It was another hard fought clash between these historic rivals.
In a rivalry renewed, the No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners held off a gutsy effort from the Nebraska Cornhuskers (2-2) en route to a 23-16 victory. With the win, OU wraps up the non-conference portion of its schedule and improves to 3-0 on the season.
Heisman hopeful QB Spencer Rattler had himself a solid showing against the Huskers’ defense. In total, the redshirt sophomore completed 24 of 34 passing attempts 214 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. He also added 35 rushing yards and another score on six carries.
Defensively, the Sooners went toe-to-toe with Nebraska’s O-line and QB Adrian Martinez. On the day, OU gave up 289 yards passing, 95 yards rushing and recorded this incredible fourth down interception thanks to talented sophomore CB D.J. Graham.
In the first half, Oklahoma started strong on offense with a methodical drive down the field to go up early, 7-0. Nebraska answered right away with a long drive of their own resulting in a field goal. That 7-3 margin would remain through the halftime break, giving this rivalry contest all the makings of another instant classic.
In the second half, the Sooners’ defense continued to hold strong despite allowing the Cornhuskers to sustain a few drives by way of some key third down conversions. A couple special teams miscues and timely defensive stops down the stretch ultimately proved to be enough to successfully hold off Scott Frost’s would-be upset bid.
The biggest momentum shift of the game came immediately after Nebraska’s Martinez led his team down the field and into the end zone. On the subsequent point-after attempt, Oklahoma’s Isaiah Coe plowed through the line and blocked the kick, sending the live ball right into the hands of senior safety and team captain Patrick Fields, who returned the gift 100 yards for two points.
As it stands now, two out of three games for Oklahoma have come down to the wire, but it shouldn’t be forgotten how this team has responded when the game was on the line. Going forward, it’ll be paramount that this group continues to make improvements each week while finding a way to win, no matter the circumstance.
Up next, Oklahoma opens Big 12 play at home on Saturday, Sept. 25 against the West Virginia. Last season, OU’s meeting with WVU was canceled due to COVID-19 related issues, and since the Mountaineers joined the conference in 2012, the Sooners have won all eight contests in the series. Kick-off is set for 6:30 p.m. CT on ABC.
This is going to be the first true test for the and Oklahoma offensive line that failed to set the tone against Tulane in the season opener. It usually takes some time for Bill Bedenbaugh’s units to gel, and that appears to be the case again in 2021. This will keep it from being a blowout, but Alex Grinch’s unit seems primed to make a statement today.
The loss to Illinois was obviously a tough pill to swallow, but how are Nebraska fans feeling about their team entering this weekend?
It absolutely depends on which ones you talk to. I wrote a few weeks ago about how we’re more or less in three groups. – 1) I quit, peace out. But I’ll still watch. 2) Varying states of “Let’s go but the second anything goes wrong, then (insert sarcasm, rage, comedy at the expense of the team & coaches, etc.)”. Basically hoping for the best but done being invested emotionally. And 3) All in, now & forever, will/have learned to talk myself off the roof after steaming piles of crap like the Illinois game.
I’m Group 3. (Face palm)
So, all that being said, I’ll speak for group 3. The W/L isn’t reflecting it yet but we’ve closed the talent gap and brought back this crazy thing called strength and conditioning which was sort of optional during the Riley years. If the boys can play a mostly mistake-free game, they will surprise some people this weekend. The defense has actually started resembling the Blackshirts again holding opponents under 400 yards for seven straight games for the first time in like…a long time. And Martinez is a special player when not trying to do everything.
But, the Illinois game was a classic example of how mistake-free and Nebraska don’t often collide in the same sentence these days. If we flip the clown car a few times with special teams hijinks and ringhole-clenching turnovers, Oklahoma will cover and I will throw back a few shots with a toast of “Namaste, bitches.”
As far as Scott Frost is concerned, what would the fans, boosters and administration need to see from his team for the rest of this season for him to avoid losing his job before 2022?
