After an offseason full of lofty praise and expectations, Tanner Lee had his first rough outing as Nebraska’s starting quarterback in Saturday’s loss at Oregon.

The junior completed 19-of-41 passes (46 percent) for 252 yards, three touchdowns, and a whopping four interceptions in his second career start with the Huskers.

While it was a disappointing step back for the Tulane transfer, head coach Mike Riley made sure to note that Lee was far from NU’s only issue against the Ducks.

“As our offense goes, Tanner will go right along with it,” Riley said. “We can do a better job of protecting him, we can do a better job of being really detailed with our pass routes, and he can do a better job with some decision making and location of the football.

“He has shown exactly what we know he can do, and he’s good. He can make the throws and there’s (been) some beautiful plays. What we need is consistency. It’s football, and that’s not going to change. To be called good, you have to be consistent. That’s our whole offense right there.”

Offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf echoed Riley’s sentiment following Monday’s practice, saying there were still plenty of positives for Lee to take away from the game.

That said, Langsdorf said Lee was well aware that there were just as many areas where he needed to improve.

"I thought he missed some throws," Langsdorf said. "We talked about some of those that he missed. I thought he a little bit high on some stuff... He was probably pressing a little bit, especially trying to get back in it and probably tyring to put a little too much on his shoulders.

"I think he pressed a little bit, but he made some nice plays too."

The support for Lee also came from his teammates, who said the players around him were just as responsible for the offensive inconsistency.

Senior receiver De’Mornay Pierson-El said Nebraska’s wide outs could have helped their quarterback by hauling in several catchable passes that were dropped.

“Tanner put the ball where we can catch it,” Pierson-El said. “We have to come down with it, period. That’s on us. We’re supposed to catch it. If it’s in our radius, you’ve got to catch it.”

- Robin Washut

Even though Matt Farniok knew most of last week that he was in line to make his first career start against Oregon, it didn’t do much to calm his nerves when he took the Autzen Stadium field for the first drive.

The redshirt freshman got the nod in place of senior David Knevel, who was sidelined for the game with an ankle injury he suffered in the season opener.

“It was really kind of the whole week,” Farniok said of the nervousness surrounding his first NU start. “The senior guys on the o-line, Tanner (Farmer), they were like, ‘Hey, we’re just playing football. You were recruited for this and this is why you’re here. You’re here to play in these games. Just relax and play football. Trust your technique and just go.’”

Farniok said one player who really helped him prepare for the moment was Knevel, the guy he replaced.

“He was a major factor in keep me relaxed,” Farniok said. “Throughout practice he was like, ‘Hey on this play settle down, you’re going too fast. Relax. Breathe.’”

With Knevel already listed as doubtful for Saturday's home game vs. Northern Illinois, Farniok should once again be in Nebraska’s starting lineup this week.

Now with his first start under his belt, Farniok said he should be a little more calm and collected this time around.

“I feel like it’s definitely going to get easier from a nerve standpoint to being kind of thrown into a fire at Oregon,” Farniok said. “I mean it’s not really like an easy place to start at, and I feel like once I was able to control my nerves there, now as I progress and keep going, it’ll be a lot easier to stay calm and keep growing.”

- Robin Washut

It’s said that in order to play cornerback you need to have a very short memory.

Despite helping allow more than 350 passing yards for the second week in a row in Saturday’s loss to Oregon, Nebraska’s cornerbacks seem to have already put the game behind them.

“It’s a new week,” sophomore cornerback Lamar Jackson said. “Of course we lost, but at the same time, that second half was a strong half for us. We didn’t just leave humiliated. We mourned the loss that night and maybe the next day, but it’s Monday now, and we’ve got to prepare for Northern Illinois.

“We don’t have time to look back on all the negative things. We’re going to learn from it and move forward.”

Redshirt freshman Dicaprio Bootle put much of the blame on himself for the secondary’s performance. In his mind, the third-and-long touchdown he gave up on Oregon’s opening drive swung the momentum entirely in the Ducks’ favor.

But even he was ready to put that game in the past entering preparations for Northern Illinois this week. In fact, Bootle said he actually couldn’t wait to review the Oregon game film to help him get better going forward.

“It’s not hard to watch at all, honestly,” Bootle said of Saturday’s film. “We went through it, and it’s watching what we already went through. I just want get stronger from this… If anything. I was eager to watch the film to see what can I do in practice this week to make myself that much better.”

- Robin Washut

Saturday morning, Bootle tried to mentally prepare himself for the first road start of his young career.

But 3,200 miles from Eugene, Ore., the safety of his family was a more important concern, as a Category 4 hurricane approached Bootle’s hometown of Miami.

"Saturday morning, I was really focused on the task at hand,” Bootle said, "but after the game, I was checking in on the weather, what path the storm was taking, that kind of stuff.”

Hurricane Irma, a storm that rocked the southeastern United States over the weekend, left close to 15 million without power, according to the Miami Herald.

Bootle checked in with his loved ones early and often, but when it came to game time they told him to focus on football.

"I cared very much about what happened (in the game) and moving forward, just correcting my mistakes, the team mistakes, and just getting better from here on out," Bootle said.

"There’s a time for everything and my family didn’t really want me to worry about them too much, so I just put that in the back of my head and just went out there and played as hard as I could.”

Irma is the latest in what seems to be a concentrated string of natural disasters in North America.

A few short weeks ago, Kalu, senior running back Adam Taylor, and sophomore defensive end DaiShon Neal saw many of their family and friends deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in the Houston area.

Other Florida natives on Nebraska’s roster include senior cornerback Chris Jones, freshman linebacker Guy Thomas, junior linebacker Sedrick King, and senior cornerback Boaz Joseph have likely been keeping a close eye on the path of Irma.

- Matt Reynoldson

***Langsdorf said that while Nebraska did score 35 points with 361 total yards against Oregon, the Huskers didn’t really play well on offense. He said the third down percentage was awful, and there were way too many hits on the quarterback.

Had it not been for some explosive plays, there really wasn’t much consistent production from the offense at all.

***Both Langsdorf and offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh were clearly not pleased with NU’s pass protection. Those issues also go for the running backs and tight ends, and Langsdorf said Lee needed to get the ball out a little quicker at times too.

***Asked if he was worried about Lee’s confidence after that game, Langsdorf quickly replied: “No.” Langsdorf said Lee came back with a really good practice on Monday.

***Though Tre Bryant’s status is in the air for the Northern Illinois game due to his knee injury, running backs coach Reggie Davis said he fully expects Bryant to play on Saturday.

***Langsdorf said freshman Jaylin Bradley has “some real talent” and has continued to get better by the practice. “I’m excited for him,” Langsdorf said. “I think he’s going to have a bright future.”

***Davis said one thing that has made Bryant so good has been his patience in waiting for running lanes and holes to develop. He said there a lot of running backs who don’t have that skill, and Cavanaugh said the offensive line loves blocking for Bryant because of that.

***Langsdorf compared Northern Illinois’ defense to what Nebraska saw against Arkansas State. They’re mainly a 4-3 scheme but feature a fast and aggressive front seven that throws a lot of different pressures at teams.

***Langsdorf said he thought Monday’s practice was really good and that the players came back with great energy.