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Huskies won’t look past Nebraska-Omaha
As the football Huskies got back to work Monday morning, they were faced with the fallout of Saturday’s loss to MSU, Mankato.
The 6-2 Huskies, now on playoff life support, must win their final three games to secure second place in the NCC and have any shot at a postseason berth. They must do it after losing to a significantly less talented opponent, which can be a tough assignment for a team just acquainting itself with success.
“We have a 24-hour rule, which says we can celebrate a win or mourn a loss for 24 hours and then get ready for the next game, leave it behind,” said senior defensive end Gabe Padayo. “Saturday night pretty much sucked, Sunday sucked.”
After the shock wore off, they found the positives and began to move forward, as they have done religiously all season.
“I think it was more of an eye opener than a step back,” junior linebacker Reed Hentges said. “I think everybody took it hard and we know we’re a better team than the way we played on Saturday. I don’t think it really set us back in that we think our season’s over.”
If that notion crossed anybody’s mind, it will only take until 1:06 p.m. Saturday to figure out otherwise. SCSU’s opponent, the University of Nebraska at Omaha (4-4, 4-2 NCC) is the top rushing team in the North Central Conference and has terrorized the Huskies in recent seasons. UNO holds four consecutive wins over the Huskies, who haven’t scored on the Mavericks since a 30-20 loss in 1999. Wins of 63-30 in 1998, 36-0 in 2000 and 45-0 last year have characterized UNO’s recent conference success. They have been one of the NCC’s best teams since 1996, winning or sharing three conference titles since then.
“Since I’ve been here, the last couple of times they’ve put on a show on offense,” Padayo said. “They did pretty much whatever they wanted to last year. It was a no-contest, really. This year, it’s different. We’re a little bit more sound, so it should be a good game.”
The Mavericks might turn out to be one team that won’t go for the jugular against the Huskies’ secondary. They rely on the run and run well. They average just under 220 rushing yards per game. Senior running backs James E. Johnson and Johnnie Nolen would each start for most other NCC teams and newly-anointed starting quarterback Brian Masek only makes the rushing threat even more real.
“He gives them a real good running attack,” said Huskies’ head coach Randy Hedberg. “He does a very good job of running the option. I think he has six touchdowns rushing, so we have to be very aware of where he’s at.”
The last time the Huskies saw the option was at Augustana, where the Huskies dominated the Vikings’ running game and forced them to go to the air almost exclusively. If the Mavs do choose to go to the air, they have a very reliable option in junior wide receiver Ryan Krause, who is something like Ben Nelson-light, in that he gets the bulk of the balls through the air. He has more than half (636) of their total receiving yards (1117) and five of six receiving touchdowns.
On defense, the Mavs suffered from the loss of 340 lb. junior defensive tackle Travis Moten, who has been sidelined with injury and eligibility problems. But they have benefited from the addition of redshirt freshman linebacker Taiwo Onatalu, who has been on a mission this season, recording 79 tackles including 12 for loss. They have also seen a lot of production from defensive back Randy Stella, who transferred from the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Stella added to an already strong UNO secondary featuring cornerback Thomas Hubbard and strong safety Lawrence Butler. Defensive end Buck Rasmussen has 32 tackles, including three sacks, giving them a strong presence on the edge of their line.
From the sidelines
- Injured center Andy Kaczor was in uniform against Mankato, but did not play. Hedberg said Kaczor received a special knee brace on Thursday that will let him practice this week and remarkably, he may be available against UNO. Kaczor suffered a ligament injury that was expected to keep him out until the season finale at North Dakota State at the earliest.
- Free safety Matt Nicholson saw his first action in several weeks against Mankato, but aggravated his abdominal injury and is questionable for the rest of the season.
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