9/19/2023 football Edit

Stat Attack | Nebraska

Nathan Ruppel • BleedTechBlue

Staff Writer

For the majority of this past game against North Texas, the Louisiana Tech offense struggled to get drives going. Three of the five Bulldog first-half drives ended as three-and-outs. In the first three quarters, Tech was only able to put up 14 points on what was billed as one of the weakest (if not the weakest) defenses in FBS football.

And if Tech struggled to move the ball against a bad defense, imagine how rough this offense will look Saturday afternoon in Lincoln:

The Cornhuskers don’t boast the nation’s greatest defense. But the Nebraska D will most likely be the toughest that Tech will face all year.

The one area the Bulldogs had some success in against North Texas was running the football. Tyre Shelton averaged 9.5 yards per carry across 16 attempts. And Keith Willis Junior had a similar night against Northwestern State.

The most rushing yards allowed in a game by Nebraska this year?

58.

That came against this year’s national darling Colorado, and 34 of those 58 yards came on one non-scoring play. The likelihood of a Tech running back this weekend breaking out a long run (like we’ve gotten so accustomed to) is practically 0.

Gaining yards through the air will be easier, but still not easy. Nebraska’s 238 passing yards allowed per game puts them near the middle of the FBS pack, but again the data is skewed by a single game - Colorado. The Cornhuskers gave up nearly 400 yards through the air to the Buffaloes, but less than 200 to Minnesota and Northern Illinois.

What makes this Nebraska defense so imposing is their front seven. They swarm to stop the run and put pressure on the QB when it’s time to pass.

The Bulldog offensive line will have their hands full protecting the QB, regardless of whether Hank Bachmeier or Jack Turner lines up behind center:

Watching Nebraska struggle in their opening loss to Minnesota may have provided some confidence that Louisiana Tech had a chance to leave Nebraska with a win. But unless the offense looks more like what we were promised instead of what we were given, the Bulldogs do not have much of a chance to avoid a 2-2 record.

Nathan is also a contributor to gtpdd.dog, a lighthearted Louisiana Tech blog. Be sure to check out @gotechplsdntdie on Twitter.