How to lead games and win the turnover battle
If it were that easy, every team would do it, but increasing takeaways is becoming a theme of Nebraska's offseason.
Somehow, after 5-1 Nebraska was obliterated by burgeoning juggernaut Indiana in October 2024, the Huskers found themselves down just 14-6 at the half in their next game at No. 4 Ohio State. The Huskers got a three-and-out to open the second half and then clawed their way from their own 13-yard line over 12 plays, the drive ending in an improbable1 47-yard John Hohl field goal—14-9.
On the Buckeyes’ next offensive play Malcolm Hartzog intercepted Will Stein and returned the ball 34 yards to the OSU 7. It felt massive in the moment—a feeling quickly dashed when NU couldn’t punch the ball in and turned it over on downs—but in the context of the Matt Rhule era to date, I think that pick is even bigger. I think you can make the case it’s the most consequential Husker interception of the past three seasons.
Nebraska’s defense has 26 interceptions over the past three seasons, 99th nationally. Only two of those have come while NU trailed, and one of those was on an end-of-half Hail Mary while already trailing 28-6 at Indiana, essentially an interception on the stat sheet only.
Three more of the 26 interceptions since 2023 came with the score tied. Ceyair Wright’s pick-6 staked the Huskers to an important 7-0 lead on the road at USC in 2024. In 2023, Javin Wright’s interception in the third quarter against Maryland turned a 7-7 game into a 10-7 NU lead. Two weeks later, a Tommi Hill interception with 55 seconds left in a 10-10 game at Iowa seemed to swing things…until Iowa actually swung it with an interception of its own two plays later, leading to a walk-off field goal. Those were all big interceptions, but given those games were in a relatively neutral state, I can’t put them ahead of Hartzog’s pick. If the Husker offense can gain 7 yards in Columbus, NU is up on the No. 4 team in the country (and eventual national champion) in its stadium.
The rest of this newsletter is about the rest of Nebraska’s interceptions, the nearly 77% that have come with the Huskers already leading. If that sounds like a lot, it is, but it’s not fall-out-of-your-chair uncommon. Over the same three-year stretch, 2023–25, Georgia, Notre Dame, Oregon, Alabama and Clemson all recorded more than 80% of their total interceptions while leading.
This is the thing that is often overlooked when it comes to turnovers, the topic that can’t go away at Nebraska until someday it does.
