TAKING A PUNCH
Rover Isaac Gifford used the image first, because he preceded M.J. Sherman at the podium Tuesday. It summarized Nebraska’s 31-24 overtime loss to Illinois Friday.
“Illinois came out and they punched us in the mouth,” he said. “We didn’t respond.”
The significant “punch” came during the second half. But Coach Matt Rhule said, post-game, the Huskers weren’t the most physical team. He repeated that Monday.
JACK linebacker M.J. Sherman was asked his response to the loss after reflecting on it the last couple of days. “I mean,” he said, pausing, “what are you supposed to do when you get punched in the mouth, sometimes? Put your hands up next time. Learn from it.”
Sherman’s 5-plus minutes at the podium showed the extent of his insight into the loss.
“The tape says everything,” he said. “Everybody who knows football, they can kind of tell for themselves. It’s more so in the sense that everything was execution, everything’s on our part. Everything’s controllable on our end, if we can control the controllables, at the end of the day, control our effort, our aggression, our violence and our discipline, eliminate the stupid stuff, stuff like that, including me, everything would have been just fine.”
The loss was “a learning opportunity,” Sherman said.
Tuesday’s news conference was as much about the Illinois loss as Saturday’s game at Purdue. Though the Boilermakers are 1-2, with a blowout win against Indiana State (49-0) and blowout losses to Notre Dame (66-7) and Oregon State (38-21), Ross-Ade Stadium is sold out for Nebraska’s first road game.
Purdue is rushing for 183 yards per game and has some notable players on defense, including back Dillon Thieneman, who earned Big Ten Freshman of the Year and All-America honors last season, and linebacker Kydran Jenkins, who has 27 tackles and 3.5 sacks this season.
Devin Mockobee and Reggie Love III are the Boilermakers’ top running backs. Mockobee is averaging 7.8 yards per carry, Love 6.3 yards per carry.
Nebraska has to take “the same approach we always had,” said Sherman. “It’s a tendency, right? Win three in a row, a tendency to kind of stray away from the process a little bit. Everybody’s guilty of it. Everybody stops worrying about the tiny details that really got us there, and it shows.
There are no “wholesale changes” to be made, Sherman said.
The Huskers don’t need to bring in “motivational speakers or anything as such, or having a big old team meeting, talking about things we already know,” he said. “We just go back to things that work for us. Again, there wasn’t any wholesale changes to be made.”
Nebraska needs to “fix the little things and go back to what we believe in.”
The image came up again near the end of his time at the podium.
“How are we supposed to respond when you get punched in the mouth? If any different, then we (are) a fraud,” Sherman said. “Everybody (needs to) come out there with their hard hats . . .
“’OK, we let that one slide, but let’s not let another one go.’”
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Redshirt freshman Gunnar Gottula has stepped in at left tackle, with Turner Corcoran joining Teddy Prochaska on the sideline because of injury—Corcoran a hamstring, Rhule said. Sophomore Tyler Knaak and senior Micah Mizzccua, both listed as back-up guards, can play just about anywhere on the offensive line, according to offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield, and could back up Gottula.
Mizzccua, of course, began the season as the starting right guard but was replaced by Henry Lutovsky when he, Mizzccua, was sidelined for unspecified reasons. Mizzccua got in the Illinois game on the field goal unit, Rhule said Monday.
Mike Babcock
