Tad Stryker: That Sinking Feeling

That sick feeling of dread descended within the fourth quarter Saturday, because it has for therefore many Saturdays for therefore a few years in Lincoln.

The 389th consecutive sellout crowd in Memorial Stadium skilled one thing akin to a gradual, agonizing demise. This demise comes for one cause: on a chilly, windy day with a two-score lead, exactly when the Cornhuskers most have to run the soccer successfully, they’re totally unable to take action.

It’s a sense Husker Nation has managed to keep away from for a lot of the previous couple of years, as a result of their group typically falls behind early and fails to rally from behind. It might be argued any such recreation, watching your group quit a two-score lead within the fourth quarter, takes a a lot better toll.

Ever since Bo Pelini left the state, Nebraska groups have normally weakened within the second half, whereas their opponent sometimes will get stronger as the sport goes on.

For Nebraska followers, it was a face-to-face assembly with the plain fact that their group was going to let this lead and this recreation and this season slip away. The Huskers had no clue the right way to end off a mediocre opponent that was ripe for the selecting.

It was unnerving to comprehend that even after a training change, and long-overdue remedial full pace coaching in blocking and tackling, even after your finest quarterback has returned to the lineup, that one of many worst variations of the Wisconsin soccer group seen in years will slowly tear your guts out, as a result of the Nebraska offensive line has made no discernible enchancment since August. Biking by way of o-line coaches has made no distinction; neither Mike Cavanaugh nor Greg Austin nor Donovan Raiola may get it carried out.

Finally, the 3-8 Huskers misplaced by one level within the remaining minute to a 6-5 Wisconsin group as a result of they can not run the soccer, and since they can not cease the run. A disheartening 235-to-65 deficit in speeding yardage tells the brutal fact. Finally, you might be what your file says you might be.

That stated, a group that offers up solely 15 factors ought to win, even when it’s a Huge Ten recreation in November. Invoice Busch has carried out a superb job in his stopgap function as defensive coordinator; he deserves critical consideration from the brand new head coach. I’d wish to see him retained as particular groups coordinator, with Mickey Joseph staying on as large receivers coach/recruiting coordinator, and maybe as affiliate head coach if the brand new head man has sufficient self-confidence. Maintaining Joseph and Busch could be insurance coverage in opposition to lots of the Huskers’ finest gamers from stampeding to the switch portal.

Though 235 yards speeding is an excessive amount of, the Husker defensive position confirmed enchancment. Senior Colton Feist and sophomore Ty Robinson regarded higher, So did Nash Hutmacher, though he misplaced his leverage and bought shoved again into the tip zone on Graham Mertz’s game-winning quarterback sneak.

Ernest Hausmann, the true freshman from Columbus, has develop into Nebraska’s finest linebacker. He had a team-high 12 tackles, 10 of them solo. He has sounder instincts and defends the sting higher than his rather more seasoned associate, Luke Reimer. Conversely, all Wisconsin’s linebackers excel at setting the sting and have for years.

This was paying homage to the Minnesota recreation, when the Huskers coughed up a 10-point lead two weeks in the past due to their lack of physicality, besides that the Huskers managed to delay their slow-motion collapse till the fourth quarter this time. That was primarily attributable to a fortuitous third-quarter scoring drive.

The Huskers bought loads of assistance on their 79-yard landing drive which included all 4 of their first downs within the second half, and gave them a 14-3 lead late within the third quarter. A few reward penalties accounted for 30 yards on their nine-play, 79-yard landing drive. A kind of calls was a debatable focusing on name on Nick Herbig, which meant the Badgers needed to play the final 17 minutes of the sport with out their finest defensive participant, who is much and away the Huge Ten’s chief in sacks. The second was an equally debatable roughing-the-passer penalty that put the ball on the Wisconsin 23-yard line. Three performs later, Casey Thompson calmly waited till Trey Palmer broke free within the heart of the sector for his or her second landing connection of the day.

However that was the final signal of life from Nebraska’s offense. After they needed to buck the 25- to 30-mph wind within the fourth quarter, the Huskers went stomach up. Finally, they didn’t rush for a single first down within the second half. Of their 65 speeding yards, greater than half got here within the first quarter, totally on Thompson scrambles.

As ordinary, Mark Whipple’s dedication to the run recreation was fleeting. The Huskers ran the ball solely 29 occasions, together with simply 13 makes an attempt within the second half, regardless of holding the lead a lot of the sport. Wisconsin, which by no means led till the sport’s remaining minute, ran the ball 52 occasions, together with 28 rushes within the second half. Search for the Badgers to take away the “interim” tag from head coach Jim Leonhard, who is aware of Wisconsin’s identification and received’t deviate from it.

The Badgers overcame a nagging shoulder damage to their finest working again, the lack of their finest defensive layer to a ticky-tack name and several other premature penalties to win the sport. It’s straightforward to see which group is mentally harder.

With no turnovers and solely two penalties on the ultimate stat sheet, Nebraska has carried out an honest job of cleansing up the sloppiness that plagued it for a lot of the Scott Frost period. The overwhelming majority of Nebraska’s troubles could be traced to an offensive line that Raiola promised could be hard-charging, however in actuality, could be most generously described as impotent. It would have much more issues on Black Friday in opposition to Iowa, a group that has a greater protection than Wisconsin.

And so 2022, a yr through which Kansas and Vanderbilt each have received extra video games than Nebraska, has become a nothing greater than a countdown to a press convention, one through which Trev Alberts will reveal his alternative of the person he believes finest suited to finish NU’s long term of futility.

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