Nebraska And Northwestern Will Fly Past The Field
Nebraska And Northwestern Will Fly Past The Field: The 2022 college football season kicks off, just like the past few years, in Dublin, Ireland. This match-up is between Nebraska and Northwestern from the Big Ten. Both teams are coming off disappointing seasons with 3-9 records and they hope this will be the beginning of a new chapter for their program. For more information about the Week 0 game, read on.
Nebraska had a tough year with Scott Frost as the head coach. He has made several changes to improve the success in this upcoming season. They signed Texas transfer quarterback Casey Thompson, the Big 12’s leader in TD passes in 2021, and former Pitt offensive coordinator Mark Whipple, fresh off coaching Kenny Pickett to an ACC championship. Those additions together with their experienced receivers helped Nebraska have a better season.
Northwestern’s defense: They lost Chris Bergin, who led college football in tackles last year, and overall the defensive unit ranked just 101st nationally, allowing 429.5 yards a game, and was 89th in scoring defense (29.0 points per game). The Wildcats secondary doesn’t return a single player who had an interception last season.
Nebraska has added 22 transfers, including 18 first-year players with 184 combined starts. Their transfer additions, which give Nebraska a deeper roster, to watch are the defensive line who have now added Ochaun Mathis from TCU who is ranked top 10 in tackles for loss, and Devin Drew from Texas Tech and Stephon Wynn from Alabama.
Northwestern has been winning or in most cases, partaking without a fight in their 8 games that the Wildcats have had to play since the Nebraska joined them. They won with a margin of one point in 7 out of their 8 last games, losing by 8 points or less 8 times, including 4 out of 5 derbies.
Northwestern loses its top receiver, but still retains four other productive pass catchers that averaged 1,130 yards and had five touchdowns last year.
Northwestern returns defensive player Adetomiwa Adebawore from last year, and that player led the team with 12.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks in his rookie season for a total of 8.5 total. Approximately 2/3 of Scott Frost’s 29 losses at Nebraska (66%) have been by a touchdown or less, including 11 games lost by five or fewer points. Northwestern won two of the last four Big Ten West championships
Northwestern had a record of three wins and nine losses last fall despite outscoring opponents by 63 points, losing each game by single digits, and losing to ranked teams by an average of six points. The Wildcats return three returning leading rushers in Evan Hull who scored 7 total touchdowns during their inaugural 2021 season.
Last season, Nebraska averaged 447.6 yards of offense per game, ranked 20th in college football and its best showing since 2008. Neither team was great in red zone area either, as Nebraska was last on offense and defense; Northwestern was 1st on offense and defense
If Northwestern is to rebuild their reputation and prove last season was a fluke, they’ll do so by running the ball with a strong group that averages four yards per carry. They need this game to show that their issues were the exception, not the rule.
Nebraska has their first chance to prove themselves after the changes in coaching staff made by Scott Frost.
A string of third downs for the Huskers may be tough to handle with Northwestern. However, the Huskers should have a good enough lead to start fast in this game.