Nebraska football: The Huskers’ report card against Troy
. . . OFFENSIVE LINE . D
One game after looking like the new Nebraska football coaching staff had worked some magic on the offensive line, the unit reminded many of 2017 for most of Saturday.
On the one hand, the group allowed just one sack. On the other hand, they were getting pushed around more than anyone would have liked to have seen against a Troy defense that has some talent but is hardly great.
The Husker running backs rarely had huge holes to run through. This was especially the case on 3rd and short. The Cornhuskers were 5 for 15 on 3rd down. An awful lot of those failed conversions were on the ground.
There were also a ton of big yardage losses on running plays. Too many against this defense.
DEFENSIVE LINE . B+. . .
On the other hand, the best overall unit on the Nebraska football team for the second straight week was likely the defensive line. Of the three sacks the Cornhuskers logged against Troy, dlinemen had two of them.
Carlos Davis is starting to look like a force on defense. For the most part, the Huskers defense bottled up the Troy running game as well. The reason this grade is a B+ and not an A?
Like the offensive line, there were some echoes of yesteryear when Troy opened a couple of gaping holes that were killer. BJ Smith had 70 yards and two touchdowns on just 11 carries.
Sawyer Smith also managed to escape the rush and run for 57 yards on one carry. This is still a unit that is showing the most improvement but even they weren’t perfect on Saturday.