Nebraska Football: Exhausted defense a component of Colorado loss

The Nebraska Football defense looked extremely tired on Saturday.

There is no doubt the Nebraska Football defense had a tale of two days on Saturday. The first half was great, the second half was not so good. In any event, they failed when they needed to step up. It was the theme of the day for Nebraska Football. They did some great things, they did some things poorly, and when they need to step up most, they failed.

In the first half, the Nebraska Football defense did a nice job of getting pressure on Colorado quarterback Steven Montez. They made his life miserable. The Colorado offensive line didn’t seem like they could hold Nebraska at all. They put pressure on the quarterback quickly, and they showed a certain spark like the one they had against South Alabama. The line played great in the first half. As a result of that, it made life easy for the cornerbacks as well.

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Admittedly, they were on the field a ton in the second half. The offense couldn’t seem to get anything going. As a result, you could see how fatigued the defense was, particularly the line. They needed a breather, and they could never seem to get one. They sat back and they didn’t put as much pressure on the quarterback as originally was the case in the first half.

You could see the coverage starting to break down for the defense as well. The 96-yard flea flicker was a perfect example. Laviska Shenaut also began to break out as well. The defense did a nice job of containing him in the first half, but he began to find his stride in the second half. For the game, he finished with five catches for 31 yards, averaging 6.2 yards per reception. Those are still pretty good numbers from a defensive standpoint. However, a couple of key catches on crossing routes extended drives for Colorado.

There were some really good things to happen on Saturday. The Nebraska defensive line recorded three total sacks during the game, and it was all part of the plan to get pressure on Montez. Once the second half came along, it was almost like they were playing prevent defense. They sat back and gave Montez time to throw, and it looked like they were trying to live by the “bend but don’t break” mentality. Unfortunately, it did not work for them.

The lack of a complete effort was a big reason why Nebraska Football lost on Saturday. Defensively, they were tired in the second half. They were on the field a lot, thanks to a stalled offense, but that is no excuse. They know they need to play better and they know they need to perform better. It all starts next week against Northern Illinois.

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