Even 6-6 and a bowl game buys him time. Some folks who never wanted him in the first place have started the rumor-mongering, but it’s not gaining much traction. A new AD coming in more often results in him hiring his own guy ASAP, but Trev Alberts and Frost come from the same era, so Trev’s going to have a longer leash than most fans if this season goes south. Would another 4-8 stretch that leash to the snapping point? I don’t want to find out.
I know most Nebraska fans aren’t expecting a win this weekend, but what would you need to see from this game to walk away encouraged about the remainder of the 2021 campaign?
If this game is competitive in the 4th quarter, it will go a long way to convincing fans that serious progress has been made and force the folks who’ve hated Frost from Day 1 into the shadows for awhile. A game over by halftime will have the opposite effect. I’ll say keep the loss no worse than 10-15 while looking competitive and we can build on that.
Defensively, Nebraska’s front is certainly seen as a strength. What makes this group so effective?
It’s become a nice mix of young and old who are suddenly (but not really that sudden) big, fast, mean & talented. Much of it is recruiting the positions well the last few years. Some of it is just growing up and growing into roles.
I’m thinking of NG Damion Daniels who has gone from talented freshman who needs to control his weight to team captain. A couple years ago, his brother Darrion graduated from Okie State with a year of eligibility remaining, transferred to the Huskers, became a team captain out of one fall camp and is now in his second year in the NFL. I think he rubbed off on Damion and the rest of that D-line room.
Also, Darrion’s nickname is War Daddy which is just insanely cool.
Adrian Martinez looked pretty rough against Illinois, and it’s not like he’s lacking experience. What’s been his biggest issue up to this point?
Turnovers, period, exclamation point, end of sentence. He’s still trying to learn how to do that extra little bit with his talent without doing too much. The Martinez fumble scoop-and-score right before halftime of the Illinois game was crippling as we’d turned it around after the Cam Taylor-Britt punt mishap, then blink-blink, mid-late 3rd quarter, it’s 30-9.
But he was also the guy who busted off a 70-something yard TD run, brought it back to 30-22 and had a chance to tie it up. You want to reign in him in, but you also want to turn him loose. He has the best receiver corps I can remember at Nebraska. Unfortunately, our top two tight ends and 2nd-4th best receivers all have injury issues. If we’re missing all those guys, he’ll feel obligated to possibly do too much.
As far as the rest of the offense is concerned, what names should OU fans know entering Saturday?
Look for Samari Toure a transfer from Montana who was being projected as a 6th-7th round pick in draft but transferred to Lincoln to try and up his stock against Power 5 competition. Omar Manning, Oliver Martin and Xavier Betts (top JC transfer, former Rivals 4-star Iowa transfer and Rivals150 local recruit) have talent but are the aforementioned three WR’s recovering from injuries.
Gabe Ervin, a true freshman from Georgia and Markese Stepp, a former 4-star transfer from USC have shown flashes but Adrian is once again our leading rusher after three games. I would love to see either break out against the Sooners but that’s a damn tall order.
Who’s your favorite Nebraska alum outside of sports?
Wow, that’s a great question. And a tough one but I’m going to go with Bob Kerrey. He served as a Navy SEAL in Vietnam winning the Medal of Honor. He served as Governor of Nebraska in the 80’s and then ran for President in 1992, losing in the primaries. After that, he left politics to serve as president of The New School University in New York. In 2010, he was actually selected to become the head of the Motion Picture Assn. of America but never took the office as they couldn’t come to an agreement. (I literally just learned that on Wiki. My movie nut side just lost it and approves of my pick.)
I got to meet him on occasion when my family owned a bookstore in Omaha’s Old Market years ago and he would drop in. Just a genuine good guy and warm person.
Also, he attended the Bruce Springsteen concert at the Bob Devaney Center in 1985 and his date was then-girlfriend Debra Winger. Dude was cool.
How excited are Nebraska fans about the temporary renewal of this rivalry?
Many are probably wishing it happened when we were at the same level, but for my Jiminy-Cricket ass, it couldn’t come at a better time. Like Captain Kirk in the Kobyashi Maru test, I don’t believe in the no-win scenario. To me, this is the no-lose. We get whipped? Meh, it was expected.
