Some things about the #NUEra aren't so different. The style of the loss may be superficially different than in years past but the substance was the same: NU shot itself in the foot in a very winnable game and damaged its postseason chances.
NCAAs? HA! NIT would be and always has been the better target with the coaching transition.
GAMBLE Report
To be honest we're getting tired of typing this up: Good defense. Horrendous offense. Despite NU's defense actually improving statistically to its highest mark yet NU's offense was so horribly inept that NU lost at home to Nebraska. The same Nebraska team that hadn't won a game on the road before Saturday afternoon.
To be even more honest we're going to suspend the B1G GAMBLE Report until we actually have anything noteworthy to report.
BIG CCR
The clunker against Nebraska was similar to the one against Michigan St. The defense did better than the average B1G defense has fared against the Cornhuskers. But even that positive note is dampened by the fact that Nebraska's offense hasn't really gotten off the bus at B1G venues -- this was Nebraska's BEST offensive effort on the road in B1G play.
What's worse is the NU offense returned to its horrid ways after two relatively decent (though still below average) performances at Madison and at Minneapolis. Doesn't look like the corner is being turned on offense. NU's offense has a bad habit of making other defenses look great and this game was no different -- this was the Nebraska defense's 2nd best road effort.
We wrote before the game that NU should win this game with even a slightly subpar game. Nebraska played below average as was to be expected and gave NU every opportunity to win this game. The futility of NU's offense (0.817 PPP) just didn't allow NU to take advantage.
Next Up
NU travels to E Lansing to take on the B1G co-leaders. Sparty lost today at Madison. That's not good. Payne is back in the lineup. That's also not good. They are missing two of their starters so that's good. Add it all up and we're thinking about a dozen point loss on the road: MSU 60 NU 48
