Badgers Bludgeon Blackshirts as Cornhuskers Continue to Compel Criticism
On a sunny 52-degree November day in Memorial Stadium, the Wisconsin Badgers continued their domination over the Nebraska Cornhuskers as they won their seventh straight against the hosts 37-21 in a game that may have been a bit closer than the score might indicate.
Nebraska totaled more offensive yards (493) than Wisconsin has allowed in 9 previous games this season (and that includes Ohio State with 431). The Badgers had only given up one offensive touchdown in the first half this season and the Huskers scored twice before intermission. Wisconsin’s defense had given up just 84.4 yards per game on the ground this year and the Huskers ran for 273 including 188 yards by Dedrick Mills. Mills was just the second rusher to surpass 100 rushing yards in 2019 against Wisconsin bettering Ohio State’s JK Dobbins (163 yards). Nebraska also totaled 12 plays of 20 yards or more in today’s game, whereas Wisconsin had allowed just 25 plays of 20 yards or more in nine previous games. Also encouraging was that Nebraska was 6 of 12 (50%) against the #1 team in the country in 3rd down defense who had given up just 21% of attempts coming in.
But key mistakes at crucial times, a very porous defense and inept special team play kept Nebraska from the win column. Nebraska scores first to take a 7-0 lead and immediately surrenders an 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to tie the game 7-7 with 5:16 left in the opening quarter. In just a six-play span in the second quarter, the Huskers give up a 55-yard TD, throw a pick on the first play from scrimmage and yield another TD three plays later. In fact, in the last 6:39 of the first half, the Huskers went from leading 14-10 to trailing at half 27-14. With a 3rd quarter touchdown, Nebraska gave up 24 straight points.
The Nebraska defense was bad, but futility on offense was the difference. Nebraska’s first four possessions in the first half and last four possessions of the game ended in Wisconsin territory. Eight possessions on the Wisconsin side of the 50 that yielded just 21 points. In the 3rd quarter, Nebraska had 1st-and-10 at the Wisconsin 24, before taking a 21-yard sack. The Huskers gained back the yards lost on the play, setting up a 41-yard field goal attempt which was missed. In the fourth quarter, Nebraska's final two drives entered the Wisconsin red zone before the Huskers were stopped on downs at the Badger 17 with 10:52 left. On the Husker’s final drive, the Huskers moved all the way to the Wisconsin 4, but were stopped at the goal line on 4th down with 2:11 on the clock. Don’t get me started on why Mazour was in the game at that point and not Mills. Despite the success on 3rd down, going 0 for 3 on 4th down will leave you feeling anemic.
It is generally accepted that an efficient offense should score a touchdown with every 85 yards of offense gained. With that metric, Nebraska should have scored about 41 points. Wisconsin should have scored about 39-40. Ideally, this converts to about 1 point for every 12.14 yards gained. In this game, Nebraska netted 1 point for every 23.47 yards of offense and Wisconsin got a point for every 13.02 yards. For the year, Nebraska has scored a point per every 16.18 yards. Wisconsin has a point per every 12.29 yards. By comparison, Ohio State scores a point per every 10.51 yards. Not surprisingly, Nebraska’s most efficient game on offense was against Northern Illinois with a point per 11.93 yards. Inefficiency on offense combined with a porous defense will earn you a 4-6 record.
If this Adrian Martinez would have played against Purdue in our last game, the Huskers would have won going away. Martinez finished 13 of 23 for 220 yards with a pick off a tipped ball and a TD. He had 309 yards of total offense, including 89 rushing yards on 16 carries to go along with the passing yards. Martinez increased his career yardage total to 5,446 moving him up to eighth in school history. Martinez passed Jerry Tagge (5,283 yards) in today’s game. He appeared much more decisive and although he missed some open receivers, he was sharper overall (the exception being the taking of a 21-yard sack instead of throwing it away. Martinez would have broken the century mark rushing had he not lost 34 yards on four sacks.
Dedrick Mills (17 carries for 188 yards) averaged 11.1 yards a carry as he posted a career high rushing. Mills’ rushing total was bettered his previous season high of 11 carries for 116 yards vs. Northern Illinois. He looked like a different man running the ball compliments of an offensive line that may have had its best overall game blocking. There were still some high snaps and missed blocks (Boe Wilson whiffing badly on the last 4th down attempt), but overall the holes were much larger.
JD Spielman (4 catches for 71 yards) was wide open on his 23-yard TD grab and led all receivers in today’s game. Spielman extended his streak of consecutive games with a reception to 31, the fifth-longest in school history. Spielman has at least two catches in 30 of those 31 games. JD steps it up in bigger games. In seven career games against ranked opponents, Spielman has 47 catches for 728 yards and four touchdowns, an average of 104 receiving yards per game. Kanawai Noa (3 catches for 72 yards) had a big 36-yard grab to the 5-yard line on a 3rd and 10 on the last drive that should have led to a score. Jack Stoll (2 catches for 43 yards) came up big twice and Austin Allen added 1 catch for 5 yards. With Allen being such a big target, he has certainly been underutilized this year as have the tight ends in general. I would have though with Wandale Robinson being out of this game due to injury, the tight ends would have played a bigger role. It’s not really surprising that Robinson is injured as the tough little kid has gotten hammered this year and I think some of the way he has been utilized has been irresponsible.
