Highest and lowest player grades from Nebraska’s loss to Minnesota
Nebraska opened its 2023 campaign with a road loss to Minnesota. While the loss was tough to swallow, there’s enough to build toward as the team went toe-to-toe with a good Minnesota squad.
The Cornhuskers now prepare for an old Big Eight rivalry game against the Colorado Buffaloes. Colorado is coming off a season-opening upset win against TCU.
Before looking to their upcoming rivalry game against Colorado, we look at the highest and lowest player grades from the offense and the defense. Grades are courtesy of Pro Football Focus.
See who on the Husker offense and defense made the grade after Week 1 of the college football season.
Offense Five Highest
The Cornhuskers’ offense had an overall offensive grade of 56.9, but this was mainly aided by the run game that graded out at 74.4.
Pos. | Player | Snaps | Grade |
QB | Heinrich Haarberg | 2 | 84.8 |
HB | Gabe Ervin Jr | 21 | 74.6 |
WR | Marcus Washington | 20 | 71.6 |
WR | Alex Bullock | 42 | 66 |
WR | Jaylen Lloyd | 4 | 65.2 |
Offense Five Lowest
While we look at the players who contributed the best, we also have to look at the players who graded out the worst. This included Turner Corcoran, who played 56 snaps and added a pass block grade of zero.
Pos. | Player | Snaps | Grade |
WR | Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda | 37 | 52.0 |
TE | Luke Lindenmeyer | 6 | 49.4 |
HB | Anthony Grant | 13 | 48.0 |
TE | Thomas Fidone II | 39 | 44.8 |
T | Turner Corocan | 56 | 44.1 |
Defense Five Highest
When a final score is as low as 13-10, you have to give credit to both teams defenses’ ability to keep the attacking offense in check. That’s why, when taking into account snaps played and the grades given, defense has the advantage here.
Pos. | Player | Snaps | Grade |
CB | Quinton Newsome | 69 | 72.8 |
S | Javin Wright | 31 | 71.9 |
CB | DeShon Singleton | 66 | 71.8 |
DL | Bash Hutmacher | 55 | 68.6 |
LB | Luke Reimer | 55 | 68.0 |
Defense Five Lowest
Even though it was against Minnesota, the bottom five of Nebraska’s defense still played considerably better than the offense. Even so, you can credit the offensive woes as the reason for the loss with the late-game turnovers.
Pos. | Player | Snaps | Grade |
CB | Tommi Hill | 16 | 56.2 |
DL | Ty Robinson | 36 | 51.0 |
ED | Chief Borders | 26 | 50.6 |
ED | Blaise Gunnerson | 40 | 50.0 |
DL | Cameron Lenhardt | 40 | 40.5 |
Notable players not mentioned
Somehow Jeff Sims managed to avoid placing in the top or bottom five grades for the Nebraska offense. This is mainly due to how one-dimensional Sims was at the quarterback, and the fact Nebraska ultimately lost the game on his shoulders.
QB: Jeff Sims – 55.4 Overall, 31.1 passing, 77.2 running
The offensive line also deserves flowers for holding up in the passing game. Three offensive linemen graded 84 and above in the passing game and played more than 10 snaps.
G: Ethan Piper – 64.0 overall, 87.0 pass block, 64.8 run block
G: Nouredin Nouili – 63.7 overall, 84.0 pass block, 60.2 run block
G: Henry Lutovsky – 62.3 overall, 85.1 pass block, 60.0 run block
Omar Brown, who pulled in one interception Thursday night, also didn’t land among the five best or worst. This is mainly due to allowing six receptions on 10 targets for 50 yards.
CB: Omar Brown – 59.2 overall, 77.5 run defense, 53.6 coverage
Though he didn’t record a sack, John Bullock played a role in flushing the quarterback out of the pocket multiple times. In fact, no player applied more pressure than he did.
LB: John Bullock – 62.5 overall, 35.1 run defense, 77.5 pass rush
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