Five takeaways from the Gophers’ 13-10 victory over Nebraska:
1. Resilience was on display
Sure, the opponent was coming off six consecutive losing seasons and new coach Matt Rhule was making his Cornhuskers debut. And yes, the three-point margin of victory might not have sat well with those who view things through a gambling lens. But the Gophers’ comeback win Thursday night at a festive Huntington Bank Stadium was impressive for a team breaking in new starters at key positions. Three points through 57 minutes, 28 seconds wasn’t optimal, but the series of huge plays that produced 10 points in the final 2:32 showed perseverance. “We held our cool,” coach P.J. Fleck said. “We were poised.”
2. Running game, offensive line are a work in progress
Admit it, Gophers fans. You’ve been spoiled over the past few years by All-Americans Mohamed Ibrahim and John Michael Schmitz with their ability to bludgeon opponents with the running game. When the Gophers ran the ball, it was easy to envision Schmitz knocking an opponent on his keister and Ibrahim dragging would-be tacklers for an extra 5 yards. That didn’t happen Thursday, as the Gophers rushed for only 55 yards on 25 carries. Fleck felt his offensive line started well, slumped in the middle two quarters, then recovered during the rally. In a big moment, Sean Tyler ripped off an 11-yard gain to make Dragan Kesich’s winning field goal a 47-yarder rather than an extremely difficult 58-yard try.
3. Linebacking corps cobbles it together
Before the game, the Gophers got the bad news that Cody Lindenberg, their leading returning tackler and the leader among his position group, couldn’t play because of an injury. That left two first-time starters – Devin Williams and Maverick Baranowski – manning two linebacker spots. They had their ups and downs, with Baranowski collecting seven tackles and Williams three. In the third quarter, Baranowski made a big hit on Huskers running back Gabe Ervin Jr. but couldn’t wrap his arms to make the tackle, and Ervin gained 27 yards. Later in the drive, Baranowski came up big by tackling QB Jeff Sims for no gain on third-and-goal from the 9, forcing a field-goal attempt.
4. New clock rule was noticeable
Under a new NCAA rule, the game clock no longer stops to reset the chains after a team makes a first down, except for in the final two minutes of the second and fourth quarters. The rule had an impact on Thursday’s game, especially during a brisk first half that took roughly 70 minutes of real time. Aside from a Gophers kneel-down in the final 7 seconds of the first half, each team had only three first-half possessions. “I mean, we hadto double-up and triple-up on TV timeouts [in the second half],” Fleck said. With 20 of the 23 points scored in the second half and several replay reviews, the pace slowed and the total time was 3 hours, 26 minutes.
5. Huskers aren’t yet fully de-Frosted
The Scott Frost coaching era of Nebraska football was known for mistake-prone teams that couldn’t finish, as evidenced by the 22 one-score games that Frost’s teams lost. While the Huskers suffered a similar fate in Rhule’s debut, Fleck saw a better Nebraska team. “He’s got them going where they need to go, not that they need that for me at all,” he said. “But you can see a massive difference in how hard they play. … They’ve got athletes all over the place.”