Nebraska football has a sack problem. The Huskers rank in the bottom five teams in the country with 25 sacks allowed, and they aren’t making up for it by producing any of their own on defense.
In its two losses, Nebraska allowed 16 combined sacks for a total of 112 lost yards. In contrast, against Michigan and Minnesota, the Husker defense sacked the opposing quarterback just twice for a total of eight yards.
Head coach Matt Rhule said he would have liked to see the defense wreak more havoc against Minnesota.
“I don’t think we called the game that way,” Rhule said. “I think we were very vanilla in the way we called the game, and as a result, they got in rhythm.”
Outside of the Akron and Houston Christian games, Nebraska’s defense failed to record more sacks than its opponent in any game this season. Nearly half of the Huskers’ 12 sacks occurred in those two contests, with three coming against Houston Christian and two against Akron.
Defensive coordinator John Butler said the game plan did not end up being as aggressive as he had planned.
“We started off pretty strong the first two drives and got into a decent rhythm,” Butler said. “After that explosive run, that probably affected me more than it should… every play has its own life. So what’s going to happen on the next play is not about what happened on the previous play.”
The Blackshirts have the best pass defense in the Big Ten despite their inability to get to the passer. Butler’s group ranks in the top three in the conference in completion percentage, completions allowed per game, passing yards and passing touchdowns through the air.
“I have to do a better job of designing things and calling things that are going to do that,” Butler said. “I think the takeaways will come as we get that accomplished.”
He mentioned getting to the quarterback as one way to increase the defense’s ability to turn teams over.
Sophomore defensive lineman Keona Davis said he kept getting in his own head during the Minnesota game.
“I wasn’t playing for my team,” Davis said. “I was just trying to survive instead of trying to fight back.”
He said he felt like his teammates had the same mindset because of the body language he saw on the sideline.
Rhule said he’s not mad at the players over the loss. He’s upset with himself and the other coaches.
“I blame us,” Rhule said.
He said he tried to tell the coaching staff what the game against Minnesota would look like, but he couldn’t get them to listen.
“I couldn’t convince the coaching staff what the game was going to be like,” Rhule said. “I knew what P.J. Fleck and Minnesota would be like on a Friday night, and I couldn’t convince the team.”
Nebraska finds itself in a familiar position in year three under Rhule, sitting on five wins in the back half of the season.
In year one, the Huskers lost their last four — all by one score — and missed out on a bowl. Last season, they hammered Wisconsin to get that elusive sixth victory, but finished the regular season 1-5 in their last six. If Nebraska wants to buck its worrying trend under Rhule of going up in flames down the stretch, it will need to find a way to wreak more havoc on defense.