It was here-we-go-again for the Nebraska football team in Eugene early Sunday morning. In a scenario Husker fans probably could have imagined by now, Oregon won 17-14.
In fact, it was sort of a replay of last week’s 20-17 loss to Indiana, a collapse in the fourth quarter. Unlike Indiana, however, the Ducks weren’t ranked, though they had begun the season second in the Associated Press poll. And they seemed to be reeling.
You know the details. For one, quarterback Dante Moore has been sidelined with a concussion — and even with him, Oregon had lost the second game of the season at Oklahoma State.
But that meant the topic of discussion leading up to Saturday night’s game — actually, the Huskers faltered early Sunday morning — was who would replace Moore, Brock Thomas or Dylan Raiola, who started and struggled big-time in last week’s 17-15 loss to UCLA.
You might have quit reading already, not wanting to relive the painful details again.
Anyway, if you are still with me, Thomas started and played the first three quarters, with Raiola on the bench without his helmet on. Thomas was unimpressive against Nebraska’s aggressive defense, which was without safeties Jamir Conn and Rex Guthrie and tackle Riley Van Poppel.
Sophomore Caleb Benning replaced Conn and finished third among the Huskers with 12 tackles, including 2.5 tackles for loss, one forced fumble and one pass breakup. Owen Chambliss had 15 tackles, including two for losses, and Dwayne McDougle III had 13 tackles. The “first three quarters don’t really matter in a ball game like this,” Benning said. “You’ve got to win the fourth quarter.”
Oregon did, under the direction, of course, of Dylan Raiola, the evil villain to Husker fans.
Nebraska led 14-6 going into the fourth quarter. On the third play of the quarter, third-and-5 at the Ducks’ 17-yard line, Raiola ran 6 yards for a first down, Oregon’s first third-down conversion of the game. The drive stalled at the Husker 19, however, and Oregon had to settle for a third field goal.
After a three-and-punt, the Ducks got the ball back at their own 18-yard line with 5:31 remaining. With 28 seconds remaining, on second-and-goal, Raiola passed 4 yards to tight end Jaman Johnson for the game-winning touchdown — plus a pass for two points, just in case.
The Raiola-directed drive was 82 yards on 20 plays and left Nebraska 28 seconds.
“In moments like that, we’ve got to come up big, and we just came up shy today, just letting the fatigue get to us,” said defensive tackle Cam Lenhardt.
Fatigue? Nebraska’s defense got no help from the offense in the fourth quarter. The Ducks’ time of possession was 12:45. The Huskers managed one first down to Oregon’s 11.
Nebraska quarterback Anthony Colandrea took responsibility for the loss, as he is wont to do. “I think it’s on me,” he said. “I have to play better for my guys.”
Actually, Colandrea couldn’t have played much better for his guys. He was the Huskers’ leading rusher, with 73 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries, and if taking away three sacks for 33 yards in losses, he carried 10 times for 106 yards. He completed 18-of-33 passes for 164 yards and a touchdown, 17 yards to Kwazi Gilmer to open the scoring, with one interception.
He needed better protection, and without his effort, Nebraska’s running game stalled. The Huskers had 78 net yards rushing — again, 73 of those were Colandrea’s.
“Offensively, we just weren’t able to win up front,” Coach Matt Rhule said, understating. And, as Lenhardt had said, the defense “wore down” in the fourth quarter.
I probably don’t need to mention, last week’s 20-17 loss to Indiana involved fourth-quarter issues as well. The Huskers are “plenty good enough to win these last two games,” said Benning. But “ultimately, you can’t go back and take that ‘L’ out of the (won-loss) column.”
What looked like a chance to be in playoff contention, turned into a patten Nebraska fans would have liked to see changed.