The Blackshirts held Wisconsin to 3 of 9 on 3rd down and held Wisconsin to field goals on three occasions. That’s about all the good news on that side of the ball. They did hold Jonathan Taylor to 204 yards rushing which is 31 yards under his average against Nebraska. That is a rather sad, ironic joke. The defense was also missing 2/3 of the starting defensive line as Darrion Daniels and Carlos Davis sat out.
Mohamed Barry had 12 tackles in the game to increase his career total to 237, moving him into the top 20 on the Nebraska career tackles list. Barry now ranks 18th and is one tackle shy of tying Wayne Meylan (238) for 17th on the all-time list. Despite his success, Barry is no Wayne Meylan. Will Honas (12 tackles) tied Barry for the most stops and notched double-digit tackles for the first time at Nebraska, betting a pair of nine-tackle efforts from 2018. Lamar Jackson had 6 tackles and a fumble recovery that took forever to happen as two players ran past the live ball celebrating before the coaches finally got someone to fall on it. JoJo Domann (3 tackles) made a nice play in forcing the fumble. Deontre Thomas (4 tackles) had the games only tackle for loss. In general, the tackling was extremely poor once again and even though Jonathan Taylor’s longest run was just 19 yards, he carried Huskers for at least 15 of them.
Special team play will get an “F” anytime you give up a kickoff return for a touchdown, miss a field goal, and average just 32 yards on two punts when the shortest one travels only 24 yards. In addition to missing the 41-yard field goal, Barret Pickering failed to garner a touchback on kickoffs despite four attempts. I did like the squib kickoff that the Badgers bobbled at the 21.
Nebraska has now lost four straight games to fall to 4-6 on the season. Remember when Nebraska was 4-2 and bowl eligibility seemed almost inevitable? Now the Huskers need to win on the road at Maryland and somehow defeat their nemesis to the east who just defeated unbeaten Minnesota. Frost now has 9 years to turn the program around with the 2-year extension to his contract. I sure hope it doesn’t take that long. I will be in attendance next Saturday in College Park with six other family members. With two leaky defenses, it could be a shootout. Go Big Red!!
On a sunny 52-degree November day in Memorial Stadium, the Wisconsin Badgers continued their domination over the Nebraska Cornhuskers as they won their seventh straight against the hosts 37-21 in a game that may have been a bit closer than the score might indicate.
Nebraska totaled more offensive yards (493) than Wisconsin has allowed in 9 previous games this season (and that includes Ohio State with 431). The Badgers had only given up one offensive touchdown in the first half this season and the Huskers scored twice before intermission. Wisconsin’s defense had given up just 84.4 yards per game on the ground this year and the Huskers ran for 273 including 188 yards by Dedrick Mills. Mills was just the second rusher to surpass 100 rushing yards in 2019 against Wisconsin bettering Ohio State’s JK Dobbins (163 yards). Nebraska also totaled 12 plays of 20 yards or more in today’s game, whereas Wisconsin had allowed just 25 plays of 20 yards or more in nine previous games. Also encouraging was that Nebraska was 6 of 12 (50%) against the #1 team in the country in 3rd down defense who had given up just 21% of attempts coming in.
But key mistakes at crucial times, a very porous defense and inept special team play kept Nebraska from the win column. Nebraska scores first to take a 7-0 lead and immediately surrenders an 89-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to tie the game 7-7 with 5:16 left in the opening quarter. In just a six-play span in the second quarter, the Huskers give up a 55-yard TD, throw a pick on the first play from scrimmage and yield another TD three plays later. In fact, in the last 6:39 of the first half, the Huskers went from leading 14-10 to trailing at half 27-14. With a 3rd quarter touchdown, Nebraska gave up 24 straight points.
The Nebraska defense was bad, but futility on offense was the difference. Nebraska’s first four possessions in the first half and last four possessions of the game ended in Wisconsin territory. Eight possessions on the Wisconsin side of the 50 that yielded just 21 points. In the 3rd quarter, Nebraska had 1st-and-10 at the Wisconsin 24, before taking a 21-yard sack. The Huskers gained back the yards lost on the play, setting up a 41-yard field goal attempt which was missed. In the fourth quarter, Nebraska's final two drives entered the Wisconsin red zone before the Huskers were stopped on downs at the Badger 17 with 10:52 left. On the Husker’s final drive, the Huskers moved all the way to the Wisconsin 4, but were stopped at the goal line on 4th down with 2:11 on the clock. Don’t get me started on why Mazour was in the game at that point and not Mills. Despite the success on 3rd down, going 0 for 3 on 4th down will leave you feeling anemic.
