Numbers, Statistics & Lies: Bethune Cookman Edition

The numbers looked like they should when a Power 5 team noshes on a cupcake. Of course, with this Husker team, nothing is a given until they show consistency to go with their new-found improvement.

Frost took his foot off the gas early or there would have been some gaudy stats to celebrate. I saw more than one Husker fan remark “now I know why Iowa and the SEC schedule these teams.” I don’t expect to see an FCS team on the Husker schedule again anytime soon, but it was fun to see some of the walk-ons and third stringers.

Color Coded Pile of Numbers

With an apology to those that wanted data from the past four weeks pulled out and turned into a color coded pile, I tried to get some, but found a website under maintenance. I’ll see what I can do next week.

The most dramatic change? Check out that punt return yards line. Last week, the Huskers sat at 124th in FBS and dead last in the B1G with an average of 2.9 yards per return. Spielman only returned one, but it was a doozy and it moved the color-coded pile into green territory.

A shoutout to Isaac Leg-strong is in order as he raised the Husker’s season net punting by nearly 2 yards within a single game. Armstrong’s three punts totaled 172 yards with 0 return yards for a NET total of 57.3 yards/punt.

I finally feel like a B1G analyst...celebrating punting stats.

Bonus Color Coded Pile of Numbers

Here is what the Buckeye’s color coded pile looks like right now. By almost every measure, the Huskers will be at a disadvantage this Saturday. It sure looks like this game will be a shootout and the team that makes fewer mistakes will win.

Ohio State looks to have some red zone issues and is almost as heavily penalized as Nebraska.

I’m not sure how the Husker offense will play this game. It looks like the Buckeyes are vulnerable through the air. However, an offense that can keep the ball away from the Buckeyes looks to also be the best defense #RunTheDangBall. My guess is Frost and Co. will go with whatever gets them points and hope the defense can wreak a little well-timed havoc.

1000 Yard Updates (and More)

Two-thirds of the way through the season, 670 yards is the magic number to be averaging enough yards to reach 1000.

-Anyone else get the impression that this coaching staff really really wants Stanley Morgan to reach 1000? Morgan sits at 638 yards for the season after notching 82 yards in two quarters of work vs BCU. He needs 91 yards/game the rest of the way to reach the land where no Husker receiver has ever stepped.

-JD Spielman has an easier path to reach 1000 yards. He has 686 and needs 79 yards/game. He put up 72 yards in his one half of work vs BCU.

-Devine Ozigbo averaged 10 yards/carry while putting up 110 yards on Saturday. He has 722 yards rushing despite only being listed as the starter for five games. He needs to average 70 yards/game to be the 36th Husker (32nd running back) to run for 1000 yards in a single season.

-Adrian Martinez has passed for 1,656 yards this season. He is on track for 2,844 yards.