
Now here’s where the offense let the defense down. Imani Cross gained five yards on the first play. The next two plays were incomplete passes by Tommy Armstrong. The Huskers were forced to punt, putting the defense right back on the field.
Nebraska defense
Due to the Badgers great field position at the 45 yard line, the Huskers defense let up a field goal, cutting their lead to 14-10. Defensively, the Huskers defense was off the field for less than a minute. Not only did the play calling cost them points, it cost the defense valuable rest time.
On the very next possession, Nebraska had another three and out. Wisconsin capitalized with a 12-play 84 yard touchdown drive to take their first lead of the second half. Moments later, Wisconsin had the ball back after another three and out. This time the Badgers ended the drive with a field, pushing the lead to 20-14. So from the 7:18 mark of the third quarter to the 6:17 mark of the fourth quarter, Wisconsin ran 28 offensive plays, while the Huskers ran nine offensive plays. Is there any wonder why the defense didn’t haven anything left by the end of the game?
It’s one of the reasons why Wisconsin ran 84 offensive plays to Nebraska’s 65 offensive plays. Still, the Huskers’ defense has to do a better job of forcing three and outs. They also have to do a better job of playing the ball in the passing game.
The secondary had plenty of opportunities to turn errant passes into interceptions. If Nate Gerry catches one in the first half, he likely returns it for a touchdown. Stave threw the ball 50 times, and they didn’t turn the ball over once. A couple of plays could make a huge difference for the Huskers’ defense. In addition, interceptions would help slow down the onslaught on the secondary. Right now, nobody is scared of this secondary in the passing game.
While Stave didn’t have a great completion percentage, he did throw for 322 yards, and one touchdown. Otherwise, the defense was okay, holding Wisconsin to 24/50 passing. The big plays and penalties are still killing the defense. If they are to win another game this season, those plays have to stop immediately.
Impact Players:
Marcus Newby only had four tackles on the day, but he was a great player for the Huskers’ defense. Newby finished the game with four pass breakups on Saturday.
Byerson Cockrell led the Huskers with 10 tackles from his safety position. He also flashed on the field, even accounting for one tackle for a loss.
Vincent Valentine was a welcome addition to the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday. Valentine recorded the only sack for the Huskers’ defense, and made two tackles for loss. His ability up front really fortify’s the defensive line.