Holgorsen Helps Crustaceans Subdue Beleaguered Badgers and Keep them Bound to the Bowl

On an absolutely beautiful November afternoon, the Nebraska Cornhuskers defeated the Wisconsin Badgers 44-25, ending a 10-game losing streak to the visiting team and becoming bowl eligible for the first time since 2016. The longest bowlless streak in the FBS is no more. The Cornhusker Curse has been shortened. The Huskers claimed the “Freedom Cup” for the first time, and Coach Matt Rhule said Nebraska needed to find a place it had never seen before.

The Husker offense played well through four quarters for the first time in 11 games, racking up 473 yards of total offense, 293 through the air and 180 on the ground. New offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen’s impact is clearly evident in just his second game with the Huskers. One wonders how many more wins this team could have achieved if the move had been made earlier. Rhule noted that Holgorsen “brings some swagger and aggression.” He also made some fairly simple adjustments that improved quarterback Dylan Raiola’s confidence and the efficiency of the offense. Jahmal saw the importance of having clear plans in place rather than relying on Banks to handle a single piece of outside news. Raiola is releasing the ball quicker, the Huskers are playing with tempo and have shown them how to make script plays work, as evidenced by Emmett Johnson’s 27-yard pass followed by Jacory Barney’s 21-yard jet touch pass and leadoff downfield block. path. On the Wisconsin defense, we were seeing pancake blocks by linemen that led to Dante Dowdell scores, and we saw a perfect block by Jahmal Banks on the perimeter that helped spring Dowdell for a 12-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. He also found that the Huskers could run three times after 2nd-and-10 and be successful.

The Badger defense was missing a leading tackler and the Husker line dominated the offensive line, further thinning the Badger ranks. Who doesn’t like seeing 310-pound defensive lineman Ty Robinson line up as a fullback on goal-line runs? Who wasn’t excited to see the Huskers score on 7 of 8 streaks on six consecutive possessions from the start of the second quarter through the final period? Nebraska punted just twice in 12 possessions and held a 29-15 advantage on first downs. Oh, and that’s it for the error issues in the red zone: The Huskers went 7 for 7 with five field goals and two field goals within 20 points. Nebraska’s 44 points were its most in Big Ten play in two seasons under coach Matt Rhule. The 24 points scored in the first half were the most in a Big Ten game in three years. Nebraska also finished the game well, holding an 11:29-3:31 advantage in time of possession in the fourth quarter.

Dylan Raiola completed 28 of 38 passes for 293 yards and a touchdown, distributing the ball to eight different receivers. This marked his sixth 200-yard passing game of the season and his first in four games. This was his third game with at least 250 passes. Raiola has completed 72.3 percent of his passes over the past two games after a 27-of-38 effort at USC last week. He looks more like the kid we saw earlier this season and even thrilled the crowd with a bowling simulation in which the Huskers took a knee at the end of the game. Here’s hoping the Huskers win, the Huskers sign Holgorsen for next year, and Raiola ignores the attention he’ll get from other programs pushing him into the portal.

True freshman receiver Jacory Barney Jr. caught nine passes for 85 yards in the game, setting career highs in both categories and making his fourth game this season with at least five catches. Barney brought his season receptions total to 49, setting a school record for catches by a true freshman, surpassing Wan’Dale Robinson’s 40 receptions in 2019. Barney’s 49 catches rank second overall among all freshmen in school history, trailing J.D. Spielman. He had 55 receptions as a redshirt freshman in 2017. Jahmal Banks caught his third TD pass of the season and his first TD pass in the second quarter. TD catch in six games (thanks Dana). Isaiah Neyor added 4 catches for 22 yards.

Did you notice that tight end Thomas Fidone never saw the field again after a false start on Nebraska’s second possession? Enter Nate Boerkircher (2 catches for 29 yards), who had 32 yards after the catch, and Luke Lindenmeyer (1 catch for 8 yards), a warrior in the trenches and on the edge.

The offensive MVP was undoubtedly Emmett Johnson, who rushed 16 times for a career-high 113 yards on 7.1 yards per carry. It was the first time all season that a Husker went for 100 yards and the first since quarterback Chubba Purdy rushed for 105 yards at Wisconsin last season. Johnson also caught six passes for a career-high 85 yards, eclipsing his previous high of 48 yards receiving at Purdue earlier this season. Johnson finished with a career-high 198 yards from scrimmage. Johnson responded well to Holgorsen’s impact as he put the Huskers in position to score and Dante Dowdell (10 carries for 41 yards) finished the job with three rushing touchdowns. Dowdell has 10 rushing TDs this season.

Defensively the Blackshirts were pretty poor, surrendering 407 yards to 292 through the air. They were hurt on three touchdown runs, two of which were from 24 and 58 yards. They gave up four pass plays over 20 yards and made three runs over that target, with a long 32-yard run. On the plus side, the defense forced a fumble for a field goal at the end of the half as Nebraska scored 10 points in 17 seconds. DeShon Singleton also picked off a pass as Nebraska won the turnover battle 2-1, and John Bullock put the Badgers on 4th and 2 for a turnover on downs. Wisconsin also helped by missing two field goals. Wisconsin also failed to score a rushing touchdown, creating an oddity in the Nebraska record book, as the Huskers did not allow a rushing touchdown in their seven home games this season for the first time since 1939.

In addition to the fourth quarter pick, DeShon Singleton held Isaac Gifford for the team lead with six points. Ty Robinson (5 tackles) also forced a fumble and had at least one quarterback rush. Stefon Thompson (3 steals) made up for the lack of turnovers. Princewell Umanmielen (3 steals) made significant stops for no gain. John Bullock (4 steals) was the fourth leading stopper and totaled 1.5 steals for loss. Blye Hill and Malcolm Hartzog had a tough race in the second round.

Special teams play was more good than bad, with place kicker John Hohl connecting on a 45-yard field goal in the third quarter and a 26-yard field goal in the third quarter, connecting on a 37-yard field goal to round out the scoring of the first half. fourth quarter. Hohl has now scored eight goals after starting season 1 at 5. Brian Buschini averaged 50.5 yards on two punts, with one punt going out of bounds at the Badger 3-yard line. Buschini is currently averaging 46.54 yards per punt this season, just ahead of Sam Koch’s school record of 46.51 yards per punt set in 2005. This is a pretty big company. Jacory Barney started the game with a 45-yard kickoff return and later returned a punt 9 yards. On the downside, the kickoff team gave up returns of 44 and 32 yards, while Buschini returned just 4 touchbacks in 9 kickoffs.

You knew the monkey was on its back when the Husker public address system started trolling Wisconsin by playing “Jumparound” in the stadium, allowing students to join in on the fun. It’s a huge relief to finally dominate and capture four-legged omnivores. Next Friday, Nebraska will wrap up the regular season in Iowa City against the 7-4 Iowa club, which got past Maryland on Saturday, 29-13. Get past the Chickens and pick up a cup victory, imagine how good you’d feel going 8-5 in the off-season, that’s with four one-score defeats. We’re not there yet, but the Huskers are much closer to turning the corner. It was more than a few weeks ago. Go Big Red!!

Holgorsen Helps Crustaceans Subdue Beleaguered Badgers and Keep them Bound to the Bowl

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