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00:00 Welcome to the Carriker Chronicles, the people's show where we check the pulse of us, the nation
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00:21 This is my gut reaction to Nebraska's loss to Maryland, 13 to 10.
00:28 This is one of the lowest scoring, most exciting, if I'm going to use that term, roller coaster
00:37 up and down, back and forth, ugliest, fun to watch just because you never knew what
00:43 was going to happen, but ugly games I think I've ever seen in my life.
00:48 And of course, if we had 13 and they had 10, I would have thought it was beautiful and
00:51 magical art.
00:52 But of course, I feel the opposite because we have the lower number at the end of the
00:56 game.
00:58 Very interesting game.
01:00 Very frustrating game.
01:01 Alright, a couple of things real quick.
01:06 I am not a glass half full kind of guy.
01:09 I'm not a glass half empty kind of guy.
01:12 While everyone's arguing about whether the glass is half full or half empty, I'm busy
01:16 drinking the thing.
01:17 In other words, I grew up a Husker fan.
01:19 My entire week, every fall, Sunday through Friday, revolved around whether Nebraska won
01:25 or lost.
01:26 The game.
01:27 I went to Nebraska because it was my dream.
01:28 I chose to make my job watching and analyzing Nebraska football.
01:33 I love Nebraska football.
01:37 If you think some things I say are too positive or too negative, it's just my honest opinion.
01:46 It doesn't mean I'm right.
01:47 Obviously, I think that I am or I wouldn't say it.
01:50 I just give my honest opinion.
01:52 It's passionate.
01:54 It's frustrating right now.
01:55 It's perplexing.
01:57 But it's honest.
01:58 It's my perspective.
01:59 That's all I can give.
02:01 Alright, let's dive into this game.
02:04 First of all, if you're as perplexed by Nebraska's insane turnover problem as I am, hit the like
02:11 button.
02:12 Alright, so coming into this game, Nebraska's 396th consecutive sellout, approaching .400
02:18 here in the near future.
02:19 I had Tulia Tagovaiola, who was Big Ten's leading passer and Maryland's all-time passing
02:24 leader as well.
02:25 This is stuff that was intriguing to me coming into this game.
02:30 I was interested in how some of these matchups were going to go with some things from our
02:33 defense versus their offense and vice versa.
02:36 The Terrapins offense had allowed six sacks in each of the last two games.
02:40 Twelve combined.
02:41 The Blackshirts were second in the Big Ten with 28 sacks on the year.
02:45 How is that matchup going to pan out?
02:46 Alright, Maryland's defense tied for third with Purdue in the Big Ten with 27 sacks by
02:50 their defense.
02:51 I was curious to see how our 3-3-5 defense, we already got five DBs on the field, how
02:56 our pass rush was going to do versus Maryland's pass offense and how Maryland's pass rush
03:02 was going to do versus our offensive line, which hasn't been great at protecting the
03:05 quarterback when we have the ball.
03:07 Now, Heinrich Harburg had struggled throwing the ball and I was curious to see how he was
03:10 going to bounce back after a tough game.
03:12 Obviously, he struggled, then he gets banged up during the game, then Jeff Simms comes
03:16 in, then Jebba Purdy comes in.
03:17 I think the water boy was next in line.
03:19 Horrible joke.
03:20 I'm sorry.
03:21 Okay, gut reaction.
03:22 Raw, right?
03:23 Alright, I was just curious to see how Harburg was going to bounce back after that Michigan
03:27 State game.
03:28 He's a guy with a lot of heart and he's the leading rusher on the team with the most rushing
03:34 yards in the Big Ten coming into today.
03:35 Matt Rule wanted Emmitt Johnson coming into this game to get 15-20 touches.
03:40 He wanted him to get the ball more often.
03:42 Rule also wanted some more explosive plays out of our offense that didn't have to come
03:46 from the quarterback position.
03:48 Also, better third down conversion rate.
03:51 Okay, Rule wanted to steal a possession or two throughout the game.
03:54 Now he went for it on fourth down a couple of times.
03:57 He faked a punt early on and we converted.
04:01 Then we immediately threw an interception.
04:03 At that point, our 23rd turnover of the season, which led the nation at that point, so I'm
04:08 sure we still lead the nation at the end of the game.
04:10 Alright, the end of the first quarter, 0-0.
04:12 The Blackshirts were in Maryland's backfield a lot.
04:16 The Blackshirts kept their opponents scoreless in the first quarter for the sixth time this
04:23 year in 10 games.
04:24 Unfortunately, Nebraska's offense was held scoreless for the seventh time this year.
04:29 Turnovers and our defense.
