Offense ‘not there yet,’ UTEP prep, running back logjam

Across 137 plays in Saturday’s closed scrimmage, Nebraska football coach Matt Rhule said, the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 offenses had some good moments — such as 14- and 11-play drives — but ultimately “got in its own way” too often as the team tries to deepen its “NFL-style” approach.

“I told them I feel like they’re really close to being a good team, but they’re not there yet,” Rhule said. 

The top offense, Rhule said, didn’t commit any turnovers, but committed four or five costly penalties. The No. 2 offense, Rhule said, may have committed as many as four turnovers.

“They keep acting like they’re the second group,” Rhule said of the second-team offense. “And they’re supposed to act like they’re the first group… it’s that group, to me, OK, we need you guys to come along.”

Rhule said he saw good things from the No. 3 offense. He challenged his staff, he said, to watch scrimmage tape and “make sure we’re playing the right guys.”

Bad teams make a jump to good teams when they’re able to do more than just know their assignments and execute, but also execute and “go make a big play.”

Who, Rhule said, is making those plays? That’s what the staff needs to figure out.

“Way, way further ahead than where we’ve been,” Rhule said. “We’ve got two weeks to buff it out, get it right.”

* Rhule ideally wants to winnow the running back room down to two guys who can share the vast majority of carries, going beyond good execution toward playmaking. NU may have as many as four guys — Rahmir Johnson, Gabe Ervin, Emmett Johnson and Dante Dowdell — who could play.

“It’s a good luxury that we have but someone’s got to emerge as ‘Hey, this is my thing,’” Rhule said. “Really, honestly, you need two. Two guys. In a perfect world, if one guy’s getting 20 carries and one guy’s getting 12 carries and one guy is a role player, then you’re really sturdy, really healthy. I don’t know who that is yet. And I don’t even know if I’ll know that after today. And we need to know that here shortly, because we’re not going to get to gameday and make that decision.”

* While Rhule said NU coaches have “interwoven” preparation for the team’s games against UTEP, Colorado, Northern Iowa and Illinois throughout camp, the Huskers will prep in earnest against the Miners starting Wednesday.

“They’re going to come out here, they’re going to try to run 200 plays,” Rhule said of UTEP’s tempo. “They’re going to take their shots, they’re going to challenge us all over the field. Defensively, they’re a multiple defense like ours.”

* NU’s pass blocking, Rhule said, has made a “jump” in the last week-and-a-half against Nebraska’s pass rushers.