For the past month all of the talk was how Nebraska’s offense was going to be impacted by the loss of four-year starter Tommy Armstrong and whether backup Ryker Fyfe would be capable of leading the team to a victory.

As it turned out, Fyfe was the least of the Huskers’ concerns on Friday night.

Making just the third start of his career, the fifth-year senior ended up completing 17-of-36 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for another score.

Fyfe’s passing total was the second-most in NU bowl history behind only Armstrong’s 381 in the 2014 Holiday Bowl vs. USC.

His numbers probably would have been even better had his receivers helped him out a little more, especially early on when there were three bad drops in the first quarter.

“(Fyfe) played a heck of a game,” head coach Mike Riley said. “He made all the plays he could have despite a bunch of pressure, and kind of crawled our team back into a chance to win it late.”

There’s just no other way to put it.

Nebraska’s defense was slow, out of position, and when it actually had chances to make tackles, far too often they just flat-out missed.

The lack of physicality from the Blackshirts was arguably the most frustrating and disappointing aspects of the loss, especially after the string forgettable performances they had to close out the regular season.

There was a lot of criticism over NU’s poor defensive effort on social media, and former Husker linebacker Scott Shanle had one of the more honest takes on Twitter:

“@scottshanle: Everyone wants to teach this Nebraska defense to tackle today. Forever and always tackling is attitude 1st and technique 2nd. Gotta want to”

It was never a secret that one of the biggest concerns Nebraska had heading into its matchup with Tennessee was being able to contain the slew of playmakers the Volunteers had at every skill position.

What may have caught the Huskers off guard, though, was how well UT was able to mix in that plethora of depth with a blazing fast offensive tempo.

When the Vols got things rolling offensively, they would push the pace and be able to sub in backup receivers and running backs who - according to NU defensive end Ross Dzuris - were just as good as the starters.

Nebraska’s first-team defense may have been able to stack up OK, but Tennessee had a noticeable advantage with its numbers as the game wore on.

Another top storyline all month for Nebraska was how its offensive line would be able to slow down Tennessee’s vaunted defensive end Derek Barnett.

Barnett came into the game tied with the great Reggie White for the school-record with 32 career sacks, and he definitely lived up to that billing on Friday.

Whether it was Nick Gates on the left side or Cole Conrad on the right side, Barnett was a force all game long.

He ended the night with six tackles, two pass breakups and four quarterback hurries, and on NU’s second-to-last drive he sacked Fyfe to pass White for the all-time UT record.

"His only sack? Seems like he was back there all the time," Fyfe said of Barnett. "But yeah, felt like I had a lot of hurry-ups and I always had to kind of know where he's at on the field and which side he's on. Yeah, I thought he was a good player."

As if Nebraska’s injury situation wasn’t bad enough entering the bowl game, things only continued to get worse as the day went on.

Safety Antonio Reed, who was starting in place of the suspended Nathan Gerry, left the game in the first quarter after experiencing a high heart rate and irregular breathing.

Then starting running Terrell Newby was knocked out of the game with an undisclosed injury, leaving Nebraska with only Devine Ozigbo and Mikale Wilbon available from its original top-four backs. Freshman Tre Bryant did not suit up for the game due to a hamstring injury.

As if all that weren’t enough, Fyfe said that he may have suffered a mild concussion when he was sacked by Barnett late in the fourth quarter and had to leave the game.

Riley did not give updates on any of NU’s injuries after the game.

Brandon Reilly’s senior season had been difficult in more ways than one, but if nothing else he ended up saving one of the best performances of his career for his final game as a Husker.

The wide receiver finished with four catches for a team-high 98 yards and two touchdowns, marking his first two receiving touchdowns of the season and tying the Music City Bowl record.

Reilly’s 98 yards also ranked eighth all-time by a Husker in a bowl game.

His performance, which just so happened to happen in front of a slew of NFL scouts and front office personnel who were in attendance for the game, may have helped earn him some money looking ahead.

Devine Ozigbo anticipated going into the game that he was in store for a big workload after essentially becoming a non-factor to end the regular season due to a lingering ankle injury.

When all was said and done, the sophomore running back only ended up carrying the ball seven times, but he made the most of the action he saw by finishing with 66 yards - 51 more than any other Husker.

Ozgibo came up with the biggest rush of the game when he broke free for a 42-yard scamper that set up a touchdown.

That showed the burst that he had been missing since his injury was finally back, which is definitely a good sign for NU looking ahead to next year.

It only made sense that the one group who saw its position coach get fired after the regular season would end up being the most consistent for Nebraska in the bowl game.

Freshman punter Caleb Lightbourn led the way by averaging 42.7 yards on seven punts, including a long of 50 yards. Kicker Drew Brown also drilled his only field goal attempt of the game from 45 yards out.

The return game didn’t produce much better results than the rest of the year, managing just two kickoff returns for 28 yards and zero punt returns.

Even so, NU’s special teams were one of the few positives in an otherwise ugly game.

A season that was dedicated to the memory of the late Sam Foltz saw one last round of tributes to the former All-Big Ten punter.

Tennessee wore “SF27” decals on the backs of its helmets and presented a signed customized Foltz No. 27 UT jersey before the game.

After Reilly’s first touchdown, a 38-yarder in the second quarter, he did a small celebration where he pretended to punt the football and then pointed to the sky.

Reilly said he had been waiting to do that gesture for months, but wasn’t able to finally use it until he scored for the first time on Friday.

Even though the book on the 2016 campaign had only been closed for barely an hour, much of the Huskers’ talk after the game was about their excitement for the future.

Yes, this season ended with a thud after such a promising 7-0 start, but Nebraska’s players and coaches alike said there was plenty of reason for optimism about what the program has returning in 2017.

One of the main differences will obviously be at quarterback, as NU will usher in three new QBs who will give the offense a completely different look from what it’s seen the past seven seasons.

But there’s also excitement about the young talent coming up the ranks on defense, particularly on the defensive line and secondary.

That said, defensive coordinator Mark Banker admitted that there was still plenty of work to do on the recruiting front.

“We need to continue to bring in guys up front that have Big Ten size, but not only size, but speed,” Banker said. “We need to improve this team’s overall speed at the linebacker position and also at the secondary position, and then translate that also up front into guys who have the capability to come off the edge and rush the passer…

“As we recruit, that’s what we’re looking for, to be able to do that. That’s where we need to improve. Practice however we need to practice, but it has to start with us continuing to grow with the guys that we have in the program and the guys we continue to bring in.”