The Nebraska football team made a big jump in head coach Mike Riley’s second season, going 9-3 in 2016 after finishing the previous regular season 5-7.
However, the Huskers were left with a bitter taste in their mouths after sputtering to the finish line. Blowout road losses to Ohio State and Iowa spoiled a promising 7-1 start.
Nebraska fans have plenty of reason for patience given the improvements in the win-loss column and on the recruiting trail. As we saw with the previous staff, 9-3 records will only cut it for so long.
The program continues trending upward, but the Big Red will need to see significant improvements on the field if it intends to move into the upper echelon of college football.
Here are five position groups that need to take their play to the next level in 2017 for the Huskers to start playing championship-caliber football.
Offensive Line
Nebraska offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh has been a treat for fans and media alike since he arrived at Nebraska two seasons ago. His personality seems befitting of a man holding the same position as Milt Tenopir once did.
His line had a rough 2016 season, though.
The fall hype for this young-but-promising group may have been a bit premature. Some of their struggles can certainly be blamed on injuries, but even when guys became healthy toward season’s end, it didn’t look like the strong unit fans thought it might, particularly in the run game.
To their credit, Husker coaches consistently committed to running the ball this year, but this didn’t always look good. Against Wyoming, Oregon, Illinois, Purdue, Maryland and Iowa, Nebraska averaged almost a yard per carry less than those teams allowed on average over the course of the season.
While Nebraska lost only one of those games, an effective, clock-milking run game could have put several of those contests away much earlier. Better offensive line performances also might have flipped the script in a nail-biter against the Badgers and made a game out of the laugher in Columbus.
Some might argue that the lack of an elite running back was more to blame. However, according to Football Outsiders, the Huskers consistently ranked below average in advanced statistical categories that specifically measure offensive line performance. No matter how good your backs are, there has to be a quality line to block for them.
With guys like Nick Gates, Tanner Farmer and Jerald Foster leading the way, Nebraska seems to have enough youth and talent across the line to make a jump in 2017.