The morning after: Nebraska vs. South Dakota State

That was ugly. It's the only time I've walked out of Memorial Stadium following a win that I felt as if it were a loss. The Huskers deserved to lose. South Dakota State simply outplayed them.

So what went wrong for Nebraska?

Speed

South Dakota States defense is really fast. Possibly one of the fastest we'll see all year. That created problems for a Nebraska offense that is built around speed but wasn't able to outrun the defense the way it did in the first three games.

Play Calling

It's often said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. That's exactly what Shawn Watson does. He ran what amounted to the same three plays every possession even though it wasn't working. One of Watson's biggest weakness as an offensive coordinator is his inability to make adjustments. Part of the problem is the system he's using this year. The zone read is fine to use once in a while, especially with a quarterback as well suited to it as Taylor Martinez, but you cannot build an entire offense around it and expect to succeed. Eventually teams figure it out, and that's exactly what happened last night.

Quarterback

Taylor Martinez is the white Jammal Lord - a running back posing as a quarterback. That's a problem, because he was no threat to pass when the running game wasn't working. He showed that he doesn't have much for an arm and was ineffective, throwing for two interceptions. Part of his trouble might be attributed to Mike McNeil sitting out the second half with an injury, but there are other guys on the field who can catch. And one guy named Niles Paul.

When Cody Green came in during the fourth quarter, it really wasn't much of a change. Cody has a little better arm than Taylor, but not by much. On his first possession, he badly overthrew an open man that could have had a big gain, then on his second he underthrew an open man. Putting in Cody doesn't change our offense at all, as he's effectively the same type of player as Martinez.

Meanwhile, Zac Lee stood on the sideline watching, even though he's the one quarterback on the active roster who can throw. Perhaps the coaches know something we don't and he hasn't fully recovered from his offseason arm surgery, but if he was able to play he should have. He could have provided a change of pace and established some semblance of a passing game to take some pressure off the running game.