Nebraska makes Memorial Stadium history in 45-42 loss to Georgia Southern
Scott Frost’s Nebraska tenure now includes another ugly loss.
The Cornhuskers lost 45-42 to Georgia Southern on Saturday night as the Eagles became the third Sun Belt team to beat a Power Five opponent in Week 2.
Nebraska had a chance to send the game to overtime as time expired but Timmy Bleekrode’s 52-yard kick sailed wide left. The defeat is the first time in 215 home games at Memorial Stadium that Nebraska has lost while scoring 35 or more points. And it drops Frost’s record at Nebraska to 5-22 in one-score games.
Nebraska allowed 642 yards of offense to Georgia Southern as the Eagles rushed for five touchdowns and averaged nearly eight yards a carry. Former Buffalo QB Kyle VanTrease scored the winning TD with 36 seconds left on a QB draw. His TD came less than three minutes after Nebraska’s Casey Thompson had scored what Husker fans thought would be the winning TD.
VanTrease threw for 409 yards as Nebraska’s defense couldn’t do much to stop Georgia Southern outside of two Marques Buford interceptions. The Huskers ran for 257 yards and threw for 318 themselves but it’s hard to win a football game when your opponent has over 600 yards of offense.
And it’s hard to be confident in your coach when that opponent is from a non-Power Five conference and your team has a history of crushing losses. Nebraska is now 1-2 in 2022 after losing to Northwestern to open the season in Ireland and winning a tougher-than-expected game against FCS opponent North Dakota in Week 1.
The Huskers were a prime bounce-back candidate in 2022 thanks to their porous record in one-score games. But It’s clear that any randomness in one-score contests does not apply to Nebraska and it’s fair to wonder if Frost will be the coach for the rest of the season if these defeats keep piling up. Nebraska plays Oklahoma in Week 3 before games against Indiana and Rutgers. If the Huskers lose just one of those games they won’t have a chance to be .500 until before a trip to Purdue on Oct. 15.
A .500 season isn't what many fans in Lincoln were hoping for. But that looks like a success at this point given the way Nebraska has played over its first three games. And it would also be the school's first non-losing season since 2016. At this point, a .500 record looks like a worthy goal.
