Tad Stryker: Lord Have Mercy

Undisciplined Huskers fritter away late lead at Minnesota

Tad Stryker | Sep 1, 2023

Matt Krohn - USA TODAY Sports

In this story:

Relentless? Check. Violent? Well, fairly often. Disciplined?

Hmmm ….

Right out of the chute, we saw that the Cornhuskers have the same tragic flaw they’ve had since at least 2018— a talented, but erratic, quarterback.

Matt Rhule and Marcus Satterfield obviously have a lot of faith in Jeff Sims and his passing arm, but in a gut-wrenching 13-10 season-opening road loss to the dink-and-dunk Minnesota Gophers, Sims did not reward their confidence in him.

What Rhule came away with was a detailed, firsthand look at why Nebraska lost so many one-score games under Scott Frost. The Huskers have mastered the art of making killing mistakes at critical times. He acknowledged as much, and seemed quite ready to move on to Colorado. But Rhule — the first Nebraska coach since 1946 to have his first Husker game on the road — certainly did his share to rip this game out of the win column. He was outcoached by P.J. Fleck, who has less talent to work with than does Rhule.

First, let’s look at the positives. Nebraska’s offensive and defensive lines took a clear step forward, playing the Gopher lines to at least a draw. It could be argued that, starting in the middle of the second quarter, the Huskers had the better of it at the line of scrimmage.

Quarterback Jeff Sims hands off to running back Gabe Ervin Jr.

Quarterback Jeff Sims tries to evade Jalen Logan-Redding

Minnesota quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis sets to release the ball in the first quarter against the Huskers.

Minnesota quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis slides to avoid contact.

Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule strides the sidelines.

Gabe Ervin, Jr leans forward for extra yards.

Gabe Ervin Jr. sprints through gap in the line.

Quarterback Jeff Sims runs past Minnesota defender Tre'Von Jones.

Quarterback Jeff Sims with the Nebraska offensive line.

Wide receiver Marcus Washington stopped by Minnesota defensive back Justin Walley.

Nebraska's defense celebrates Omar Brown's interception.

Eric Fields celebrates a key tackle with punter Brian Buschini.

Linebacker Luke Reimer after a key stop against the Minnesota offense.

Quarterback Jeff Sims and wide receiver Alex Bullock celebrate after connecting for a touchdown early in the third quarter.

Wide receiver Alex Bullock with Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda after scoring his touchdown.

Nebraska tight end Nate Boerkircher makes a catch against Minnesota's Tyler Nubin during the fourth quarter.

Minnesota's Dragan Kesich kicks the game-winning field goal as time expires in the 4th quarter.

Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule congratulates Minnesota head coach P.J. Fleck.

Each defense had three sacks and five tackles for loss. NU played the Gophers almost even in time of possession. The Husker rushing defense held Minnesota to 55 yards on 25 carries, and only 251 total yards. The Gophers’ obviously will not be the running threat they were for the past five years, but that’s still a noteworthy accomplishment, and they averaged fewer than 5 yards per pass attempt. Meanwhile, Nebraska rushed for 181 yards.

On offense, there was less to like, but what stood out was the offensive line, which seemed to gain momentum the longer the game went on, Nebraska was the stronger team in the second half whenever two of their most talented skill players weren’t turning the ball over.

Special teams were mostly positive, especially if you take away Billy Kemp’s failure to field the first punt of the game, which rolled all the way to the Husker 1-yard line, which is where the offense took its first snap of the year. Freshman Tristan Alvano made his two placement kicks, and kickoff coverage was superb. Brian Buschini, Nebraska’s best bet for a first-team All-Big Ten selection, averaged a sparkling 44.3 net yards per punt.

If your scenario for the Big Red was to start slow and steadily improve as the year goes along, you have a very plausible opening act for the 2023 season. Rhule wisely downplayed the importance of Game 1. (“This is the front end of something we’re building. I think you’ll see a team that just gets better.”) It’s fair to withhold judgment until Nebraska plays Michigan State, Purdue and Maryland in the back half of the year.

