Nebraska running back Yant eschews fast food and pizza as part of mission to build stamina | Football

Jaquez Yant verbalized his objectives for this spring in clear terms.

“My mission was to lose weight and try to build stamina so I can run more plays,” the Nebraska sophomore running back said. 

The fact he was so ready with his answer is a good sign for his team, as is his slimmed-down frame.

Oh, Yant wasn’t way overweight last season. After all, he rushed 47 times for 294 yards (6.26 yards per carry) and one touchdown, ranking third on the team in carries and rushing yards. On the other hand, 127 of those yards came against a Northwestern defense that ended the season ranked 119th nationally defending the run. 

So, yeah, Yant needed improvement, and specifically, to get lighter.

The 6-foot-2 Florida native played last season at about 250 pounds, he said, but now tips the scales at 232. 

His stamina has improved as spring practice has progressed, according to first-year Nebraska running backs coach Bryan Applewhite. 

“He couldn’t go two plays in a row the first day,” the coach said. 

That’s a problem in Applewhite’s world. 

“We finish runs,” he said of his backs. “If we’re on the 50 and it’s a run play, they have to go across the goal line at full speed, then you have to jog back because you might have to run the next play. But, yeah, (Yant) has done a good job of working to get himself into playing shape. But they all have. Because that’s the standard here, right?”

Yant seems to understand his coach’s demands. That’s why he’s eating more greens nowadays and making fewer trips to fast-food stops. 

Pizza, for instance, is a temptation he must resist.

“It wasn’t hard at all,” Yant said. “If you have your mind set on goals, you’re going to do whatever it takes to get there. I know that’s what I want, so I’m going to make sure I make that happen.” 

He actually wants to shed a few more pounds to 229, he said. 

“This is a good fit for me,” he said of his weight loss. “I feel more explosive. I feel way better at this weight right here than last year. I was kind of sluggish. I couldn’t make certain cuts and certain moves.” 

As Yant took questions from reporters last week, the conversation wound to last season’s 30-23 loss at Minnesota. On fourth-and-goal at the Gophers’ 1-yard line, with the Huskers trailing by five late in the third quarter, Yant took a handoff and stumbled forward, essentially going to the ground before being touched. 

“That was a heartbreaking moment,” he said. “I wish I could get it back. But we’re not looking back no more, we’re looking forward so we can have an awesome season this year. I mean, the past is the past. It sucks.”

The good news is, Yant feels he learned from last season, when Nebraska finished 3-9 with no losses by more than nine points. 

“I mean, you can have the most talent, you can have the No. 1 team, and if you don’t do the little things right, that can get you beat,” he said. “Like last year, it was close game, close game, close game, but we weren’t finishing them off because it was the little things. Each game, it was always something so little. 

“This year, that’s all the coach is focusing on. If you don’t do it right, you’re doing it again, and you’ll continue to do it.”

Let’s be clear: Yant is enjoying a strong spring through nine practices (out of 15). But Anthony Grant, a transfer from New Mexico Military Institute, has made a strong impression already, and sophomore Rahmir Johnson — who rushed for 495 yards (4.4 ypc) and four touchdowns last season — is trying hard to push his game to the next level.

Meanwhile, Gabe Ervin is working his way back from a knee injury suffered in the fourth game of last season.

“Man, there’s more smiles now,” Yant said. “There’s competition. I’m not going to single out anybody because we’re all one group. We’re pushing each other. Like Coach (Applewhite) says, there are standards. We’re making the standards higher and higher each and every day for each other, and for the team.” 

Yant wears a smile because he feels healthy.

“I’m feeling great, fast,” he said. “Whatever I want to do, I feel like I can do it.”