On3 Roundtable: Nebraska football will look ‘more Big Ten’ under Matt Rhule

As Matt Rhule prepares to enter his first season at Nebraska, he brings a whole new brand of football with him. Rhule has experience with plenty of different systems thanks to past stops at Baylor, Temple and in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers.

With the Cornhuskers, Rhule will take all that he has learned to try to put together the best scheme. HuskerOnline‘s Sean Callahan joined JD PicKell for an On3 Roundtable discussion, where he explained why he thinks that will result in a more physical style of play.

“I think they’re gonna look more Big Ten, if that makes sense,” he said. “They’re gonna use fullbacks, tight ends. They’re gonna run downhill. The quarterback will run it as well. Last year, Casey Thompson did not really run or have a lot of designed run calls, especially after Scott Frost was fired. They still had some of that offense when he was there. Once he was gone, Mark Whipple really made it all what he did. I think the offense will look different. It’s gonna be physical, downhill.”

Nebraska has not had a winning season since 2016, so it’s clear a change in scheme is needed. The Cornhuskers bring back last season’s leading rusher Anthony Grant (915 yards, six TDs) and gets back a healthy Gabe Ervin after he dealt with injuries the past two seasons.

Additionally, Rhule brought in Georgia Tech transfer quarterback Jeff Sims to replace Thompson as the starter. Sims showed off his mobility with the Yellow Jackets, totaling 1,152 yards and 11 touchdowns on the ground the past three seasons. He also had 4,464 yards passing, 30 touchdowns and 23 interceptions.

Rhule previously had success with a mobile quarterback at Baylor, as Charlie Brewer rushed for more than 300 yards when the Bears went 11-3 and played in the Sugar Bowl in 2019. All that sets up for Nebraska to run the ball more more often than it did in 2022.

“They’re deep at running back,” Callahan explained. “Jeff Sims is 6-4, 220. He probably runs a 4.5 40. He has a very strong arm. So they’ve got a good quarterback transfer to build this thing around in Year 1.”

Nebraska ranked just 10th in the Big Ten this past season with 123.3 rushing yards per game. While the addition of Sims provides hope that number will improve, Callahan believes the results will ultimately come down to the production from the offensive line.

Offensive line coach Donovan Raiola was the only holdover from last year’s staff and will hope to whip the group into shape following several big injuries in 2022.

“They don’t have a lot of depth on the O-line,” he said. “They don’t have a lot of experience or depth on the defensive line. Those are two areas in this conference you don’t wanna be thin on. To make a run in this league and compete, you’ve gotta have good line play. So I think that is the question with Nebraska. Is the line of scrimmage serviceable enough to help them have a successful Year 1 for Matt Rhule?”

Nebraska kicks off the Matt Rhule era on Aug. 31 with a Big Ten matchup against Minnesota.