A football game is a long, 60-minute grind.
It is truly a game of inches that comes down to hours of practice and tedious preparation. Games in college football are not just won by talent on the field but by strategy and weeks of game planning.
Nebraska football can either revive their season after their letdown to Michigan State or continue to let a promising season slip away when they take on the University of Maryland on Saturday morning at Memorial Stadiums. Here are a couple things they’ll need to do to make sure the result is not the latter.
Shut Down the Air
I know, I know, this one’s an obvious one. But before you eye roll at my simpleton key, it’s a fact that the Huskers won’t have a shot in this game if they can’t control the potent Maryland passing offense.
The Blackshirts are having a great year, but if there’s one chink in their armor, it’s their passing defense. They rank 51st in the country in passing yards allowed this season. They allowed a combined eight passes over 25 yards in their losses to Colorado, Michigan, and Michigan State.
Unfortunately for the Blackshirts, Maryland is a team best suited to exploit that weakness. The Terrapins rank 12th in the country in passing attempts this season and have one of the best quarterbacks in the country, Taulia Tagovailoa.
Taulia, the younger brother of Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua, ranks 10th in the nation in passing touchdowns and 16th in passing yards and boasts a solid 65% completion percentage. The QB earned high praise from Nebraska Head Coach Matt Rhule, garnering comparisons to Kyler Murray and Patrick Mahomes.
To bounce back from their disappointing loss to MSU, Nebraska must control the airways.
Heinrich Hops the Hurdle
Last week was Heinrich Haarberg’s worst performance as a Husker. Haarberg threw for 128 yards and two interceptions, with a completion percentage of 43%. Haarberg was wildly inaccurate, missing open receivers while making the same mistakes we’ve seen him commit all year. If Haarberg doesn’t up his play, Nebraska will lose Maryland and likely won’t win another game this season. Another reason Nebraska needs to throw the ball around the yard is Maryland’s run defense. The Terrapins have been one of the best teams in the country at stopping the run. The Terrapins allow 114 yards a game, the 26th best in the nation, and 3.28 yards a carry, the 18th best in the NCAA. It won’t be smooth sledding, moving the ball on the ground for the Big Red. Haarberg must be effective through the air if Nebraska is to clinch a bowl birth this Saturday.
All Three Phases
Nebraska struggled last week with Special Teams in East Lansing. Due to Billy Kemp being limited due to a knee injury and the team not trusting anyone other than true freshman Ethan Nation to receive punts, Michigan State won the field positioning battle.
The Husker’s fair caught balls on the six-, seven, and 15-yard line. Those possessions resulted in an interception, a punt, and another interception.
This offense is not built to go 80 yards down the field consistently.
Nebraska’s special teams units need to put this struggling offense in better situations if they’re going to put points on the board. Consistently fair catching balls and allowing the opposition to flip the field will not cut it this week.