Will this nightmare ever end? I honestly don't know.
This team has to be cursed. I mean, there's no other explanation for how a program can lose so many games in such agonizing fashion.
Watching the conclusion of Thursday Night's game against Minnesota literally felt like an extension of last season for Nebraska. Another one score loss suffered, another night of wondering why us fans put ourselves through this misery.
Alright alright, I'll take a step back for a second. It's the first game of the season, the boys were battling and had more than enough chances to win.
And, hey - the good news is they covered! Like I mentioned - it's tough to lay that many points against a conference opponent, in the season opener and with a relatively new quarterback in the mix. So at least you have something to be cheerful for if you took the points with the red and white.
In all seriousness, though, I completely understand that it's going to be a process in year one under Head Coach Matt Rhule. That is to be expected. But, I mean, my goodness, do the losses still have to be so painful?!
The way this defeat went down was the most unbelievably believable outcome. The fact it happened the way it did makes complete sense, because that's all we know from the Huskers as of late.
But it's almost too obvious for it to go down the way it did, which makes you ponder if this team is featured on the "Truman Show," or something else where the outcomes can be predetermined.
Someone make it make sense.
I suppose I'll give it a go...
I can scream and complain about how this athletic program is cursed all I want, but it's fairly obvious why Nebraska failed.
Huskers Quarterback Jeff Sims lived up to his concerns of turning the ball over. Sims had three picks on the night. One of them came in the end zone at the end of the first half and the other he threw off his back foot into what looked like triple coverage, which resulted into a Gophers game winning drive.
Sims was elite on the ground and that will be fun to watch for the foreseeable future. However, what won't be fun is having the feeling of holding your breath every time he throws the pigskin, considering you won't know if it's going to be a sexy looking pass or an absolute disaster.
Can't wait!
Furthermore, there were too many instances of Nebraska shooting themselves in the foot.
Stop me if you've heard that one before.
Again, I understand there will be learning curves - but this isn't peewee football. It's the damn Big 10. You can't have numerous false starts - ESPECIALLY IN THE RED ZONE.
That was the biggest contributor to this loss in my mind.
I realize we can all complain and point fingers at the missed review on the touchdown. Perhaps, though, there wasn’t enough conclusive evidence to overturn the call.
And you know what, so be it. I can live with that. That instance wasn’t necessarily something that grinded my gears.
But, you know what did? The fact that the possession shouldn't have even come down to that.
If Rhule would’ve called a timeout, let the review take place and let his team reset, then the Huskers could’ve settled into their formation from the 1 yard line and easily punched it in.
Instead, they rushed themselves, committed a false start, proceeded to get backed up, threw an interception and walked away with a fat goose egg heading into the half.
I will say, though, I was thoroughly impressed how the boys came out and responded in the second half. They flipped the momentum, brought the energy as well as a touchdown along with it.
And speaking of impressive, how about the defense? If there's a bright spot to take away from this game it's without a doubt that side of the ball.
Moving along, we continued to see Nebraska's defense holding strong through the second half and the offense seemingly find its groove on the ground attack.
That is until…the fumble.
You know, actually, Coach Rhule kind of spoke this one into existence. Rhule, the other week, mentioned how Running Back Anthony Grant had dropped down the depth chart due to fumbling issues.
Low and behold, he loses the ball and the entire trajectory of the game altered.
As a Husker fan, at that moment, you knew what was bound to happen. It all felt too good to be true for this team to actually work their way downfield, take time off of the clock and execute a score of some sort.
So when the Gophers recovered the rock - you knew what was coming. It didn’t matter that Nebraska had Kaliakmanis and the offense facing 4th and 10 - you knew Minnesota would find a way.
Whether it be a silly penalty that would’ve given them a new set of downs, or a miracle catch and toe drag from Wide Receiver Daniel Jackson, something in the universe was going to make that sequence work against the Big Red.
Don’t believe me? Well, it’s kind of unreal how Nebraska tends to get shafted left and right by the officiating. And I hate to be “that fan,” but it’s honestly very apparent. The zebras missed several false starts by Minnesota lineman. Arguably the most blatant of them occurred on the play that resulted in the game-tying touchdown:
Anyways, it’s okay right? It’s still a tie game. Maybe there’s hope?
Haha, you must be new here.
It didn’t matter that Sims had this offense driving down the field for a potential game winning field goal. Once again, as I’ve stated before - you knew what was going to happen. Or, rather, you knew what wasn’t going to happen; and that was the Huskers responding with a game winning drive.
Sims ends up throwing a pick, the Gophers then generate enough yardage afterwards to set up a FG opportunity for Justin Tucker, oops, I mean Dragan Kesich. And the rest is history.
All in all, it was a classic, sloppy Big 10 slugfest.
I’m still having trouble deciding something. And that is whether or not Nebraska should’ve even been in this game with a chance to win it in the first place. Considering they lost the turnover battle 4-1 and committed four more penalties, perhaps they were fortunate to even be in that position.
Or, on the other side of the coin, did Minnesota deserve to lose that game since those numbers I just stated should’ve played to their advantage, yet - they almost lost?
I don’t know. Who really cares I suppose. They both reminded you how aggravating college football can be and truly makes you appreciate the NFL.
If it seems like I’m all complaints and doom and gloom, I apologize. That is just how this football program has molded me since 2014. I’ll try to temper the expectations, but it’s just so hard when they continuously bring your hopes up, tease you and inevitably let you down.
I didn’t expect them to win going into last evening, but after their TD score in the opening drive of the second half, as a Husker fan, how could you not get excited for that possibility?
I know we’ve all said it and heard it before, but there will be better days ahead, Husker Nation.
Maybe it can start against Deion Sanders and the Colorado Buffaloes next week. Although, based on all of the TV promos last night, I think there are some higher powers that may make sure Sanders does not lose. I’ve never seen more forced promotion for a team that will end up being very poor.
I’m curious to see where the betting market populates the lines after we witness one full game from both squads. It should be fascinating.
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