But just the prospect of pulling off something special is why I love college football and I say this non-sarcastically with the most respect – if we’re gonna get that program altering win, there’s no one I would rather do it against than Oklahoma. No one.
Who’s your favorite Oklahoma Sooner of all time?
There’s so many to choose from and I’m not lying when I say that. So many Sooners I would call “you sonofabitch” but would have killed to have them on my team from Billy Sims to Baker Mayfield or Kyler Murray.
But it’s really one name and one name only – The Boz. I saw him close up in Norman in 1985 for a 27-7 shellacking which I believe was his sophomore year (when I was a 1st year senior lol) and before the hair had eight different color streaks running through it. The Sooners left the field at halftime heading to the tunnel down a ramp next to heckling Husker fans in the end zone seats. Our fans were hollering and screaming and then Boz came wandering down and everyone just dialed down to muttering and looking away. He was terrifying.
I loved him – he was the very definition of colorful and was an absolute wrecking machine in college. The Sports Illustrated article in 1987(?) took it all to another level. And Stone Cold is still my favorite biker gang movie – with a shout-out to Lance Henrickson as an awesome psycho. (You know Stone Cold Steve Austin owes his moniker to The Boz. You KNOW it.) Long live Boz.
How do you see this one playing out? Does Nebraska cover the 22.5?
As hard as it is not to fly off the handle and pick the upset here, I’m going to try and temper my homer side on this one. I’m going to say the Huskers make it three straight weeks of not punching themselves in seeds, put up a solid fight, inject a little hope, but at the end of the day, the Sooners are a hell of lot more ready for us than they were for Tulane.
It’s competitive at halftime, but the Sooner Schooner hits its stride in the second half and while they don’t cover, the final isn’t in doubt over the last 10-12 minutes. Oklahoma 38 Huskers 26. But wait’ll next year, gents.
One of college football’s most storied rivalries is set to be renewed for the first time in more than a decade.
To pay tribute to the 50th anniversary of 1971’s Game of the Century, the No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners (2-0) will face off against the Nebraska Cornhuskers (2-1) this weekend in a rivalry-renewing reunion at the Palace on the Prairie. Throughout this historic series, OU owns the all-time record over its former conference foe, 45-38-3, including a 23-20 victory in their last meeting for the 2010 Big 12 Championship.
It’s that time of year, y’all! As the Oklahoma #Sooners enter the intriguing portion of their schedule, Nike has released its yearly college football shoe collection, and OU is represented once again. https://t.co/pmAFkvgAmr
With this being the premier game during the noon eastern slot, the eyes of the college football world will be fixed on Norman, Oklahoma. The chance for a national audience that doesn’t have to compete with other big games is rather uncommon, and given the nature of this contest — a top three ranked team hosting a storied rival for the first time in over a decade — the spotlight couldn’t be much greater for OU.
Amazingly enough, the Sooners actually stand to gain quite a bit if they can deliver a strong showing against the Cornhuskers. Sure, Nebraska is no longer the dominant power it once was under Tom Osborne, but doing what you’re supposed to do in a game that is sure to garner a ton of attention will go a long way toward reaching that next tier of college football’s elites.
Which OU team will show up on Saturday?
Two games are now officially in the books — the Tulane escape and the Western Carolina beatdown. Against the Green Wave, Oklahoma looked asleep, unfocused and vulnerable. After surviving that nail-biter, the Sooners flipped a switch against WCU, and in that contest, OU seemed hungry, determined and dialed-in. Logic says this team is closer to what they showed in Week Two versus Week One, but it’s still too early to call one way or another. Whatever the case ends up being, this weekend’s marquee matchup against the Huskers should bring clarity to this question.
What does Nebraska have to do to pull off the upset?
