Nebraska’s offense has been a resounding success so far this season.
Starting a true freshman at quarterback like Dylan Raiola can come with some growing pains. While things have not been perfect all the time, Nebraska has still looked like a powerful offensive team for most of the time they have been on the field. Huskers coach Matt Rhule discussed what he thinks his team does well that allows them to move the ball successfully.
“I think we’ve had the ability to get the ball to a bunch of different people,” Rhule said. “You can’t sit there and key in on ‘hey, they really like to favor (Isaiah) Neyor, hey they really like to favor this guy.’ If you throw in the pass interferences, I think we had seven 20+ yard plays, I think that would’ve been 10, 11, 12. We’re able to go out and throw general tempo dropbacks, and we’re holding up in protections. Emmett (Johnson) and Rahmir (Johnson) were excellent at blitzes. I think that’s allowed us to do some catch-and-run type things.”
The Huskers’ receiving numbers have been extremely balanced so far this season. Neyor is the leader in yards and touchdowns, with 291 and four, respectively. Jahmal Banks has the most catches with 20 and also has 252 yards. The Huskers also have four more receivers with over 100 yards on the season. One of them is running back Rahmir Johnson, while another running back, Emmett Johnson, also has 96 receiving yards.
“You have to cover the whole field when you play against us,“ Nebraska offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield said Tuesday. “I’m really pleased with different traits by different receivers – fast guys, big guys and the ability to push the ball down the field by the quarterback and the layers of protection that go along with that that allow him to do so.“
Rhule commented on some things he would like to see the offense improve on, including eliminating some unforced errors. He believes that holding the ball longer on offense will help his defense force more turnovers.
“There’s some things I’d like to see more of,” Rhule said. “We weren’t great in the red zone. The first half, we were 0-for-2 in the red zone and we were 2-for-2 in the second half, which is why the game changed. Third down was disappointing. You look at it, it was 4th and 1 and we false started. It was 3rd and 1 and we false started. I told our guys, it’s time for grown man football. ‘I thought I heard him call it’ – enough of that. If we can stay on the field a little bit more, maybe get a few more turnovers with the defense, we’ll really see some explosive things happen.”
This week, Nebraska will be in for one of the toughest defensive challenges it will face all year. Rutgers is led by coach Greg Schiano, who is known for his defensive prowess. Aside from leading Rutgers as head coach for two different stints, he also spent time as Ohio State’s defensive coordinator. Schiano has plenty of experience dealing with star quarterbacks and figuring out how to stop them.
Rutgers also has the second-best red zone defense in the country. Opponents have entered the red zone 11 times, finishing with touchdowns just four times and field goals twice. Still, Nebraska wants to stay true to itself.
”It doesn’t change anything,” Satterfield said.
Even though Schiano may not have the best talent on the defensive side of the ball at Rutgers, Rhule knows his scheme can still be dangerous for a true freshman quarterback to go against. Schiano will have his team prepared for Saturday.
”You face some teams like Rutgers, who don’t give up explosive plays, they make you earn it,” Rhule said. ”Coach Schiano doesn’t give up explosive plays. They’re going to play quarters, they’re going to make you earn it. They will pressure you. We’re built like we want you to pressure us, we get the ball out of our hand. They sit there and play three or four quarters with rugged, rugged players and they’ll try to knock you back into the quarterback’s lap. It’s a whole different animal that we’re facing this week with the way they play.”
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