MINNEAPOLIS — Nebraska football will have to wait another week for bowl eligibility as it fell to Minnesota 24-6 on Friday night.
The Huskers put forth their worst performance of the season in their first game as a nationally ranked team.
Here are three takeaways from the game:
Nebraska folds under pressure
The Huskers had the opportunity to flip the narrative around them, but failed to do so in all too familiar fashion. Nebraska has not beaten Minnesota since 2018 and has not won back-to-back road games since 2006.
This loss did not happen because the Golden Gophers are the better team; the No. 25-ranked Huskers are. However, Nebraska beat itself up whenever any pressure was put on it.
Minnesota picked apart the Huskers on both sides of the ball, having an answer for everything they tried. The Golden Gophers outgained Nebraska in total yards 336-180 and won the time of possession battle.
P.J. Fleck’s team flat-out overpowered the Huskers like they have in the years prior.
It took Nebraska five games to secure bowl eligibility after starting 5-1 last year. With the way the Huskers played tonight, the same story may be underway.
Offensive line back to old self
After an admirable effort against Maryland, the Husker offensive line could not live up to that performance again. Dylan Raiola faced pressure on almost every dropback, being sacked five times in the first half and nine times in the game.
It didn’t help that Nebraska lost senior right guard Rocco Spindler early in the game, with junior Tyler Knaak taking his spot. It also lost left tackle Elijah Pritchett after the junior was ejected for targeting in the second quarter. However, every lineman who played had their share of mishaps.
While Raiola is definitely responsible for a few of the sacks, he also used everything in his power to avoid going down. Running for his life, Raiola completed passes with his left hand and while falling down.
After shutting down a Terrapin pass rush that was ranked No. 1 in the Big Ten in sacks, Donovan Raiola’s unit made a middle-of-the-pack team look like an NFL defense.
Run defense continues to be a struggle
Minnesota had not run for more than 68 yards through three Big Ten games. The Golden Gophers had 93 rushing yards over their first three drives tonight.
Nebraska’s run defense has now let two of the worst rushing teams in the conference have season-best outings in consecutive weeks. Junior running back Darius Taylor’s 71-yard run in the second quarter could have been prevented if the Huskers tackled better.
Minnesota’s dominance carried over to the second half with Taylor extending his total to 143 yards on a 7.5 average. No matter who it’s up against, Nebraska has no answer to the run.
Pass defense may not be as good as the stats say
Nebraska led the country in pass defense heading into Friday, allowing only 118 yards through the air per game. While the unit had mixed results in its first real challenge against Malik Washington, they were burned by Drake Lindsey and the Golden Gophers.
The redshirt freshman pieced up the Blackshirts with an 80% completion percentage. Several receivers found their way open on soft coverage, with missed tackles adding even more yards after the catch.
While the secondary had its struggles, the Nebraska pass rush was even worse. Taking on a pure pocket passer for the first time since nonconference play, the front seven still could not generate any pressure. Just one sack and one quarterback hurry is an embarrassing effort versus a team that has a good but not great offensive line.
Anthony Rubek is the Senior Sports Editor at The Daily Nebraskan. Follow him on X at @AnthonyRubek.