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Blackshirts in the Backfield · Husker Buzz

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  Speaker 1: Sean, I was at a wedding in Kansas City on
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  Speaker 1: Saturday night, and every time I checked in with the
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  Speaker 1: Husker game, we were just trashing North Dakota's quarterback. It
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  Speaker 1: was good to see the Blackshirts getting in the backfield
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  Speaker 1: on Saturday.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, you saw Nebraska really get pressure on Jerry Kaminsky.
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  Speaker 2: He had the worst game of his career. The second
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  Speaker 2: lowest output he's ever had. The only time it was
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  Speaker 2: that low, they ran the ball for like 400 yards
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  Speaker 2: so they didn't have to throw. This game, Nebraska, I mean,
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  Speaker 2: I felt like immediately just started getting after him. 205
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  Speaker 2: yards of offense for North Dakota, five sacks by the Blackshirts,
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  Speaker 2: constant pressure, and they finished with 99 rushing yards. So
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  Speaker 2: the score was 34-7, and that makes it look better
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  Speaker 2: than it probably really was. I mean, Nebraska... I felt
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  Speaker 2: like the game was never in doubt. They rushed for
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  Speaker 2: over 100 yards in the first quarter, and I thought
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  Speaker 2: that set the tone with just the way they ran
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  Speaker 2: the ball, finishing with 277 yards on the ground. You're
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  Speaker 2: going to win a lot of games by a lot
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  Speaker 2: of points if you can run it the way Nebraska's
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  Speaker 2: been running it.
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  Speaker 1: Who's our running back now? That's another thing I saw.
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  Speaker 1: I was like, oh, we've got Nelson in there. There's Rule.
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  Speaker 1: Who's our running back as we start off Big Ten
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  Speaker 1: play this week?
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  Speaker 2: It has to be Jamal Rule at this point. He's
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  Speaker 2: third in the Big Ten in total rushing yards. Nebraska
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  Speaker 2: is running the ball at a very high level, period.
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  Speaker 2: But you look at what Jamal Rule has done. He's
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  Speaker 2: on pace easily to have 1,000 yards. He has to
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  Speaker 2: average now just 74.6 yards per game to be a 1,000-yard back.
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  Speaker 2: But the scary thing is Makai Nelson... Only has to
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  Speaker 2: average like 92.7. I mean, so you've got two guys
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  Speaker 2: in Rule and Nelson both having really good starts. And honestly,
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  Speaker 2: Isaiah Mosey's pretty dang good, too. The trio has ran well, but...
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  Speaker 2: Jamal Rule, I mean, the big plays that he's given
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  Speaker 2: Nebraska the first two, three weeks of the year, 8.7
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  Speaker 2: yards a carry for the true freshman out of North Carolina.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and our quarterback, when he takes off and run,
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  Speaker 1: he's not too bad, and he'll run you over if
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  Speaker 1: you get in his way. Coach Rule loved seeing that,
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  Speaker 1: didn't he?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, Coach Rule on that play, at first I got
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  Speaker 2: to be mad at him for doing that. No, he
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  Speaker 2: was fired up. And I think the whole team was
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  Speaker 2: fired up when you, as Matt Rule said, when you
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  Speaker 2: see your field general lower his shoulder and go into
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  Speaker 2: a guy just in an early portion of a game.
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  Speaker 2: It just tells you the toughness of Anthony Calandria. I
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  Speaker 2: think he ran it only twice in that game, and
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  Speaker 2: that was one of the runs. He had a touchdown run,
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  Speaker 2: as we know, too. But I think the best is
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  Speaker 2: yet to come. I mean, I thought the offense was...
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  Speaker 2: At a certain point in that game, it's like, you
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  Speaker 2: know what, we're just going to keep running the ball
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  Speaker 2: with these guys. We don't really have to do a
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  Speaker 2: whole lot down the field and try a whole lot.
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  Speaker 2: Anthony Calandria has been outstanding, ranked as one of the
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  Speaker 2: highest quarterbacks still on pro football focus in the country.
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  Speaker 2: I believe this morning he's number two in the country
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  Speaker 2: with his overall pro football focus ranking.
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  Speaker 1: So we look at the score, 34-7, and of course
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  Speaker 1: you see other programs playing considered to be lesser opponents,
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  Speaker 1: winning by 80-whatever to nothing, and Oregon did, and what
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  Speaker 1: Nebraska has done this point in the year. There are
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  Speaker 1: some people who just say, all right, we had North Dakota,
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  Speaker 1: not really sure who they are coming in here. We
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  Speaker 1: only won 34-7. Should Husker fans be let down that
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  Speaker 1: it wasn't more lopsided?
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  Speaker 2: No, I mean, the North Dakota guys, it's a really
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  Speaker 2: good team, and The style that they play, it's hard
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  Speaker 2: to beat them by more than that. There were no
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  Speaker 2: turnovers in that game on either side, by Nebraska or
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  Speaker 2: North Dakota. I thought that score was even more lopsided
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  Speaker 2: than what it looked. North Dakota is going to be
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  Speaker 2: a team. They're ranked sixth in the FCS. They're going
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  Speaker 2: to win a lot of football games here down the stretch.
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  Speaker 2: They made them look bad. I think you have to look.
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  Speaker 2: They're one of 12 on third downs, one of 12.
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  Speaker 2: So every stat you look at, every metric in this game,
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  Speaker 2: I thought Nebraska held the ball for close to 36 minutes.
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  Speaker 2: They were four for four in the red zone for touchdowns.
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  Speaker 2: I mean, there were so many good numbers for Nebraska
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  Speaker 2: that came out of this game. Even the penalties were
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  Speaker 2: just four for Nebraska. I mean, that's a solid number.
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  Speaker 2: They improved in that area. Yes, special teams is probably
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  Speaker 2: still the one thing I think that a lot of
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  Speaker 2: Husker fans have questions as we head now into this
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  Speaker 2: Michigan State game where the Huskers are an early five-and-a-half
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  Speaker 2: point favorite heading out to East Lansing for a 4 p.m.
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  Speaker 2: kickoff game on Saturday.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, they had that one late hit penalty that helped
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  Speaker 1: them out on their touchdown drive. But, yeah, as you
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  Speaker 1: look at what Nebraska has been doing or not doing here,
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  Speaker 1: what is it that you want to see the Big
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  Speaker 1: Red improve on as we get into conference play starting
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  Speaker 1: on Saturday with Michigan State?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely the special teams area is up there. You
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  Speaker 2: still hope and wonder about the running game. Can this
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  Speaker 2: pace continue against real competition, conference-level foes? They've run the
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  Speaker 2: ball 40 times a game on average here, which is
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  Speaker 2: a lot. I think it's 41 runs or 40 runs
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  Speaker 2: per game there. That's about seven more attempts per game
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  Speaker 2: than what they were doing a year ago. So a
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  Speaker 2: clear commitment to running the football with these backs. Can
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  Speaker 2: that continue now, though, when you start seeing better teams
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  Speaker 2: with better paid players, to be blunt?
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  Speaker 1: I appreciate your bluntness, Sean, and your time this morning.
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  Speaker 1: We'll talk again tomorrow.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks, guys.