A lot will have to happen in favor of the Cornhuskers and to the detriment of the Sooners in order for Scott Frost’s team to leave Norman with a win, but if it is to happen, it will be because of these three things:
First, Nebraska will have to win the turnover battle by at least a +2 margin. Secondly, Oklahoma will have to lose the time of possession battle by at least seven minutes. Finally, the Huskers will have to keep from falling behind by more than two touchdowns through three quarters. If at any point the Sooners build a lead greater than 14, don’t expect a miraculous comeback. It wouldn’t be the craziest thing to ever happen in a football game, but I’m telling you now, it simply will not happen this time.
Is OU’s secondary health a concern?
At the beginning of this week, Lincoln Riley updated the team’s latest injury report and revealed that a couple key contributors from the Sooners’ secondary — CB Woodi Washington and NB Billy Bowman — could miss this weekend’s meeting with Nebraska. Of course, there’s a possibility one or both of these guys make a sudden return to the lineup, but if neither of them play, the task of defending veteran QB Adrian Martinez becomes that much more challenging.
How much of a factor will home field advantage be?
If you’ve walked around campus at all this week, or if you’re planning on coming to the game, you’ve probably already felt the electricity in the air. It’s an unusual feeling because these days it seems like OU rarely has a home game that generates this much buzz leading up to it. Throw in the fact that fans of all ages will have their own unique reasons why this particular opponent deserves a memorable, Crimson & Cream welcome from the heart, and I expect the atmosphere on Saturday to jump off the screen. In short, it will be fun, and it will be loud. How the environment ultimately affects Nebraska remains to be seen, but something tells me it will certainly play a part in the final result.
Prediction
I see OU starting a little slow in this one, with Nebraska proving its toughness for much of the first half. The Cornhuskers’ defense isn’t quite on the level of the old school ‘Blackshirts’, but they’ll be ready to contend with Lincoln Riley’s offensive plan at the point of attack. Defensively, Oklahoma’s front will periodically create pressure for Scott Frost’s offense, but when that doesn’t happen, some lapses in the middle of the field will cost Alex Grinch’s group a time or two. I wish I could predict a blowout, but something inside me tells me this contest will be slightly closer than Sooner fans are comfortable with. That is, until a late drive from Spencer Rattler and company leads to the game-sealing score.
BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN via Imagn Content Services, LLC
What do we know about the Sooners entering this game?
In this week’s episode (listen by clicking here!), Kamiar and Stephen wonder if there’s anything to take from the Oklahoma Sooners’ performance against the lowly Western Carolina Catamounts, dive into the rivalry with the Nebraska Cornhuskers and give their final thoughts entering the weekend.
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The Cornhuskers may have an edge up front when the Sooners have the ball.
When Scott Frost was hired away from Central Florida after the 2017 season, the Nebraska Cornhuskers thought they were getting one of the brightest offensive minds in college football. In fact, Frost owed a large measure of his success at UCF to the defensive coordinator who accompanied him to Lincoln, Erik Chinander.
Just as Chinander played a key role in boosting Frost’s stock at UCF, NU’s struggle to gain back respectability owes in part to the consistent mediocrity of the defenses under his watch. The Huskers are showing slight signs of improvement, though. In 2018 and 2019, the Cornhuskers finished 55th and 63rd, respectively, in Defensive SP+ overall. They moved up to 38th in 2020 and rank 30th overall through three weeks this year.
The Oklahoma Sooners pose a different kind of challenge than what NU sees on a typical Saturday in the Big Ten. Aside from the occasional date with the Ohio State Buckeyes, the Huskers rarely face a team that boasts OU’s explosiveness and efficiency. Linesmakers favor the Sooners by more than three touchdowns in the matchup on Saturday, a sign they don’t believe NU is up to the task.
Looking at how the two teams stack up, however, the NU defensive front may have an edge in the trenches. That’s a good place for Chinander to start if he wants to help propel the Huskers to an upset.
Background
Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images
Chinander coached linebackers at Oregon for two years before Frost convinced him to become defensive coordinator at Central Florida in 2016. The move paid immediate dividends for the Golden Knights, who cut their average points allowed from 37.7 the year before he arrived to 24.6 in Chinander’s first season at UCF. UCF went from winless in 2015 to 6-7 the following season. A year later, the Golden Knights maintained their performance on D and added an offense that put up 48 points per game in a 13-0 season.
