Nebraska Football: Reviewing the big questions after the loss to Illinois

What Is Going On With Nebraska Football’s Running Game?

Yes, when Mark Whipple was hired, Nebraska football fans were told to prepare themselves for a pass-happy offense. But that was before the Huskers showed that they actually had a couple of pretty good running backs in Ajay Allen (now hurt) and Anthony Grant.

Considering that the Big Ten is built on bruising offenses and rushing games that carry their teams to victories, it’s not a shock that Husker fans are wanting to see guys like Grant get the rock more. But it goes beyond that.

There’s a real question right now as to what exactly is going on with the choices coaches are making when it comes to who plays and when. Some of those questions are exacerbated by Gabe Ervins also being injured.

But there has to be real questions about why Jacquez Yant is the top backup right now when the race is between him and Rahmir Johnson. Yant seems to be the perfect kind of back to use to run straight ahead in short-yardage situations. It’s not clear why he’s coming into the game in other situations. Against Illinois, Yant had three carries for -4 yards. Meanwhile, Rahmir Johnson had zero carries and one pass target. His usage continues to confound, especially since he had all of one carry last week and managed to go 17 yards.

And then there’s the usage of Grant. The Huskers’ starting running back has had less than 20 carries in four of the last five games and less than 15 carries in three of those. The one game where he had 32 carries against Rutgers? He ran for 136 yards.

With all the questions at quarterback for Nebraska football, it would seem as though they’d lean on the running backs room. But that doesn’t seem to be something Mark Whipple has much confidence in.