For the most part, the Nebraska Cornhuskers had a typical defensive effort on Saturday. During their 48-25 win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers, the Huskers’ defense had their ups and downs. However, unlike recent games, the Huskers were able to make enough plays to win the game. Having a 24 point lead in the fourth quarter helped, but it was evident Nebraska wasn’t out of the woods until the final whistle.
First of all, there’s a reason why the Huskers have the worst pass defense in college football. Coming into Saturday’s contest, quarterback Mitch Leidner averaged 168 yards passing per game. He torched the Huskers’ defense for 301 passing yards. Prior to kickoff, there were thoughts about the Huskers shutting down the Gophers’ passing game completely. Well, at least Nebraska didn’t give up their season average of 341 passing yards per game.
If the defense was able to get off the field on third down, they would have a chance to be pretty good. During the first drive of the game, Minnesota converted a 3rd-and-7 play. The big play led to a 24 yard Leidner to Eric Carter touchdown pass. Still, the Huskers were able to regroup quickly.
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From that point on, the defense played extremely well for a long stretch. A nice punt return by De’Mornay Pierson-El put the offense in good field position. However, the Huskers weren’t able to capitalize, and missed a field goal. The missed opportunity didn’t shake the defense’s confidence.
Moments later, Nathan Gerry forced a fumble that was recovered by Jack Gangwish. With the Huskers getting a second chance deep in Minnesota’s territory, the offense scored to give Nebraska their first lead of the game. The Huskers held the lead for good.
The defense still had their problems later in the first half. After taking a 17-7 lead midway through the second quarter, Nebraska was unable to keep the Golden Gophers off the board. Wide receiver KJ Maye took a pair of reverses leading to Minnesota’s second touchdown of the game. The Golden Gophers were unable to run at the point of attack, so they used a little misdirection to keep the defense off balanced. It worked against the Huskers’ defense like a charm. They never set the edge on the weak side, and watched Maye waltz into the end zone.
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With that said, the Nebraska Cornhuskers dominated the next 20 minutes of the game. After scoring a touchdown before the half, the Huskers came out and put up seven more points, while holding the Golden Gophers scoreless in the third. Interestingly enough, the Huskers offense led a 99 yard touchdown drive. In the loss against Wisconsin, the Huskers’ offense had a three-and-out from the one yard line, and it changed the entire game.
Instead of competing in a tight game, the Huskers’ defense took the field with a 31-14 lead. Eventually, the lead was pushed to 38-14 on De’Mornay Pierson-El’s spectacular touchdown catch. Every time the defense made a stop, the offense came up with a big play. For a team with so many close losses, it was the perfect combination to get their first conference win of the season.
However, Nebraska seemed a little shaky at the start of the fourth quarter. The Huskers gave up their third long touchdown drive of the game, and Leidner hit Maye for the two-point conversion. With the Huskers only leading by 16 points, the stage was set for another wild finish. However, the defense made the plays to win this time.
Huskers defense
The offense gave the ball right back to the Gophers. This time, the Huskers defense held Minnesota to a field goal. The forced field goal came after a great defensive play by the Huskers, but they still had work to do. Holding a 38-25 lead with 6:49 left in the game, the Huskers defense needed their offense to help out in the worst way. Remember, they quickly gave up a 13 point lead to Illinois in the Big Ten opener.
Not only did the offense push the lead back to 16 on Drew Brown’s second field goal of the game, the defense rose up to knock Minnesota off for the first time since 2012.
The Huskers ended the game with back to back interceptions, finally giving Nebraska the breathing room to celebrate a win. First, Joshua Kalu intercepted Leidner’s pass, and took it back for a touchdown. It gave the Huskers the final margin of 48-25. However, they weren’t done. Nate Gerry forced his second turnover of the game with an interception. So far, Gerry and Kalu have accounted for all five interceptions this season.
Overall, the Huskers rush defense continued to be one of the best in the country. The Blackshirts held the Gophers to 65 rushing yards, and 2.5 yards per carry. Josh Banderas came back from a groin injury to lead the Huskers with 10 tackles.
Once again, the Huskers’ defensive backs were better against the run than the pass. Byerson Cockrell and Jonathan Rose recorded eight tackles apiece, while Kalu (7) and Gerry (6) combined for another 13 tackles. The secondary helped the Huskers’ run defense immensely. If they can continue to get interceptions, Nebraska could become a big play unit.
Up front, the defensive line did their job. Greg McMullen and Vincent Valentine accounted for two sacks, while Gangwish led the defensive line with three tackles. Maliek Collins had two tackles on the day. The best part of the defense was their play up the middle. The Gophers leading rusher had 25 yards on the day.
Still, the Huskers gave up another 300 yard passing day. Their ability to cover the pass will be key to every game for the rest of the season.