The contours of the turnaround engineered by Chinander at UCF look very similar to what has played out at OU under defensive coordinator Alex Grinch. The Golden Knights doubled their takeaways from 13 in 12 games in ‘15 to 26 in 13 games a year later. They actually raised that total to 32 in 13 games in 2017.
Meanwhile, linebacker Shaquem Griffin helped transform the UCF defense into an attacking unit that notched 103 tackles for loss in ‘16, including 38 sacks. When all was said and done, UCF’s Defensive SP+ ranking climbed from 105th in the country in ‘15 to 35th in ‘16.
At Nebraska, Chinander once again has his unit emphasizing negative plays. The Huskers went from averaging 3.7 tackles for loss per game in ‘17 to 5.3 in ‘18. Their average spiked to 6.1 in ‘19 and then 6.6 a year ago. Credit for that disruption goes in large part to Chinander’s ability to create opportunities for his players to wreak havoc with shifting fronts.
3-4 base
NU bases its defense out of a standard 3-4 alignment. In the base package, the Cornhuskers deploy a Tite front: The nose tackle plays a zero technique over the center, and defensive ends flank the nose in 4i techniques to the inside shoulders of the offensive tackles.
The outside linebacker positions include a hybrid LB/DE in the mold of OU’s RUSH position lined up to the boundary. On the field side of the formation, the Huskers use a strong side LB who can cover and support against the run.
The image above from NU’s first game against Illinois provides a good example of a situation in which the Huskers will probably roll out their 3-4 base look. In true Bret Bielema fashion, the Fighting Illini are using 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends) on their first play of the game.
NU’s three defensive linemen are in a Tite front. Weak side OLB Garrett Nelson (No. 44) lines up in the space outside the offensive tackle’s outside shoulder, while strong side OLB Caleb Tannor (No. 2) has walked up to the line of scrimmage to play heads up with the inline tight end to the right side of the offensive formation.
The heavier defensive personnel match what is usually a running look from the offense. If you see two (or more) of Austin Stogner, Brayden Willis and Jeremiah Hall on the field at the same time, expect NU to counter with the 3-4.
2-4-5 package
Chinander also has added a 2-4-5 package to his bag. It’s all the rage now for combatting spread personnel groupings from the offense. Here’s an example with the Illini lined up in 11 personnel (one RB, one TE):
As the designation would imply, NU pulls one of its DLs off the field for what is essentially a “big nickel” in JoJo Domann (No. 13, lined up across from the second receiver to the top of the screen). The OLBs often spin down to play with a hand in the dirt on the edge. The DL can shift into a one-gap scheme: In this case, the nose tackle is shading the center, and the other defensive tackle plays a three technique between the left guard and left tackle.
The upside of the 2-4-5 for the Huskers is that Chinander gets more speed on the field; consequently he can get creative with angles and pressures from his defenders. The downside is that he’s leaving the D susceptible to getting bullied in the ground game.
Note that Tulane (above) gave OU a similar look against 11 personnel.
Conclusion
The Cornhuskers don’t have an overwhelming front six/seven on defense, but they do have some nice pieces to challenge OU’s offensive line. Nose tackle Damion Daniels, for example, is a load for interior blockers at 335 pounds. Veteran Ben Stille, a classic 3-4 DE, has played his way into contention for All-Big Ten honors. On the outside, Tannor’s range and athleticism can cause problems for the tackles tasked with handling him.
A solid group like that may be good enough to get the best of the OU offensive line, which showed some cracks two weeks ago against Tulane. In particular, keep an eye on how effectively the Sooners run the ball in 11 personnel. If the Huskers can hold up in a pass-oriented alignment against the OU running game, it will free up players on the back end to help stymie OU QB Spencer Rattler and the aerial attack. That could turn this game into a dogfight for the home team.
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