Nebraska Football: Dedrick Mills made strong first impression in 2019

The Nebraska Football running back had a solid first campaign in Lincoln.

Heading into this season, I thought Nebraska Football running back Dedrick Mills could be a key part of the offense. After all, he showed that he could be a valuable piece at Georgia Tech in 2016. There was no reason why he couldn’t do the same at Nebraska. After what was a slow start to the 2019 season, Mills delivered. Although he had some bumps in the road, he ended up becoming a very productive running back for Nebraska.

Heading into the season, I thought he would have a role as more of a goal-line running back. I knew that he would be able to be a starter, and get chunks of yards to get Nebraska into the red zone. However, I just didn’t think he would be as productive a starting running back as he ended up being. He definitely proved me wrong, and in the process, he show that he could be a tremendous asset to the rushing attack.

On the season, Mills rushed for 745 yards and 10 touchdowns on 143 carries. Averaging 5.2 yards per carry, he had a slow start to the season. His best game in the month of September was against Northern Illinois. He rushed the ball 11 times for 116 yards and a touchdown. Other than that game, he didn’t rush for over 100 yards until Wisconsin came to town.

In the Wisconsin game, he rushed the ball 17 times for 188 yards and a touchdown. Over the course of the last three games, it really seemed like he got into a groove. After recording 12 rushes for 65 yards against Maryland, he followed that up with a 24-carry, 94-yard performance against Iowa to end the season.

It’s worth noting that Nebraska Football didn’t have the best offensive line either. That’s certainly stating the obvious, but had they been better earlier in the season, Mills probably would have seen an increase in his statistics. He also had issues with fumbling the football at the beginning of the season. Recording three fumbles in the first four games of the season, it looked as though this may be a lingering problem throughout the entirety of 2019.

However, after losing a fumble against Illinois in September, he would not record a fumble for the rest of the season. His commitment to holding onto the football as well as his ability to navigate the offensive line resulted in him having solid efforts throughout the remainder of the season.

I’m excited to see what he can do next year. He is undoubtedly one of the better running backs Nebraska Football has. I expect him to have even better numbers next year, and between the combination of Wan’Dale Robinson and Mills, the two can really make some noise in the Big Ten. It was awesome to see Mills succeed this year, especially with it being his first year in the program. Hopefully, there is more to come.