Nebraska football: New NCAA rules will change the college football landscape

While the release of the two new rules on Wednesday might look random, the fact of the matter is that they are likely tied together. Whether you’re talking about the Nebraska football team, or the Ohio University football team, schools all over FBS and FCS are going to feel the affect of these changes.

Mike Riley and company felt the effects of a player deciding he didn’t want to redshirt, so they felt they had to play him. Jordan Stevenson was a much-ballyhooed recruit when they stole him from Alabama after he couldn’t enroll at Wisconsin.

While it seemed like he might be the future of the program when he committed to the Huskers, it was clear early on he wanted no part of a redshirt season. Because Riley and company wanted to keep him in Lincoln, they put him on the field when he clearly wasn’t ready.

After some lackluster kick returns and a few carries here and there, he found the bench. Shortly after that he found a ticket out of town.

Stevenson might have left anyway, but you have to wonder if things might have turned out differently if the coaching staff had been able to say, “you’re going to play in the season’s final four games and won’t lose a year, just have some patience.”

Stopping transfers is going to be the biggest change the new redshirt rule has on the college football world. Players who don’t want to sit out an entire season won’t have to.

Players that aren’t happy that they lost a season of eligibility with sporadic play, won’t lose it. Getting talented freshmen onto the field, and keeping them freshmen is going to allow teams to build depth in a number of ways.

Next: Previewing and ranking all of the Huskers’ opposing quarterbacks

The question now is just how is the Nebraska football team going to use the redshirt rule, especially to their advantage. It’s a new wrinkle that’s definitely going to be worth keeping an eye on as the 2018 season unfolds.