4 Cornhuskers Takeaways From Demoralizing Loss To Oklahoma

The Nebraska Cornhuskers hosted the Oklahoma Sooners in a one-sided contest at Memorial Stadium. Nebraska soccer absorbed a crushing 49-14 defeat, falling to 1-3 within the 2022 faculty soccer season. Listed below are some takeaways from Nebraska’s demoralizing loss to Oklahoma this previous week.

It was the tip of a wild week for Nebraska soccer. Former Nebraska head coach Scott Frost was sacked final Saturday after a heartbreaking loss to Georgia Southern. Following that, the Huskers needed to flip round and put together for a recreation in opposition to No. 6 Oklahoma.

The Cornhuskers’ blowout defeat in opposition to the Sooners, although, was merely the end result of a tough week. Did it rub salt on the proverbial wound? Possibly. Will it set off a stronger response for the remainder of the season? We’ll see.

Let’s check out 4 takeaways from Nebraska soccer’s demoralizing Week 3 loss to Oklahoma.

4. Sputtering offense

All through the primary three video games, Nebraska’s offense progressively improved when it comes to factors scored. The Cornhuskers even scored a season-high 42 factors every week in the past of their defeat to Georgia Southern. They had been additionally in a position to maintain junior quarterback Casey Thompson comparatively safe within the backfield, permitting simply over two sacks a recreation.

On this matchup, the offense appeared good solely on its first drive, which culminated in a rating. Afterward, it was fortunate to acquire a primary down for the remainder of the sport. A porous offensive line that allowed large losses hampered practically each drive for the Huskers thereafter. QB Casey Thompson was sacked a complete of 4 occasions for 32 yards as Nebraska allowed 9 tackles for a complete of 56 yards. That’s in distinction to 65 yards misplaced within the Huskers’ earlier three video games mixed.

Junior working again Anthony Grant and freshman working again Ajay Allen fared no higher within the run recreation, thanks largely to that line. The pair mixed for under 85 dashing yards within the recreation, which when mixed with Thompson’s 129 throwing yards resulted within the recreation’s lone rating on that first drive.

Thompson struggled to find his receivers and working backs with little to no time to throw and nearly no gaps to run by means of. After the offense’s success within the first three video games, it’s troubling to see how shortly all the things got here aside right here.

3. Struggling Nebraska soccer protection

Nebraska soccer’s protection additionally appeared befuddled in opposition to Oklahoma. Whereas the offense failed to attain, the protection lacked nearly all the options required to halt the Sooners’ highly effective offense.

Oklahoma totaled 580 yards of offense in opposition to the Huskers. Whereas that quantity was decrease than what the Sooners gave as much as Georgia Southern, the Sooners relaxed a bit within the second half.

Although the protection pushed a number of drives to a halt, the scores it gave up a lot outweighed these. The Cornhusker protection allowed a 61-yard landing run on a damaged play, two 20-plus-yard landing passes, and 4 dashing scores within the first half alone. Oklahoma soccer scored two extra scores, every from 15 yards or past, within the second half. It was basically a nightmare for the Nebraska protection.

By the point the fourth quarter started, each groups’ reserves had been on the sphere, additional underscoring the lopsided nature of the competition. It’s tough to foretell what can flip the Nebraska protection round when there isn’t a lot good enchancment from week to week.

2. Sorry debut for coach Mickey Joseph

Nebraska soccer interim head coach Mickey Joseph confronted a big hurdle in his debut recreation. He had lower than every week to organize the group for a recreation in opposition to a top-ten-ranked opponent.

Whereas Nebraska had an opportunity to place up a combat in opposition to Oklahoma, it’s cheap to say that issues couldn’t have gone any worse within the coach’s debut. A rout of a longstanding adversary at residence on FOX Huge Midday Kickoff is hardly the form of consequence a brand new head coach desires on his CV. Given the circumstances, nevertheless, there was in all probability solely a lot Joseph might do to enhance and put together the squad.

Although this group is off to a tough begin, they did play what would be the hardest opponent on their schedule, relying in your opinion of Michigan. So, together with his first blowout defeat and main opponent behind him, Joseph has nowhere to go however up. Happily, he has greater than every week to organize his squad for the subsequent recreation following the bye.

1. An unsure future for Nebraska soccer

Because the group approaches its bye week, there are considerations relating to what the Huskers can do to organize for the Huge Ten convention’s eight-game run. This setback demonstrates that, whereas the Nebraska soccer protection hasn’t modified a lot from week to week, the offense can shift considerably relying on the protection it faces.

The group’s subsequent opponent is Indiana, who has a 3-0 document however has weaknesses that Nebraska can exploit. The Hoosiers have allowed greater than 20 factors in every of their three video games this season, whereas their offense has averaged over 30 factors per recreation. A win is possible if the Huskers’ offense can get again on monitor and the protection improves.

General, the important thing for the Huskers to climb out of this gap is to capitalize on the possibilities forward of them. That begins with benefiting from this bye week.