Mike Riley won't have to go far watching film of Saturday's season opening loss to realize that penalties, especially offensive penalties, killed the Huskers chances on Saturday against BYU.
While the Cougars committed THREE penalties on offense, Nebraska committed NINE offensive infractions alone (many of which proved to be drive killers throughout the game).
Of the six offensive possessions that ended in punts for the Big Red, four of them included penalties (including three with multiple penalties). Add in an interception, a fumble, and two missed field goals, and you probably understand how easily Nebraska could have won against BYU had they just "played clean" on Saturday.
Of 14 its possessions, 5 included at least one offensive penalty, 4 of which ended in punts (80%) and the other ending with an interception (20%). By comparison, of Nebraska's other 9 drives that did not include an offensive penalty, 4 of them ended in TDs (44%), 2 ended with FG attempts (22%), 2 ended with punts (22%), and the other ended with a fumble (12%).
Even if you keep the turnovers the same and just remove the penalties, by applying Nebraska's offensive efficiency percentages on non-penalty drives across all 12 other drives (instead of 9), this is potentially what the offense could have achieved Saturday:
12 Drives x 44% TDs Scored = 35 pts (5.33 Touchdowns Scored)
12 Drives x 22% FGs Attempted = 9 pts. (2.64 FGs)
12 Drives x 22% Punts = 2.64 Punts
It shouldn't have come down to a Hail Mary with one second left, because theoretically if Nebraska only made one FG (out of three attempts) during a penalty-free offensive game, they should have scored at least 38 points Saturday (and a meaningless TD at the end could have only pulled the Cougars within 4 points).
If you didn't see the game, and only looked at the box score, you would have thought NU was the road team (not the home favorite). BYU outgained Nebraska on the ground (132 to 126), and through the air (379 to 319), by playing the much cleaner game offensively for four quarters.
While Nebraska capitalized on the Cougar's lone interception of the game (with a 10 yard TD run by Terrell Newby in the 3rd quarter), BYU made the Huskers pay on two of its three chances to capitalize on a Husker turnover, converting a 15 yard TD pass to Mathews (after a Tommy Armstrong fumble in the 2nd quarter), and a 42 yard TD pass to Matthews as time expired (after a missed 4th Quarter FG by Brown).
The performance, while not quite good enough to win, did include several positives. Tommy's passing % (58.5%), yards per pass (7.2), his performance in leading the team on 3rd down (6-14, 42.9% efficiency), and in Time of Possession (32.53 min) were all above his career averages.
But on the flip side, the Husker offense as a whole averaged just 3.4 yards per carry rushing, ended with more turnover than BYU, and racked up 60 more penalty yards than their opponent.
The biggest mistake in the first half of the game (a fumble at the Nebraska 22 yd line) gave BYU a go ahead touchdown. Add in the fact the Huskers ended drives at the end of the 2nd and end of the 4th quarter with missed FGs (by the normally reliable Drew Brown), and the reality is, the worst case scenario for Nebraska heading into that last second play should have been overtime..
Obviously, having to work out the kinks of a first year offense against a veteran and experienced team proved too much for HCMR and the Huskers to overcome. But this coaching staff realizes that penalties are "preventable errors" and something that they can drill down on in practice (and improve upon throughout the season).
Here are some other interesting stats for the game:
% of drives that finished with a TD: 28.6%
% of drives that finished with a FG attempt: 14.3%
% of drives that ended with a Punt: 42.9%
% of drives that ended with a turnover: 14.3%
Average plays per offensive possession: 5.8 yards
Average yards per offensive drive: 28.9 yards
Average First Downs Per Drive: 1.6
Average Penalties Per Drive: 0.6
% of drives that ended in a punt that included a penalty: 66.7%
Average # of penalties per drive that ended with a punt: 1.3 penalties
% of scoring drives that included a penalty: 0%
Again, the clear trend here is that penalties killed Nebraska offensive drives, and it ultimately cost them a chance to put the game away in the second half when they had the chance. When your defense holds a team to 3 pts. for 29 minutes and 59 seconds in the second half, you should win 90% of the games you play (and Saturday should have been one of them).
