3 takeaways from the same Nebraska football loss we have seen a 100 times

It wasn’t hard to predict that Nebraska football was going to blow the game the second Dylan Raiola walked onto the field.

Oregon outscored Nebraska 11-0 after that moment as Matt Rhule panicked. He burned all of his team’s timeouts because his coaches apparently need a timeout before making every big call.

I’ve never seen a coaching staff burn timeouts like that, completely giving away its team’s chance to win. Rhule invested everything in that fourth-and-3. When Oregon converted, that was the game.

Yes, Nebraska had to score, but Oregon had momentum and enough time to run the ball at will. Rhule allowed Dan Lanning to operate the clock exactly how he wanted to.

Anthony Colandrea was gusty and, at times, great. His offensive coordinator wasn’t. For the second week in a row, Nebraska football lost a game it should have won.

Where have you heard that before? At some point, it stops being an accident. Here are three takeaways from the same loss we’ve experienced 100 times over the past decade.

Matt Rhule’s best team is just like the others

This isn’t horseshoes. You don’t get credit for being close. Nebraska football squandered an 11-point lead and an eight-point lead in back-to-back weeks. Win those games, and the Huskers are 7-0. They should be 7-0.

For the second week in a row, the offense went three-and-out after the opposition trimmed the lead. Indiana cut it from 11 points to four. Nebraska went three-and-out and didn’t score again.

On Saturday night, Oregon kicked a field goal to get within five. Instead of putting together a drive, the offense went three-and-out and didn’t score again.

The defense didn’t get a stop against Dylan Raiola. It was like the Huskers were unprepared for what was going to happen. Dan Lanning outsmarted Rhule there, and it won him the game.

Oregon is the ranked team. Oregon is the team still in the playoff hunt. Nebraska would need to win out, and let’s be honest, who knows if this team can beat Washington or Illinois?

Nothing would surprise me, except Nebraska actually beating a good team, something Rhule seems incapable of doing.

Nebraska got beat in the trenches

Oregon ran the ball better. That’s why it won the game. On the final drive, all the third downs were manageable situations. Lanning knew his team could get three or four yards with two rushing attempts. The Ducks even used Dylan Raiola to run for multiple first downs.

Nebraska’s only successful runner was Anthony Colandrea. Isaiah Mozee had one nice run. Outside of that, Nebraska’s running backs carried the ball 17 times for 36 yards. There was very little pressure on the final two drives.

Dylan Raiola was comfortable. When he’s comfortable, he’s a pretty good quarterback. The Huskers should know him better than anyone, and the fact that they seemed unprepared for him to play was disappointing.

That was another reason they had to burn a timeout on the second-to-last drive before wasting two more on consecutive third and fourth downs when the defense couldn’t get off the field.

Special teams are a disaster

Nebraska’s special teams look like Ed Foley is coaching them. Nebraska missed a field goal and lost by three last week.

This week, special teams gifted Oregon three points because of a bad snap and a punter who caught the ball with his knee on the ground.

Jacory Barney fumbled a punt. He was lucky to get it back. Nyziah Hunter is so desperate for the ball that he’s returning kicks when he should be calling for a fair catch. That cost the Huskers about 30 yards.

The margin for error is so small. You just can’t keep making the same mistakes on special teams. They had cleaned things up, but then Mike Ekeler left for USC.

Bet they haven’t lost two games because their long snapper can’t execute.

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