I should have seen this coming when Matt Rhule announced Nebraska was going with white jerseys and pants at his Monday press conference.
The “surrender whites” have resulted in aesthetic failures both in terms of fashion and the scoreboard. Fashion is a nebulous factor; what’s beautiful in the eyes of some are eyesores in the eyes of others. For me, the all-whites are a fashion mistake. Whites are a synonym with vanilla. Bland. I don’t like all-white kitchens, and if someone brings a cake frosted
in white frosting, I gently decline. I don’t order vanilla ice cream either.
All white sucks. Period. You may like all-white, and that’s your choice. I simply disagree.
What’s not up for discussion is Nebraska’s record when wearing all-whites over the last 35 years. From the Citrus Bowl disaster against Georgia Tech to last year’s 56-7 loss to Indiana, Nebraska simply plays poorly in the All-Whites. Dave Feit noted last week that Nebraska was 7-15 in the All-Whites from 1990 through 2024.
Make it 7-16 now.
Let’s not make it more than what it is: the white pants didn’t forget how to block or tackle. It’s the players wearing them that are responsible for that. If the players chose white pants this week to try and “rehabilitate” the aura surrounding the all-white uniform combination… well, today, even more people know about Nebraska’s Surrender White uniforms. And they are laughing, and certainly not WITH Husker fans.
I expected better this week against Minnesota. A LOT better. I thought we’d see progress; instead, we saw regression. But it’s also one game. Nebraska’s worst game of the season. All across the board. It makes the entire report card easier, though. The defense played OK in the first half, sans that 71 yard run…but the second half was a debacle. A 98 yard drive?
Bottom line: Minnesota wanted this game more. The longer the Huskers let the Gophers stay in the game, the more confident Minnesota became, and thus as the game went into the fourth quarter, Minnesota was the dominant team.
Sobering. Disappointing. Frustrating. When is this going to end?
We just don’t know. Nebraska’s march out of college football purgatory moves on after yet another blown opportunity.
With that, it’s on with the report card. I suspect many of you know how this one is going to go.
QB: Dylan Raiola didn’t get much help from his offensive line yet again, and the book is out on how to defend Nebraska’s offense: send pressure, because Raiola doesn’t handle it well. But it’s way to easy to just blame the protection because many of the sacks are really indecisiveness by the quarterback. Raiola needs to step up into the pocket more, away from the pass rush. And some more quick hits, where Raiola only has to catch and throw would help as well. Raiola does show some creativity at times, much like the other #15 who works 200 miles to the south. But as a whole, the game needs to slow down for Raiola. Grade: D+
I-Back: Emmett Johnson needs more touches. Period. Against Minnesota, Johnson went nearly 16 minutes of game clock with out a touch in the second half. That’s playing right into the hands of Minnesota’s defensive coordinator. Granted, over half of that was due to the Gophers 14 play, 98 yard drive, but following Johnson’s last run of the third quarter with over 13 minutes left, Nebraska ran six passing plays in a row, losing 11 yards in the process. And Minnesota scored twice before Johnson touched the ball next. Johnson did get charged with a sack, though I’m not sure any running back was going to stop that linebacker on that play with a full head of steam. Grade: D+
Wide Receivers: You’ve got to (1) catch the ball when it drops right into hands deep and (2) find ways to get open when your quarterback is under duress. Not going to call anybody out specifically here. Grade: F
Offensive Line: I’m not sure I’ve ever heard of an offensive tackle getting ejected for targeting before. Gunnar Gottula really struggled with pass protection in this game, but the whole line had issues. But let’s make one thing clear: not all of Minnesota’s nine sacks were the responsibility of the offensive line. The line was bad, but the entire passing game was broken in this game. Grade: F
Defensive Line: Minnesota wasn’t a physical team … until they played the Huskers. By the end of the game, the Gophers offensive line was pushing the Huskers around. Grade: D
Linebackers: Javin Wright and Marques Watson-Trent were the bright spots on defense with 12 and 11 tackles respectively. (Or should I say the least dim.) Grade: D+
Secondary: Donovan Jones had a rough film review session, I’m sure. For the rest of the secondary, I’m sure it wasn’t much better. Grade: F
Special Teams: Archie Wilson was perhaps the shining star of the game. Great punt to pin the Gophers at the two; not his fault that the defense allowed a 98 yard drive. But return game woes returned, with a kickoff return making it all the way out to the (checks game report) 17 yard line. (Loss of eight yards) Oh, and another punt return for an eight yard loss as well. Kyle Cucanan did hit both of his field goal attempts. Grade: D+
Overall: F As you may have figured out, no group could earn a grade higher than a D. This was a team disaster, and while some players played a bit better than others, this was a team defeat.