It is generally accepted that an efficient offense should score a touchdown with every 85 yards of offense gained. With that metric, Nebraska should have scored about 41 points. Wisconsin should have scored about 39-40. Ideally, this converts to about 1 point for every 12.14 yards gained. In this game, Nebraska netted 1 point for every 23.47 yards of offense and Wisconsin got a point for every 13.02 yards. For the year, Nebraska has scored a point per every 16.18 yards. Wisconsin has a point per every 12.29 yards. By comparison, Ohio State scores a point per every 10.51 yards. Not surprisingly, Nebraska’s most efficient game on offense was against Northern Illinois with a point per 11.93 yards. Inefficiency on offense combined with a porous defense will earn you a 4-6 record.
If this Adrian Martinez would have played against Purdue in our last game, the Huskers would have won going away. Martinez finished 13 of 23 for 220 yards with a pick off a tipped ball and a TD. He had 309 yards of total offense, including 89 rushing yards on 16 carries to go along with the passing yards. Martinez increased his career yardage total to 5,446 moving him up to eighth in school history. Martinez passed Jerry Tagge (5,283 yards) in today’s game. He appeared much more decisive and although he missed some open receivers, he was sharper overall (the exception being the taking of a 21-yard sack instead of throwing it away. Martinez would have broken the century mark rushing had he not lost 34 yards on four sacks.
Dedrick Mills (17 carries for 188 yards) averaged 11.1 yards a carry as he posted a career high rushing. Mills’ rushing total was bettered his previous season high of 11 carries for 116 yards vs. Northern Illinois. He looked like a different man running the ball compliments of an offensive line that may have had its best overall game blocking. There were still some high snaps and missed blocks (Boe Wilson whiffing badly on the last 4th down attempt), but overall the holes were much larger.
JD Spielman (4 catches for 71 yards) was wide open on his 23-yard TD grab and led all receivers in today’s game. Spielman extended his streak of consecutive games with a reception to 31, the fifth-longest in school history. Spielman has at least two catches in 30 of those 31 games. JD steps it up in bigger games. In seven career games against ranked opponents, Spielman has 47 catches for 728 yards and four touchdowns, an average of 104 receiving yards per game. Kanawai Noa (3 catches for 72 yards) had a big 36-yard grab to the 5-yard line on a 3rd and 10 on the last drive that should have led to a score. Jack Stoll (2 catches for 43 yards) came up big twice and Austin Allen added 1 catch for 5 yards. With Allen being such a big target, he has certainly been underutilized this year as have the tight ends in general. I would have though with Wandale Robinson being out of this game due to injury, the tight ends would have played a bigger role. It’s not really surprising that Robinson is injured as the tough little kid has gotten hammered this year and I think some of the way he has been utilized has been irresponsible.
The Blackshirts held Wisconsin to 3 of 9 on 3rd down and held Wisconsin to field goals on three occasions. That’s about all the good news on that side of the ball. They did hold Jonathan Taylor to 204 yards rushing which is 31 yards under his average against Nebraska. That is a rather sad, ironic joke. The defense was also missing 2/3 of the starting defensive line as Darrion Daniels and Carlos Davis sat out.
Mohamed Barry had 12 tackles in the game to increase his career total to 237, moving him into the top 20 on the Nebraska career tackles list. Barry now ranks 18th and is one tackle shy of tying Wayne Meylan (238) for 17th on the all-time list. Despite his success, Barry is no Wayne Meylan. Will Honas (12 tackles) tied Barry for the most stops and notched double-digit tackles for the first time at Nebraska, betting a pair of nine-tackle efforts from 2018. Lamar Jackson had 6 tackles and a fumble recovery that took forever to happen as two players ran past the live ball celebrating before the coaches finally got someone to fall on it. JoJo Domann (3 tackles) made a nice play in forcing the fumble. Deontre Thomas (4 tackles) had the games only tackle for loss. In general, the tackling was extremely poor once again and even though Jonathan Taylor’s longest run was just 19 yards, he carried Huskers for at least 15 of them.
Special team play will get an “F” anytime you give up a kickoff return for a touchdown, miss a field goal, and average just 32 yards on two punts when the shortest one travels only 24 yards. In addition to missing the 41-yard field goal, Barret Pickering failed to garner a touchback on kickoffs despite four attempts. I did like the squib kickoff that the Badgers bobbled at the 21.
Nebraska has now lost four straight games to fall to 4-6 on the season. Remember when Nebraska was 4-2 and bowl eligibility seemed almost inevitable? Now the Huskers need to win on the road at Maryland and somehow defeat their nemesis to the east who just defeated unbeaten Minnesota. Frost now has 9 years to turn the program around with the 2-year extension to his contract. I sure hope it doesn’t take that long. I will be in attendance next Saturday in College Park with six other family members. With two leaky defenses, it could be a shootout. Go Big Red!!
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