Week 9 - Illinois

 Week 9 - Illinois

This Halloweekend, I went to the game dressed as Cornman only to be exposed as a Clown expecting a win against Illinois. Going into this game, there was a stat that was posted stating the Huskers hadn’t beaten a top-25-ranked team in 6 years. Yes, that was pre-Scott Frost… and following this game, that drought continues. 

There were 3 main takeaways that the Cornman had and none of them were all that positive after this loss. 

The first of which is Casey Thompson is/was our guy. Though Casey Thompson shows flashes of Hiseman-caliber moments (like his Northwestern scramble and pass to Isaiah Garcia-Castanada), he has shown his moments of being spooked by defenses. However, through it all, I have never been more confident that he is our best quarterback… until I saw Chubba Purdy play after Casey went down.

While the Huskers were winning at the time 9-6 and were looking very good, there was one single play that changed the complexion of the game. I don’t point fingers at players often, yet the moment Rahmir Johnson dropped the wheel route pass, that was the moment the entire game flipped on its head. With him dropping it and the Huskers using a run play that-shockingly- went nowhere, Casey dropped back to pass which started the catastrophic fall. The offensive line missed the blocking assignment straight up the A-gap, leading Casey to get hit as he threw causing an interception and the Huskers to drop their only true quarterback to the ground. While Casey has taken hits and gotten up before, he stayed down and didn’t return. The momentum changed, the Illini scored and then the rest of the game was history. I truly believe that if Johnson catches that ball, and gains the 20 yards, the Huskers change the play calling and lead to Casey Thompson not damaging his hand again. But those are all what-ifs. What was shocking to all Husker fans was just how awful the backups played. Logan Smothers got one drive where he threw it once and rushed it twice while Chubba Purdy got the entire second half to show off his noodle arm and poor decision-making. Casey Thompson didn’t always seem like the best quarterback yet, with Chubba lighting up the stats for Illinois proved for me to be grateful for what he have. 

As we prepare for the 4-week gauntlet, we can only pray that Casey isn’t done for the season, or else that one hope we had for making a bowl game and keeping Mickey as our head coach is out the door. 

Speaking of Mickey Joseph, he has done a very good job of holding together and arguably strengthening this Nebraska football team without the guidance of Scott Frost. Scott Frost left a damaged unit and Mickey Joseph has led this team to a very tolerable 2-3 record under him. Yet, what once was thought to potentially be Mickey’s team for the considerable future, I, along with many other Husker fans, am left wondering if Mickey has a shot at leading this team past this season. I want to say yes, however, I just feel that this loss took the winds out of the “Big Mick Energy” sail leading Trev Alberts to look even more diligently elsewhere to find an answer. This isn’t to say that I don’t think Mickey Joseph will leave the program, I just think that he will resume his “Assistant Head Coach/Wide Receivers Coach” role that he had under Frost. Mickey Joseph is saying all the right things, doing all the right things, and recruiting all the right people, but I still wonder if it will all be enough to keep him as head coach of Nebraska. 

Finally, Raiola is not the guy. Donovan Raiola has made our offensive line go from bad to worse this season with so many missed assignments and flat-out laziness from the guys at times. Having Bryce Benhart pretend to be spider-man on the blocked extra point attempt does not look good for Raiola and his job. While Scott Frost saw that the number one quarterback in the 2024 recruiting class was Raiola’s nephew Dylan, who the Huskers held for an official visit this weekend, it’s clear it’s all for not as Raiola needs to be replaced. Illinois under Bret Bielema knows how to play Big Ten football in the trenches with bullying on the lines and running the ball down the defense’s throats. Saturday the Huskers fell into that rabbit hole leading the Huskers to lose yet another game to a beatable Big Ten opponent and it's clear, winning a Big Ten game means having a strong offensive line meaning Raiola needs to go. 

While the Huskers lost another Big Ten game, the attention -for me at least- moves again towards next season. I will always support our Huskers but I just hope we can end the season on a high note and look to build with the recruits that Mickey has reeled in already and the many more that may follow after a new coach is named. Until then, I will no longer believe the Huskers are competitive and recognize that the Huskers are still rebuilding. 

Until next week when the Minnesota Gophers come to Lincoln, all we can do is hope for the best and believe a brighter future is ahead… and the Cornman will continue his ongoing disappointment. 

Go Big Red.