Overreactions, grades and game balls from Nebraska’s win over North Dakota

Nebraska football improved to 3-0 after a 34-7 win over North Dakota. The Huskers covered the spread for the third game in a row.

Anthony Colandrea and Jamal Rule continued their hot starts to the season. Rule is third in the Big Ten in rushing yards, averaging 109 yards per game.

Colandrea is completing 68 percent of his passes. averaging 253 yards per game total, 10 touchdowns, and just one interception.

Nebraska held an opponent under 10 points for the second week in a row and won its third straight by at least 27 points. Here are the overreactions, the grades, and game balls.

Overreactions

Some Nebraska fans won’t be satisfied until the Huskers beat a ranked opponent. It’s understandable. But people don’t need to complain about an offense that had 493 total yards. Nebraska has gone over 200 yards rushing and passing in every game this season.

Nebraska didn’t take its foot off the gas or anything either. North Dakota played a bunch of two-high. That means you run the ball and put together long drives. At least that’s the design.

Nebraska still created eight explosive plays. If the Huskers had scored touchdowns on the three drives they settled for field goal attempts, people would feel better.

Overall, though, there isn’t anything to be concerned about when it comes to the offense.

Grades

Offense: A-

For the third game in a row, Nebraska football went 4-for-4 in the red zone. The Huskers were 7-of-15 on third down. They also went 2-for-2 on fourth down. They left some meat on the bone, but the offense did solid work on Saturday. Zero sacks allowed, too.

Defense: A+

You can only play the people in front of you. Jerry Kaminsky was the accuracy award winner at the Manning Passing Academy. Yet, he completed 50 percent of his passes against Nebraska for just 106 yards. There were three explosive plays allowed, but just 99 rushing yards and 205 total yards. It was the second consecutive first-half shutout.

Special teams: B

The kickoffs out of bounds annoyed me a lot more than the missed field goal by Kyle Cunanan from 54 yards. He still hit from 40 and 32 yards. He hasn’t missed an extra point. Nebraska gave up zero punt-return yards. The Huskers allowed 16 yards on kickoff returns, and Jacory Barney had a 17-yard return. Those are all positives.

Game Balls

Jamal Rule gets the game ball after going over 100 yards for the second time in his career. That 55-yard touchdown run was fun to watch the second time around. Yes, I’ve only watched it twice.

On defense, the game ball goes to the entire defense. Rob Aurich had Kaminsky’s head spinning. That bodes well for Big Ten play. The pass rush was legit; Nebraska’s secondary was sticky, and the linebackers played well. It was a well-rounded effort.

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