The Huskers were relentless. At times, they were violent. But they were simply not disciplined. Four turnovers and seven penalties — including a targeting call on Ty Robinson that sidelined him for the last quarter and a half — were too much to overcome.

There has been progress in both the offensive and defensive lines for the Big Red, but the o-line still made too many pre-snap penalties, including an illegal motion penalty by left guard Ethan Piper inside the Minnesota 1 with time running out in the second quarter, a mistake that ripped seven likely points off the board. It was the first of three consecutive bad decisions, first by possibly the Huskers’ most respected offensive lineman, then by Rhule, who passed up the sure field goal and asked his quarterback to make something of a bad situation, then by Sims, who locked in on Isaiah Garcia-Casteneda and threw into double coverage, overlooking a wide open Nate Boerkircher in the end zone.

Why Satterfield ran Sims 19 times and handed the ball to the running backs only 17 times is beyond mysterious. It was a needless reprise of the Adrian Martinez era, because Gabe Ervin was starting to look effective in the second half. If Ervin gets more carries late in the game, Nebraska probably wins. Rhule was on schedule to wear down Minnesota with body blows, but then he seemed to forget the power run game and his stated goal of rushing for 75 yards in the fourth quarter. Ervin finished the game with only seven carries, which is inexcusable for someone you’ve identified as a hammer who can close out games.

Rhule obviously believes in his quarterback’s passing arm and decision-making skills, and he may turn out to be right, but both were sadly lacking Thursday night in Minneapolis. I’m not sure what Rhule and Satterfield see, but right now, I see a physically gifted but confused and tentative 2002 version of Jammal Lord, a great athlete who can’t see the field well enough to make the passing game work, at least not at this stage of his career. Sims lived up to his turnover-prone reputation, producing three interceptions and only one touchdown, which came on the first drive of the second half, on a trick play throwback pass, which almost didn’t happen because Sims muffed the ball before having the presence of mind to pick it up on the second bounce and toss it to a wide-open Alex Bullock in the end zone.

Nebraska, as it has been for the last five years, is a talented team which cannot consistently execute fundamentals under pressure. Rhule’s main task right now is to avoid phrases about having seen this movie before — although I’m sure he got a bellyful of it in film study over the last few months — and teach his players how to be disciplined. Sims is project No. 1. Can Rhule and Satterfield do a better job of coaching up Sims than Frank Solich and Turner Gill did on Lord in 2002?

Burdened by a 1-to-1 touchdown pass-to-interception ratio, Lord led Nebraska to a 7-7 finish in 2002, and .500 is about as high as the Huskers are likely to rise under Sims, at least this season. His mechanics are questionable, and he is susceptible to being baited by any decent defensive back who figures out Sims’ first option on a particular play, which is what happened on the final pick that set up Minnesota at midfield for its game-winning field goal drive.

Rhule made it clear that he sees something different, and he obviously envisions Sims finishing with a much better than a 1-to-1 TD-to-interception ratio. “I have a ton of confidence in Jeff,” he said in his postgame press conference.

Will this coaching staff accomplish something that Frost’s never did — steady, game-by-game player development? Rhule obviously is ready to suck it up and forget the pain of Game 1. Husker Nation would be wise to do the same. It will be easier for everyone if the tragic flaw is addressed, and soon.

More coverage & commentary: HuskerMax game page

Published Sep 1, 2023

TAD STRYKER

Tad Stryker, whose earliest memories of Nebraska football take in the last years of the Bob Devaney era, has covered Nebraska collegiate and prep sports for 40 years. Before moving to Lincoln, he was a sports writer, columnist and editor for two newspapers in North Platte. He can identify with fans who listen to Husker sports from a tractor cab and those who watch from a sports bar. A history buff, Stryker has written for HuskerMax since 2008. You can reach Tad at tad.stryker@gmail.com.