3 hours Ago By Evan Bland World-Herald Staff Writer
LINCOLN — The World-Herald's Evan Bland is handing out his Husker Report Card, assessing Nebraska's performance in several areas. Here are the grades coming out of the Huskers' loss to Iowa. * * * Emmett Johnson didn’t run as wild as a week ago but still squeezed out plenty of yards after contact while Rahmir Johnson and Dante Dowdell brought their lightning-and-thunder skillsets as needed.
Yet the offensive line was the real hero, generating noticeable pushes in run situations both predictable and not. A veteran group in recent weeks has become suddenly more adept at pulling as well as winning one-on-one battles straight up. GRADE: B+ Nebraska left some meat on the bone.
Quarterback Dylan Raiola overthrew Jaylen Lloyd for what could have been an early 60-yard score. He missed a wide-open Emmett Johnson in the flat that turned a second-and-5 into a drive-killing sack. A couple other sequences were more NU mistakes than Iowa making plays.
All that and Raiola was efficient, nonetheless. He settled in with intermediate throws to Jahmal Banks and a big gainer to Jacory Barney on an over route for 23 yards. Fewer house calls of late under new offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen, but longer drives.
Extra marks for doing it in sub-freezing conditions. GRADE: B Nebraska held the Big Ten’s leading rusher in check throughout. So dominant were the Blackshirts in the first half that, outside an 11-yard run up the middle, Kaleb Johnson had 5 yards on nine carries.
This wasn’t UTEP in September, either. NU shot gaps — linebacker John Bullock was active as were lane-cloggers Ty Robinson, Nash Hutmacher and others — and stayed sound. Iowa opted to punt on fourth and 1 from the Husker 49-yard line early on rather than try for a short gain.
Stop the run in November and the wins come. Nebraska borrowed Iowa’s longtime recipe on Black Friday. GRADE: A It only felt like the secondary got much of the night off as Iowa limited its exposure of preseason fourth-string quarterback Jackson Stratton in the pass game.
A completion in the flat and a short over-the-middle ball to a tight end were the extent of Iowa’s aerial damage in the first half and didn’t improve much from there. Nebraska picked its spots blitzing too, with James Williams and Ty Robinson among the harassers on rare Hawkeye drop-backs. The Huskers easily passed the test, though the difficulty level factors in.
The 72-yard Kaleb Johnson touchdown proved a costly exception with five missed tackles on a dump-off pass. GRADE: B Too erratic even in freezing conditions. Nebraska’s field-goal operation started strong after John Hohl extended his consecutive field-goal makes to nine early on — a low snap in the third quarter led to a wide-left misfired that snapped the streak.
A couple Brian Buschini shank punts — including one a few rows into the stands — too often set Iowa up with short fields. Iowa, meanwhile, kept tilting field position with a dynamic return game the Huskers limited intermittently. A muffed punt only cost NU a field goal.
GRADE: D+ The strategy fit the opponent and the weather. Holgorsen didn’t dial up many deep balls or risky plays and didn’t have to with the way Nebraska’s frontline paved a path up front. Defensive coordinator Tony White didn’t get too exotic against a one-dimensional Iowa attack.
Even Nebraska curiously spending timeouts with just under a minute left before halftime paid off — the Huskers got a touchdown and Iowa ran out the clock after taking over with 38 seconds left. GRADE: B IF NEBRASKA WINS It’s been years since Nebraska felt like a team finishing November with a flourish, but there it was Friday night against an Iowa club that has long held an ownership stake in the 11th month. This was no fluke, either.
The Huskers won the line of scrimmage on both sides in a conservative stalemate the Hawkeyes are usually comfortable navigating. Nebraska has long beaten Iowa in recruiting rankings and portal classes only to lose on the field. If NU is starting to match Iowa in talent development, look out.
GRADE: B+ IF IOWA WINS Another demoralizing tight Nebraska loss to its border rival, this one more so in a game the Huskers largely won on both lines of scrimmage. The outcome was another reminder of the power of details — field position, turnovers, special teams, tackling — especially in November. Nebraska appears to be improving through November for the first time in years, though, leaving time for more in a bowl game.
The margin for error against the ultra-sound Hawkeyes remains painfully slim. GRADE: C+.
