This Saturday, Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule and the Cornhuskers prepare for a 2:30 kickoff against the Northwestern Wildcats. Let’s take a look at what the team can do to attain victory at the end of this matchup.
How Can Nebraska Succeed Against Northwestern?
Covering the Wildcat Wideouts
With quarterback Ben Bryant under center for the Wildcats, Northwestern’s passing attack has been challenging for opponents to defend this season. A big reason for this success is due to the amount of experience they have at the wide receiver position. On just 24 receptions, senior Bryce Kirtz has 327 receiving yards and three touchdowns. Graduate student Cam Johnson has also proved his worth in a similar fashion. With 26 receptions, he has 312 yards and one touchdown. And if you combine these numbers, the duo have combined for 639 yards and four scores. If you just look at these matchups on paper, the amount of experience that the Wildcats have means they are going to win the battle. But luckily, defensive backs coach Evan Cooper is preparing Omar Brown and Quinton Newsome for the spotlight. But the jury is still out if Newsome can play to the best of his ability. Last week, he got beat by Isaiah Williams on a 46-yard touchdown pass from Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer. As a result of this, it will be interesting to see if this rattles his confidence at all going into the Northwestern matchup.
Limit the Wildcat’s Rushing Attack
As one of the Northwestern Wildcats’ most experienced ball carriers alongside Jake Arthurs and Marcus Cisco, senior Cam Porter gives the offense another wrinkle for Nebraska’s defense to handle. Last week in the team’s comeback win over Minnesota, he rushed for 56 yards and a touchdown. And at the beginning of the season, he came close to having multiple 100-yard performances against Howard and UTEP. But this production shouldn’t matter for Nebraska defensive coordinator Tony White. Two weeks ago against Illinois, his unit only surrendered 21 total rushing yards to the combined efforts of freshman Kaden Feagin and junior Reggie Love III. Can the Big Red make a statement by replicating this effort off of their long bye week? There is definitive proof that they can, but it will be something that the coaching staff will have to emphasize early in the first half.
Read more about Nebraska’s bye week here: Nebraska Bye Week: Things For Matt Rhule To Fix
Can NU Start To Erase Its Penalties?
As we look at the midway point of the Cornhusker’s season, the Omaha World-Herald states that Rhule and the Huskers rank 74th nationally in penalties and 76th in penalties per contest. Against the Fighting Illini, the Big Red was no better at stopping this trend. In fact, it would start early in the first quarter when sophomore left tackle Teddy Prochazka would twitch four times before the play started. Junior left guard Ethan Piper didn’t have the best day either, as he would jump twice. Other than that, the rest of Nebraska’s miscues fell on the skill players. Tight end Thomas Fidone had two penalties, while senior running back Anthony Grant had one. If NU wants to have success against Northwestern, the self-inflicted penalties should be at a minimum. And there’s no reason for this not to be attainable. The Huskers just had an extra week to prepare for all of Northwestern’s wrinkles.
A Start of A New Era At Quarterback
This Monday, Heinrich Haarberg was given Rhule’s blessing to start against the Northwestern Wildcats football team. On paper, this is a great decision. He has proved himself as a threat in the triple option game by rushing for 354 yards and four touchdowns in each of the last five contests. Making good decisions while passing the ball is still an issue, but he’s correcting these issues with junior wide receiver Billy Kemp at his side. He’s been a vital part of the Cornhuskers offense with his 219 yards, and he runs the jet sweep well. Furthermore, he also has a big target in Fidone. After being injured under the Scott Frost regime, the sophomore has been on a tear in the Rhule era. Over five games, he’s become the Huskers’ primary threat at tight end with 157 receiving yards and three touchdowns. If he keeps getting the ball to these two playmakers, Haarberg and offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield will have major success.
