Instant takes: Minnesota 13, Nebraska 10
Nebraska football started off the Matt Rhule era with a 13-10 loss against Minnesota, which came down to a last-second field goal by the Golden Gophers.
Here are three quick takeaways from Nebraska’s season opener on the road in Minneapolis at Huntington Bank Stadium.
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Jeff Sims shows it all in Husker debut, including highlights and big concerns
Nebraska started the Rhule era with a four-yard scramble by quarterback Jeff Sims. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound QB was not afraid to break free if the play wasn’t developing like planned. He ripped off a 26-yard run after he pulled a hand-off to Rahmir Johnson and took off.
Two penalties (a false start and illegal substitution) killed Nebraska’s first drive of the season.
Just like the first drive, Sims started the second with his legs. He had two back-to-back rushes for 12 and seven yards.
For the first half, Sims was the only player who was effective in the run game. He had 81 rushing yards on nine carries and the longest play of the first half by either team was Sims’ 26-yard run. With 3:39 left in the second quarter, Anthony Grant was the first Husker back to have a positive run with an eight-yard gain.
Sims’ ability to hurt defenses with his legs was critical for the Huskers against Minnesota. Sims’ threat in the run game will put lots of pressure on defenses throughout the season.
Minnesota could adjust at halftime as Sims had 10 second-half yards and finished with 91 yards on 19 carries.
As for Sims’ arm talent, he has the strength and talent to get the ball to where it needs to be, but he had several bad reads. The Huskers’ offense had three drives in the first half and two ended with an interception.
Sims and the Huskers put together a 58-yard drive with 11 plays to get to the red zone. However, on 2nd and goal with 11 seconds on the clock, Sims completely missed Tre’Von Jones when passing to Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda and the ball was picked off in the endzone.
That was a body blow to Nebraska after their best drive of the first half. The Huskers could have at least been tied 3-3 at halftime. Instead, they ran into the locker room disappointed.
Sims redeemed himself and led a quick touchdown scoring drive to start the second half. He pitched to Ervin, who threw it back to Sims, who ran out laterally. The QB fumbled the ball but chased it down and threw a legal pass to a wide-out Alex Bullock in the end zone.
The 6-foot-4 junior had a chance to win the game as he had the ball, tied at 10-10 with 2:32 left in the game. He completed a perfectly placed 14-yard pass to Washington on a slant route with 1:39 remaining.
However, on the next play, Sims threw his third interception of the game, delivering the nail in the Huskers’ coffin. Minnesota made a 47-yard attempt to win the game.
Sims showed he is a great, physical run who can make some great throws and reads. However, he can also put the ball in jeopardy in very big moments.
The Huskers have been searching and longing for a quarterback who steps up in big moments, especially in the fourth quarter. Sims can still be that guy. It’s a long season. But this was not the start anyone wanted for Sims’ career at Nebraska.
Defense plays tough against an established Minnesota team
Just as Minnesota loves to do, they put together several long drives to start the first half. However, the Husker defense put together two huge three-and-outs.
Nebraska’s defense struggled with the good decision-making skills of quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis. The 6-foot-4, 210-pound QB made several great plays, some while under pressure. His arm is very accurate and he burned Nebraska a few times because of his placement.
Kaliakmanis went 11-for-18 with 86 passing yards in the first half. He finished 24-of-44 with 196 passing yards and one passing touchdown.
Despite the lengthy drives, Nebraska’s defense held on and kept battling. Malcolm Hartzog delivered a great tackle for a loss of two to set up a punt after the first drive. Isaac Gifford delivered a tackle for a five-yard loss to force Minnesota to kick a field goal.
After a 12-play, 38-yard drive, safety Omar Brown had tight coverage to cause an incompletion, which led to the Golden Gophers missing a field goal.
After the Huskers’ offense capitalized on a huge 65-yard kickoff return by Rahmir Johnson, the defense kept up the momentum. They forced the first three-and-out of the game and season for either defense.
However, Nebraska’s defense suffered a huge blow when veteran DL Ty Robinson was called for targeting and ejected after a hit on Minnesota’s quarterback. Brown stepped up again to jump a route and catch his first interception.
The Huskers played 17 players on defense and did a lot of rotating. White’s 3-3-5 defense threw many different looks at Minnesota with their player’s ability to play several roles/positions.
Husker defense features many veterans, but newcomers prove themselves as well
Nebraska’s defense is full of veterans. Of Nebraska’s ten single-digit earners, eight are on the defense.
Safeties DeShon Singleton and Omar Brown led Nebraska in tackles against Minnesota with seven each. Both players made their first starts as Huskers are showed just why. Brown, a team captain for the Gopher’s match, made a huge interception in the third quarter.
Singleton had a huge play with roughly four minutes left in the game. On a deep pass inside the 10-yard line, the safety swatted away a pass from Daniel Jackson. There was a lot of contact that looked close to a pass interference, but it wasn’t called.
Linebacker John Bullock, who earned a scholarship this spring, started his first game as a Husker. He had six tackles and one pass breakup. With under five minutes remaining, the junior from Omaha had a great stop and tackle on 3rd down to force a punt. However, a face mask by freshman DL Cam Lenhardt moved the sticks.
Javin Wright has been with the Huskers since 2019 but has battled injuries that held him back from the first. On Thursday, he played a lot and had four tackles with a few good plays. He got close to tipping a Kaliakmanis pass.
As for the veterans, Reimer had five tackles, a sack and a quarterback hurry. Newsome had six tackles and one pass breakup.
Nebraska’s defense as a whole shut down Minnesota’s run game. The Gophers had 39 rushing yards in the first half and just 16 in the second half. Sean Tyler led them with 41 rushing yards on 10 carries.
The Huskers’ pressure on the quarterback improved into the fourth quarter with several huge sacks. Blaise Gunnerson started it with a loss of one. Nash Hutmacher broke through Minnesota’s line easily to wrap up and take down Kaliakmanis to on third-and-10 with under eight minutes to go in the game. Hutmacher sack was a loss of eight yards.
Gifford had a great pass breakup in the endzone on third down with 2:38 left in the fourth quarter. Unfortunately for Nebraska, Jackson beat Hartzog to catch a great pass in the corner of the endzone and drug his foot to get the six points.
Nebraska’s defense showed great promise against Minnesota, but of course, it still has areas to work on. But if they continue on this path and keep growing with the competition, they could become a special group.
