Nebraska OC Dana Holgorsen says Husker backs missed running lanes vs. USC

Dana Holgorsen held his arms out wide as he detailed his frustrations with Nebraska footballs run game.

In his first game as Nebraskas offensive coordinator against USC, Holgorsen said he was pleasantly surprised with the NU offensive lines toughness and the way they opened running lanes up front.

The frustrating part was that those opportunities werent always seized by Nebraskas running backs.

When I can push the back and theres a hole like this and the backs not in it, its discouraging, Holgorsen said while demonstrating the size of the gap with his arms.

We just gotta get those guys to open their eyes and trust the blocks and hit it.

At halftime, I told the running backs coach (EJ Barthel), They need to hit that thing better because theres some holes out there.

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The Huskers ran for 119 yards against USC, averaging 4.8 yards in a performance that was fairly efficient but not game changing.

For the most part, thats been the story of the season for Nebraska on the ground.

As a team, NU has put together the No.

99-ranked rush offense which runs for 124.3 yards per game, while each of its top three running backs Dante Dowdell, Emmett Johnson and Rahmir Johnson are averaging 4.4 yards per carry or better this season.

So, whats the glaring weakness in the Nebraska backfield? An inability to break off big runs and the lack of a dominant workhorse back stand out.

No Husker back has run for 75 yards or more in a game this season, with Dowdells 74-yard performance against Colorado standing as the teams best this season.

Dowdell has run for 50 or more yards in eight of Nebraskas 10 games this season, while Emmett Johnson has done it four times and Rahmir Johnson just once.

Nebraskas committee approach didnt change in Holgorsens first game with the Huskers, though that situation was impacted by Rahmir Johnson missing the contest and Dowdell being limited with a foot injury.

Against USC, head coach Matt Rhule said it was the Nebraska offensive lines best game of the year, and that because of that, NU left a ton of yards out there.

Those missed opportunities showed up in two ways, with players not seeing the gaps as Holgorsen described, or with Nebraska running backs getting into one-on-one tackling opportunities where one missed tackle could spring a big play only to falter and get tackled.

We couldve run the ball for a lot more yards than we got, Rhule said.

The 20-yard gain couldve been 80 just with a block here (or there), so there definitely was some improvement but there needs to be more.

The ground game will be crucial to Nebraskas upcoming matchup against Wisconsin on both sides of the ball, with NU coaches also feeling improvements need to be made on defense.

After USC ran for 185 yards against the Huskers, most of which came during the second half, defensive coordinator Tony White said Nebraska was not good enough against the run last week.

NU was playing catch up the whole time against the USC rushing scheme and wasnt able to adjust, White said, an issue he places solely on his shoulders to get fixed.

Some of the stuff in there was okay and it fit up well, but they started doing some other things and I didnt adjust fast enough to it, so I didnt give the guys a chance to play, White said.

Itll be difficult for Nebraska to know what to expect from a Wisconsin offense that recently parted ways with its coordinator, Phil Longo, over a slow start to the season.

Nebraska can expect a steady dose of running back Tawee Walker, who averages 18 rushing attempts per game.

A great run game helps any change like that, White said.

Nebraska also needs to get its own run game going in a big way.

While Wisconsin boasts one of the nations best pass defenses with a unit that ranks No.

8 nationally, a No.

88-ranked run defense that allows nearly the same amount of yardage is far more vulnerable.

If Nebraskas running backs can simply take advantage of the opportunities in front of them, the Huskers could break through with the first 75 or even 100-yard individual rushing performance of the season.

To Holgorsen, the coach tasked with improving the NU offense in a short amount of time, the gaps are there all thats left is to run through them with purpose.

You get it up to the second level, and we need to get some backs that can make some guys miss in the open field, Holgorsen said.

...

I was pleased with the scheme and I was pleased with what it looked like (against USC), but we do have to get more production.

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