MINNEAPOLIS Nebraska football will have to wait another week before becoming bowl eligible as it fell 24-6 to Minnesota on Friday night.
The Huskers posted their worst performance of the season in their first game as a nationally ranked team.
Here are three lessons from the game:
Nebraska is buckling under pressure
The Huskers had a chance to pivot the narrative around them, but failed to do so in an overly familiar way. Nebraska hasn't beaten Minnesota since 2018 and hasn't won back-to-back road games since 2006.
This loss didn't happen because the Golden Gophers are the better team on paper; the No. 25 ranked Huskers are. However, Nebraska beat itself up when any pressure was put on it.
Minnesota took the Huskers apart on both sides of the ball and had an answer for everything they tried. The Golden Gophers defeated Nebraska by a total of 339-213 yards and won the time of possession battle.
PJ Flecks' team outright overpowered the Huskers as they had done in previous years.
It took Nebraska five games to become bowl eligible after starting 5-1 last year. With the way the Huskers played tonight, the same story could be happening.
Offensive line back to its old self
After an admirable effort against Maryland, the Husker offensive line could no longer live up to that performance. Dylan Raiola faced pressure on almost every dropback and was sacked five times in the first half and nine times in the match.
It didn't help that Nebraska lost senior right guard Rocco Spindler early in the game, with junior Tyler Knaak taking his spot. It also lost left tackle Elijah Pritchett after the junior was ejected for targeting in the second quarter. However, every lineman who played had his share of mishaps.
While Raiola is certainly responsible for a few of the sacks, he also used everything in his power to avoid going down. Raiola ran for his life, completing passes with his left hand and while falling.
After shutting down a Terrapin pass rush that ranked No. 1 in the Big Ten in sacks, Donovan Raiola's unit made a mid-pack team look like an NFL defense.
Run defense remains a struggle
Minnesota had not run for more than 68 yards in three Big Ten games. The Golden Gophers had 93 rushing yards on their first three drives tonight.
Nebraska's defense has now given two of the worst performing teams in the conference their best performances of the season in consecutive weeks. Junior running back Darius Taylor's 71-yard run in the second quarter could have been avoided if the Huskers had tackled better.
Minnesota's dominance carried over into the second half, with Taylor extending his total to 148 yards with a 6.2 average. No matter who it is against, Nebraska has no answer on the run.
Pass defense may not be as good as the stats say
Nebraska led the nation in pass defense heading into Friday, allowing just 118 yards through the air per game. Although the unit had mixed results in its first real challenge against Malik Washington, they were burned by Drake Lindsey and the Golden Gophers.
The redshirt freshman has put the Blackshirts together with an 80% completion rate. Several receivers found their way open on soft coverage, with missed tackles adding even more yards after the catch.
While the secondary struggled, the rush at Nebraska Pass was even worse. Facing a pure pocket passer for the first time since non-conference play, the front seven still couldn't generate any pressure. Just one sack and one quarterback rush is an embarrassing effort against a team that has a good but not great offensive line.
Anthony Rubek is senior sports editor at The Daily Nebraskan. Follow him on X @AnthonyRubek.
