COLLEGE PARK, Md.– Nebraska needed these turtles in the worst way.
Having struggled through four losses in a row, having not won a football game since Oct. 5, the Huskers found a team in worse shape, with far worse flaws and maybe even worse luck.
Nebraska football's first trip ever to Maryland turned into a get-better Saturday, with a 54-7 win that was a comfortable ride from the start.
Yes, Maryland was bad – quite bad. The Terrapins gave Nebraska one touchdown when two of their defensive backs took turns having the ball bounce off their hands until it fell to JD Spielman. They got a 15-yard flag for "leaping the punt shield" that led to another touchdown.
But Nebraska played well – quite well. Credit the win in its completeness. The Huskers forced turnovers. They had a sharp plan on special teams. They rolled up 313 yards in the first half in building a 34-0 lead by the break.
The win total at least assured the record won't be 4-8 for a third straight year. Now, the Huskers have given themselves a Black Friday shot for a bowl bid. Talk about a chance to change moods in a big way. Saturday's win offered the opportunity.
Some Fast Takes.
Erik Chinander's defense was exactly what they needed to be all year and needs to be again this upcoming Friday – opportunistic.
The tone was set from the beginning when both Carlos Davis and Dicaprio Bootle helped force a fumble on Maryland's first play. Marquel Dismuke collected the prize and ran it to the 13. Two plays later Nebraska had a touchdown.
Lamar Jackson would later force another fumble when Maryland was driving, and the Huskers would twice stop Maryland on fourth-down plays in the Terrapins' own territory. Add in a fumble recovery by Nebraska's special teams and Frost's offense began four drives on the opponent's side of the field.
Youth got its opportunity, and handled it without much for hiccups.
Running back true freshman Rahmir Johnson, playing in his fourth game, finally got the valuable game experience fans have been eager to see. He got a touchdown too. He busted in from a yard out late in the third quarter. He spiked the ball with joy. Adrian Martinez and offensive teammates were just as pumped for him.
There was a good dose of Dedrick Mills early, but he didn't need to play the second half and that was probably just as well as Mills was said to be under the weather. And so, Johnson had himself 18 carries by the end of the third quarter.
He'll learn from it. He needs to gain size, and he had one pass go off his hands and another run that looked like a possible 14-yard touchdown where he got tripped up. But you saw the burst.
Put on 15 to 20 pounds and give him a full offseason in the program, and he can be right at the top of this running back competition in 2020.
And how about Luke McCaffrey at receiver?
Fun to see. He caught his first college pass. Then he ran the offense as the QB in the fourth quarter.
It's hard not to be reminded of another No. 7 when you watch his speed.
The Huskers got pressure all day from the D-line and the linebackers.
I thought Collin Miller was all over the place. I thought Khalil Davis was often too much for his guy to handle. Ben Stille was involved in a big sack and a fourth-and-1 stick that got Nebraska's sideline all fired up.
There was a great pressure from JoJo Domann that got home for the sack. By the end of the third quarter, the Huskers already had six sacks. Now, it felt like Maryland was going to need to dip into its student section at some point to find a quarterback. And that O-line was so inept. But it's a confidence-boosting day for a Husker defense that now needs its most inspired effort of the regular-season against a much more physical O-line next week.
Husker special teams has been much maligned, but Jovan Dewitt had a good plan and his guys mostly executed it well. And a walk-on kicker met his moment.
The Terps had some game-breaker returnmen, but you wouldn't know that on Saturday, because the Huskers never really gave them a normal return opportunity. Using Isaac Armstrong as the kickoff specialist, Nebraska basically blooped kicks with some air under them to about the 25.
For the most part, this worked really well, including one time Maryland went totally Maryland and never got a grip on the ball. Nebraska recovered inside the 20.
Armstrong had a fine day punting too, including a 60-yarder that will help his average.
And how about Matt Waldoch? Formerly with the club soccer team, he made the team in a tryout midseason and got his first crack at things Saturday. He nailed three 29-yarders (no word yet if he refuses to kick anything but 29-yarders). And then Harrison Martin got into the game to hit an 18-yarder in the fourth. Media didn't even know Martin was on the team until Saturday. He's listed as a senior. A Lincoln Lutheran grad. He'll always be able to say he made a field goal for Nebraska.
What about Barret Pickering? According to the Husker Sports Network broadcast, he wasn't on the trip because he's in concussion protocol. In an interesting side note, Pickering has only played in three games to date, so he could still use this as a redshirt year at this point even if he came back to kick against Iowa.
But the kicker competition could be on now too.
Nebraska's offensive moved the ball with ease much of the day, and actually will find more points that were left on the table.
Still, it's hard to argue too much with 162 yards in the first quarter and 313 yards in the first half, and 34 points at the half.
Maryland didn't have an answer for Adrian Martinez the runner, nor the way Nebraska slipped tight ends into the open field, like they did when Martinez hit Austin Allen on a clever delayed pass for 30 yards.
Nebraska had a couple interesting wrinkles, including a reverse pass from Luke McCaffrey, when he was lined up as a receiver. He hit JD Spielman rolling down the sideline, who had 104 yards receiving by midway through the third quarter.
And yet... Frost and his staff will see the interception thrown by Martinez when the Huskers had the ball on the Maryland 4. The play call had the Terps licked. Jack Stoll had slipped wide open on a throwback pass. But Martinez simply under threw it.
Martinez was great with his feet, but a little dangerous with his arm. He had three or four passes on Saturday that a defense like Iowa might turn into interceptions.
The Huskers also had to settle for three 29-yard field goals, which is nice for the Matt Waldoch story, but shows that there is still work to do on finishing drives. That said ... it was a half-a-hundred kind of scoring game. Against a bad team or not, that's a solid day of work when without Wan'Dale Robinson and Kanawai Noa.
I liked the togetherness the Husker team showed.
Some have wondered about it, but it looked like a team playing for each other, having fun. All three phases of the game complemented each other.
Do they have that kind of winning performance in them the day after Thanksgiving now? If they do, it's going to make December in Nebraska much more merrier.
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November 24, 2019 at 06:46AM
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Fast Takes after Huskers blast Maryland - 247Sports
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