The Little Ball of Hate was in Minneapolis for the weekend, but was able to keep track of the teams. Let’s get into it.
Nebraska recovers with a 28-10 victory over Purdue
After struggling through a sluggish first half, the Cornhuskers did what they needed to do after losing to Illinois. The special teams are still a problem. Is there anyone on campus who can kick a 45-yard field goal? Hell, a kids soccer player could do a better job. Three missed/blocked field goals? Ugh. The offense was definitely moving the ball.
This game should have been 48-10 easy. Nebraska had 210 total yards, Purdue 91 yards. Thankfully, the defense played great the entire game, especially in the first half, giving the offense time to get their heads out of their asses.
Cornhuskers wide receiver Jahmal Banks celebrates the TD pass from Dylan Raiola.
Purdue was limited to 50 yards on the ground for the game and 224 total yards. Except for a garbage TD late in the fourth quarter, the Boilermakers were shut down through most of the game.
Raiola looked really good, with some nice deep passes, and finished 16-26 for 244 yards and a TD. NU had a ogod rushing game, 161 on the ground. Jacory Barney averaged 16.5 yards per rush.
So 4-1, heading into the teeth of the schedule. Definitely need a win vs. Rutgers next week because after that it gets very rough. There is a bye week after that, which will be greatly needed. After that it is: at No. 23 Indiana, at No. 3 Ohio State, vs. UCLA, at No. 11 USC, vs. Wisconsin, at Iowa. I see anywhere from 7-4 and 9-2. Ohio State is a loss for sure, NU needs two wins from games versus Indiana, USC and Iowa.
Offense needs to continue to improve and fix special teams issues.
The Twins tank the second half in a sad way
The Little Ball of Hate witnessed the sad end to the Twins season live on Saturday, and it was another sad display, 8-2. It was so bad that Kyle Farmer had to pitch the last inning.
Pitching was an issue throughout the second half, as was defense and hitting…ugh.
The Twins finished the season 28-38, so no surprise they fell out of playoff contention. It was a 92% likelihood they would make the playoffs on Aug. 1st. Then they just flushed the season down the toilet.
Yes, injuries were a problem, injuries are a problem for every team during a 162-game season. I get it, not having Lewis, Buxton and Correa in the lineup together for much of the season did not help. But there were way too many times games were blown in late innings.
It was the defense blowing games, bullpen, lack of clutch hitting…across the board. Hoping the young blood that showed up during this season can breathe new life into this team next year. Kepler will be gone, Carlos Santana likely gone too. Hopefully the pitching staff health improves.
We will see???
Unlike the Twins, the Orioles righted the ship in time and are the top-seeded Wild-card team. Should be interesting to see what happens.
As for the Orioles, onto the Playoffs
Like the Twins the Os were heading south the during second half of the season. They were 33-33 to finish the season. The difference is they righted the ship at the end to get into the playoffs. Injuries hurt them too, luckily players returned in the nick of time to help push them into the playoffs. As we saw last year, anything can happen in the playoffs. Arizona and Texas were both wild card teams. All teams with the four byes lost in the second round, so who knows!!!
TCU rolled over the Jayhawks. Another bowl game for the 1-4 Jayhawks is looking slim.
Jayhawks football takes another step back
KU lost to TCU 38-27, moving to 1-4. This is a disappointing start, considering all of the hope heading into this season. Kansas is at Arizona State, then home against Houston. Would like to see two wins there, because the road gets rocky after that, vs. three ranked teams.
Another Bowl game does not look good.
Ravens look like a Super Bowl team, 35-10 vs. the Bills?
Derrick Henry was unstoppable, 24 carries for 199 yards, 1 TD. It seems like the Ravens have finally figured out how to use him the right way. He is like a linebacker who runs a 4.5 40 yard sprint. I wouldn’t want to be a safety trying to tackle him. With Henry and Lamar running downhill, the Ravens offense will be hard to stop. The offense finished with 427 total yards.
Henry was in beast mode against the Bills. The Ravens on the ground are scary.
Meanwhile the defense held the juggernaut Bills offense down most of the game. Josh Allen could never get on track with a big time pass rush. Allen finished with 180 yards passing on 16 of 29 passing.
If the Ravens can continue dominating on the ground and a strong pass rush, another run through the playoffs is likely.
That 0-2 start seems so long ago. Next games: at Cincinnati, vs. Washington, at Tampa Bay, at Cleveland. The Little Ball of Hate doesn’t see why the Ravens can’t be 6-2 after those four games.
Tidbits
Unfortunately the Buffs have figured something out and are now 4-1. Next games: vs. Kansas State, at Arizona, vs. Cincinnati, at Texas Tech. So I guess we get to see more about Coach Prime on College Gameday, on every damn commercial…ugh.
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