Through Nebraska’s first two games of the season, its offense accounted for a total of 10 rushes of 10 or more yards in 90 attempts.
The Huskers' lone rush attempt of 20 or more yards came compliments of sophomore Maurice Washington against Colorado.
Early on, the offensive line didn’t get much push, a series of errant snaps in Week 1 didn’t help and, overall, the Huskers just flatly couldn’t get much going on the ground.
In the past two weeks, though, NU has nine rushes of 20-plus, including six last week against Illinois.
Parker Gabriel shares insights from head football coach Scott Frost after practice on Thursday, Sept. 26, 2019.
That’s helped the Husker ground game go from worrisome to relatively rosy in short order. After breaking loose against the Huskies and putting together a dominant performance against Illinois — 61 carries for 357 yards and three scores before a trio of kneel-downs to end the game — Nebraska is looking more and more like the group that by the middle of 2018 could hang its hat on running the football effectively.
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“It’s progressed week after week and I knew it would,†offensive line coach Greg Austin said. “Our kids work, they just work, put their heads down. We didn’t like the way we performed against South Alabama, got better against Colorado but still had some issues, we got better. Then Northern Illinois presented us with some different issues but things were better in that game and then this game was another step in the progress.
“So we’re looking to take that next step. Game 13, we’ll be looking to take that next step.â€
The next step, of course, will be the most difficult yet.
No. 5 Ohio State comes to town with the Big Ten’s third-best rushing defense through four weeks. The Buckeyes have allowed just 1.7 yards per carry, 60.3 rushing yards per game and given up just one rushing touchdown.
Nebraska is up to No. 4 in the Big Ten in rushing yards per game (215.3) and fifth at 4.6 yards per carry thanks to improvement up front and from the ball-carriers and a 6.0 average over the past two weeks.
Head football coach Scott Frost talks about the week's preparations for Ohio State after practice on Sept. 26, 2019.
“It’s always a work in progress; you’re never looking at a finished product,†Austin said. “If you’re looking at it that way, ‘Oh we’re all-world and we got all these stats — I didn’t know we had (4.6) yards per carry. I didn’t. I just know that, ‘Hey, I need to hit this block better. I need to put that foot down to my instep and not my toe.’ Those are the things that get you the yards per carry. Not the stats and just saying, ‘OK, we need to get better in the run game.’ But what do we really have to get better at? They’re drilling down on that and they’re doing a damn good job of it and you can see it in their play.â€
Freshman Wan’Dale Robinson keyed NU’s comeback effort against Illinois and ran 19 times for a career-best 89 yards. Washington has been a big-play machine and is Nebraska’s leading rusher at 268 yards with an average of 7.7 per carry.
Washington has four carries of 20-plus yards through four games after logging six total as a freshman.
Mills churned for just 63 yards on 23 carries his first two games with NU, but has 161 on 23 carries in his past two. He’s got a team-best five rushing touchdowns but also needs to hang on to the ball, as the 5-foot-11, 215-pounder has lost a fumble in three of the Huskers’ four games.
Then there’s sophomore quarterback Adrian Martinez, who rushed for 99 yards in the second half against Illinois and is up to 234 on the season after a slow start. He logged his three longest rushes of the season — 18, 24 and 44 — down the stretch last week and may be counted on heavily this week.
A year ago in Columbus, Martinez carried the ball seven times on Nebraska’s opening touchdown drive alone and a career-high 20 times overall in the Huskers’ 36-31 loss.
Could he be in for another heavy workload against the Buckeyes?
“If they’re going to allow him to run the ball for whatever reason with regards to the ride-zone option or the (run-pass option) game, then that’s what’s going to end up happening,†quarterbacks coach Mario Verduzco said.