Matt Rhule calls out 'silly' narrative that Nebraska cannot run the ball

There has been an increased focus on the Nebraska offensive line in recent weeks. That’s also led to some scrutiny on the running game, which head coach Matt Rhule doesn’t think is fair.

Still, the offensive line is a question mark. In the last two games, the Cornhuskers have given up 12 sacks. At the same time, in those games against Michigan and Michigan State, Nebraska rushed for just 43 yards and 67 yards respectively, with sack yardage coming off those rushing totals.

Rhule has had the chance to look at those issues along the offensive line. They’re varied, creating the sack issue. However, he did want to separate that from the actual rushing offense.

“I saw a lot of good things and I saw some other things that have to be improved.” Matt Rhule said. “Some of the sacks are on them. Some of the sacks are on other people. So, I think it’s just — right now Emmett Johnson is third in the league in rushing. So the narrative that’s out there that we can’t run the football is silly.”

The reality is that, at least from a statistical viewpoint, Nebraska has struggled to run the football. The Cornhuskers are 102nd nationally in rushing offense coming out of Week 6. That’s on the back of 129.2 rushing yards per game. It’s a mark that’s good for 14th out of 18 Big Ten schools. Emmett Johnson has, far and away, been the leading rusher for Nebraska this season. He has 84 carries for 474 yards and seven touchdowns. The next closest back statistically is Kwinten Ives, who has 16 carries for 119 yards and two touchdowns.

“College football, you take away sacks. Are we giving up too many sacks? Yes. That’s what I love about Dylan Raiola,” Rhule said. “On one of them, he said that’s on me, ‘I was holding the ball.’ A third down sack doesn’t really bother me as much as a first or second sack because if you just hurry up and get the ball out of your hand and don’t get the first down anyway, you’re punting the ball. We don’t want sack fumbles. There were just some times there, as we all saw, that things kind of got a little out of whack and out of kilter. We have to be better, but I don’t think it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh. We can’t block anybody.'”

Nebraska is now 118th in sacks allowed nationally. They’re giving up 3.0 sacks per game. Within the Big Ten, that’s good for 15th in the conference. This comes in a season where the Cornhuskers have had turnover at the tackle positions, in particular.

“We had nine plays for 38 yards in the first quarter. We had a horrific second quarter, unlike anything I’ve ever been a part of. Let’s call it like it was, but we had a 104-yard third quarter and like a 103-yard fourth quarter so that’s on pace to be about a 420-yard day, but we just didn’t play well there for a while. What I was happy about was that the guys just kept playing and they didn’t panic,” Rhule said.

“We have the ball in the red zone, and you go back and watch the all-22 Dane Key runs and over route, he’s wide open, it’s a walk-in touchdown. They blitz the safety, and not that we can’t block them, just the left tackle just busts and doesn’t block him. It’s just a mental error. So we fix the mental error and we keep coaching. It’s what we’ve been talking about all year, just trying to improve what we’re doing. Some of them, the quarterback is just trying to hold on and make a play. If you want to live with the great plays you have to live with some of those plays too. We’ll keep getting better, but the narrative that hey we can’t block anybody, I mean we have to block better, but we just have to be more consistent.”

All of this is going to impact the quarterback, Dylan Raiola. Just a sophomore, he seems to have taken a leap forward. However, a lack of balance in the offense and an offensive line that’s leaving room for improvement puts more pressure on him. So, he and the rest of the Nebraska offense will need to continue to navigate that.

Matt Rhule and Nebraska sit at 4-1, even with the issues along their offensive line and in the rushing game. Still, they’ll need to figure things out quickly before a tough road trip on Saturday against Maryland.