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Nebraska football suffered a heartbreaking defeat in overtime at the hands of Illinois, but their season is far from over. This experience illuminated some flaws in Nebraska’s early season approach, and gave the team some moments to learn from.
If Nebraska takes these lessons to heart and studies the film from this game, this loss could be a valuable and beneficial experience for the team in the long run. With that being said, let’s take a closer look at who is most to blame for the Cornhuskers’ devastating loss.
The offensive line allowed Dylan Raiola to be pressured
Nebraska’s offensive line was simply not good enough, especially when the chips were down in the fourth quarter and overtime. There’s plenty to say about Raiola’s ability to step up in key moments and how he performed during crunch time, and we’ll get to that in a bit.
To be fair to Raiola though, he was under pressure on nearly every major play immediately after the ball was snapped. The defensive line knew that their objective was to disrupt Raiola’s rhythm and put the quarterback under immense stress, and they were able to do that successfully. Illinois sometimes brought extra pressure, but the offensive line simply did not hold up their protection at all.
Especially in overtime, the Illini’s pass rushers sliced through Nebraska’s offensive line like a knife through warm butter and created chaos immediately. The last play of overtime that effectively iced the game encapsulated Nebraska’s struggles perfectly. Say what you want about Raiola’s performance, but he never had a chance on that play.
Illinois sent a pass rusher right through the middle of Nebraska’s line and the Cornhuskers were powerless to stop the rush. Raiola found himself under immediate pressure, being sacked before he even had a chance to make a play.
Dylan Raiola wasn’t good enough, either
Raiola is a very good player, and he certainly had plenty of positive moments throughout this game. It feels a bit unfair to pin the blame for this tough loss on a true freshman. That being said, when somebody has been hyped up as a future number one overall pick superstar, that territory comes with expectations of putting a team on your back. There were moments where Raiola did just that, but they were also far too many times where he struggled or missed easy opportunities to give his team momentum.
Raiola missed quite a few open receivers and overthrew his target on one play that would have almost surely gone for a touchdown if he had been able to connect with the receiver who was running wide-open past the defense. Raiola has to be better than this if the Cornhuskers want to contend for the championship.
This game was a clear reminder that as hyped and talented as Raiola is, he’s still a true freshman who is starting at quarterback in the Big 10 at the end of the day. He’s going to have his bumps and bruises and there will be plenty of teachable moments for him as the season goes on. Raiola doesn’t have to be perfect yet, but he has to continue improving. That way, the team will get the best version of itself down the road when they face some top-tier teams.
Everyone who committed penalties is to blame
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The Cornhuskers committed way too many penalties in this game, and ultimately those penalties ended up costing the team dearly. Penalties choked out the team's momentum on offense and extended Illinois’ drives that led the Illini to put points on the board.
Nebraska football has to clean this up before they play the top teams in the country, or those games won't even be competitive.
Matt Rhule failed the backup kicker, who came up short in key moments
It might seem odd to put the head coach and the kicking game together, but it’s also a little unfair to pin most of the kicking struggles on the team’s kickers. Starter Tristan Alvaro is a good kicker, but he missed the game due to injury. With backup kicker John Hohl active, he was relied on too heavily. Hohl shanked a crucial kick from inside of 40 yards that would have prevented the game from going to overtime in the first place.
There is no excuse for his performance, but coaches also have to know their players’ abilities and limitations. Rhule had to have known the situation, and shouldn’t have put his player in a position to fail.
What this game means for Nebraska going forward
The harsh reality for Nebraska football fans is that the team might have arrived slightly ahead of schedule. The truth is that it’s unlikely Nebraska will win the national championship this year, and while they might make the college football playoff, they will likely get eliminated early.
That might be a bitter pill for Nebraska fans to swallow, but the good news is that the team will be perfectly positioned to compete for the national championship next year with a more experienced Raiola under center along with some top recruits who want to play with the potential first overall pick.
