The Huskers must wait at least another week to get its sixth win of the season. Next week's matchup (Maryland) will be against a much better opponent than the 3-6 Spartans. After the 5-4 Terrapins come to Lincoln, NU must face two more teams with winning records: at Wisconsin and at home vs. Iowa.
The question is can Nebraska get another win this year?
Based on Saturday's 20-17 loss at Michigan State, it's going to be a very tough task. Husker fans are probably wondering, how can a 5-3 Nebraska team drop one to a Spartan team that was on a six-game losing streak?
Some will blame the loss on the penalties that either were called or should have been called. To be sure, the officiating was a bit puzzling at times.
The bottom line is, Nebraska just didn't play well enough to win.
On top of that, Michigan State has a better QB than Nebraska's. This is not a knock on Heinrich Haarberg. He's only a sophomore making just his seventh career start. The Tank Commander played brilliantly at times but made too many mistakes.
Not to worry. He'll get better.
Sparty also did a better job making the Huskers pay for their mistakes. That's something the other opponents hadn't done.
Nebraska lost the turnover battle (0-3). NU had two interceptions and lost a fumble. MSU also edged the Huskers 295-277 yards in total offense. Michigan State won the passing battle 232-129 yards, but lost the rushing battle to the Huskers 198-63 yards.
The Blackshirts played valiantly at times but missed some key stops in the game. NU won the time of possession 31:39 to 28:41, but that didn't seem to matter.
The loss erased a golden opportunity for Nebraska to become bowl eligible - something it hasn't done since 2016. That's the hardest part to swallow.
Nebraska needs to flush this loss out of its system and find a way to clean up its mistakes. Yes, the Tank Commander didn't have one of his best days at QB. He needs to be able to see and hit his open receivers (see Alex Bullock and Jaylen Lloyd). NU left too many points on the field today.
The good news is all NU's mistakes are correctable. But can Nebraska get them fixed in time?
Nebraska has three chances to get at least one win to go bowling. Can the Huskers do it? No one knows. We'll just have to chew our fingernails until they get their sixth win.
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