Entering the season, the Nebraska football team's most significant question mark was at running back. Not only haven't the questions been resolved around the RB room, but head coach Matt Rhule's answer to a question about it has plenty of Husker fans nervous.
The Cornhuskers came into fall camp knowing there wasn't much depth behind unquestioned starter Emmett Johnson. At times this year, players like Kwinten Ives and Isaiah Mozee have shown flashes. But the lack of production at the position was a problem against Michigan and in the season opener vs Cincinnati. In other words, it was a problem in the Huskers' only two games so far this year against Power 4 conference teams.
Nebraska football still searching for answers at running back
On Monday afternoon, Rhule was asked who the Nebraska coaches considered the backup to Emmett Johnson. His answer didn't fill fans with a ton of confidence.
"That's literally the question I asked the staff this morning," Rhule said.
The head coach went on to say that he's challenged his assistants to come up with a "clear order" on who gets to play after Johnson. However, more than a few NU fans are concerned it's still an issue four weeks into the campaign.
"It's [sic] should actually be considered malpractice to go into the season with this RB room.," one fan wrote on X. "Disaster."
"Boggles my mind we didn't get a guy out of the portal," wrote another.
"Humm how about asking the running back coach how he continues to miss on recruiting," wrote a third.
So far this season, Nebraska hasn't had anywhere near the success running the ball that they hoped they would. Emmett Johnson has 71 carries for 391 yards and 4 touchdowns. However, a large portion of that was against Akron when he ran for 140 yards. Against Michigan, he managed just 65 yards on 19 carries (a 3.4 YPC average).
Behind Johnson, Ives has the most carries at 16 for 119 yards and 2 TDs. Almost all of that came against Houston Christian, and he didn't have a carry against the Wolverines. Backup quarterback TJ Lateef is currently 3rd on the team with 30 yards rushing.
Last week, Mekhi Nelson had the second most rushes for Nebraska, totaling 3 carries for 19 yards. Mozee (2 carries, -1 yard on the season) had just 1 carry for 1 yard.