This one wasn't close. The opening kickoff was bobbled, tackles were missed, assignments blown, passes dropped and fumbles that didn't go our way (both times) led to total domination by Nebraska. Everyone was expecting a blowout and that is exactly what happened. There really isn't much more to say other than that.
According to Phil Miller, Kill was looking for toughness today. I do think the defense played pretty hard today as they forced a lot of third down situations for Nebraska and came up big on a couple key short-yardage situations. Not enough to keep Nebraska from scoring 41 points (34 in the first half) but they made them work for it keeping their big plays to a minimum. Small victories, and they didn't play great but I do think they played better today and played with some toughness.
"The team responded well in the second half and fought back, which showed toughness in them. We just weren’t consistent, but we definitely got better and started to get in a rhythm in the second half."
We did win the second half 14-7 but the second half was very different than the first. For Nebraska it felt very much like they were using the final two quarters as a live practice. Nebraska threw the ball 12 times in the third quarter alone, many of them deep balls. To this amateur, the second half appeared to be a live practice for the Cornhuskers. Taylor Martinez is not a very good passing quarterback and they were giving him some reps against a live defense.
The highlight of the day for the Gopher's was a Bennett end-around, reverse to Brandon Green, pitch-back to Gray who threw a 53-yard strike to Da'Jon McKnight. This led to a Gray run for the first touchdown of the day. But we lost our fourth game in a row and many Gopher fans would be happy with a game that is close.
"Right now I am doing less coaching and more mental support for our players than anything. It’s tough right now for the kids, but we are improving and everyone is working hard to get better. We just need to keep fighting through these tough times and everything will eventually get better."
Times are tough. Up next are the Hawkeyes who just might remember how we stole the Pig from them a year ago.