Nebraska's passing game has been stuck in the mud many times this season, ranking 13th in the Big Ten and 99th nationally.
Only twice have the Huskers thrown for more than 200 yards this season.
On Saturday, when Nebraska needed it the most — trailing by 10 late to Minnesota — any form of air attack fell to the Memorial Stadium turf over and over again in a 24-17 loss to the Golden Gophers.
Though the Huskers had success running the ball against the worst defense in the league (shorthanded Minnesota was giving up 456.2 yards per contest), they relied on a combination of short passes and the occasional shots down field.
"I loved our game plan going in and I thought we had some guys open," coach Scott Frost said. "It's just got to be consistency. You've got to hit the majority of them, you've got to protect the majority of the time."
Junior quarterback Adrian Martinez, making his third consecutive start, appeared on his way to another efficient game. He was 13-of-15 passing for 75 yards at one point before overthrowing an open Oliver Martin, which would have resulted in a big play late in the first half.
Instead, the Huskers punted and the passing woes only grew in the second half. Martinez was 3-for-11 for 41 yards after halftime.
"I need to be more efficient and effective, and I missed on a few throws that I'd love to have back that I think could have been plays," said Martinez, who finished 16-of-27 for 111 yards and one touchdown. "I have to go back on film and look over those and see where I can improve."
Despite facing a team that ranked last in the Big Ten in rushing defense — NU was averaging 6.1 yards per rush late in the third quarter and it finished with 197 rushing yards on 36 attempts — the Huskers saw something in their passing game coming in.
Nebraska threw the ball 29 times, though Frost said not all of those were called as pass plays. Some were reads out of the read-pass option attack.
Nevertheless, the coach was confident in how his quarterbacks were throwing the ball during the week.
"We hit all those passes in practice all week and we didn't hit them today for whatever reason," Frost said. "I thought we ran it well at times, but it's just not consistent enough yet. Consistency has got to get a lot better."
Frost noted that some of NU's offensive struggles stem from playing several young players. He thought some of them may have been pressing at times as NU tried to play catchup.
Nebraska's first drive out of halftime consisted of nine plays, six coming on the ground. The Huskers reached the Minnesota 14-yard line before missing a game-tying field-goal attempt.
After that, the Husker offense sputtered. Three plays and a punt. Three plays (all pass plays) and a fumble. Five plays and a punt.
Nebraska ran just three running plays total on the two drives that followed the missed field goal. By the time it got the ball back, NU was down 10.
"Every week we look at whatever plays we think give us the best chance to move the ball," Frost said. "I think the guys were in good situations. At times we operated well and at other times we just didn't execute very well. We got to make sure that we play better than that, coach better than that."
Not seeing the execution from practice carry over into the game was obviously frustrating, Martinez said.
"My mindset in the game is, got to move on to the next play and play within that," said Martinez, who briefly exited the game in the first quarter to have his left hand or wrist looked at. "That's football sometimes. You can't always expect how it was in practice, that's the game. I've got to hit on more of those throws, and that's on me."
Photos: Golden Gophers oust Huskers on Senior Day at Memorial Stadium