04:30 To me, that was the key to winning this game.
04:33 Maryland's offense averages 31 points per game.
04:35 The Huskers average less than 20 points per game.
04:37 So the defense and turnovers, that was going to be key, right?
04:41 Nebraska coming in was -12 in the turnover margin, which is 128th in the country.
04:46 Could our offense help one of the best defenses in the Big Ten, our Blackshirts, and find
04:55 a way to win this game?
04:56 0-0 at the end of the first quarter.
04:57 Ten minutes left in the second quarter, Jeff Sims goes in at quarterback for a banged up
05:01 Heinrich Harburg.
05:02 Alright, with seven minutes left in the second quarter, Nebraska had zero pass yards at that
05:06 point before they finally got their first passing yards of the game on a short completion
05:10 from Jeff Sims.
05:12 Right before halftime.
05:14 Matt Ruhle, as I mentioned, fake to punt, had two fourth down conversion attempts, but
05:20 we had no points at that point, even though two of those three things that actually worked
05:25 in our favor.
05:26 The fake punt and one of the fourth down conversion attempts.
05:28 I just love Matt Ruhle's aggressiveness.
05:29 It was all I was getting.
05:31 He coached with not a lot of fear this game.
05:33 He coached with aggressiveness.
05:35 He clearly wants to become bowl eligible.
05:37 Our defense was really keeping us in the game at this point.
05:39 So with 231 left in the second quarter, Maryland scores 7-0.
05:44 On our next possession, Jeff Sims throws an interception.
05:51 Nebraska's second INT of the game at that point, but the Blackshirts kept the Terrapins
05:54 out of the end zone.
05:56 Now at halftime, it was 7-0.
05:58 Here are some interesting stats at halftime.
06:02 Third down conversion rate, Nebraska was 0-4, so they weren't exactly meeting Matt Ruhle's
06:06 goal at that point.
06:07 When it came to passing yards, we only had 50.
06:08 When it came to rushing yards, Maryland had 0.
06:10 We had 84 at halftime.
06:12 Penalties, we had 0.
06:14 Maryland had 7 for 62.
06:15 That was really helping Nebraska along with the Blackshirts playing well to that point.
06:19 All right, turnovers, we had 2.
06:20 They had 0 time of possession.
06:21 We had the ball for 18 minutes.
06:22 They had it for like 11.56.
06:23 We had it for 18.04.
06:24 All right, a couple minutes left, or a couple minutes into the third quarter, Omar Brown
06:28 forces a Maryland fumble.
06:30 And this is where the back and forth and the turnovers, it was crazy.
06:34 All right, he forces a Maryland fumble.
06:37 Nebraska recovers at the Maryland 27-yard line.
06:39 Huskers capitalize and a few plays on an ender round, they run it in for a touchdown.
06:43 7-7 at this point.
06:45 It looks to me like the offense is moving the ball better with Jeff Sims.
06:48 As we know, there was turnovers down the road after this point.
06:51 Then Purdy comes in, looks good for most of his drive, and then goes the INT.
06:55 But I'll get to that.
06:56 The Terrapins, next possession.
06:57 Okay, the Blackshirts intercept, tag of Viola.
07:01 Maryland's second turnover.
07:02 All right, the Huskers offense gets the ball to the Terrapins 31-yard line.
07:06 The Huskers capitalize three points.
07:08 They have ten points off turnovers to this point.
07:10 Our offense does off of Maryland turnovers.
07:12 And then Tristan Alvano makes the 38-yard field goal, putting Nebraska up 10-7.
07:16 Now, they're about 50 seconds left in the third quarter.
07:19 Okay, after a 14-play, 58-yard drive, nearly eight minutes.
07:23 All right, Maryland goes for it on fourth down at Nebraska's 20-yard line, give or take.
07:29 But Nash Huttmaker and Ty Robinson stuff them and stop Maryland short of the first down.
07:35 All right, Jeff Sims fumbles on a quarterback draw that had basically essentially become
07:40 a broken play at that point.
07:41 All right, Maryland ends up tying the game with a field goal after that.
07:45 Then they intercept Jeff Sims, another turnover for Nebraska who is trying to find Billy Kemp
07:49 on what appeared to be a double move at that point in time.
07:51 The Terrapins have the ball on the Huskers' 49-yard line.
07:54 They drive down to the Nebraska 3-yard line or so, and then they fumble.
07:57 And the Huskers recover.
07:59 It'd be a lot funnier if we'd have won.
08:02 All right, this game's a freaking rollercoaster is what I have here.
08:05 It's a freaking rollercoaster ride.
