3 takeaways from Nebraska football’s demoralizing loss to Minnesota

On the morning after, Nebraska football fans are feeling a lot of different things after the Huskers’ 24-6 loss to Minnesota.

The adjective that best describes Husker Nation is demoralized. That’s how the Nebraska football team looked in the fourth quarter.

Dejected. Defeated. Demoralized.

That’s the best way to sum up the physical beatdown dished out by Minnesota on Friday night. The Gophers rushed for 183 yards compared to 36 for Nebraska.

Dylan Raiola was sacked nine times on 55 plays. The Huskers managed just one sack, two tackles for loss, and zero pass breakups. That’s as much of an indictment as anything that happened on the offense.

It was startling and shocking, and here are three takeaways as we try to make sense of the Huskers’ performance.

Nebraska is light-years away in the trenches

Matt Rhule has made some improvements, but this program isn’t close in the trenches. That was evident.

Michgan has 15 sacks all season. Seven came against Nebraska. Minnesota had 14 in six games before it finished with nine on Friday night. Michigan State, a team with five sacks in four games before Nebraska, had five sacks in Lincoln.

Dylan Raiola needs to have a better pocket presence. He needs to get rid of the ball quicker, but the sacks aren’t the only problem. Nebraska can’t run in the red zone, it can’t stop the run, and most of the time, it can’t consistently pressure the opposing quarterback.

Maryland averaged 3.2 yards per carry before it played Nebraska and went off for 130 yards. Minnesota had 30 rushing yards against Purdue. This week, the Gophers had 183.

Michigan went off for 286. Michigan State is the only team that was held under 100 yards rushing, and the Spartans’ head coach feels like he’s about to be fired.

The picture in the trenches is bleak. Nebraska’s offensive line hasn’t improved, and the defensive line, outside of Williams Nwaneri, is a disaster. There are some talented freshmen, but defensive tackle is a barren wasteland.

It’s baffling that Rhule and his staff thought they could survive a Big Ten season with Riley Van Poppel and Elijah Jeudy at nose tackle. Van Poppel needed the experience he didn’t get last season.

Both lines are an issue. How do you expect to win like that?

Dylan Raiola isn’t the problem

Mike Leach used to tell his quarterbacks that every sack was on the quarterback. That’s not true, of course, but Dylan Raiola would do well to take on that mindset.

The offensive line was atrocious. There’s no need to pretend otherwise. But Raiola often didn’t help matters. His pocket presence needs work. He needs to do a better job of identifying where pressure is coming, and get rid of the football.

That’s all true. The kid was also making incredible plays. He completed a pass, falling, and another left-handed, after juking a free rusher. Protection problems are about the entire offense (playcaller included).

But Raiola is special. He dropped a dime to Nyziah Hunter in the fourth quarter, a play that could have gotten Nebraska back in the game, and it was dropped. The next play, an EDGE, who wasn’t blocked, sacked Raiola to end the drive, and effectively, end the game.

If Raiola switched places with Dante Moore, for instance, the production would be similar. That’s my view. Raiola is that kind of quarterback. He doesn’t have the supporting cast he needs, which is disappointing.

Nebraska is not tough enough

Mentally or physically, Nebraska isn’t tough enough to consistently beat Big Ten teams. Maryland and Michigan State are different than Michigan and Minnesota. Even Iowa.

In four games against P.J. Fleck and Kirk Ferentz, Rhule is 0-4. His teams have averaged nine points per game and never scored more than 10.

That tells me this program hasn’t made enough progress. Hell, when you see those numbers, it’s hard to feel like it has made any. If this were the old Big Ten West, Nebraska would still be in the middle of the pack.

Forget the Penn State job; Rhule still hasn’t earned a contract extension at Nebraska. The third-year leap we all expected didn’t happen.

That idea ended with a thud on Friday night. Now, the Huskers have five games to salvage a season on the brink, before what will once again be a critical offseason as Husker nation collectively rolls its eyes.

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