Nebraska Football: Blame first half woes on 30-28 loss to Wildcats
Officially, the Nebraska football season has four games remaining. Unofficially, the Nebraska football season is over and it’s time to start anew. Of course, the rah-rah speeches will be given about never quitting, giving up, and all of that other stuff people love to say, but it’s time to face it. The Huskers 30-28 loss to Northwestern ended the season in another clumsily played game.
The Nebraska Cornhuskers dropped to (3-5, 1-3) while Northwestern improved to (6-2, 2-2) in Big Ten play. Now the Huskers have five losses by a combined 13 points. In addition, the Huskers had a fourth quarter lead in four of the losses. Unfortunately, three of these games came in front of the home fans.
No. The Nebraska Cornhuskers did not collapse late. Well, they didn’t exactly produce any meaningful defensive stops in a pivotal fourth quarter. However, it’s the cycle of the 2015 Nebraska Football season that should worry fans. The Huskers had an opportunity to take a commanding lead in the first half. Yet, they came up with very few winning plays.
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Early in the game, the Huskers should have put their foot on Northwestern’s neck. They were a dominating defensive force early, but they never had control of a game that they should have. Why? They let a struggling offense get one big play to change the whole tenor of the contest. If you didn’t know, the Huskers don’t like prosperity.
After an early stop, the Huskers were leading the Wildcats by three points. Nebraska’s defense seemed poised for another Northwestern punt. However, quarterback Clayton Thorson darted to the right, and blew by the defense for a 68 yard run. Moments later, Thorson finished the drive with a touchdown run. Despite dominating, the first few minutes, the Wildcats were up 7-3 due to a big play.
However, the Huskers still seemed unfazed by the big play. After the Wildcats forced a Nebraska punt, they were backed up inside the five yard line. The next play, the Huskers sacked Thorson in the end zone for a safety. For the fourth straight conference game, the Huskers’ defense was elite early on.
However, the offense was unable to capitalize on great field position. With the Huskers trailing by 2-points in the second quarter, the offense started a drive in Northwestern’s territory. Nebraska ran Terrell Newby for the first two plays. He gained a total of seven yards. Then a 5-yard completion from Tommy Armstrong to Newby resulted in a first down. After another incomplete pass, and a Newby six yard run, the moment of truth came for the Huskers.
Armstrong’s 3rd down pass was intercepted by Nick VanHoose, and returned for a 72 yard touchdown. The play gave Northwestern a 14-5 lead midway through the second quarter. Therefore, the Huskers wasted 22 minutes of game action, only to see the Wildcats take a big lead due to a couple of plays.
As they’ve done routinely, the Huskers’ offense answered after a bad stretch of plays. The Huskers used a 13-play 75 yard touchdown to get right back in the game. Armstrong found Brandon Reilly for a 10-yard crossing route. With 1:09 left to play in the half, the Huskers seemed poised to take the momentum into the break.
Instead, Thorson and the offense had other ideas. After a pair completions to get the initial first down, Thorson flashed by the Huskers’ defense for a 49 yard run. After a shot to the end zone, the Wildcats settled for a field goal to take a 17-12 lead. In two plays, Thorson ran for 117 yards. The Wildcats only had 128 total yards on 23 plays in the first half. Meanwhile, the Huskers ran 48 offensive plays in the first half. Yet, they only scored 12 points before halftime.
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Stay tuned for more fallout out from Nebraska’s 30-28 loss to Northwestern. Will Nebraska Football make a postseason game this year?