On a clear and cool night in Autzen Stadium, the Nebraska Cornhuskers collapsed once again in the fourth quarter allowing the Oregon Ducks to score the final 11 points and lost 17-14. Did you ever repeatedly watch a movie in which you know the ending and yet you keep hoping that somehow the ending will be different? Welcome to the Groundhog Day experience of being a Cornhusker fan. You get teased and tempted that your team will finally get that needed stop and crush the curse and like Charlie Brown with Lucy, you swipe at an invisible ball and end up on your back disappointed once again.
For three quarters, Oregon had a toothless offense punting on seven possessions and fumbling an eighth, before the Husker gifted them two field goals on just 40 yards gained from scrimmage. The Blackshirts then picked off a Brock Thomas pass that led to a touchdown and a 14-6 lead with :07 left in the third. Off the bench comes former Husker QB Dylan Raiola who led a 17-play 69-yard drive for a field goal and then a 20-play 82-yard drive for the winning score. Through three quarters, Oregon had run 39 plays for just 91 total yards, including 41 rushing yards. But on those final two scoring drives, they ran 37 plays gaining 151 yards, with 88 yards rushing. Oregon was 0 for 10 on third downs before the not so fleet of foot Raiola scrambled for six on a 3 rd and 5.
Oregon’s defense stymied the Husker offense throughout the game, but nothing was as inept as a fourth quarter where Nebraska ran just three plays from scrimmage before getting the ball back with :28 left in the game. Time of possession in the final stanza was Oregon 12:45 to NU’s 2:15. When Oregon kicked its second field goal to cut the margin to 7-6 with 3:45 to go in the third, Nebraska had just 10 yards rushing, averaging 0.4 yards per carry. The Huskers finished with 78 yards on the ground thanks to 31 yards by Anthony Colandrea and a 26-yard run by Isaiah Mozee on 3rd and 15 on the Huskers late third quarter scoring drive. That was the last glimmer of any Husker offensive attack.
Despite their best efforts, the Huskers have not figured out how to finish a game against an opponent with a pulse. If ever there was a vulnerable squad, it was this 3-2 Oregon team who had seven turnovers in a 17-15 loss last Saturday to UCLA and was on the verge of losing back-to-back games at Autzen Stadium in back-to-back weeks for the first time in 24 years. Opponents merely need to follow a game plan of keeping the game in reach and wait for Nebraska to gift them opportunities to win it late. Rinse and repeat, over and over in a nauseatingly frustrating fashion.
Dylan Raiola wasn’t brilliant in completing 11 of 18 passes for just 59 yards, but he wasn’t sacked, rushed twice for 8 yards and demonstrated consistent leadership in leading the long drives and making the key completions that made the difference. Despite dominating for three quarters, the Blackshirts were gassed in the fourth and had no answers. With Raiola in, Oregon was just 3 for 7 on third downs but they were 3 for 3 on 4 th down conversions which served as the back breaker for the defense. Despite leading the nation in third down stops (19.7%), not making a stop on fourth down will make it all moot.
This was the seventh straight game to open the season that the Huskers allowed 23 or fewer points. The last time that occurred in the first seven games was 2001. The Blackshirts also had a season-high 11 tackles for loss, eclipsing their previous high of 10 at Michigan State. But when the offense doesn’t play complimentary football and fails to sustain fourth quarter drives, you end up with two three-point losses and pundits around the nation question your resolve and relevancy.
Quarterback Anthony Colandrea finished 18 of 33 passing for 164 yards with a 17-yard TD toss Kwazi Gilmer in the final seconds of the first half. Gilmer finished the game with six catches for 74 yards, marking his fourth game this season with at least five receptions. Tight end Luke Lindenmeyer had three catches for 25 yards, marking his fourth straight game with at least three receptions and he moved into the career top 10 for receptions among Husker tight ends with 56 catches in his career. Jacory Barney Jr. had two receptions to extend his streak of consecutive games with a catch to 33, tying him with JD Spielman for the third-longest reception streak in school history. Nyziah Hunter added three grabs for 17 yards.
Colandrea also led the team once again in rushing with 38 yards despite losing 35 yards on three sacks. Mozee had the aforementioned 26-yarder and just 2 more yards on his other 3 carries. Mekhi Nelson had 11 carries for just 25 yards and Jamal Rule hobbled off after 3 carries for a paltry 5 yards. Without a better rushing attack, Nebraska will struggle with the rest of its Big Ten opponents.
Owen Chambliss led the defense with a career high 15 tackles (including 2 TFLs), the most by any Husker since Luke Reimer had 15 tackles against Northwestern in 2022. Dwayne McDougle III had a third-quarter interception for his second interception of the season and the eighth of his career and finished the game with a career-high13 tackles. Safety Caleb Benning replaced the injured Jamir Conn and responded with 12 tackles and a career-high 2.5 tackles for loss as well as forcing a fumble that was recovered by Jahsear Whittington. Whittington finished with 4 stops and had the lone Husker sack. Linebacker Vincent Shavers Jr. also had a career-high-tying nine tackles, including 2 TFLs to tie his career high in that category.
Special teams gave Oregon a very short field when punter Archie Wilson put his knee to the turf to field a poor snap at the Huskers 19-yard line. The defense held the Ducks to a field goal, but Oregon had shown no life on offense to that point and that trey was ultimately the difference in the final score. Wilson averaged 43.3 yards on 9 punts with a long of 60 and three downed inside the 20. The teams combined for 16 punts with 13 in the first half alone. Nyziah Hunter repeatedly gave the Huskers poor field position by returning 3 kickoffs for just 39 yards instead of calling for a fair catch and taking the ball at the 25.
The Huskers enter the bye week with the sour taste of back-to-back three-point defeats. The promising 5-0 start has been tarnished once again, leaving one to question if this year will resemble the previous second half swoons or if Nebraska will rebound in its final five games. Gunnar Gottula left hurt and Brendan Black was playing with a broken hand. Jamal Rule was ailing and several others were dinged up in the hard-hitting battle. A week off may prove timely in that regard. Will the team turn the corner and win at some point as an underdog, or will they continue to leave the faithful frustrated if they can’t figure out how to finish? The season can still be salvaged and the next three games against Washington, Illinois and Rutgers are very winnable if the Huskers can figure out the fourth quarter. Go Big Red!!!
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