Bottom-line: the offense lost the game Saturday for the Big Red. And the biggest problem was not between the lines, but between their ears.
GBR
While the Cougars committed THREE penalties on offense, Nebraska committed NINE offensive infractions alone (many of which proved to be drive killers throughout the game).
Of the six offensive possessions that ended in punts for the Big Red, four of them included penalties (including three with multiple penalties). Add in an interception, a fumble, and two missed field goals, and you probably understand how easily Nebraska could have won against BYU had they just "played clean" on Saturday.
Of 14 its possessions, 5 included at least one offensive penalty, 4 of which ended in punts (80%) and the other ending with an interception (20%). By comparison, of Nebraska's other 9 drives that did not include an offensive penalty, 4 of them ended in TDs (44%), 2 ended with FG attempts (22%), 2 ended with punts (22%), and the other ended with a fumble (12%).
Even if you keep the turnovers the same and just remove the penalties, by applying Nebraska's offensive efficiency percentages on non-penalty drives across all 12 other drives (instead of 9), this is potentially what the offense could have achieved Saturday:
12 Drives x 44% TDs Scored = 35 pts (5.33 Touchdowns Scored)
12 Drives x 22% FGs Attempted = 9 pts. (2.64 FGs)
12 Drives x 22% Punts = 2.64 Punts
It shouldn't have come down to a Hail Mary with one second left, because theoretically if Nebraska only made one FG (out of three attempts) during a penalty-free offensive game, they should have scored at least 38 points Saturday (and a meaningless TD at the end could have only pulled the Cougars within 4 points).
If you didn't see the game, and only looked at the box score, you would have thought NU was the road team (not the home favorite). BYU outgained Nebraska on the ground (132 to 126), and through the air (379 to 319), by playing the much cleaner game offensively for four quarters.
While Nebraska capitalized on the Cougar's lone interception of the game (with a 10 yard TD run by Terrell Newby in the 3rd quarter), BYU made the Huskers pay on two of its three chances to capitalize on a Husker turnover, converting a 15 yard TD pass to Mathews (after a Tommy Armstrong fumble in the 2nd quarter), and a 42 yard TD pass to Matthews as time expired (after a missed 4th Quarter FG by Brown).
The performance, while not quite good enough to win, did include several positives. Tommy's passing % (58.5%), yards per pass (7.2), his performance in leading the team on 3rd down (6-14, 42.9% efficiency), and in Time of Possession (32.53 min) were all above his career averages.
But on the flip side, the Husker offense as a whole averaged just 3.4 yards per carry rushing, ended with more turnover than BYU, and racked up 60 more penalty yards than their opponent.
The biggest mistake in the first half of the game (a fumble at the Nebraska 22 yd line) gave BYU a go ahead touchdown. Add in the fact the Huskers ended drives at the end of the 2nd and end of the 4th quarter with missed FGs (by the normally reliable Drew Brown), and the reality is, the worst case scenario for Nebraska heading into that last second play should have been overtime..
Obviously, having to work out the kinks of a first year offense against a veteran and experienced team proved too much for HCMR and the Huskers to overcome. But this coaching staff realizes that penalties are "preventable errors" and something that they can drill down on in practice (and improve upon throughout the season).
Here are some other interesting stats for the game:
% of drives that finished with a TD: 28.6%
% of drives that finished with a FG attempt: 14.3%
% of drives that ended with a Punt: 42.9%
% of drives that ended with a turnover: 14.3%
Average plays per offensive possession: 5.8 yards
Average yards per offensive drive: 28.9 yards
Average First Downs Per Drive: 1.6
Average Penalties Per Drive: 0.6
% of drives that ended in a punt that included a penalty: 66.7%
Average # of penalties per drive that ended with a punt: 1.3 penalties
% of scoring drives that included a penalty: 0%
Again, the clear trend here is that penalties killed Nebraska offensive drives, and it ultimately cost them a chance to put the game away in the second half when they had the chance. When your defense holds a team to 3 pts. for 29 minutes and 59 seconds in the second half, you should win 90% of the games you play (and Saturday should have been one of them).
Bottom-line: the offense lost the game Saturday for the Big Red. And the biggest problem was not between the lines, but between their ears.
GBR
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