Nebraska survives but tis defense carried the day in 17-9 win. Nebraska emerged Saturday with a rare bye week win after a 17-9 victory over Northwestern.
It was ugly. Very ugly. But it was a win and Nebraska’s defense continued to show it could be good enough to carry a Husker offense that lacks experience.
What did it mean for the grades? Let’s find out:
Nebraska rushing offense — The Huskers finished the day with a respectable 171 yards on the ground and needed just 37 carries to do it, but the numbers don’t show just how ugly it was for Nebraska up front.
Nebraska had three fumbles, missed exchanges, poor blocking, badly timed motions and yet it still largely managed to control the line of scrimmage when it needed to on Saturday. Emmett Johnson led the team with 73 yards and Heinrich Haarberg added 72 of his own and a first quarter touchdown. Rushing offense grade: C
Nebraska passing offense — Nebraska came out wanting to throw and, well, it didn’t work as intended. Haarberg’s first pass was intercepted. Then another came through a dropped ball. The Huskers cleaned up the turnovers after that, but the drops kept coming and Haarberg was unsteady at times. Still when it mattered he tossed a perfect strike to Malachi Coleman (!!!) for a 44-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter that put Nebraska up 17-6. Overall it was ugly, but it was enough. Passing offense grade: D
Nebraska rushing defense — Northwestern hit one big run. Omar Brown made a great tackle. That helped prevent a touchdown. The only two runs that went for double digits came on that drive. From there the Huskers cleaned things up and Northwestern finished with 39 carries for 81 yards, which accounts for all the sacks that came from the pass rush. Nebraska stood tall mostly and the defense proved its still how this team will win games. Rushing defense grade: A
Nebraska passing defense — Let’s start with the great — Nebraska had eight sacks. They came from known contributors and unknown contributors. Players at all three levels helped get sacks on Saturday. Brendan Sullivan, at the end of the game, got absolutely lit up as the Huskers rushed with reckless abandon in what felt like a team race to get to the quarterback. The not so great — Malcolm Hartzog got beat badly but recovered to make a key tackle. Half of Northwestern’s yards came on two throws. Hard to get overly upset about it, but would still like more interceptions. Nebraska should’ve had more than the gift it got at the end of the half. Passing defense grade: A
Special Teams — Nebraska had a good day in the third phase. Tristan Alvano stepped up and knocked in an important field goal. Brian Buschini hit a big punt and, perhaps most importantly, Tamon Lynum was right there to make sure Northwestern was pinned deep in its own territory right before the field flipped and they’d have to punt into the wind. Buschini finished with four punts inside the 20-yard line. Tommi Hill hit a nice return too to get things started, even if the Huskers weren’t able to build off of it. Special Teams grade: A