3 reasons Nebraska Football will beat Northwestern in Dublin

LINCOLN, NE - OCTOBER 2: Running back Rahmir Johnson #14 of the Nebraska Cornhuskers scores as safety Brandon Joseph #16 of the Northwestern Wildcats looks on in the first half at Memorial Stadium on October 2, 2021 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images) /

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(Journal-Courier) /

2. Better team speed

When scouting Northwestern’s film, a problem emerges very early on: they don’t have a lick of speed.

In some cases, this is by design. Northwestern is a classic Big Ten football team that wants to grind you into a paste by the end of the game. Yet, last year, that speed factor hurt them far more than in other years. It becomes a problem when receivers cannot create separation, or when defensive backs cannot stay with their man.

Other teams were simply faster and could sustain the pressure for much longer. That’s to be expected of a 3-9 team, but it doesn’t help that they’re facing a Cornhusker team that did look the part at times, that did compete with a playoff team in Michigan until the bitter end.

Meanwhile, Northwestern was 2.3 yards per play worse than their opponents, on average. They plodded while others ran.

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