As Nebraska gets ready to face Indiana on Saturday morning, much of the focus has been on whether the Huskers' offense can hang with the Hoosiers' defense. It's the offensive backfield that has defensive coordinator Rob Aurich sweating bullets ahead of the Week 6 showdown against the No. 7 team in the country.
Aurich spoke in detail about how difficult his job will be against Indiana, given how good its running game has been so far this season, during Tuesday's media session.
“They do what they do as a program, with an excellent identity in the run game,” Aurich said. “It’s amazing how similar (Turbo Richard and Lee Beebe Jr.) are at times, the way they read and respond to blocks. You can tell they’re well-coached.” Aurich added something that Nebraska defenders will need to prepare for as it likely means they'll leave the game battered and bruised, even if they find a way to win.
“What impresses me about them most is, they don’t run out of bounds,” Aurich said. “We have to be able to tackle and go to work.”
Nebraska football run defense faces major Indiana test after Maryland struggles
Nebraska's run defense didn't look particularly effective against Maryland last week. The Terps managed 141 yards on 25 carries (5.6 YPC) and a touchdown. The Huskers allowed runs of 56, 13, 11, and 10 yards. There really wasn't a running back that NU was able to bottle up.
DeJuan Williams had 78 yards on 10 carries (though that means he had just 22 on his 9 other carries outside the 56-yard dash), Iverson Howard had 34 yards on 3 carries, and Liam Willson had 13 yards on 2 carries. Quarterback Malik Washington was the only Terrapin to average under 6.5 yards per carry, and a 10-yard loss on his one sack drove that average down.
The 141 yards total rushing was the most the Terrapins have tallied against an FBS opponent and were held under 100 yards rushing in each of the two games immediately proceeding the tilt against Nebraska.
Maryland could have had more rushing yards if they hadn't seemingly totally abandoned the ground game at times last Saturday. Curt Cignetti will likely take a much more of a "ground-and-pound" approach this week.
The 5-foot-9, 207-pound Richard, a junior, has rushed 63 times for 587 yards (9.3 ypc) and 5 touchdowns. He lit up Rutgers this past weekend with 13 carries for 204 yards (15.4 ypc) and a TD. When he needs a breather or is injured, like he was against Northwestern, Beebe can step in and not miss a beat.
The 5-10, 215-pound Beebe carried 24 times for 203 yards (8.5) and a score against the Wildcats. He had several runs that essentially carried the Hoosiers to victory against Northwestern. On the season, Beebe, a senior, has 89 carries for 520 yards (5.8 ypc) and four TDs.
Rob Aurich has every reason to have his guard up against an Indiana rushing game that will look to hit the Huskers in the mouth early and often. If he hasn't figured out what went wrong against Maryland, this Saturday will be a very long one for Nebraska's defense.
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