Grades and Players of the Game from Nebraska's 9-7 loss to Iowa State

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME: Traye Robinson, running back. His fumble was the most understandable of the bunch, and he ran with forward lean and toughness. Robinson wasn't worried about picking through holes – he wanted to gain yards. Novel idea, huh?

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE GAME: Ndamukong Suh and Barry Turner, defensive linemen. Both spent a lot of time making tackles and making life difficult for Iowa State quarterback Jerome Tiller when he did choose the pass. Phillip Dillard and Sean Fisher had strong games as well.

GRADES

QUARTERBACK: C Zac Lee stayed on rhythm in the first half and threw a whale of a deep ball to Niles Paul – which should have been the touchdown that broke the game wide open – but that confidence disappeared in the second half. So did his accuracy. Lee is a below-average quarterback right now, and has been for a month. He can't roll out, he can't run the zone read and he can't locate receivers over the middle without throwing behind them. Shawn Watson and Bo Pelini are apparently comfortable with that.

RUNNING BACK: D Robinson played pretty well; Roy Helu, who looked hurt, really did not. Two costly fumbles from NU's best offensive player – when he's healthy. Marcus Mendoza made a token appearance. It would seem Nebraska's fortunes rest on getting Helu healthy and Robinson holding on to the ball.

WIDE RECEIVERS/TIGHT ENDS: D Drops, bizarre fumbles, so-so perimeter blocking, an inability to catch anything that isn't in stride – this stuff gets old. Lee doesn't help these guys much, and they don't help him much, either.

OFFENSIVE LINE: B There were moments where the big boys dominated up front. But, once again, when Nebraska claimed it would trust the line to plow open some holes, it kept retreating to the passing game whenever it had the chance. Mike Caputo subbed nicely for Jacob Hickman, at first glance. This game wasn't on the line. It could have played better, but it was, in many ways a clean game.

DEFENSIVE LINE: B+ Iowa State gashed a hole here and there, especially on drives near its own goal line, but the Cyclones found little daylight on many plays. Suh and Turner were outstanding, while Cameron Meredith subbed in well for an injured Pierre Allen. But Jared Crick has to stay on that fumble.

LINEBACKERS: B+ Phillip Dillard, Sean Fisher and Will Compton all played quite a bit – and quite well. Dillard was a bit tardy once or twice on the zone read, as was Fisher, but it was a physical, hard-hitting effort. Now – cause a turnover, will you?

SECONDARY: C Iowa State only tried one long pass all game. It worked for a touchdown. No matter what else the secondary did in the game – ultimately, for better or worse, it gave up the winning touchdown on a poorly thrown jump ball. A shame.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B Alex Henery redeemed himself with two excellent punts downed inside the 10-yard line. ISU's fake punt obviously hurt, but the Cyclones just made a good call and executed it nicely Niles Paul and Tim Marlowe were OK on kickoff returns.

GAME MANAGEMENT/PLAYCALLING: C- Cody Green should have started. Should have played, at the very least. By not even giving him the opportunity to win the job on Saturday, offensive coaches are essentially requiring him to outlearn and outperform Lee in a practice lab environment. Which he probably can't do. Beyond that decision, we thought's Watson original plan – quick throws on screens and stop patterns – was a good one. The switch to power football seemed to work, too. Then, in the fourth quarter, he ditched it. Why? Nebraska was not good in the two-minute drill, either, for either half. Defensively, Bo wasted another blitz midway through the third quarter, when he brought heavy pressure on ISU QB Jerome Tiller, who simply rolled out and found an open man.

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