As he tried to process what had just unfolded following Nebraska’s embarrassing 56-14 drubbing at the hands of Ohio State, Bob Diaco did his best to focus on whatever positives he could regarding his defense.
But to avoid any confusion of what his ultimate evaluation was of the Huskers’ performance, NU’s first-year defensive coordinator made sure to be brutally honest.
“Miserable night. Miserable night. Miserable night...” Diaco said. “It’s all disappointing. It’s all disappointing. Nothing that wasn’t disappointing about tonight’s performance on any level.”
A week after being steamrolled by Wisconsin’s offense for the final quarter and a half in a 38-14 defeat, Nebraska was then completely boat-raced by Ohio State to the tune of 56 points, 633 total yards - the fourth-most allowed in school history - and an opponent-record 41 first downs.
The Buckeyes never punted in the game, and after scoring touchdowns on their first eight possessions, finally recorded their first stalled drive with less than five minutes to go in the fourth quarter and their third-string quarterback in the game.
Head coach Mike Riley had a hard time explaining what all went wrong last Saturday night even several days after the fact. But a factor that was as concerning as anything else was how often the Huskers’ were completely out of position even before the snap.
“What I would say is most disappointing was not necessarily anything about the plan, it was just the execution of the plan,” Riley said. “Some of it - when you get beat physically, if it’s a one-on-one and you get beat and then you just have to make a tackle, I get that.
"When you absolutely aren’t in your right spot or your area or on your right man, that’s disappointing to me… We didn’t give ourselves a chance to play because we weren’t in the right place a lot of times.”
Now in a desperately-needed bye week, Nebraska ranks 94th nationally in scoring defense, 76th in total defense, 69th in run defense, and 74th in pass defense.
As it stands, the Huskers are on track to post statistically their worst defensive season yet since Riley took over in 2015.
Yet amid all of the gloom of an ugly first half of the season, Diaco insisted there was still reason for optimism for the Blackshirts. While it may not look like it, Diaco said all of the growing pains his young group was enduring would only make them better going forward.
“That’s exactly it,” Diaco said. “That doesn’t feel good, and it might not make everybody happy - I’m sure it doesn’t - but that doesn’t make it any less real. That’s real. These players, in a lot of instances, are learning how to play on the job as young players, and they’re doing a good job…
"But in the game, there are some moments of some very youthful, inexperienced play… So as a coach, the silver lining of this dark, miserable cloud is that the players are improving through experience.”
With all of the unknowns regarding the future of Riley, Diaco and the rest of the coaching staff at Nebraska after this season, there are certainly no guarantees that the defense will have the time necessary to fully take hold of Diaco’s scheme.
“We’re just getting started. We’re just getting started,” Diaco said. “I just got here, a lot of new players are playing, and we are just getting started with our unit. We’re just getting started with our culture, which has been under a spectacular amount of strain and attack.
"We’re just getting started, and some of these players are just getting started, these young guys, and they’re going to be really good. We’re going to be really good.”
