Two games into a football season, it’s easy to make a mountain out of a mole hill.
Without hitting the panic button just yet, Nebraska on offense has not, through 120-plus minutes of play, found the kind of depth and balance it thought it had over the course of the offseason.
Remember before preseason camp started, offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Troy Walters rattled off a dozen names he thought could contribute. During camp, he pointed to a group of incumbent players including seniors Mike Williams and Jaron Woodyard, sophomore Jaevon McQuitty and redshirt freshman Andre Hunt as the reason a heralded group of freshmen (not including starter Wan’Dale Robinson) was having a tough time cracking the two-deep.
Fast forward a few weeks, and that depth has yet to materialize on the field.
Hunt was suspended indefinitely late last month. Woodyard didn’t make the trip to Colorado due to a minor injury and Williams has played some but hasn’t registered in the stat book yet. McQuitty had one catch for 6 yards in the opener and hardly played against Colorado. Freshman Darien Chase traveled to CU but didn’t appear in the game. Two more freshmen, Demariyon Houston and Jamie Nance, were not on the travel roster. Sophomore walk-on Kade Warner is getting closer to returning from an injury that held him out most of camp and the first two games.
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“The guys understand what we’re doing, they understand the game plan going into the games, it’s just letting it rip, playing loose and playing fast,†Walters said this week.
Even starter and Cal graduate transfer Kanawai Noa hasn’t gotten involved in the passing game so far, going without a catch on five targets — none of them particularly close to the 6-foot, 200-pound flanker.
“He’s done everything we asked,†Walters said of Noa. “When he gets out on the field, he plays hard, he’s running good routes. Sometimes the read doesn’t go to him or Adrian (Martinez) throws it somewhere else. We’ve got him more in the mix. We’ve got to get balls to him, we’ve got to get him touches. He’s a great route runner, he’s going to be where he needs to be. We need to get the ball in his hands.â€
McQuitty’s grab is the only for a receiver besides Spielman (seven for 148 yards, TD) and Robinson (six for 68).
That, Walters says, is going to change Saturday against Northern Illinois.
“This game you’ll see more than three guys,†Walters said. "We’ve got to get more guys going, and that’s on me. I’ve got to get guys in early, get them in the flow of the game, because we’re going to need the depth as we continue the season.
“I’ll place all the blame on me. I’ve got to do a better job of getting guys in early, trusting that they’re going to do what they’re supposed to do and keep other guys fresh.â€
It’s early, to be sure. The sample size is still small, but so far NU’s passing mix looks different than it did in 2018.
Of Martinez’s 48 pass attempts, 58 percent have gone toward wide receivers, compared with 69 percent a year ago. Both the tight ends group (11.1) and running backs (12.9) are averaging many more yards per attempt than the receivers (7.9). Those numbers are skewed in part by the lower number of attempts and a couple of big plays (a 42-yard completion to Jack Stoll in Week 1 and a 75-yard touchdown to Maurice Washington in Week 2, specifically).
Martinez has completed half of his passes to wide receivers so far this year, compared with 64 percent for NU’s quarterbacks in 2018.
Some of that is drops — both Spielman and Robinson let accurate balls hit the ground against CU — and some is that Martinez has thrown the ball toward Robinson a couple of times in last-ditch, low-percentage spots.
The main issue, though, is that Nebraska doesn’t have the number of options right now that it thought it did during the offseason. There’s plenty of time for that to change, of course, but the sooner the better in Walters’ eyes.
“We’re just looking for guys to make plays, whether it’s to take the top off (a defense), whether it’s taking a 5-yard hitch and making a couple guys miss and turning it into a 20-, 30-yard gain. We’re just looking for more guys to contribute and make plays, because teams are going to start doubling JD and we need other guys to be ready to go.
“We’ve had a great week of practice with the other receivers and I know if their number is called, they’ll be ready to go.â€