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Nebraska Received a Lesson in Physical and Mental Toughness from Minnesota

and The Morning After

NCAA Football: Nebraska at Minnesota Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

Nebraska easily could have been shut out.

By Minnesota.

Nebraska’s offensive and defensive lines lost the battles on the line of scrimmage on almost every snap.

Against Minnesota.

Nebraska received a lesson in physical football. From Minnesota.

Two weeks ago against Ohio State it was obvious that the talent level of Nebraska was not up to par. Last week against Northwestern we learned that it was going to be an extremely difficult season on the offensive side of the ball. This week what did we learn?

We learned that Minnesota is more physically and mentally tough than Scott Frost’s Nebraska football team. It was cold and wet. Minnesota embraced it. Nebraska barely accepted it.

This game was not a lesson in how far Nebraska’s football program has to go. We didn’t learn anything in that regard. It was a lesson on what happens when you do not show up to play.

We do have to give them a break. It was pretty cold in Minnesota.


On the other hand...

Cameron Jurgens had his best game snapping the ball. So there’s that.


The Morning After...

Christopherson: Defeat in the trenches brings a crushing reality
Time to swear off the oar jokes for a while.

Also time to acknowledge that Bill Moos was more right than people wanted to believe back on those sunny summer days when he said in Chicago that getting to six wins and qualifying for a bowl would be important for this Husker football program.

Some scoffed as that being a low-ball figure. At this moment, after the game we saw Saturday night, it was some masterful, if unintentional, handicapping of where this program truly resides in this building process.

Report Card: Manhandled by Minnesota
Nebraska football went up to Minnesota for a game on Saturday and was sent back to Lincoln with another rough loss in 2019. The Huskers were beat up by the Gophers to the tune of 34-7.

How’d it grade out? Not particularly well.

3 Takeaways from Nebraska's 34-7 Loss to Minnesota | Hail Varsity
Snow started drifting before kickoff. It never really reached a level where field conditions were going to be affected, though. It was more of just a dusting.

Could say the same thing about the game.

Yikes.

Nebraska will enter into its first bye week 4-3 on the season and 2-2 in conference play. The goal after an Ohio State demo was 2-0 against Northwestern and Minnesota. The Northwestern win came but it didn’t look great. The Minnesota game Saturday night just didn’t look great. The Gophers left TCF Bank Stadium with a 34-7 win.

Frost seeks a more physical Husker team after Golden Gophers put a cold-weather beating on NU | Football | journalstar.com
As the snow fell and the wind blew and October in the Big Ten West’s northernmost outpost delivered a night more befitting the holiday season than midseason, P.J. Fleck’s Minnesota team put a cold-weather beating on Nebraska.

Frost seeks a more physical Husker team after Golden Gophers put a cold-weather beating on NU | Football | journalstar.com
As the snow fell and the wind blew and October in the Big Ten West’s northernmost outpost delivered a night more befitting the holiday season than midseason, P.J. Fleck’s Minnesota team put a cold-weather beating on Nebraska.

Rapid Recap: Gophers demolish Nebraska 34-7 - The Daily Gopher
On a windy, sleety, rainy, snowy night Minnesota’s rushing attack was once again in full force, racking up 238 yards on the ground, while the defense nearly handed Nebraska its first shutout in more than 20 years. Rodney Smith and Shannon Brooks both racked up triple digit rushing totals (EDIT: Brooks had a TFL that dropped him below 100) and Tyler Johnson somehow managed 100 yards receiving as the Gophers ran Nebraska out of TCF Bank Stadium in a 34-7 rout.

Nebraska Player Has Brutally Honest Message After Blowout Loss
Things are not going well at Nebraska at the moment, as the Huskers were blown out by Minnesota on Saturday night, 34-7.

Scott Frost’s team dropped to 4-3 on the season. The Huskers are hoping to make a bowl game in Year 2 of the Frost era and that goal got more difficult to accomplish on Saturday night.

Nebraska will now head into its bye week, hoping to regroup.

One Huskers player thinks that will be a good thing.

HuskerOnline - 10 things we learned from Nebraska's loss to Minnesota
Here are 10 of our biggest takeaways following Nebraska's 34-7 loss to Minnesota on Saturday night...

Gophers trample Nebraska 34-7 to remain undefeated at 6-0 - StarTribune.com
Mohamed Ibrahim had an epiphany this past week, after watching fellow Gophers running backs Rodney Smith and Shannon Brooks tear it up against Illinois with 322 combined rushing yards.

“I was like, ‘You know what’s actually crazy?’ ” Ibrahim said. “‘Me, Rodney and Shannon have never played in the same game before.’ ”

Injuries have truncated the running backs to either a dynamic duo or sometimes a lone star. But not Saturday.