3 Nebraska Cornhuskers to blame for another blown lead in Week 1

Nebraska couldn't get out of their own way against Minnesota.
Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback Jeff Sims
Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback Jeff Sims / Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 3
Next

Nebraska Cornhuskers to blame for blown lead: No. 2 RB Anthony Grant

When protecting a lead late, ball security should be the No. 1 thing on the running back's mind in particular. The mantra on every carry should be, first and foremost: Do. Not. Fumble.

Anthony Grant needed a reminder of that before he took a handoff with five minutes to play and the Cornhuskers in full kill-the-clock mode.

Rahmir Johnson had just popped off a six-yard run to convert a third-and-four. Nebraska had a 94 percent win chance at that point, per ESPN.

Then Grant fumbled and it was all downhill from there.

The forced fumble wasn't even particularly exceptional. The running back was just holding the ball too out in the open for a defender to take a swat at.

This may be where Matt Rhule takes a chunk of the blame because he actually called out Grant for his fumbling issues during fall camp. If it was an issue in camp and didn't get cleaned up, that's on the coaches.