Nebraska Dominates Minnesota 41-14 and Looks Forward to Michigan State

The Nebraska Cornhuskers beat up on a struggling Minnesota team 41-14.

The score looks impressive, but the Cornhuskers’ play on the field leaves Nebraska fans wondering if this team can win the Legends division of the Big Ten Conference.

Nebraska looked good at running the ball. The Cornhuskers ran for 341 yards on the day. The passing game is still a problem for this team. Quarterback Taylor Martinez tried many times to connect with wide open receivers in the middle of the Minnesota secondary.

Sometimes Martinez overthrew the wide receivers, sometimes the receivers dropped perfectly thrown balls, and a couple of times Martinez was able to connect for long gains. The inconsistency in the offense did not hurt the Cornhuskers against Minnesota, but will this offense work next week against Michigan State? I doubt it.

The Nebraska offense is able to play well as long as they are not put into obvious passing situations. Martinez completed 13-of-22 passes for 157 yards against Minnesota. He will have a much tougher time next week against Michigan State. The Spartans have one of the best defensive lines in the Big Ten Conference. Martinez will have to learn to get rid of the ball quickly in order to complete passes against a strong Michigan State defense.

Nebraska played well on defense. Nebraska spent the first six weeks of the season using different combinations of players in the secondary. I think Nebraska finally found a combination that will work. With Alfonso Dennard and Stanley Jean Baptiste at the cornerback positions, and Austin Cassidy and Daimion Stafford at the safety positions, Nebraska finally played a game where their secondary did not let them down. As the season goes on, this secondary will improve.

The front four of Nebraska’s defense held their own against Minnesota but did not do anything to impress Nebraska fans. Nebraska did not have any sacks on the day. Nebraska will have to design defensive schemes to put pressure on the opposing quarterbacks if Nebraska wants to beat the remaining teams on their schedule.

If I had to grade Nebraska’s performance against Minnesota, I would give them a B.

Nebraska still needs to work on their passing game and figure out ways to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks. If the Cornhuskers can do this they can win their remaining games. If the problems in the passing game continue, it may be a rough end to a good start of the 2011 season.