Two truths and a lie after Nebraska football can't come up clutch vs Ohio State

The Nebraska football team followed up what might have been the worst effort game of the entire season last week against Indiana, with what might have been the highest effort game of the year.

That includes the game against Colorado, where the Husker defense looked like it was on another level.

You'll notice I'm not saying "best played" game of the season. Because while you would normally say a game where you almost beat the No. 4 team in the country, in their home field, you played a good game. But the Huskers went long periods where they simply didn't play well. If they'd played well on offense, especially, that might have somehow turned into a near-rout of the Buckeyes.

Truth: Nebraska football showed fight we can be proud of

There were plenty of Husker fans who chalked this game up as a loss after the 56-7 beat down last week. From the first quarter of this game, it was clear the defense had a different vibe. When the score was 14-8 at the half, it was already more fight than a week ago.

Now the team needs to take that fight, and find a way to extend it to the entire game. Once again, a drive that could have been a game winner was absolutely abysmal. It's clear the psyche of this team is incredibly weak. I don't know how Matt Rhule is going to do it, but he's got to find a way to get them to be confident when the game is in their hands.

Truth: Dylan Raiola's lack of improvement is officially concerning

Yes, Dylan Raiola is a true freshman who is going to struggle from time to time. Yes, at times, he still makes plays that show you the talent is there. And yes, there are reports he's been playing the last few weeks on a gimpy ankle.

But Dylan Raiola was billed as the quarterback who could help deliver wins. Instead, Nebraska is back to being good quarterback play away from getting big wins. Some of this is just the Big Ten offering better competition earlier in the year, but he's also throwing off his back foot more.

He's looking more tentative when he has time to throw. And he's missing open receivers more often than he did earlier in the year.

On Saturday, he completed 21 of 32 passes, but much of that completion percentage was thanks to a myriad of screen passes getting called. He also missed some wide open receivers by quite a bit. And he threw the game ending interception right to the defender, on a pass that only the defender could have caught.

Consider these stats. In August and September, Raiola completed 100 passes in 142 attempts (70 percent completion). He also had 1,224 yards, 9 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. The Huskers were also 4-1 in those games.

In the month of October his pass completion percentage is 62-for-103 (60 percent) for just 520 yards. Far more concerning is that he's got zero touchdown passes in his last three games and has thrown 5 interceptions.

Those 5 interceptions have almost all been well earned too, compared to earlier in the season when you could blame the receivers for losing jump balls.

Yes, freshmen quarterbacks are going to struggle. But his struggles are starting to stand out, especially in the turnover and accuracy departments.

Lie: Nebraska is back on track, even with the loss

One of the frustrating things about the Huskers over the last decade, is you just never know what to expect. Sure, I would love to believe that defensively, Tony White has figured things out and that the Blackshirts can at least carry NU to a win against UCLA.

But I said it last week. A mediocre team is mediocre because they're not consistent. You hope that next week, Nebraska football returns home, shuts down UCLA and finally ends the bowl drought. But that's not what the Cornhuskers tend to do. This program is all about keeping their fans on pins and needles.

I don't want to be all doom and gloom to end this so I will say, that UCLA game looks a lot less terrifying than it would have had Nebraska football come out and laid another massive egg this weekend. There is at least hope they can take care of business and not leave us wondering until the final weekend of the seaso if they're going bowling.