RUNNING GAME (A)

Huge holes and great running, at least early on. Brandon Jackson, in particular, showed good patience in finding holes on his 24-yard touchdown run. Funny thing, though. Six of Jackson’s 21 carries came on the first series of the game. Why not go to him more often in the second half?

PASSING GAME (C)

Zac Taylor had nine consecutive completions to close the first half, and Maurice Purify made a great tight-rope run to finish off his 22-yard touchdown reception. Those were the highlights. Receivers ran poor routes and dropped multiple passes, and Taylor was pressured too much. He also had his share of overthrown passes.

AGAINST THE RUN (D)

Yes, Oklahoma State has one of the nation’s better rushing attacks, but this, at times, looked way too easy. The Cowboys gained yards in chunks. The run to the boundary was particularly effective, but OSU also had too much success up the middle. Seemed as though the linebackers and secondary had a devil of time getting off blocks.

AGAINST THE PASS (C)

Just when you thought Adarius Bowman had gone AWOL — bam! — the split end emerges and makes a huge play. The 45-yard touchdown before halftime (Bowman’s first reception) was a huge momentum swing. Andre Jones was burned again deep, this time on a rather gutsy third-and-9 pass. That 55-yard reception by D’Juan Woods set up OSU’s go-ahead touchdown.

SPECIAL TEAMS (F)

As Bill Callahan put it, a complete collapse and meltdown. And we’re not even thinking of the two botched extra points and the missed 42-yard field goal. Kickoff coverage is becoming more and more of a concern. Let’s accept the fact Nebraska has nobody that can kick the ball into the end zone (why, we don’t know). But the long returns, including off squib kicks, are troublesome.

GAME MANAGEMENT AND PENALTIES (C)

A block-in-the-back penalty negated what would’ve been a long punt return by Cortney Grixby. The personal foul on Maurice Purify negated a gain Nebraska would’ve had on a pass-interference call.

PLAY CALLING (C)

Nebraska ran the ball on the first seven plays of the game, and Jackson seemed unstoppable. Coaches, though, began shying away from Jackson in the second half, and long before Nebraska fell behind. Why? Also, on the first drive, why not throw into the end zone on third-and-goal?

OVERALL (D)

And here we thought Nebraska was past these sudden meltdowns in winnable road games. Guess that’s not the case. Yeah, the Big 12 North is still out there, but until the Huskers shore up some problem areas — most notably in special teams — nobody should make any claims about anything.