Another week against a ranked opponent. Another close loss.
“Little things need to change,” Nebraska coach Scott Frost said. “I felt like I was watching the same movie again.”
That movie is headlined by special teams. When the Fates spun the Wheel of Pain Saturday, it came up with the punt game—both kicking and receiving.
On the punting side, Will Pryzstup and Daniel Cerni combined to punt seven times for 229 yards, or an average of 32.7 yards a punt. Not good, but digging deeper makes that number even worse.
The Huskers put together net punt yardage of 26, 24, and 7 over the course of the game, and that doesn’t include the 44-yarder in the fourth quarter was returned 62 yards for a Michigan State touchdown.
“We have guys at the University specifically for the reason to punt,” Frost said. “I’m tired of it.”
That punt return touchdown was set up to be covered to the right side of the field but Cerni’s punt sent the ball left, allowing half the field to be open.
On the punt return side, of the six Spartan punts, Nebraska is credited with one return which lost a yard. Par for the course this season. What isn’t shown is the hidden yardage lost as time after time Nebraska didn’t attempt to catch the punt, allowing the ball to roll deeper into NU territory.
“We gotta catch punts,” Frost said. “We probably gave up 200 or 300 yards of hidden yardage on special teams.
“That’s all yards that you can’t get back.”
The first half was a close affair, with Michigan State leading at halftime 13-10. Nebraska started the third quarter with a nearly six minute drive that ended in a field goal to tie the game. That drive would set the tone for the second half.
Michigan State had six straight three-and-outs in the second half, amassing just 14 total yards.
While the Blackshirts dominated their side of the ball, the Nebraska offense was deliberate, racking up more than 22 minutes in the time of possession battle. But the time with the ball and yards accumulated—224 in the second half alone—amounted to just 10 points.
After the final MSU three-and-out of regulation, Nebraska had two timeouts and a chance to win the game with 47 seconds from their own 20.
Adrian Martinez ran for seven yards before a pass to Travis Vokolek moved the Huskers to 38 with 27 seconds to go and the clock stopped. On the next play, Martinez was sacked. Frost elected to not use either of his remaining timeouts and take the game to overtime.
“I wanted to go score until we took the sack,” Frost said. “Once we took the sack, I think there was 18 seconds left. At that point I think more bad things can happen than good.”
Overtime felt scripted for Nebraska fans. A missed opportunity at a touchdown over the top, with the third play being an interception. The Spartans took their momentum, and a 23-yard run, to a game winning field goal.
Michigan State 23, Nebraska 20
Nebraska has not scored in six straight overtimes, dating back to the 2014 win at Iowa.
There are plenty of factors to look to for why Nebraska should have won the game.
The Blackshirts gave up just 36 yards after halftime and a single first down. The nation’s leading running back Kenneth Walker III, who was averaging 8.6 yards a carry before Saturday, was held to 61 yards TOTAL and no touchdowns. MSU managed just 71 yards on the ground and 183 through the air.
Offensively, Martinez remained slippery and gained up nearly 100 yards on the ground. Rahmir Johnson netted 76 yards. There were 10 different receivers making catches, including five for both Zavier Betts and Omar Manning.
The Nebraska offense put up 440 total yards.
“We didn’t have any business losing that game,” Frost said.
But the mistakes were too much.
Besides the punt and punt return issues, the offensive line continued to show its inexperience. On the first drive alone there were multiple false starts. The penalties continued throughout the first half, and the group allowed constant pressure on Martinez, including seven sacks for 34 yards.
“Everything we know how to do to keep them from doing it—they gotta stay calm, do their job, and not jump offsides,” Frost said. “It probably cost us points in the first half.”
After taking No. 3 Oklahoma to the brink a week ago, Nebraska did the same at No. 20 Michigan State. The Huskers are now 5-15 in one-possession games under Frost, leaving the program in a state of purgatory—just good enough to be in nearly every game but also bad enough to keep placing marks in the loss column.
A big chance awaits Nebraska next week with Homecoming. The Huskers host Northwestern for the first night game in Lincoln since Ohio State in 2019.