5 things we learned from Nebraska football loss to USC

The Nebraska football game against USC went about as expected. Sure, there was hope that the outcome would be different, but it wasn’t expected and it turns out, for good reason.

The offense did look a little better against USC. Dylan Raiola threw a touchdown pass on a screen in the first half but he also had two interceptions and just 191 yards. The running game worked, but probably wasn’t used enough and the defense, well any ideas of it being elite washed away long ago.

The 28-20 defeat to the previously 4-5 Trojans, who look a lot more talented than Nebraska, puts the Huskers on the brink of missing a bowl game after a four-game losing streak.

Wisconsin and Iowa await. But here’s a look back at five things we learned against USC.

Nebraska football defense lets down again

The Huskers have one of the worst defenses in the Big Ten and don’t let anyone tell you any differently. USC totaled 447 yards of offense and ran all over Nebraska, which is giving up 25 points per game in conference play.

Jo’quavious Marks had 146 yards on the ground. As a team, USC had 182 including a nifty little option pitch on 4th-and-short that led to their final touchdown and essentially clinched the game.

Ceyair Wright did come up with a pick-6 and blocked a field goal. Ty Robinson had a sack and a forced fumble, but outside of that, it was an ugly day for the defense. It had just one sack.

Dana Holgorsen didn’t make much difference

It was foolish to expect a new offensive coordinator to work miracles and outside of a few things, Nebraska fooball looked like the same old offense.

Nebraska football scored one touchdown. It settled for two field goals in the red zone and barely generated over 300 yards of total offense against what is also one of the worst defenses in the Big Ten — a defense that is on par with Nebraska’s.

And yet, the Huskers only managed three explosive plays. The defense was essentially responsible for 10 points too after the fumble recovery led to a field goal.

The running game was better and Raiola did look a little more comfortable. There were some wrinkles but the plays weren’t the biggest issue for this offense — it’s the players.

Nebraska has a problem with the Jimmy and Joes, not X’s and O’s

Marcus Satterfield isn’t a great offensive coordinator. But he’s not as bad as people have made him out to be. The fact is, Satterifeld and now Holgorsen, don’t have a lot to work with.

Show me a wide receiver on this roster that can consistently get open. Maybe Jacory Barney? Jaylen Lloyd finally made a play on Saturday, but he’s been MIA, just like almost the entire receiving core.

And yes, it’s easy to get excited about recruiting wins. But Rhule landed a top-100 wide receiver (Malachi Coleman) in 2023 who is redshirting in year two just like Riley Van Poppel, a four-star is doing on defense even though the defensive line is incredibly thin. Another top-100 talent, Carter Nelson, apparently is doing the same.

So even when Nebraska football lands top talent, it doesn’t know what to do with it. On that note, Dylan Raiola has two touchdown passes and eight intercpetions in his last five games.

A big reason for that is the fact that there isn’t a single playmaker on this offense. Not at tight end. Not at wide receiver and frankly, not even at quarterback.

Hopefully, Holgorsen will stay on, but this team needs a major influx of talent. It also needs to figure out how to develop the talent it has.

Another game management failure from Rhule

Matt Rhule has poor game management skills. That’s not even debatable at this point. He makes terrible challenges, wastes timeouts, and frankly doesn’t understand the clock.

Early in the fourth quarter, we had another mind-numbingly bad decision. Facing a 4th-and-3, Nebraska came out in a punt formation and was going to run a fake, according to Rhule, but he didn’t like the look.

Nebraska took a timeout. Appeared ready to go for it but took a penalty and punted. They didn’t get that timeout back though and it might have been beneficial on that final drive. Just saying.

Nebraska still can’t win a close one

If the Huskers are going to get six wins this season, they will need to win a close Big Ten game. They did beat Rutgers in a 14-7 game. They also beat Colorado which is now 8-2.

But the defense is a shell of that defense. It peaked in game two. The Blackshirts need to play like that again or like they did against Ohio State, but maybe teams have figured out the 3-3-5.

Regardless, the defense always lets down and the offense always settles for field goals when it needs touchdowns. That’s been the story of this season and hopefully, it doesn’t continue for the next two weeks.

For More Nebraska content, follow us on Twitter, like our Facebook Page, and Subscribe to the Husker Big Red YouTube Channel. You can also find our podcast on Apple or Spotify.