Tag: Nebraska Cornhuskers

It wasn’t pretty, but No. 14 Wisconsin found a way to close against a pesky Nebraska team and will head back to Madison with the Freedom Trophy in hand on the heels of a 37-21 victory. As a result, the 8-2 Badgers remain in the hunt for a Big Ten West title with two games left to go.

Here are our top three takeaways from the win.

1. This Wisconsin defense has some soul searching to do. 

There’s no sugarcoating it; this was an absolutely atrocious performance from the Badgers defensively. Defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard’s unit just didn’t have much of an answer to Nebraska’s dynamic spread offense all game long.

Wisconsin surrendered a total of 493 yards, the most the Badgers have allowed since the 511 it gave up in last season’s matchup between these programs at Camp Randall, including 220 through the air from quarterback Adrian Martinez and 273 on the ground.  The Cornhuskers averaged 7.4 yards per carry collectively, an effort spearheaded by a breakout outing from running back Dedrick Mills, who gashed Wisconsin for 188 yards and a touchdown while picking up an average of 11.1 yards each time he touched the ball.

While the coaches were largely ineffective in making adjustments throughout the game as the Cornhuskers picked up big play after big play, the Badgers simply could not tackle to save their lives. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen so many missed tackles by a Wisconsin defense, and those mishaps resulted in far too many chunk plays that moved Nebraska rapidly down the field. To put this into perspective, not one of the Cornhuskers’ three touchdown drives took longer than 1:49.

While the Badgers do deserve some credit for making some critical fourth-down stops throughout the game, overall, this was an embarrassing effort that resembled the defensive debacles against Illinois and Ohio State. Wisconsin has some major adjustments to make before taking on an explosive Minnesota offense for a potential shot at a Big Ten West title in a few weeks.

2. Wisconsin’s special teams got the job done today.

The play of special teams can often go underappreciated, but today, there’s no question that they played a critical role in Wisconsin’s victory.

That conversation begins with Aron Cruickshank, whose electrifying kickoff return touchdown in the first quarter gave the Badgers a much-needed boost in momentum following a Nebraska score.

Mills had just scampered into the end zone from 12 yards out to give his team a 7-0 lead after the Cornhuskers recovered a Jonathan Taylor fumble in Wisconsin territory. It was a devastating turn of events, as the Badgers had been running the ball down Nebraska defense’s throat on their first drive and were threatening to score before the turnover. The momentum dramatically shifted to the home team.

It didn’t last for long, as Cruickshank proceeded to completely take the wind out of the Cornhuskers’ sails on the very next play.

Aron Cruickshank 89 yards to the HOUSE for @BadgerFootball ⚡️💨 pic.twitter.com/RZjIrCmtzi

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) November 16, 2019

The sophomore’s 89-yard house call was the first return touchdown of his young career, and it came in a huge moment for his team. Cruickshank has always had blazing speed,  and it was only a matter of time before he found the end zone in the return game.

Credit is also due to placekicker Collin Larsh, who accounted for 13 of Wisconsin’s 37 points while going 3/3 and 4/4 on field goal and extra-point attempts, respectively.

3. Jonathan Taylor owns Nebraska.

Though they weren’t able to get the win today, it’s safe to say the Cornhuskers and their fans have got to be ecstatic that they will never again have to worry about facing Jonathan Taylor, assuming he takes his talents to the NFL after this season as we all suspect.

For the third straight season, Nebraska had no answer for All-American back. Taylor carried this Wisconsin offense on his back today, turning his 25 carries into 204 yards and two touchdowns and breaking the legendary Herschel Walker’s record for rushing yards in the first three years of a career in the process. Assuming there is no fourth year, Taylor will conclude his storied college career with 644 yards and seven touchdowns in just three meetings with the Cornhuskers.

Taylor was in the midst of a bit of a cold spell that coincided with Wisconsin’s two losses to Illinois and Ohio State, but he’s gotten back to his usual dominance in these last two games. The Badgers desperately need him to keep the momentum going down the home stretch.

Let’s be clear at the outset of this piece: When I say that the Wisconsin Badgers should revel in the failures of the Nebraska Cornhuskers, I don’t mean to imply or suggest that Wisconsin fans should laugh at Nebraska. No. This is not about spitting at or looking down on an opponent. I wish to convey the point that Nebraska’s inability to rise to the top tier of the Big Ten should make Wisconsin fans happy. This is an important reality to grasp on the eve of the latest football reunion between the two schools on Saturday.

Wisconsin fans, everyone else in the Big Ten, and all other college football fans in the United States know that Nebraska is immersed in an identity crisis. The Huskers were solid under Bo Pelini, often winning nine games in a season and coming close to winning a conference championship on a few occasions, but they have never regained the top-tier status they had under Frank Solich in 2001. Nebraska has played in a handful of huge games this century, but the Huskers have clearly lost their status as a program which is annually relevant in college football.

This is not funny. This is not worth laughing at. It is a reality Wisconsin fans should cherish because of what the Badgers have been able to achieve… and how they have achieved it.

What was the foundation of Nebraska’s elite status in college football, in the Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne years? Big offensive linemen knocking the snot out of the opposition. What is and has been Wisconsin’s calling card since Barry Alvarez remade and transformed the program in the early 1990s? Big offensive linemen knocking the snot out of the opposition (much as the Badgers did against Iowa this past Saturday).

