We are going to play a fun game of “who said it?” In this game, I will show you two quotes from Nebraska football players following Nebraska’s loss to the Miami Hurricanes, but you will have to guess who said it. The only hints that I’ll give you is that one quote is from a true freshman, the other is from a 5th year senior and team captain, and that both made one mistake that cost the Huskers opportunities at points in Saturday’s contest.
Quote 1: “The interception was my fault, I tried to release inside, then go back outside. I can’t do that.”
Quote 2: “I’m done playing for the state of Nebraska! You want to blame me for the loss, that’s fine! But I have done everything right to prove I belong and yet I’m not a Husker!”
So obviously the 19 year old true freshman was the one that lost his cool right? Wrong, true freshman Stanley Morgan took full blame for a costly interception late in the 2nd quarter, as evidenced by quote 1 above. The second quote was posted on Senior Left Tackle and Team Captain Alex Lewis’ Facebook profile early Sunday morning. Lewis went on in his quote, stating “So you want to see what Alex Lewis is about? Then sit back and criticize because I’m going to prove to myself and my family that I am better than these fair weather fans that call themselves Huskers! You have let loose a storm that the Huskers haven’t seen since 95 and you will kiss my feet when I’m done with you! So screw everyone who ever doubts me, aka the whole state of Nebraska, who said I was not Nebraska worthy since my arrest!”
Boy oh boy, where to begin with this dumpster fire? Now I’m not an idiot, I know that Nebraska football fans are demanding of their players and coaches, they have been since the first taste of National success under Bob Devaney in the 60’s and have continued to be passionate and demanding through five coaching changes since. Alex Lewis knew precisely what he was getting into when he decided to transfer to Nebraska, after all he was a Husker legacy whose father played for Nebraska in the mid 80’s. When you are a captain of the Nebraska football team, you are going to be held to a higher standard by Nebraska fans, that’s just the way it has been and always will be. So when you have a game like Lewis did against the Hurricanes, when he committed 33 yards worth of penalties by himself, two of which negated gains of 21 yards and 10 yards, Nebraska fans are going to criticize you. Then, if you finish your game with a blatant late hit following an interception, a penalty that puts Miami at Nebraska’s 13 yard line in overtime, Nebraska fans are going to be furious with you and eviscerate you on twitter and message boards and every other area on the internet that allows them to speak without consequence. Lewis’ rant didn’t make him look like a defiant warrior that was going to rise up despite the adversity and excel, instead he came off like a whiny teenage girl who got grounded by her parents.
Lewis rant also exposes Nebraska’s biggest flaw at this point in the season, and that is a lack of senior leadership and production. I can’t remember a season in which Nebraska has gotten so little production out of their senior class. For starters, Nebraska has just 5 seniors in their starting lineup and 9 seniors that play meaningful snaps on Saturdays.
Lets first look at the starters, we already covered Alex Lewis at length so we can move on the interior linemen Chongo Kondolo and Ryne Reeves. Kondolo spent last season as Nebraska’s super sub on the offensive line, but a new offensive system and a featured role have caused some struggles for him, as he struggled mightily against BYU and failed to get much of a push against the Miami Hurricanes no Saturday. Reeves has been the one pleasant surprise for the senior class thus far, as he has managed to stay healthy through 3 games and has been solid if unspectacular. Senior safety Byerson Cockrell was expected to be a steady presence in the back seven at strong safety this season, but has been exposed by slot receivers against both BYU and Miami., allowing big plays against the Cougars and committing a costly pass interference penalty against the Hurricanes Now we are at Daniel Davie, a senior Cornerback from Beatrice, Nebraska who was expected to be the senior leader for a young and talented secondary. Well this season hasn’t gone as planned for Davie, as he is the weak link of the Husker secondary, constantly being picked on by opposing offenses on deep passes, which he seemingly has no idea how to defend. Coming into this season all four of these seniors were expected to challenge for postseason honors, after three games it appears that Ryne Reeves is the only one with a legitimate chance.
Now the other five seniors. Running back Imani Cross has been decent for Nebraka as a change of pace back behind junior Terrell Newby, but he has failed to build off of his impressive sophomore season in 2013 and now appears to be best suited for a short yardage role. Wide Receiver Taariq Allen has to be commended for coming back from a gruesome knee injury in 2013 to be able to contribute for the Huskers, but he has struggled to find consistent reps in Nebraska’s deep receiving corps. Fellow receiver Jamal Turner was pegged by many as a breakout candidate for the Huskers, but the speedster from Texas has been overtaken on the depth chart by junior walk-ons Lane Hovey and Brandon Reilly. Kevin Williams has been decent as a backup Defensive Tackle behind juniors Maliek Collins and Vincent Valentine, but he stirred up controversy early in fall camp with a bizarre demand of Newspapers to label him a starter, because he apparently hadn’t been a backup since his freshman year, even though he spent all of 2014 as Nebraska’s 3rd defensive tackle. Finally Jonathan Rose arrived at Nebraska as a highly touted transfer from Auburn and excelled on special teams in 2014, but wasn’t able to break through and seize the starting job over sophomore Joshua Kalu. Rose probably had the best game among Nebraska’s seniors on Saturday, as he replaced a struggling Davie and held his own against a talented Miami receiver unit.
College football is in a youth movement, high school graduates are coming on to collegiate campus more physically and mentally prepared to play than ever before. Despite that, you still need seniors to provide leadership and produce positive results on Saturdays if you want your team to succeed. Right now Nebraska is struggling mightily in both of those aspects, and as a result Nebraska is 1-2 for the first time since 1981. Until the seniors get off Facebook and get back in the film room to correct their flaws, Nebraska will continue to lose close games to teams that they are better than, and Husker nation’s criticism of them will only intensify.
