Tree Babalade has had a bit of a roller coaster summer and early fall with the Nebraska football team. He entered fall camp looking like the odds-on favorite to be one of five starters on the offensive line. As practices went on, he lost his starting job and struggled to get snaps. However, earlier this week, offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen made it clear that the former South Carolina transfer is finally making things click.
Holgorsen addressed the media Tuesday afternoon at his official game-week press conference. Leading up to Maryland, Holgorsen said he liked how well the offensive line played at times against Michigan State. He especially thinks Babalade is starting to look ready to get more snaps as the season goes on.
In the process, the Nebraska offensive coordinator made it clear that Elijah Pritchett is also coming on a lot. Babalade “had his best game, which increased his reps,” Holgorsen said. “I think you’ll start seeing that happen more. We didn’t feel a need to put Gunnar over on the left side, because Pritch probably had his best game since he’s been here. There weren't any hiccups. Sometimes, you know, our plan was that if there was a hiccup or a missed assignment, or something like that, we’d pull them out, and I didn’t feel like we had to do that.”Holgorsen then explained that the way Babalade has come on might make him shuffle who plays on the offensive line and when.
“With that said, Gunnar and Tree are probably, arguably, two of our top five,” he continued. “So, we’ve got to maybe do some things to get all three of those guys in the game at some point.”
Dana Holgorsen says Tree Babalade is pushing for bigger Nebraska football role
Holgorsen added that he feels he can shift the offensive line and work on the best possible combination because of how Anthony Colandrea performs under pressure.
“I think Anthony was a little quick to get out of the pocket at times. I don’t want him scrambling around getting hit like he did. He did that too much, in my opinion.”
“He’s fast through his decisions, and he makes quick decisions, which is good,” Holgorsen continued. “That means there are no sacks. But he missed some things in the passing game that, if he stands in there a bit longer, then he can go to different places and get through his progressions… With that said, he kept some drives alive with his feet. That’s a weapon, and we’re going to utilize that.”
How all of this plays out, and how often Tree Babalade plays for Nebraska against Maryland will be interesting to watch and see how it affects the rest of the season as the Big Ten schedule gets quite a bit more difficult in the coming weeks.
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