How Nebraska Football Let USC Off the Hook

The Nebraska football team lost a heartbreaker in Lincoln on Saturday night to #23 USC, 21-17. The Big Red led for pretty much all of the 1st half and a good chunk of the 2nd half, before surrendering the lead and falling short on their final drive. It’s a gut punch for this team and a gut punch for Husker Nation. We cover it all in the Topline Takeaways. 

CHEERS TO THAT

Emmett, Again. It’s hard to think where this Nebraska team would be without #21. Johnson continues to prove he is one of the best backs in the nation, and he absolutely carried the team on Saturday night. The gameplan ran through EJ, and he delivered, to the tune of 29 carries for 165 yards and a touchdown. He is now the first Nebraska running back to reach 1,000 yards since 2018. He seemed to have room to run most of the night, and even when he didn’t, he was able to make something out of nothing. Frankly, I felt the Huskers should have given him the ball even more. 

Gameplan. There will be some complaints about the coaching (including later in this column), but let’s at least give credit where it’s due: both sides of the ball had solid plans that worked for good chunks of this game against a very athletic and talented USC team. John Butler’s defense stifled the Trojans’ passing attack, holding quarterback Jayden Maiava to just 9 completions for 135 yards. Yes, they struggled to stop the run, but holding one of the nation’s most explosive offenses to 337 total yards and 21 points should be enough to give your team a chance to win. 

It’s less clear cut when it comes to the offense, and I’ll get into some of my complaints in the next section. But credit to Dana Holgorsen for committing to feeding Emmett Johnson. This offense is at its best when it runs through Johnson, and they scored touchdowns on two of their four 1st half possessions. 

Tight End Play. Luke Lindenmeyer has been a stalwart all season long, as both a pass catcher and a blocker. Against USC, sophomore TE Cayden Echternach also got into the mix. #44 and #48 made key blocks all night long. Overall, I felt this was one of the better games by Nebraska’s offensive line. The blocking by the tight ends in particular stood out. 

Blackout. I must admit, I was initially indifferent at best about the blackout. I wasn’t sure if enough fans would respond by wearing black, and wasn’t sure how cool it would be even if they did. Boy was I wrong. The black uniforms, blacked out crowd, black letters on the field, (even black balloons!)–it all worked to create a fantastic environment at Memorial Stadium. Even though the Huskers didn’t get the W, count me in support of making the blackout an annual occurrence for Nebraska. 

DIDN’T LIKE THAT

Game Management + Play Calling. I’m going to lump these into the same section because, at least for this game, they go hand-in-hand to explain why Nebraska lost. In my opinion, Nebraska lost this game as a result of the first three drives of the 2nd half. 

At this point, the old sinking feeling started to come back. With more than five minutes left in the 3rd quarter, we had squandered two golden opportunities, and burned two timeouts. When USC scored 5 plays later, and converted the two point conversion to tie it at 14, it felt like the momentum had completely shifted. Credit to the Huskers for continuing to battle with backup quarterback TJ Lateef at the helm. They would take another lead (17-14), and had the ball with a chance to win at the end, but the result was the same thing Husker fans have seen way too many times. 

Losing a Big Game Once Again. Once again, Nebraska had a chance to get over the hump against a ranked team. Once again, Nebraska was playing a big name opponent on national television. Once again, Nebraska fell short. Losing Raiola was obviously a major factor in this one, but it still felt like the Huskers might find a way. At some point, the Big Red will break this streak of losing the biggest and most important games on its schedule. For now though, the heartbreak continues for Husker fans. 

BOTTOM LINE

I really don’t know what to say about this one. The Huskers absolutely fought their hearts out, no one can argue that. And, no one can dispute that losing Raiola in the middle of the 3rd quarter was a major blow for this team. But I also can’t shake the feeling that numerous coaching missteps made the difference in this particular loss. 

I still believe Matt Rhule is the right guy to lead this program, and I believe he can figure out how to get Nebraska to the point of being a perennial college football playoff contender. But you can believe those things and still call out shortcomings when you see them. Whether it’s hiring an assistant, or an analytics guy, or whatever it might be, he has to get better at game management. Furthermore, something needs to change on offense. With Dana Holgorsen running the offense originally installed by Marcus Satterfield two years ago, it seems they are floundering without an identity. The Husker O has now been held to under 300 total yards in four of its last five games. 

Moving forward, the game against UCLA becomes absolutely critical. If the Huskers can bounce back to beat the Bruins, they will have improved upon last year with two games still to play, and eight wins will still be on the table. Lose to UCLA, and things start to feel desperate. 

I am optimistic the boys in red can get the W at the Rose Bowl this coming weekend. At the very least, Rhule’s teams have shown a propensity to bounce back after bad performances and/or disappointing losses. Let’s hope that’s the case on Saturday night. 

As always, GBR for LIFE. 

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