The defense played well enough to win 5 this year which would have us top 15/20 with wins over NW and Iowa. Scott’s offense is what is keeping us from being a top 25 program
Scott's offense needs to improve the skill position talent immensely. That's Frost's fault. In year 3, he never should've been walking into a season needing starts from Kade Warner and Levi Falck, while also having no experienced running backs after the starter goes down with injury.
But the offense "per se" isn't what's keeping Nebraska from being a top 25 program, its the following:
1. Turnover margin - Nebraska turns the ball over too much, and they don't force a lot.
2. Kickoff Coverage - Its one thing to not have a kicker to consistently kick touchbacks, but its an even bigger issue when your lane and leverage discipline is consistently pathetic, on every ******** return.
3. Kickoff Returns- For 3 straight seasons, Husker opponents have actually cost themselves field position by kicking touchbacks. If the ball goes into the end zone, then Nebraska gets the ball at the 25. If Nebraska attempts a return their average starting position is the 18 yard line.. That's mind blowing, and seems almost impossible for 3 seasons in a row.
4. Average Starting Field Position - This correlates with kickoff coverage and returns, but it truly effects the course of every football game. Teams start their possessions vs. Nebraska, on average around the 31 yard line. The Huskers average starting field position was the 22 in 2020. If each team has 8 possessions in a game, the opponent has 60 less yards per game to cover, on average.
5. Pre Snap and Alignment Penalties - I mean how in the ever living **** is this always a problem for Nebraska? Northwestern had 4 false starts from their offensive line all Fall. Nebraska commits close to 3 of those penalties per game.
6. Turnovers + bad field position already - Let's talk about the snowball effect of points 1 and 4 above. If I take over possession on my 15 yard line and then fumble two plays later at the 33, I have basically guaranteed the opponent with a competent kicker at least 3 points, and they're in great shape for 7 points. Nebraska has allowed 17 touchdown drives the last two seasons of 40 yards or less after a Husker turnover or a long return. in 2020, Nebraska allowed 56 points of this variety. That equals a touchdown per game.
If you remove that number, Nebraska's scoring defense goes down to 22 points per game, top 20 in the country. One other aspect of that number that's difficult to quantify is how many times did Nebraska leave points off the board on those drives. .
7. Red Zone offense - This was just a dumpster fire most of the season. Luke McCaffery really struggled mightily in the Red Zone. Martinez was better over the final 3 games, but just barely.