08:07 Whoever wins this game will be whoever gives the game away the least, which unfortunately
08:12 turned out to be Maryland.
08:13 All right, then here comes Chubba Purdy in the game, Nebraska's third quarterback of
08:17 the game.
08:18 Now, to this point in the fourth quarter, Maryland had 10 penalties for 92 yards.
08:23 Now, Nebraska did end up with a penalty or two, but Nebraska had no accepted penalty
08:28 yards after a penalty-free game the week before to that point.
08:33 Now, obviously this wasn't a clean game, but the penalties on our end have gone down.
08:36 The turnover, pfft, through the roof.
08:38 All right, Chubba Purdy leads Nebraska on a great drive, good throws, three great runs
08:42 deep into Maryland territory with almost a guaranteed field goal.
08:48 Chubba Purdy throws an interception.
08:50 The Huskers' fifth turnover of the day, all three quarterbacks through an interception.
08:56 Chubba, Jeff, Harburg, all three of them through at least one interception on the day.
09:01 Now, I do think Purdy's INT is on the play calling.
09:05 You've pretty much got a guaranteed field goal.
09:08 You're deep in their territory.
09:09 You've got a defense that up to that point had really kept you in the game, and that
09:12 was really about it.
09:15 And Maryland's turnovers, turnovers on their part and penalties at that point, I didn't
09:22 like the play call.
09:23 I didn't like taking that risk.
09:24 I didn't think it was necessary.
09:25 Okay, keep the ball on the ground, do what you do best, don't put your third-string quarterback
09:31 in that type of position, a guy who hasn't had any experience, hardly at all, in a year.
09:36 I put it more on the play calling, that interception, because we almost had basically a guaranteed
09:40 field goal.
09:41 Who knows what might happen if we run the ball mid-break and the player don't.
09:45 Alright, don't put your third-string quarterback in a position like that when you're in field
09:50 goal range to go ahead and the defense playing great, still tied 10-10.
09:55 Now being said, Maryland went right down the field.
09:59 On a day that saw eight combined turnovers, Maryland outgained Nebraska by over 100 total
10:05 yards, the Terrapins end a four-game losing streak and become bowl eligible for the third
10:10 straight year by kicking a game-winning field goal to win 13-10.
10:21 Matt Rule has done a lot of really good things this year.
10:24 The defense is playing solid, the run game is solid.
10:27 Yeah, pitching the ball and the option and all this and that ain't exactly pretty.
10:33 Alvano is rolling as a field goal kicker.
10:36 Our return game in special teams is just non-existent.
10:39 We've addressed that before.
10:41 The single biggest, and it's crazy because we have three highly recruited quarterbacks.
10:46 Heinrich Harburg was a top 20 dual threat quarterback in the country when he came out
10:50 of high school.
10:51 Chubba Purdy was a four-star recruit.
10:53 Look at what his brother is doing now with the Niners.
10:57 Jeff Sims is in Nebraska, at Nebraska.
10:59 He transferred here because an NFL scout told Matt Sims on top of Jeff's running ability,
11:06 he can make any throw you want a quarterback to make.
11:09 We have three quarterbacks with a lot of talent.
11:14 The single biggest mistake that Matt Rule has made since he got here, and it's not the
11:19 end of the world, but it is beyond frustrating because the transfer portal is coming up,
11:24 so on and so forth.
11:25 I don't want to go down the whole rabbit hole.
11:27 Was I thinking trusting the wrong quarterback to be our starting quarterback through the
11:30 transfer portal this year.
11:31 Just my humble thoughts, not trying to throw anybody under the bus, but I think that's
11:34 pretty much beyond obvious.
11:35 A lot of other things look a lot better for Nebraska, but the turnovers come down to the
11:42 quarterback position.
11:44 Also the lack of pass blocking from the O-line and some other things.
11:47 Alright, here's my questions.
11:50 Number one, let me know in the comments below, what is your honest gut reaction and thoughts
11:56 to this game?
11:57 Let me know below.
11:58 I do go through and read all the comments.
12:00 Number two, will Nebraska still make a ball game?
12:02 Do you believe they will?
12:03 Yes or no?
12:04 And number three, you're that old saying, you got two quarterbacks, you got none.
12:07 Well, do we have three quarterbacks or none?
12:11 Here's my question.
12:12 Who do you think should start our next game here at the University of Nebraska?
12:15 We've still got two chances to try to become bowl eligible.
12:19 Alright, until next time, Husker Nation, as always you can check out CarrikerChronicles.com.
12:23 It's where all your football hopes and dreams will come true.
12:26 It's just science.
12:27 Go Big Red!
12:28 And always remember to THROW THE BALL!
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