Nov. 1, 2022: The Gophers will look to keep the ball rolling on their 2022 season Saturday, in a hostile road environment in Lincoln, Nebraska against the Cornhuskers.
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Broadcast Info:
- Date: Sat., Nov. 5
- TV channel: ESPN2
- Time of kickoff: 11:00 a.m. (CST)
- Broadcast team: n/a (play-by-play) & n/a (color)
- Betting line: Minnesota (-15) @ Nebraska, o/u: (47 points)
Opponent Information (Nebraska):
- 2021 record: 3-9
- 2022 record: 3-5
- V. Northwestern (in Dublin) 28-31 L
- V. North Dakota 38-17 W
- V. Georgia Southern 42-45 L
- V. Oklahoma 14-49 L
- V. Indiana 35-21 W
- @ Rutgers 14-13 W
- @ Purdue 37-43 L
- V. Illinois 9-26 L
- Head Coach *(Interim): Mickey Joseph (1st season, 6th game)
- Players to watch: Anthony Grant (RB), Ochaun Mathis (DE), Trey Palmer (WR), Luke Reimer (LB), Travis Vokevek (TE), Chuba Purdy (QB)
After finally firing head coach Scott Frost earlier this season, Nebraska remains one of the most talented rosters in the Big Ten. After ranking in the top five in conference-wide recruiting in two of the last three cycles, it has a roster on paper that can still compete with just about any team in the conference. Since interim head coach Mickey Joseph has taken over, Big Red is 2-2 with a back-and-forth loss on the road at Purdue. Even with QB Casey Thompson possibly out of the lineup, there are zero reasons for Minnesota to overlook Nebraska in this matchup.
Nebraska Season Storylines:
- What went wrong with Scott Frost?:
Back in 2018, Nebraska’s hiring of Scott Frost almost seemed too good to be true. He was fresh off an undefeated 13-0 Peach Bowl-winning season with UCF and one of the hottest names in coaching. Returning to his alma mater in Lincoln, it seemed like success would be imminent. Fast forward to 2022, Nebraska had not made it to a bowl game in any of Frost’s first four seasons, and after a disappointing home loss to Georgia Southern, the Cornhuskers finally pulled the plug.
So what went wrong? I think people were just a little too quick to crown Frost as a great football mind. With only two seasons of head coaching experience with very few of his own recruits before returning to Lincoln, I think the simple answer would be that he just wasn’t ready. The complicated reason would be that college is usually only four years for a reason. Based on some of the rumors floating around, it seemed like Frost still thought he was the same 20-year-old big man on campus and I don’t think that would ever work in big-time college football.
- Casey Thompson’s injury + Anthony Grant’s ascension:
One main reason for Nebraska’s preseason hype was the arrival of Texas transfer QB Casey Thompson. He flashed last season for the Longhorns as an intriguing option behind center. In 2022, he has nearly evened his last season’s passing total (2,023) he’s had half of the TDs and already one more INT. So ultimately, he has been an up-and-down QB option all season. But after suffering a hand injury against Illinois, Nebraska will likely look at a combo of Chuba Purdy (Brock’s brother) and Logan Smothers at QB against the Gophers.
Junior RB Anthony Grant has been Nebraska’s best offensive player this season. With 743 rushing yards (26th best in FBS) and 6 rushing TDs, he has been an explosive weapon for the Cornhuskers. With Purdy and Smothers neither having made a start, it’s fair to assume that Grant will be a big part of Nebraska’s game plan in week 10.
- Will Nebraska ever return to its glory days?:
Nebraska has had a winning conference record three times since joining the Big Ten in 2012. From 2008-2014, head coach Bo Pelini had at least nine wins in each of his six seasons with the program, but that wasn’t enough for Big Red. With their last National Championship coming 25 years ago (1997), the program is in a very interesting spot.
The next head coach that is hired in Lincoln will send a big message about where the program wants to be. 90% of FBS programs would be more than happy with nine wins every season, and Nebraska clearly isn’t. I think Nebraska can be compared closely to Indiana basketball. Unfortunately for both programs, people born this millennium don’t see them as the same blue bloods that their fanbases do. There is no reason why Nebraska cannot have a 2010s Wisconsin-level run in the Big Ten West, but they’re gonna need to hire the right guy.
Gophers’ path to victory:
Nebraska has been a solid football team since Scott Frost was fired. But that was with Casey Thompson at the helm. With either Chuba Purdy or Logan Smothers under center and an interim head coach, there are a lot of question marks for the Cornhuskers heading into this game. Ranking in the bottom half in FBS with 27.1 PPG (78th) and 30.6 points allowed per game (102nd), Nebraska has arguably been one of the worst teams in the Big Ten this season.
I initially thought a 15-point spread in this game was a bit too high in the Gophers’ favor. Although it might still be a lot of points on the road Minnesota should be heavily favored to win this game. There are simply too many problems on Nebraska’s side for any realistic fan to be optimistic heading into this game. Bookmakers have seemed to believe in the Gophers more than the fanbase this season, favoring them in every contest but one. I think this line is pretty appropriate.
Minnesota matches up very well with Nebraska. The Gophers have struggled to generate pressure all season, ranking 117th in sacks per game, but they’re facing one of worst offensive lines in the country, as Nebraska ranks 93rd in FBS in fewest sacks allowed per game. Inversely Minnesota’s talented offensive line should have no issue dominating a struggling Nebraska defensive line.
Overall, on paper, this could be a very similar Gophers’ performance that we saw this week against Rutgers. If Minnesota is as good as we know it can be, they should be able to run all over Nebraska and put pressure on its young QB. And this is the most confident I have been heading into a Gophers game since week four against Michigan State, but playing in front of a raucous Lincoln crowd is never easy.