The thing which made Nebraska great is the thing which made Wisconsin great… and Wisconsin is continuously winning with this identity firmly intact. Nebraska can’t get those farm-grown linemen. Nebraska can’t develop elite offensive line play. Nebraska can’t regain sledgehammer force in the trenches. That is WISCONSIN’S brand. That is WISCONSIN’S identity.

Here is something for Wisconsin fans to briefly contemplate: Yes, Minnesota might win the Big Ten West this year (though hopefully, Iowa will rise up and enable the Badgers to win the division on Nov. 30 in Minneapolis), but even if the Gophers do win the division, Wisconsin could go 10-2 in this 2019 regular season. Do you want to know how many 10-win regular seasons Nebraska has had since 2001, when it played Miami for the national title? Two.

Want to know how many 10-win (or more) regular seasons Wisconsin has had since 2014? Three. Want to know how many 10-win regular seasons Wisconsin has had this decade? Five. It will be six if the Badgers can beat Nebraska, Purdue, and Minnesota to round out their 12-game slate in 2019.

Nebraska fans would kill for Wisconsin’s level of success. Think about that. Nebraska was playing for national championships 25 years ago, when Barry Alvarez got the Badgers off the ground and roaring. The 1995 Nebraska team is the greatest team I have personally witnessed in my years following college football. Who would have possibly imagined 20 years ago that in 2019, Wisconsin — and not Nebraska — would be nationally relevant?

Nebraska’s failures magnify Wisconsin’s successes. Wisconsin’s successes make it all the more striking that the Huskers haven’t been able to replicate their own formula, the formula Barry Alvarez used and passed along to both Bret Bielema and now Paul Chryst.

No one needs to laugh at Nebraska’s misfortune. Simply know that each year Nebraska fails to recover or revive itself, is a year in which Wisconsin retains the identity of being the foremost program with a commitment to muscular and punishing line play. What Nebraska used to be is what Wisconsin now is — maybe not to the extent that the Badgers are playing for national titles, but certainly when viewed through the prism of being nationally relevant and a good bet to win 10 games a year.

Wisconsin fans don’t have to be happy due to Nebraska’s struggles. They should be happy, however, that Nebraska’s failures make it easier to marvel at and appreciate the Badgers’ successes over an extended period of time.

Fresh off of a crucial victory over Iowa last weekend to maintain possession of the Heartland Trophy, No. 13 Wisconsin hits the road to Lincoln to face a stumbling Nebraska squad on Saturday.

Head coach Scott Frost’s program has been one of the great disappointments in all of college football this season after opening as the No. 24 team in the land. While the Badgers were able to snap their two-game losing streak and stay alive in the Big Ten West race by taking care of business against the Hawkeyes, the 4-5 Cornhuskers are reeling after suffering three straight losses and mustering just one victory in their last five contests.

Wisconsin has won six in a row against Nebraska and is a 14.5-point favorite as of Tuesday, but Memorial Stadium can often be a difficult environment for visiting teams, especially for a rivalry game such as this. However, if an upset is in the cards, the Cornhuskers will need their stars at their best.

Here are five players on the opposing sideline who Badger fans should keep a close eye on throughout the game.

1. Adrian Martinez – Quarterback

2019 stats: 59.5% passing, 1,491 yds, 7 TD, 6 INT/4.1 YPC, 399 yds, 5 TD

Nebraska’s upset hopes will ride squarely on the shoulders of its sophomore signal-caller.

A dark horse Heisman candidate in the eyes of many college football pundits leading into the season after a huge year in 2018 as a true freshman, Martinez hasn’t come remotely close to living up to that hype through the Cornhuskers’ first nine games. His accuracy has regressed and he’s already tossed six interceptions so far this season, which is the fourth most in the Big Ten. He’s only No. 9 in the conference in passing efficiency rating as well.

Nonetheless, as Martinez goes, so too does the Nebraska offense, which is often the case with quarterbacks but especially true here given that he is the team’s second-leading rusher as well as its top passer.

The Cornhuskers will likely need Martinez to have his best outing of the season against the Badgers if a victory is on the table. If he can replicate his state line from last season’s 41-24 loss at Camp Randall (24-42, 384 yds, 2 TD to go along with 13 carries for 57 yards), they’ll have a shot.

2. JD Spielman – Wide Receiver

2019 stats: 35 rec, 688 yds (19.7 avg), 2 TD

A Third-Team All-Big Ten selection a season ago, Spielman has followed up his outstanding play in 2018 by serving as Nebraska’s most dangerous weapon on offense this year, though there’s a case to be made for the next player on this list as well.

As he has been throughout his entire career in Lincoln, the Cornhuskers’ leading receiver has been a big play waiting to happen whenever he touches the ball, ranking No. 5 in the conference in average yards per catch. The Badgers are all too familiar with Spielman’s playmaking ability after he torched them for a school-record 209 yards and a touchdown on nine receptions in last year’s meeting in Madison.

Wisconsin could have its hands full with Spielman again this weekend, as the junior wideout is red-hot coming off of back to back dominant showings; he had 6 receptions for 123 yards in the Nov. 2 loss to Purdue and racked up 5 catches for 95 yards the week before in the loss to Indiana.

NEXT: Wan’Dale Robinson/Mohamed Barry/Lamar Jackson