Instant takes from Nebraska's 20-13 loss to Minnesota

Here are three instant takes from Nebraska football’s 20-13 loss to Minnesota as its offense stalled after the first quarter.

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A rough quarterback situation

Nebraska’s starting quarterback Casey Thompson was unavailable against Minnesota football after he was hurt last week in the first half against Illinois. He has a right arm injury and didn’t play in the second half against Illinois.

Redshirt sophomore Chubba Purdy got the start vs. Minnesota after playing the entire second half last week.

Purdy had a rough outing last week but appeared to shape up nicely with many more reps with the first team in practice this week. He led Nebraska to score on its first two drives of the game to go up 10-0.

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The 6-foot-2 quarterback showed off his speed with a 13-yard and an 11-yard scramble during the second drive. He scored Nebraska’s first touchdown of the game with a two-yard run into the endzone.

Where Thompson would stay in the pocket and look for a receiver to get open or just through the ball out, Purdy is more likely to get out of the pocket and get yards with his legs. The Florida State transfer is fast too.

Purdy actually did better on the run than with his arm. He went 6-for-11 in the first half and his first pass of the second half was almost intercepted.

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After the first two drives and 10 points, Nebraska punted four times with three consecutive three-and-outs. Interim Head Coach Mickey Joseph turned to Logan Smothers for a spark but Nebraska punted after another three plays.

Purdy came back in for the next three-and-out, Nebraska’s fifth in a row.

Smothers took over toward the middle of the fourth quarter. He led his team to the red zone but failed to convert on third and goal with Travis Vokolek in the back of the endzone. The drive was 12 plays, 67 yards and four and a half minutes. Timmy Bleekrode kicked a 24-yard field goal with 4:49 left in the game.

He had a nice 31-yard pass to Marcus Washington with under two minutes left. Smothers statistically ran Nebraska football’s offense better than Purdy against Minnesota. He went 5-for-8 and Purdy completed six of his 16 passes for 41 yards.

Maybe Smothers needs to get more consideration as the No. 1 guy if Thompson is out next week.

A wonderful first half of defense

Halfway through the second half, Minnesota had eight total yards and -15 rushing yards. Yes, those numbers are correct. They finished the half with 31 total yards, -7 rush yards and 38 passing yards.

Minnesota averages 421.4 yards per game and is second in the Big Ten with 223.1 yards on the ground.

Nebraska forced a three-and-out on the Golden Gophers’ first drive of the game. Minnesota’s longest drive of the first half was 10 plays for 30 yards but ended with a couple of big plays by the Huskers’ defense.

Linebacker Ernest Hausmann shucked off a lineman and took down running back Trey Potts for a loss of two on first down. Luke Reimer and Garrett Nelson brought down Mohamed Ibrahim one yard behind the sticks on the next play and then tight end Brevyn Spann-Ford dropped a pass on tight coverage on third down.

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Nebraska’s most impressive stop of the half was in the first full drive of the second quarter. Minnesota didn’t gain a single yard. Defensive end Ochaun Mathis slipped through the line and made a great tackle for a loss of three.

Morgan and wide receiver Kristen Hoskins fumbled a handoff and fell on it three yards back. On the next play, defensive end Caleb Tannor and Mathis sacked Morgan for a loss of three to end the drive.

The Golden Gophers punted on 4th-and-23.

Nebraska’s defense played its best half of football all season.

The downfall

Nebraska’s defense played lights out in the first half. Defensive end Ty Robinson pummeled Morgan on the last play of the half and Morgan didn’t return to the game. Quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis started and played the entire second half.

Kaliakanis was the spark Minnesota’s offense needed. He helped the Golden Gophers’ earn 217 yards in the third quarter after Morgan led them to 31 yards in the first half.

The redshirt freshman helped Minnesota score 17 points in the second half and 269 yards. He had a huge 45-yard pass to Daniel Jackson to start the Gophers’ first touchdown-scoring drive. Jackson was wide open in the middle of the field.

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While Minnesota’s offense caught fire in the second half, a big part of it was due to the fact that they were constantly on the field. The Huskers’ offense was on the field for four minutes and 48 seconds in the third quarter and had 27 yards.

Even then, the defense allowed one touchdown, two field goals and a punt.

The downfall is on the offense. The defense played lights out in the first half and shut out their opponent. The offense was up 10 and let the momentum slip away and didn’t get a glimpse of it for the rest of the game.

There are three phases of football. The defense and special teams tried to backpack the offense but they were dead weight. A team like Nebraska that is trying to keep its head above water doesn’t need something too heavy pulling them down.