Instant reaction: Nebraska’s mind-boggling 13-10 loss to Iowa

Nebraska outplayed Iowa 98% of this game and it was the other 2% that counted.

The good news is that Nebraska is going to a bowl game for the first time in years, so that’s a positive and we can’t forget that. I know it’s hard, considering how gut-wrenching this loss was.

Kaleb Johnson is going to be an All-American and you saw a play that he got away with and it was the game winner for them. You can talk about the two field goals all you want, but really the game winner for them was Kaleb Johnson’s ability to break tackles and take the ball from distance.

We are going in the right direction. I think Dana Holgorsen is a great addition to the staff and I hope he stays around next year. I hope Tony White is still our defensive coordinator next year. I don’t think you can in any way, shape or form blame the defense for this loss because any time you only give up 13 points to a team you should win that game.

The offense is still on, and if there’s one thing that drives me crazy about Dylan Raiola, it’s that he’s too calm. There never seems to be a sense of urgency with him. I don’t think he lost this fight by himself. It didn’t help when we needed points and we needed yardage that Isaiah Neyor and a ball went right through his hands at a critical time in the game.

We don’t have a running back like Caleb Johnson who can take the ball the distance of the field and score touchdowns like that, and that’s probably a big missing component that Nebraska needs to be successful next season.

We don’t have a go-to, always-catch-the-ball receiver, and it would be nice to get that for next season.

I realize there’s probably going to be so much anger about this game and a lot of you just want to rip on the coaches or rip on Dylan Raiola and I really think that’s counterproductive.

As I point out in my video, go out and ask any other team that you’re a fan of if they’d prefer to have Dylan Raiola over the quarterbacks they have and you’ll probably get a 99% yes unless you talk with fans of the best teams in the country already having their five-star quarterbacks.

It’s a sad, horrible loss to Iowa, but don’t forget the fact that we improved this season and we seem to be going in the right direction.

Go Big Red.