Nebraska left Eugene with the same bitter feeling it carried out of the Indiana game: a fourth-quarter lead and no win to show for it.
The Cornhuskers, now 5-2 overall and 2-2 in Big Ten play, lost 17-14 to Oregon on Saturday. It was the second straight week Nebraska held a fourth-quarter advantage and still came away empty. For a team that keeps finding ways to put itself in position, the finish keeps slipping through its fingers.
Special teams has become a real problem, and against Oregon it showed up in multiple ways. Nebraska turned the ball over on downs after a bad snap while setting up to punt, muffed a punt return that hurt field position, and kept trying to return kickoffs without getting much out of it. Those issues followed the missed 40-yard field goal against Indiana that could have forced overtime at the end of regulation.
The concern isn’t new, but it’s gotten louder over the last two weeks. Special teams didn’t stand out as a major issue during nonconference play, yet the unit has gone from quiet strength to obvious liability. Nebraska returned the same kicker and punter and added the No. 1-ranked long snapper in the transfer portal, but the third phase has not been a consistent edge this fall.
Running the ball has become another problem area. A week after Nebraska’s running backs managed only 71 yards on 20 carries against Indiana, the Huskers got just 58 yards on 18 attempts against Oregon. Indiana and Oregon are the two best defenses Nebraska has seen, but the lack of a reliable ground game is still hard to ignore.
The numbers from the Indiana game were especially ugly. Of those 71 rushing yards by the running backs, 66 came after contact, which meant nearly 93% of the production was created on their own. The full Week 7 numbers weren’t available yet, but the same struggle showed up on the field against Oregon.
Pro Football Focus had already graded Nebraska’s run blocking against Maryland and Indiana as its two lowest marks of the season, and the Ducks game looked like more of the same. The Huskers had chances in both of the last two games to drain the clock and close things out, but neither time did they get it done.
Injuries are also piling up. Nebraska went into the Oregon game without Jamir Conn, Rex Guthrie, and Riley Van Poppel on defense, then lost more players as the night went on. Matt Rhule said after the game that offensive injuries may have involved Gunnar Gottula, Isaiah Mozee, and Jamal Rule, though the exact extent wasn’t clear.
The bye week arrives at a useful moment, but Nebraska will only feel like it made the most of it if it comes back and beats Washington at home. The Huskers need a jolt, and their Halloween matchup with the Huskies gives them a chance to find one.
In Other News...
Matt Rhule Sends Clear Message After Nebraskas Painful Oregon Finish
Nebraska came up just short against Oregon, falling 17-14 in a game that turned late when junior quarterback Dylan Raiola entered in the fourth quarter and hit tight end Jamari Johnson for the winning touchdown. Afterward, Matt Rhule made it clear he was not interested in turning the loss into a referendum on his quarterback or his program, instead framing it as the kind of game that can teach a team where it still needs to grow.
Rhule pointed to fatigue and Oregons effective run game as part of the reason the Cornhuskers were unable to close it out, while also brushing aside any notion that the late kickoff was an excuse. For Nebraska, the bigger takeaway may be the standard these matchups provide, since Rhule emphasized the value of lining up against strong programs even when the result stings. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraskas Defense Did Enough But One Problem Still Cost Them
Nebraska had every chance to turn a solid defensive effort into one of its biggest wins of the season, but the offense never quite matched what the defense gave it. The Cornhuskers led entering the fourth quarter and kept Oregon within reach for most of the afternoon, yet the Ducks were able to survive a tight, physical game and leave with a 17-14 victory.
The issue for Nebraska was up front, where the offensive line struggled to consistently hold up and let the game slip away despite the way the defense kept battling. Oregon got late help from Dylan Raiola, who came off the bench and sparked the comeback, leaving Nebraska to wonder how different things might have looked with even a little more protection and consistency on offense. [Read more 🡒]
Nebraska Let A Familiar Name Rip Away A Late Lead
For much of the afternoon, Nebraska looked like it had done enough to protect a late lead against Oregon before a familiar name changed the shape of the game. Dylan Raiola came off the bench in the fourth quarter and quickly settled in, finding Jamari Johnson on a 4-yard touchdown pass with 28 seconds left to put the Ducks ahead in a 17-14 comeback win.
The loss left Nebraska having to absorb another close finish, and coach Matt Rhule addressed the performance afterward with the kind of frustration that comes from watching a game slip away at the end. Oregons rally was built on Raiola stepping in for Brock Thomas and giving the Ducks a final surge when the margin was gone, a reminder of how little room there is for error in a one-score game. [Read more 🡒]