Adam Carriker give his raw & honest Gut Reaction to Nebraska, Matt Rhule, Dylan Raiola, Emmett Johnson & the Huskers loss to USC in Big Tenfootball play. Nebraska had an electric atmosphere, and Lincoln Riley and USC have struggled in road games. The Trojans were able to find a way to win and break the hearts of Husker Nation. Learn the truth on the Carriker Chronicles! Hit the play button below to hear Adam Carriker’s gut reaction.
Adam Carriker can’t help but wonder if Nebraska would’ve beaten USC if Dylan Riola hadn’t gotten hurt. To be fair, part of getting ready to play a football game is also getting the backups ready because injuries happen all the time. Adam makes it clear that TJ Lateef is an absurdly talented young man with an incredibly bright future and he places zero blame on the teenage true freshman quarterback. Lateef has not played in a game since Akron and Houston Christian and he did earn the backup job. That means he’s not getting as many reps every week and practice as Dylan Raiola and he’s not getting the reps with the ones either. At the same time, you have to be able to threaten a defense more than Nebraska could versus USC like tonight if your starter goes down, regardless of the position, but especially if a quarterback goes out.
Carriker believes that Nebraska played well enough on defense to beat USC. Nebraska held the nation’s No. 1 total offense, which was averaging 530 yards a game, to nearly 200 yards below that average. In fact, the Huskers have not allowed an opposing offense to produce over 400 yards of offense in a game yet this year. They held the nation’s No. 1 pass offense to a season-low passing total as well and well under 200 yards passing at around a 40% completion percentage. USC quarterback Jayden Maiava flat-out looked lost and discombobulated when he threw the ball. The problem was USC ran the ball for 202 yards in this game. The Trojans averaged 203 yards rushing. Maiava ran the ball a career-high 11 times in this game, averaged over 5 yards a carry and had a rushing touchdown as well.
Emmett Johnson became the first Nebraska running back to rush for over 1000 yards in a season since 2018, when Devine Ozigbo did it. Johnson ran it for a career high 29 carries tonight for165 yards as well. He was a flat out workhorse. He had two receptions which meant he touched the ball 31 total times tonight.
Adam said he isn’t even mad, he’s just disheartened. He’s disheartened because Nebraska did several things well enough to win the game and where he’d normally be mad; he’s not mad in this game even though he’s frustrated and disappointed. Again, would Nebraska have won if Raiola had been able to play the whole game?
Carriker points out that Nebraska can finish under .500 this year if they lose the rest of their November games and the bowl game they’re gonna play. If they do that, they would finish with a 6-7 record. At the same time, Nebraska can still win 10 games if they win the rest of their games in November and the bowl game. Adam points out that it’s going to be a wild November. Nobody really knows right now if Dylan Riola will play at UCLA next week.
Adam went so far as to say why some people will hate this and it’s a bottom-line business, but he actually feels better after the USC game tonight than he did before. He was actually fearful that USC might beat them by two or three touchdowns. Instead, Nebraska almost won the game with the backup quarterback playing the majority of the second half. This is a can’t-miss episode of the Carriker Chronicles! Go Gig Red and always remember to throw the bones!
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