10 things we learned from Nebraska's win over Maryland

Nebraska took an important step closer to bowl eligibility with a dominating 54-7 road victory over Maryland on Saturday.

Here are 10 of the most interesting things we learned from the game...

In a year where it felt like every possible bad break had gone against Nebraska, the Huskers finally found themselves on the good side of fortune on Saturday.

It was far from a perfect game, but NU kept getting one big play after another against Maryland to almost make it impossible not to take the game over completely.

Whether it was forcing seven turnovers and four takeaways, catching tipped passes in the end zone for touchdowns, or the Terrapins bobbling kickoffs or dropping open balls for potentially big gains, it was Nebraska’s day from start to finish.

Yes, Maryland is a bad football team – one of the worst that NU has played in a while. But the Huskers created some of their luck by taking advantage when opportunities arose.

Maybe as much as anything, the way the Huskers banded together and answered the call with their backs firmly pressed against the wall was the highlight of the year for Frost.

There was a point when Frost was looking out at Nebraska’s practice field on Wednesday and wondering who he’d even be able to suit up against Maryland.

A wave of illness made its way through the Huskers’ locker room this week, sidelining several key players for multiple days of practice and leaving some (like starting receiver Kanawai Noa) back in Lincoln because they were too sick to travel.

That group included junior receiver JD Spielman, who was hooked up to an IV as late as Saturday morning before the game trying to get his body hydrated enough to play. Frost said Spielman was actually dealing with food poisoning earlier in the week before coming down with the bug.

Junior running back Dedrick Mills was also one who got sick, as he hardly practiced leading up to the game and had to go to the locker room in the second quarter to get an IV.

Freshman linebacker Garrett Nelson was diagnosed with influenza B but still traveled with the team to College Park and suited up on Saturday.

“That’s what tough people do,” Frost said.

Despite barely even being cleared to play, Saturday was another record day Spielman.

He ended up with a game-high seven catches for 104 yards and two touchdowns in the win. Already one of the most productive receivers in program history, the junior’s breakout performance etched his name even more into the school record books.

That marked Spielman’s eighth career 100-yard receiving game, which ties Jordan Westerkamp for the second-most in NU history. He also tied Westerkamp for third on the career receptions list with 167, passing Nate Swift (166).

He also boosted his career receiving yards total to 2,512, putting him third on the all-time chart and vaulting Westerkamp (2,474), Swift (2,476), and Johnny Rodgers (2,479).

Spielman, now at 864 yards on the year, became the first Husker ever to record three 800-yard receiving seasons and owns three of the top-10 single-season receiving yardage totals in NU history.

The Eden Prairie, Minn., native also tied for 10th place in both touchdown receptions in a season (five) and a career (14).

Last but not least, Spielman became the seventh Nebraska player to reach 1,000 all-purpose yards three times and just the second to do it as a freshman, sophomore, and junior, joining only Ameer Abdullah.

Nebraska started its fifth different placekicker of the season on Saturday, giving the nod to sophomore walk-on and former UNL club soccer player Matt Waldoch.

The Geneva, Ill., native had arguably the best day of any Husker kicker yet, converting on all three of his field goal attempts (all from 29 yards) and all six of his extra points.

But Waldoch wasn’t the only pleasant surprise at kicker for Nebraska. Senior walk-on Harrison Martin, who just joined the team a few weeks ago, traveled with the team and made his Husker debut by drilling a 19-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter.

The Husker Sports Network reported during the game that sophomore Barret Pickering, the lone scholarship kicker on the roster, did not travel to Maryland because he was still in concussion protocol.

Pickering suffered a head injury while taking a hit on a kickoff last week vs. Wisconsin. Frost would only say that Pickering didn’t travel because of “health reasons.”

Despite Pickering’s injury issues, it looks like Nebraska may have finally found an answer at kicker, albeit much later than it had hoped.

Nebraska raised a few eyebrows before kickoff when freshman quarterback Luke McCaffrey was working with the wide receivers during pregame warmups.

It turned out that McCaffrey would have a big role at his new position on Saturday, as he saw playing time right away in the first quarter and continued to get reps as the game went on.

The former three-star athlete out of Highlands Ranch, Colo., caught his first-career pass for 12 yards (on a third-and-7) and threw a 28-yard completion to Spielman on a reverse pass in the second quarter.

McCaffrey then went back to his usual position and took over for Martinez at quarterback at the end of the third, where he completed 3-of-5 passes for 32 yards and rushed 10 times for 83 yards and a touchdown.

