The fourth day of Nebraska football’s fall camp was all about the running game and that included how much Gabe Ervin loves the extra blocker.
Speaking after practice on Thursday, the man who has gotten rave reviews from Matt Rhule and his staff, gave some positive reviews of his own. Specifically, he said that running Nebraska football’s new offense felt like high school for him.
"“In high school, had a fullback running downhill so it’s like second nature for me, doing it in college. But I love that fullback extra blocker, so they can get on that second level and I can get on the DBs really quickly, so it’s going to be fun having that fullback in the “I.”"
Dynamic running game for Nebraska football
The Husker staff and players want everyone to know that while it might sound as though Marcus Satterfield’s offense is going to be simplistic, it’s actually going to be hard to stop because people won’t know where the offense is coming from.
On the other hand, running backs coach EJ Barthel and Satterfield said that doesn’t mean that they’re going to be looking for a “splash play” every time out. “Don’t force it,” Barthel said. There will be a chance to break one, but not everyone will.
It feels like this is yet another acknowledgment that there were guys like Ajay Allen who might have lost yards last year because they were looking to bound a play outside when just going between the tackles would have gotten a first down.
Nebraska football has to earn the right
Satterfield and Barthel both spoke on Thursday about how the staff needs to back up talk about things like the “Lion” mentality. They know they need to earn the right to beat Minnesota. It’s not all talk. They need to follow through and play as well as they talk.
“Right now we’re really going to see who represents the brand of football that we want to put out there,” Barthel said. “So, really, we’re still in that earning phase right now. No one has really separated themselves as the clear guy. The reality is, we’re going to have to use multiple guys throughout the season.”
Full practice brings energy
The Nebraska football team had a full roster practice on Thursday after splitting the team up into two the first couple of days of camp. The coaches felt this approach has helped keep people sharp and on their toes.
Tom Osborne was also in attendance, which had to keep the coaches sharp an on their toes, I would assume.
The offensive line gets love
There’s been a lot of talk around Nebraska football about how tight-knit the offensive line is these days. Now that fall camp has started, there’s been quite a bit of talk early about how being a close group has helped the play improve.
Barthel and Satterfield sang their praises on Thursday, but Gabe Ervin was also quite happy to espouse how he feels about the group.
"“I kind of like this offensive line. No, I don’t kind of like it. I love this offensive line.”"
Granted, there was some big talk about the offensive line last year from Scott Frost and company. We can only hope the Nebraska football team has figured some things out in that unit.