The stakes facing Nebraska in its Big Ten opener against Rutgers loomed large enough when the week started.
The Huskers started 1-2 for the second time in two seasons. They lost against a Mid-American Conference team for the first time in school history. It happened at home. The window to iron out issues appears small as two teams picked at the bottom of the league — the Scarlet Knights and Illinois — greet NU in conference play before No. 9 Wisconsin and No. 10 Ohio State. Head coach Mike Riley’s seat seemed to be warming.
Then athletic director Shawn Eichorst was fired Thursday, leaving Riley without the boss who hired him and the public wondering what NU will look like next week, next month, next year.
A win against the Scarlet Knights won’t cure all ills, but it sure would be a silver lining to a brutal week that also includes an injury list stocked with starters and key contributors.
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All of that aside — yeah, right — a repeat performance like the Huskers’ against Northern Illinois likely won’t do against a Rutgers team that hasn’t won a Big Ten game since Oct. 17, 2015.
Riley on Monday said last weekend had, "all the ingredients of a loss."
Here are seven ingredients to for a better-tasting final product against the Scarlet Knights.
1. Offensive line play sets the tone for the offense
This actually goes wider than the five starters — two of whom could change from Northern Illinois due to injuries — to the Huskers’ tight ends and running backs as well.
Offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh said he and his group were "embarrassed" last week. In the Huskers’ first two games, they averaged 5.0 yards per carry. Against the Huskies: 2.4.
The group has experience, now it needs consistent production. It also needs help from the likes of backs Mikale Wilbon and Devine Ozigbo and tight ends Tyler Hoppes and Connor Ketter. Offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf on Monday cited two seven-man protections that still yielded pressure on quarterback Tanner Lee. If the same happens against Rutgers, the Husker offense is in for a long afternoon.
"I talk about the protection unit a lot as a whole group, and that includes the quarterback getting the ball out quickly, so that’s got to improve by everybody," offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf said. "Do we have a tight end chipping or a back helping or sliding to a problem? All of those things have just got to continue to improve. We’ve got to do a better job of it."
2. Avoid the slow start and subsequent catch-up
Nebraska has failed to score first in seven of its past nine games.Â
The Huskers looked like they would break that trend against the Huskies — NU won the toss and deferred at Oregon, but won and took the ball against NIU — with an effective opening drive, but Lee’s interception ended it and the hosts didn’t score for the game’s first 36 minutes, 55 seconds.
"We certainly want to be a fast-starting team," Riley said, "and one of our goals that we have weekly is that we want to score on the first drive of both halves. … We had a great drive going (against NIU). ... We had run the ball pretty well, we had a couple passes, and it looked like we could have had a good start.
"I’m not as much concerned with that as I am with the overall concern of the play of the game."
3. Steer clear of the drive-killers
The Huskers have started too many games slowly and finished too many drives meekly. They followed up a dreadful third-down performance (2-of-14) against Oregon by missing 13-of-19 against the Huskies. Even worse against NIU: They missed 6-of-10 from 4 yards or less.
"It’s just consistency," Lee said. "Just completing balls and picking up yards and moving the chains. If you stay out of third-and-long, keep it under third-and-5, your percentages will be a lot higher, so we’ve got to do better on first and second down."
NU doesn’t seem to have a go-to philosophy on third down, much like it hasn’t cultivated an offensive philosophy as a whole. Take two early third-and-shorts last week: Wilbon was stood up short of the line on a third-and-2 run and then JD Spielman dropped a third-and-3 throw to the flats. The Huskers need those conversions badly.
"Those are more than manageable," Langsdorf said. "Those are critical. Those are huge drive-stops."
4. Lee must know when to hold 'emÂ
NU’s trailed in the second half the past two games, so Lee has been asked to make plays through the air. At times he’s appeared to be pressing and at times he’s held on to the ball for too long.
He’s also thrown the ball a few times where he shouldn’t have. Against Northern Illinois, he let go of a ball well after he was first contacted in an attempt to throw it away. A Huskies defender caught it, but the ball had fluttered just far enough to the sideline to be out of bounds. Lee doesn’t have to play perfect, and he hasn’t received enough help up front, but he’s got to avoid the mistakes he can control.
5. Make a play — or at least a stalemate — on punt returnÂ
NU and senior wide receiver De’Mornay Pierson-El are fortunate to have lost only field position so far in the punt return game.
Pierson-El had returns of 10 yards and 7 yards in the second half last week that could be a sign he’s coming out of his funk. Before that, he had three returns for minus-4 on the season with a fumble he managed to recover and several other questionable decisions.
"It’s a big, big factor, a lot of field position," Riley said. "I think that De’Mornay is a dynamic returner and there were glimpses of us getting out of the box with a good one. … He can break a game open for you."
6. Contain runs from spilling outsideÂ
The Huskers have largely defended the run well the past two weeks. One area that shows room for improvement: Cut-backs and runs off tackle.
Outside linebacker Luke Gifford admitted to missing once on NIU back Jordan Huff and others like Sedrick King and Tyrin Ferguson also fell victim on similar plays. When a defensive end gets pinned in, NU’s outside linebackers haven’t closed down the open space fast enough to keep backs from churning out yards inside, or they’ve lost contain and let runs spill to the perimeter.
It’s a relatively minor issue compared to some others, but Rutgers' pair of senior running backs has almost certainly taken notice.
A related note: Ferguson (right foot) and starter Marcus Newby (hamstring) are both out with injuries.
7. Eliminate that pesky big play in the passing game.
Oregon racked them up at will in the first half on Sept. 9. NIU had just one, but it was a killer 47-yard go route up the right sideline against Eric Lee’s single coverage.
“It’s like a baby, when a baby does something wrong sometimes they don’t know right from wrong,†cornerbacks coach Donte Williams said of his young trio — Lee and Lamar Jackson are sophomores and Dicaprio Bootle is a redshirt freshman. “It’s not like Chris Jones where he’s seeing something for the 50th time. They’re still kids, they’re still learning, but the confidence has been the same week to week.â€