For all the struggles Nebraska has endured during the season, one thing has been a continued problem: dropped passes. Once again on Saturday, as Nebraska was marching down the field and came to a third down, Martinez would sling the ball out to open receiver, only to have it dropped.
Brandon Kinnie has been one of the worst offenders of this all year long. I can’t even begin to explain how he continues to drop passes. As sad as it is, there’s a good amount of people who are surprised every time he does catch the ball.
Sad thing is, this has not just been a problem this year for the Huskers. Yes, Taylor did struggle to pass the ball accurately at times this past year and a half, but even when he makes it out to a receiver, somehow it ends up getting dropped.
If Nebraska wants to have any chance of making it to the B1G 10 Title Game, somebody is going to have to step up and start catching everything thrown their way. Nebraska can run the ball all they want (most of the time), but it is going to be the passing game that is key.
There have been some opportunities that past few weeks to really get the passing game going. Versus Northwestern, Taylor completed 70% of his passes. 70%! Taylor was far less accurate this week, back down to 50%, but going with the theme, how many of those were dropped. Nebraska did have a possession in the first quarter that they went 3 & out on, and I believe all three passes were dropped.
The Nittany Lions, like many B1G teams, are making Taylor beat them with his arm, rather than his legs. He’s risen to the challenge, but the receivers have not.
It’s time for them to rise up as a group, make some plays, and help out their offense.
Why didn’t you say it – they dropped 5 or 6 balls Sat. What would M’s stats be with those completions? What would the score have been then? Would that have been the difference against Northwester? It’s shocking to see it over and over! Sit them down if they can’t catch. Catch 1 and drop 2 isn’t good enough to play in high school let alone in college. Give up on the Big 10 championship game, Michigan State isn’t going to loose again. Nebraska had it’s chance, they dropped the ball.