Nebraska football fans had been eager to see the Cornhuskers begin the Matt Rhule era after a tumultuous past several seasons under Scott Frost. Nebraska always looked like they were right on the brink of getting a marquee win to bring them back to relevancy, but the Huskers could never get over the hump, and lost countless games by one possession. It was more of the same on Thursday night when Nebraska football hit the road to take on Minnesota football. It was a defensive slugfest that led to Nebraska leading 10-3 late with the ball. The Golden Gophers had done nothing on offense all night, but in the final five minutes, the Cornhuskers turned the ball over twice, which resulted in 10 points for Minnesota, and the Gophers won the game 13-10 in dramatic fashion.
At this point, Nebraska fans would've probably rather seen a blowout than another blown game. They have come so close to that big win in recent years, and still haven't been able to finish the job. It's a long season, and that was only the first game, but because it was a conference game, the margin of error gets that much smaller for the Huskers going forward.
A lot of things went well for Nebraska in the game, especially on defense. Up until the last few minutes, it did look like they were going to win the game. However, when it mattered most, things went downhill. Here are a couple of Cornhuskers taking the most blame for Thursday nights falter at the finish.
QB Jeff Sims
Jeff Sims made a lot of great plays on Thursday and showed incredible athleticism. He has a ton of potential and could end up being a very good quarterback for Nebraska football this season. However, he has to take better care of the football. Last season with Georgia Tech football, he led the FBS in turnovers, and that issue plagued him again on Thursday night.
At the end of the first half, Nebraska drove the ball down to the Minnesota one yard line and had a chance to go up 7-3 before the break. A false start pushed the Huskers back to the six, and with not a lot of time on the clock and no timeouts, it forced Sims to throw the ball. Sims can throw it, but he is certainly more of a threat with his legs. On that drive, he ended up throwing an ugly interception in the end zone that killed the Cornhuskers' momentum and sent them into the locker room down 3-0. Turnovers happen, but that's a situation where you absolutely can't throw a pick, especially with the lack of scoring chances that were coming in the game.
It happened again, too. After Minnesota tied the game late, Nebraska was driving and getting close to being in range for a game winning field goal. Another time where an interception simply can't happen, and Sims throws another one that leads to the game winning field goal for Minnesota.
In those situations, you can't try to force it. Throw the ball away if it comes to it, take a sack, anything but an interception. At the end of the day, Sims will learn from that.
RB Anthony Grant
Turnovers at the worst moments killed Nebraska on Thursday, and of them came from Anthony Grant late in the fourth quarter. The Cornhuskers led by seven and were running the ball well on the drive, eating up clock to try to finish out a win. Grant had a nice first down run right around midfield, but he coughed it up at the end and Minnesota recovered. In that situation, you absolutely can't fumble. Two hands need to be on the ball and keeping possession has to be the first priority. Grant had the ball in one arm and swayed that arm out away from his body while making a cut, and a Minnesota defender easily slapped it out of his hand to force the turnover.
The Golden Gophers scored a touchdown shortly after that turnover to tie the game. Those are the kinds of things that just can't happen at that stage of the game.
It was another unfortunate loss for the Cornhuskers, and the team and fanbase will have to keep waiting for that big win to happen.