Opponent Perspective Q&A: Michigan State vs. Nebraska

SpartanMag caught up with Huskeronline staffer Grant Hansen for an insider look at Nebraska, as Michigan State attempts to halt a six-game losing streak on Senior Day in East Lansing.

Continue below for our Opponent Perspective Q&A:

1. Nebraska has won 3 straight games. What has been the catalyst?

Hansen: I look back to the Michigan game, which preceded this three-game winning streak, and what happened the day after. Matt Rhule was pissed off after that game, and I think that he felt that Nebraska did not play up to the level of its talent and wasn’t competitive against Michigan. He called the team together for an impromptu fully padded practice the day on Sunday after Michigan. It was a risk because Nebraska had a short week with a road game against Illinois on Friday. The players responded well to that. Center Ben Scott said it wasn’t fun, but it was something that they needed. From that moment on, the team snapped back to what we saw in the two weeks before the Michigan game.

In that first drive at Illinois, The Fighting Illini drove down to the Nebraska 1-yard-line, and The Huskers turned them away on fourth-and-goal. Between that play on fourth down and that Sunday practice, everything pivoted. That was the springboard for this whole thing.

2. What identity does Rhule want for Nebraska, and how does that line up with reality?

He wants the team to be physical and he wants a team that plays strong, sure-tackling, defensive football. He wants the team to rush for 200 yards a game and roughly 75 of those yards in the fourth quarter. He wants the team to establish the run and take the game over in the fourth quarter.

There has been some trouble doing that. In the Purdue game, Nebraska was in control for three quarters. Then going into the fourth quarter, they coughed up the football a couple of times. One of those fumbles led to a scoop and score. That does not jive with the goal that Rhule has for the team. But immediately after that scoop and score, Nebraska bounced back and punched it in with an Emmett Johnson rushing touchdown.

Matt Rhule is really leaning into playing Big Ten football, whereas Scott Frost did not. A paraphrase of the famous Frost quote, is everyone is going to have to adjust to us. Right now, Nebraska is playing football like Iowa, and there are some people that hate to hear that association between Nebraska and Iowa. The fact is it is winning.

3. How big a spark has Heinrich Haarberg been at QB?

Jeff Sims, who was brought in through the transfer portal, had non-stop problems with turnovers. Against Minnesota in the opener, he had two fumbles and an interception. Those turnover issues continued against Colorado. Sims hurt his ankle against Colorado, and then Haarberg comes in and plays well for the next couple of games. Sims has not been able to regain the starting job because of those turnovers. Haarberg has had some of his own issues catching snaps and mishandled exchanges with running backs. It hasn’t really slowed completely. The difference is that Nebraska has been able to recover a lot of Haarberg’s (near) turnovers. With Sims that was not the case. Last week when Sims came in for a series against Purdue, he was the guy that gave up the scoop and score. He fumbled the ball, and it was returned for a touchdown. Haarberg was back out there the next series.

Nebraska coaches are mystified about the turnovers. Offense coordinator Marcus Satterfield was on the radio earlier this week and this is what he said:

“It’s driving us insane and we are working to get it fixed. We know that with our defense, if we don’t turn the ball over we have a chance to win any game we play, but we keep putting the ball on the ground. It’s frustrating, but it’s being addressed and at some point we are going to get it fixed.”

4. Who are the guys on Nebraska offense we need to know about?

The offense is extremely depleted. From the beginning of the season until now, Nebraska is down eight of 11 offensive starters. Three offensive linemen are out for this game, including the original starting guards, and the left tackle Turner Corcoran, who is done for the year.

In the receiving corps, Nebraska is down to three freshmen receivers, who were probably going to redshirt this year. Malachi Coleman and Jaylen Lloyd are both freshmen from Nebraska. Coleman was a four-star recruit with offers from Michigan and Oklahoma. Lloyd wasn’t receiving a whole lot of football interest. He was more of a track star, and his mom ran track at Nebraska. He was one of Nebraska’s first offers after Rhule was hired. Lloyd caught a 73-yard touchdown last week. Coleman caught a 44-yard touchdown the week before on a Belly G option pass. The oldest receiver in the room is sophomore Alex Bullock who was a walk-on until this fall when he earned a scholarship. Nebraska will run the option and then will throw the deep ball off an option fake, and that has worked.

Nebraska is also down its top two running backs. Emmett Johnson will likely get most of the carries.

5. Why has the defense had such a big turnaround?

Basically it comes down to the coaching staff squeezing everything they can out of this unit. It feels like every guy on this defensive unit is playing to their full potential. And they’ve had enough depth to be successful despite several injuries on that side of the ball. Linebacker Luke Reimer was out for awhile and he was one of Nebraska’s leading tacklers last season.

Nebraska is running new defensive system, a 3-3-5, and there is a lot of flexibility. Ten of the 11 starters on defense were here a year ago under Frost. There are some freshmen contributors that weren’t here in 2022, including Cameron Lenhardt on the defensive line. Princewill Umanmielen, who is a linebacker in their Jack position, is also making plays.

The stunning thing to me is that most of the guys playing well for Nebraska are the same guys from a defense that gave up over 500 yards against Georgia Southern in a game that sealed the deal on Scott Frost.

The coaching staff has really maximized the ability of every one of these guys on defense. An example of that is James Williams, a JUCO guy that came in over the summer. He was brought up from the practice squad just to rush the passer against Northwestern, and he made two incredible plays, including the sack that sealed the win. He is guy that was not on anybody’s radar.

6. Does it surprise you the success that The Huskers have had with a 3-3-5 defense?

Kind of. Entering the season, the biggest question mark was the defensive line. People were talking about that all off-season. Cameron Lemhardt is a guy that they thought could make an impact as a freshman, and he did against Colorado with three sacks.

There was a lot of fear about having three down linemen. Nash Hutmacher has been nothing short of a revelation there in the middle. He has been incredible. They call him the Polar Bear. He has lived up to his nickname. Ty Robinson is reaching his potential as a 6-6, 310 junior. They are getting contributions from guys like Jimari Butler and Blaise Gunnerson. Guys that have been on the edge of the radar the last couple of years are really starting to produce now.

Linebackers have also helped a lot. Reimer and Luke Henrich have been there for a long time. John Bullock, a junior, is also really coming on. Originally, he was a safety. They moved him to linebacker and he has been phenomenal. He went from walk-on to scholarship because of how well he he played.

It has been a combination of the defensive line playing well above expectations and the linebackers being there to support them. They’ve been excellent all season long.

7. How do you expect this game to play out?

It’s hard to see this game departing from the way the last few have gone for Nebraska. The offense has been turnover prone, and it would not shock me if the offense turned the ball over a couple of times in this game. The defense has done an excellent job of limiting the damage. It’s almost like they are relishing being in those situations. Two weeks ago, Nebraska turns it over on its opening drive and the Northwestern doesn’t score any points. The next week, Nebraska fumbles the opening kick-off that was kicked to an up man. Purdue recovers in Nebraska territory and does not score any points. The defense is used to those situations and given the struggles that Michigan State has had on offense this year it is hard to pick against this defense. I think it is a game, much like the last few for Michigan State, and remains close or contested into the fourth quarter, and then Nebraska pulls away. It is difficult to score on this defense, especially for Big Ten offenses.

Nebraska 24, Michigan State 10

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