Third-and-long isn't great, but it's third-and-manageable that's hurting winless Huskers

Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez (2) is pressured by numerous Wisconsin defenders during first-quarter action at Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday.Nebraska coaches and players have lamented this week the fact that the Huskers through five games have far too often found themselves in third-and-long.

That’s true, but maybe even more pronounced is NU’s struggle on third-and, well, let’s call it manageable.

The Journal Star compiled third-down data from the Huskers’ first five games and came up with the following tallies:

All of that adds up to the Huskers’ current third-down conversion percentage of 31.7 percent, dead last in the Big Ten and No. 122 out of 129 in the nation.

But here’s the rub:…