A big reason for McCaffrey’s new look had to do with Nebraska being without two starting receivers due to injury in Wan’Dale Robinson and Kanawai Noa, who did not travel to Maryland.

However, Frost said the position change was only a temporary fix given NU’s depth issues, and McCaffrey’s future was most definitely still at quarterback.

A week after putting together by far his best game as a Husker in the loss to Wisconsin, Dedrick Mills did everything in his power to be back on the field on Saturday.

Mills was one of a handful of Huskers who came down with an illness this week, and he was clearly still not back to 100 percent against Maryland.

The junior still managed to rush 12 times for 65 yards and a touchdown despite having to go to the locker room to get an IV, according to the Husker Sports Network.

With Robinson out, Nebraska was left with only true freshman Rahmir Johnson, senior Wyatt Mazour, and walk-on Brody Belt as its active running backs on Saturday. Getting that kind of effort from Mills provided a big lift to help NU put the game away early.

You have to keep perspective in a game like this with how bad Maryland was, but Saturday was, without a doubt, the most dominant four-quarter performance we’ve seen from Nebraska’s defense in years.

The Blackshirts were aggressive, attacking, and opportunistic from the opening drive and didn’t let up all day.

When all was said and done, the Huskers had forced a season-high seven turnovers, recorded a season-high six sacks, and held the Terrapins to a season-low 206 total yards (including minus-11 in the third quarter) and a mere 57 yards on seven pass completions.

Nebraska also pitched its first first-half shutout since 2016 (also against Maryland, coincidentally) and came a late fourth-quarter touchdown away from notching its first game shutout since a 33-0 win over Arizona in the Holiday Bowl.

The four takeaways (not counting the three turnovers on downs) were the most since getting four in the season opener vs. South Alabama. Nebraska also only had six sacks over its previous five games coming in and matched that on Saturday alone.

Fans had been clamoring for true freshman running back Rahmir Johnson to show what he could do in some meaningful reps this season. They finally got their wish on Saturday.

After only having three carries for nine yards on the season (all of which coming in mop-up duty vs. Northern Illinois), Johnson got his biggest workload as a Husker against Maryland with 18 rushes for 55 yards and his first career touchdown.

Much of that opportunity had to do with Mills being limited by illness. But Johnson showed Frost and fans that Nebraska has something to work with for future backfields.

Nebraska had already prepared to see a two-quarterback system from Maryland with its combination of Josh Jackson and Tyrrell Pigrome.

But the Huskers ended up seeing twice as many Terrapins under center on Saturday, as UM ended up playing four total quarterbacks for a variety of reasons.

Jackson got the start and only completed 4-of-12 passes for 33 yards while getting sacked three times. Then came in freshman Lance Legendre, who actually played pretty well with four rushes for 35 yards but was knocked out of the game with an injury on just his second series of the game.

Jackson took over on the next possession but then had to leave the game with an injury after the first play, which brought in Pigrome. The junior didn’t fare any better, completing three of his seven passes for just 24 yards.

Jackson returned for the next two drives before Maryland turned to redshirt freshman Tyler DeSue, who missed on his only pass and took a five-yard sack. Jackson checked back in and finished the day.

In all, those four quarterbacks combined to go just 7-for-21 passing for a total of 57 yards (and a long completion of only 12 yards) through the air.

After falling to 4-6 with last week’s loss to Wisconsin, Nebraska was left in a situation where it had to win its final two games of the regular season to clinch a bowl berth for the first time since 2016.

The Huskers accomplished the first step of that final push and then some on Saturday.

In a year with little for NU fans to cheer about, the win at Maryland at least gives tangible meaning to next week’s Black Friday rivalry against Iowa.

Even after a win over Illinois, the Hawkeyes were officially eliminated from Big Ten title contention this week. At 8-3, Iowa will only be looking to improve its bowl stock when it comes to Lincoln on Friday.

For Nebraska, though, this week’s finale will mean so much more. It goes beyond just finishing with a .500 record for the first time in three seasons and getting back to the postseason.

For this team, it would be a desperately-need sign that this program is heading back in the right direction, even if it’s only taking the small step of going to an insignificant bowl game.

For Frost’s message to truly take hold, the Huskers need reasons to believe that what they’re doing is working. Beating your division rival on national television on Senior Day to earn a trip to a bowl game would be about as good as it could get right now.