Most probably didn't feel it, but this game was over when the Ducks made it 14-9 – a three and out was on deck, and the call for the defense to return to the field too exhausted to slow a winning Oregon drive.
It wasn't too hard to diagram.
Aurich's troops, after only allowing 90 yards through quarters, were suddenly porous allowing 69 yards on a staggering 17 plays eating up over half the 4th quarter. Nebraska had to make a couple of first downs at the very least to give the Blackshirts some rest, but stayed conservative. Isaiah Mozee unsurprisingly up the middle for 2 yards. A short pass to Jacory Barney was incomplete. And on 3rd and 8, another short pass out of the backfield to Mozee for a 5-yard loss.
All that was left to do was punt it to Oregon for the winning drive, although to his credit, Archie Wilson ran and the rugby'd a roller which went 60 yards to the Oregon 18. All it did was delay the inevitable. The gassed defense, which stuffed the run all night, was gashed repeatedly on the ground especially on 3rd and 4th downs.
The Ducks won the 4th quarter 11-0 and 151-34 in yardage as the Huskers headed to the locker room very much in need of a bye week to ponder two straight 4th quarter letdowns with great chances for signature wins. And as painful as it was to see Dylan Raiola come in to lead those drives, it wasn't like he was the night's hero by completing 11-18 passes for 59 yards – Dan Lanning was not letting him throw downfield. In the end, another offensive shutdown just left the D out there far too long at crunch time.
The game started as demonstration of offensive ineptitude, defensive superiority or perhaps a combination of both. The teams had a 15 combined possessions as the half neared its end. 13 of those ended in punts and they swapped turnovers for the other two, an Oregon fumble and a Colandrea interception.
Then the Husker offense finally caught fire and here's how I described it in the halftime recap :
The Huskers offense, while dealing with a lot of speed on the other side of the ball, has felt like they were close to popping explosive plays a few times. Yes, very few, but still.
And then they finally did three times, the last with 4 seconds left in the half when Anthony Colandrea found Kwazi Gilmer in the back of the end zone for the game's only score and the current 7-0 lead. It had to survive a review, and yes Gilmer's foot did appear to touch for a quick drag and the score, and when it did, the Ducks faithful erupted in protest.
Would I have felt the same if the situations were reversed? Yes, and here's why – his foot did appear to shift ever so slightly at the toes or balls of his feet. And if I imagined it, I still would call TD if it was a Duck foot on the call because it simply seemed to be the epitome of nowhere near definitive enough to overturn.
You don't have to believe me, but I swear I'm being honest in the assessment. And how about the the 31-yard completion to Gilmer on 3rd and 22 followed shortly by a Colandrea 17-yard scamper out of bounds to give them a chance and time for that crack at the end zone.
The Huskers hit the locker room with a 7-0 lead and the ball to start the 2nd half. They immediately went three-and-out and punted. Rather they tried to punt, but a bad snap forced Archie Wilson to a knee blowing the play dead and giving Oregon the ball on the Husker 19. However, the Ducks stalled again and had to settle for a field goal cutting the margin to 7-3.
Nebraska was forced to punt on its next two possessions and managed to get these off. On the first, Oregon drove 39 yards to kick a field goal to make it 7-6. As they lined up, the student sections decided it had been enough of Brock Thomas and began chanting, "We want Dylan!" Thomas responded on the next drive by throwing a pass which was tipped and landed in the hands of Dwayne McDougle who returned 15 yards to the Duckie 37.
(It wasn't the last student chant as they boisterously uncorked a spirited, "F*CK NEBRASKA!" In the break before the 4th quarter. The pre-game manners has obviously exceeded their time limit.)
However, thanks to a laughable personal foul and attempted targeting (tossed on review), the Huskers were marched those 15 yards back. Undeterred this time, they scored in 6 plays, the big two being a 22-yard Colandrea run and a 26-yard effort by Isaiah Mozee. That made the score 14-6 Huskers with :07 left in the 3rd, but it was just another tease as the Ducks comeback began when 4th quarter started as described above.
As usual, post-game comments were a disappointed mix ranging in their extremes from "progress is being made" (hey, we're losing close ones to Indiana and Oregon instead of 2024 folks like Maryland and Michigan State) to "fire matt Rhule and do it right now".
Perhaps more concerning were the answers to a tweet I sent out when we punted to Oregon for their winning drive where I basically asked how everyone was feeling. Of the 22 replies received before games' end, all 22 were in the negative with responses such as:
"Nervous as hell"
"It's going to have the same ending as last week."
"FU*CKED! Gonna lose again due to being complacent."
"I think we've seen this movie before…"
"🤢🤢🤢🤮🤮🤮"
"Putting on my iron jock cuz feel a kick coming."
You get the picture. Before the game in a couple of different articles, I referred to myself as being in "show cause" mode – that is, I love you guys, I want this for you in the worst way, but…I'm at the point where I'm done believing in it until I see it actually happen.
I think most fans are in the same boat – "We're with ya', but at this point we're waiting on you to break through." And the last two games, the team did the opposite in the 4th quarter albeit in different ways.
Last week, it was mental breakdowns as soon as we seemingly took control of Indiana – the same Indiana who lost to Ohio State today by a literal foot out of bounds on the game's final play..
Saturday night, it was being dominated in that final frame by an offense which could only sputter its way to 90 yards in the previous tree quarters combined. If the final quarter's yardage difference wasn't enough for you, how about the time of possession? Try Oregon 12:45, Nebraska 2:15.
The bye week probably couldn't come at a better time, as it's time for some soul-searching before beginning the run of the final five games starting with the Halloween match-up against Washington. If they sack up and get over this hump, 9 wins is a possibility.
So is 6 or 7 if they can't find a way through.
