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USC vs. Nebraska: Final takes and grades

On3 imageby: Sean Callahan20 hours agoSean_Callahan
NCAA Football: Southern California at Nebraska
Nebraska QB Dylan Raiola (Credit: Dylan Widger-Imagn Images)

Nebraska fell to USC 21–17 on Saturday night at Memorial Stadium.

Here are the final takes and grades as the Huskers dropped to 6–3 overall and 3–3 in Big Ten play. NU will now travel to UCLA next week for an 8 p.m. CT game on FOX.

What I saw on Saturday

***In the span of just a few minutes, Nebraska lost its starting quarterback Dylan Raiola, left tackle Elijah Pritchett and burned two timeouts. It was quite the stretch for head coach Matt Rhule to navigate, as Turner Corcoran moved to right tackle, Tyler Knaak came in at right, tackle, and freshman TJ Lateef took over at quarterback.

***The moment you really question is when NU decided to attempt a 52-yard field goal at 14-6, instead of going for it on fourth-and-1. In that situation, it just felt like Cunanan needed a few more yards to help his attempt.

If the Huskers played that situation better and go up 17-6, a lot is different at that moment with how both teams manage the game.

***Running back Emmett Johnson played again at a different level on Saturday. You could argue he was the best player on the field at time.

Johnson rank for 165 yards on 29 carries, to break 1,000 yards on the season. Johnson is just the fourth Husker back to rush for 1,000 yards through 9 games in the last 30 years.

***Against Michigan and Notre Dame, USC quarterback Jayden Maiava only had one true rushing attempt. It was clear they saw something from Nebraska, where they decided to run it more with him. Maiava had 10+ rushing attempts, and he became a key second-half weapon for them. He finished with 11 carries for 62 yards on the ground. Only one of thoese attempts was a sack.

***Hats off to Nebraska for executing it’s “Blackout.” The fan base and the University did their part to make this a memorable atmosphere. It’s unfortunate the Huskers weren’t able to take advntage of it.

The final grade out


Grade		HOL take
Rushing offenseA-Running back Emmett Johnson had a career night with 165 yards rushing on 29 carries. The Huskers finished 198 yards sack-adjust rush yards and really did enough in this phase of the game to win but came up short in a couple key situations.
Passing offenseDHuskers got just one passing play of 15+ yards in the game, and had just 98 yards on the night. NU was not abel to get the ball pushed down field, especially after the injury to QB Dylan Raiola.
Rushing defenseDUSC rushed for 146 yards on 20 first down attempt and had 223 sack-adjust yards. They had the Huskers off balanced with their running game for most of the second half.
Passing defenseB USC had three passing plays of 15+ yards, including a 43-yard flea-flicker that flipped the field. The Trojans didn’t get much (135 yards), but they maximized a few big passes in key moments.
Special teamsB-Nebraska was not able to get much of a spark in the return game. Kyle Cunanan missed a 52-yard kick that would’ve made the score 17-6.

Sean Callahan can be reached at [email protected] and is heard daily at 6:45 am and 5:05 pm on Big Red Radio 1110 KFAB in Omaha during the football season. He can also be seen on KETV Channel 7 in Omaha during the fall, and each week, he appears on Nebraska Public Media’s Big Red Wrap-Up Tuesdays at 7 pm.

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