6 days ago
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Deep down, if we’re really honest with ourselves, we saw this coming. At least we should have. A leaky run defense combined with Nebraska’s All-American I-back sitting out the bowl game against a foe who was in the College Football Playoff discussion was simply a bad matchup. Doesn’t mean we have to like it; we certainly shouldn’t simply accept it. But it is what it is, and taking Nebraska to the next level is going to require a lot more work.
After the game, I’ve seen multiple calls for Matt Rhule to come up with a new plan. To that, I have one question: “Haven’t you paid any attention to what Rhule did in December?”
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Since the Iowa game, Nebraska jettisoned their defensive coordinator, defensive line coach and offensive line coach. New hires have been made, but that’s just the first step. You don’t fix poor line play in four weeks. Matt Rhule pretty much owned up the fact that he made the wrong hire for defensive coordinator a year ago; that reset has already started. And the whole Raiola soap opera appears to be over. Remember when every Husker fan was shocked that the lone holdover from the previous staff was the beleaguered offensive line coach?
It was a bold gamble by Rhule; keep the offensive line coach and maybe, just maybe, you can convince his five-star nephew to come and play quarterback. It actually worked out as designed, but like a lot of things, you have to be careful what you wish for, because while we got two years of Dylan Raiola at quarterback, we didn’t get the results we hoped a five-star quarterback would deliver. And one of the factors was that the uncle’s offensive lines weren’t good enough to protect a pro-style quarterback.
The hard decisions were made. Dylan’s brother decommitted, his uncle was let go, and Dylan declared for the transfer portal. (FWIW, I’m not 100% sure that Dylan Raiola will go elsewhere, as I do believe Lincoln is where Dylan’s heart is. That being said, I don’t believe that Nebraska and Dylan Raiola are the best matches for either of them.)
So yes, the new plan is already underway. We’ve seen part of it; the rest will evolve over the coming weeks as the transfer portal opens up. It’ll be noisy, and Nebraska will undoubtedly see a few more names we’d prefer not go announce in the coming days. But when all is said and done, I think Nebraska will be better on February 1 than they are on January 1. When Matt Rhule signed his contract extension (which didn’t change his salary at all), he declared that “we got what we need to go get the best players in the country.” The next two weeks will be something to watch; how will Rhule reset the roster?
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If all this sounds like I didn’t really care about the Las Vegas Bowl, that’s not completely accurate. I did care. I just recognize that this was a bad matchup, and more importantly in today’s College Football Playoff world, not terribly meaningful.
With that, it’s on with the report card, and as always, your feedback is welcome in the comments.
QB: TJ Lateef had his moments, but being constantly under pressure never allowed him to get truly comfortable. There were a couple of medium throws he’d love to have back; Nebraska’s lack of a medium-range downfield passing game was Nebraska’s downfall all season long, though Lateef was a little better than Raiola getting the ball downfield this season. Grade: C-
I-Back: Mekhi Nelson was the bright spot in this game offensively, getting to the third level repeatedly in the first quarter. It dried up in the second quarter and was seemingly abandoned in the third, though. I kept going back to “what would Emmitt do against this defense” throughout the first half. Maybe this game would have been more competitive. Grade: B-
WR: Receivers were open at times, but Lateef didn’t have a lot of time to find them. Watching how Utah used their tight ends makes me wince about what they could mean in this offense. Could Pierce, Nebraska native Ben Brahmer find his way back home? The former Husker commit was a second-team All-Big XII honoree before declaring for the portal last month. Grade: D
OL: Yuck. Nebraska had a lot of success running the ball over the left side in the first quarter, but Nebraska’s right side of the line was a mess. Perhaps it was a sense of respect to senior tackle Turner Corcoran’s efforts to battle through injuries throughout his career, but Nebraska needed to find other options in this game. In the fourth quarter, Tyler Knaak slid over to right tackle to replace Corcoran, with Sam Sledge getting some playing time at right guard, and the offense started to click…though the damage was done. With Justin Evans and Elijah Pritchett, there’s the start of a foundation on the offensive line, but Geep Wade has his work cut out for him this spring filling some of the holes Donovan Raiola left. Perhaps there will be a portal addition to help things out. Grade: F
DL: The defense in this game was a muddled mess as Nebraska tried to implement some of new defensive coordinator Rob Aurich’s schemes midway through bowl preparation, with Matt Rhule having to fill in (hat backwards) as defensive line coach. Needless to say, that didn’t go well at all as Utah freshman quarterback Devon Dampier went nuts. Nebraska frequently found their way into the backfield, but never could contain Dampier. Grade: F
LB: Vincent Shavers was pretty active, but there were a lot of missed opportunities to make plays. Javin Wright had a chance to stem the bleeding, but couldn’t hang onto a Dampier pass midway through the third quarter. Make that interception, and Nebraska might still have had a chance to get back into the game. Grade: F
Secondary: Caleb Benning was pressed into action and led with 13 tackles. The need to reinforce the front seven in run support meant that tight ends were roaming free in the secondary for passes. Grade: D-
Special Teams: Mike Ekeler talked about “doubling down” on special teams in this bowl game. Well, that strategy came up craps as Nebraska never could advance the ball past the 20 yard line, costing the Huskers yards before the offense even came on the field. This is a fundamental thing with Matt Rhule: even with the rules favoring fair catching kickoffs, Matt Rhule wants to try returning kicks. That’s something Rhule is going to need to adapt to, and become more selective about opportunities to return kicks. Grade: F
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Overall: D- A very disappointing end to the season. Any momentum for the spring has to come from the transfer portal. I sense with the small high school signing class and Rhule’s comments that Nebraska is going to be very active in the portal, and Nebraska has significant holes to fill.
Let’s make it clear: Nebraska’s in the best shape they’ve been in for over ten years. Talk about “firing Rhule” is simply ridiculous, not after the first two back-to-back winning seasons since Bo Pelini was in Lincoln. Nebraska isn’t going to become relevant by repeating the dangerous coaching churn game. Resources need to go into the program, not into buyouts. Doesn’t mean that anybody should be happy with this season, or slow progress…but it is progress.
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