Instant takes: Michigan State 20, Nebraska 17
Nebraska’s bowl eligibility is still on the line as they fell to Michigan State 20-17 behind a poor offensive and special teams effort.
Here are three instant takes from the game in East Lansing:
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The run vs. passing defense
One of the keys to victory for the Huskers was to limit running back Nate Carter. Carter averaged 76 rushing yards per game and has had three 100-yard performances. Rutgers, Michigan and Minnesota have been able to limit him to 50 yards or less.
Against the Huskers, Carter had 29 rushing yards in the first half. He had 15 in the first quarter but made a few big plays to start the second. The redshirt sophomore had back-to-back nine-yard rushes to start MSU’s first touchdown-scoring drive.
He ended with 50 rushing yards on 15 attempts. Michigan State had 63 total rushing yards. They used their passing game and explosive plays to win.
The Spartans got downfield quickly with a 42-yard pass to Foster Jr. Quarterback Sam Leavitt passed it to former Husker wide receiver Alante Brown, a high school QB, who launched it to Foster Jr. downfield. They scored to end the drive up 10-7.
Nebraska held Michigan State to 41 rushing yards in the first half. However, the Spartans dominated the passing game with 141 yards in the first half. They had two huge passes that ended in scores. Along with Montorie Foster Jr.’s catch, Jaylan Franklin had a 46-yard pick-up on the first drive of the game.
Tommi Hill did a great job on coverage to make for a 35-yard field goal that Jonathan Kim squicked in.
The Spartans started the third quarter with another big play. Tyrell Henry had a 28-yard gain on a pass from QB Katin Houser. He gained big yards after the catch.
The rushing defense has been Nebraska’s strength all season. They are ranked fifth in the FBS and have allowed 79 rushing yards per game before the MSU game. As for their passing defense, they allow an average of 219.8 yards per game. The Spartans had 232 passing yards on Saturday.
However, their pass defense has limited explosive plays this season but gave up six game-changing 15-plus yarders vs. Michigan State.
Haarberg needs to make better choices, looked tentative
Quarterback Heinrich Haarberg has started seven games in his career, all this season. He is still growing as a decision-maker and passer. The sophomore’s greatest strength is his ability to run and flatten defenders if necessary.
His decision-making was not only bad in the passing game, but he was very indecisive and tentative in the run game, too. He had 55 rushing yards on 13 carries, with a 42-yard gain. When the play/pocket was collapsing, he hesitated to run and couldn’t find a hole or opening for the vast majority of the game.
NU started the game with a turnover for the third start game. The Huskers’ first drive resulted in a three-and-out. On the next drive, Nebraska took a shot downfield to Alex Bullock on 3rd-and-19. Haarberg missed him by five yards to the inside of the field. The Spartans picked it off easily.
He almost had another one at the end of the second. In fact, it was an interception, but a defensive holding called it back. Malachi Coleman was slowed down by a DB, but Haarberg still went to him in the endzone.
Rhule was shown on the sideline saying what looked to be “Throw it away,” to Haarberg.
Nebraska’s nail in the coffin was Haarberg throwing his second official interception with six minutes left in the game, down two scores. He found Coleman for a huge 30-yard pick-up on the first play of the drive. Later, the QB overthrew Fidone in the middle of the field by four feet. The ball sailed over the 6-foot-4 tight end’s head and landed in the arms of Khalil Majeed.
He finally kicked it into gear with under five minutes left, but it was too late. Haarberg broke away for a 43-yard scramble after an 18-yard completion to Bullock. Emmett Johnson battled into the endzone to make it 20-17 with 3:35 remaining.
Nebraska needed him to fight through his struggles much earlier.
Haarberg needs more protect/support
On the other side of Haarberg’s struggles, it’s hard to make good decisions when a 250-pound man is in your face.
Haarberg was sacked six times, had two quarterback hurries and five pass breakups. The sophomore faced more pressure or collapsing pockets than the statistics show. The offensive line gave up 12 tackles for loss.
The Huskers’ first drive of the fourth quarter ended with the pocket collapsing around Haarberg and a four-yard sack.
But NU’s receivers also need to help out Haarberg. They had several passes that hit them in the hands and fell incomplete. Bullock was targeted eight times and made three catches for 37 yards. Coleman had six balls thrown toward him and caught two for 39 yards.
Bullock and Coleman both had two plays in the back half of the fourth quarter.
With the offense looking flat, punter Brian Buschini had back-to-back 30-yard punts in the fourth quarter. Buschini averaged 35.4 yards per punt on five punts. He pinned one inside the 20-yard line and had a long of 45-yarder.
The Husker defense needs more from special teams when the offense can’t find any momentum.
On the 3rd-and-7 with two minutes left in the game and Nebraska needing to score to survive, the pocket collapsed on Haarberg. He stepped up but the ball was punched out for a fumble to end the game NU’s changes.
Nebraska’s offense struggled to find a rhythm through the entire game outside of roughly three drives against Michigan State. They had 154 rushing yards and 129 passing yards. Haarberg went 12-for-28 on passing.
