Husker Football: Ameer Abdullah’s Five Steps to the Heisman

3. Yardage

Let’s revisit that “quarterback’s award” label for a moment. The only way Abdullah’s going to stiff arm competition that’s equally dangerous on the ground like Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota is to rack up yardage. Lots of it.

At the very least, he needs a good 1,750 yards, if not 2,000 for good measure.

Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

He currently sits at 625 through four games and the best run defenses he’s yet to face are (as of this writing) Michigan State (5), Wisconsin (14) and Iowa (17).

Coincidentally, these are the three most difficult games left on Nebraska’s schedule, at least on paper.

Let’s assume Abdullah continues at his current rate and the Huskers advance to the Big Ten Championship for argument’s sake. At the very least he’s playing in 14 games if Nebraska gets no playoff bid.

At 156.3 yards per game, No. 8 would end up with just over 2,000 yards before the Heisman ceremony.

He’d also have blown by Mike Rozier’s career record of 4,780 by about 375 yards. It’s likely he doesn’t pass Rozier, but could come very close.

That, itself, should warrant praise considering the best dressed man in the room owns the footsteps Abdullah follows.

If he can average between 125-150 yards per game, he should be alright. By all means, hit the 200 mark, though.