Good win followed by clunker loss

Once or twice is an aberration but three times is a pattern. For the third time in as many seasons, Nebraska follows a feel good win with a clunker of a loss at home.


Rewind the clock to 2009, the Huskers rally from a 12-0 deficit after three quarters on a rainy night in Columbia, Mo., to beat Missouri 27-12. Keep in mind, Nebraska had lost four of its last six to the Tigers. The Huskers went to 4-1 but followed with consecutive home losses to Texas Tech (31-10) and Iowa State (9-7). The latter of which had a losing record early in the game.

In 2010, Nebraska ran roughshod over Kansas State in a 48-13 win at Manhatten, KS to go to 5-0 entering a home game against their chief tormentor (Texas). The Longhorns were on the heels of two straight losses at 3-2. Husker Nation was ready for payback. Nebraska, however, lost 20-13 to a Texas team that finished the season 5-7.

Now for the 2011 edition, Nebraska scores an impressive 24-3 home win over Michigan State. The talk after the game is how the disappointing Blackshirts are returning to form and how Nebraska controls its own destiny to reach the Big Ten title game in Indianapolis. The trip to Indy was a straight line entering Saturday’s home game against Northwestern (now 4-5 overall, 2-4 Big Ten) but in losing to Northwestern 28-25 the Huskers veered to an onramp in Des Moines, Iowa and suddenly need some direction getting back on to Interstate 80.

In the Bo Pelini era, many losses have been clearly defined on which side of the ball is more clearly to blame – offense or defense. In the case of Saturday, the blame is pretty equal. If Rex Burkhead and Quincey Enunwa don’t fumble from the 5 and 25 yard line going in, Nebraska wins the game. Period. End of sentence. Next report.

Northwestern entered the game 95th in run defense while Nebraska was No. 9 in rush offense. However, the Wildcats bottled up Nebraska’s ground game, holding them to 118 yards on 33 carries. The Husker offense also wasted a brilliant passing game of quarterback Taylor Martinez, who completed 29 of 38 for 298 yards, two scores and no picks. Too bad his receivers dropped four passes. Martinez has been heavily criticized as a passer but was flawless in his decision making.

My biggest criticism of offensive coordinator Tim Beck is that why are Ameer Abdullah, Aaron Green, Braylon Heard and Jamal Turner getting a combined one touch? Granted, Burkhead is the bellcow of the offense if you are going to burn redshirts on Abdullah, Green and Heard why are they seldom in the game?

And on the defensive side, Nebraska spent a lot of the first quarter on the field as much for their inability to get stops and the offense’s inability to move the chains. At one point in the first quarter, the Wildcats had nine first downs to Nebraska’s one. That heavy load eventually exacted a toll on the Blackshirts. The Huskers had coverage breakdowns against the pass and couldn’t stop the run when they had momentum on their side.

And it was game, set, match.