Nebraska certainly has tried to find its identity this season, whether the offense is going to take over and be dominant, or the defense will take over and give the offense a bit of a breather. There have been bits of greatness from this team and times where they looked unrecognizable on the field.
Last week, the Cornhuskers were able to get a little more on track after a horrendous game against Minnesota the week before. Now, they welcome No. 23 USC to Lincoln, and a win against the Trojans would be the biggest one of the season.
In order to secure that win, there is one player on the offense who is destined to have a big game, and if he does, this win will rest securely on his shoulders.
USC rush defense should allow Emmett Johnson to have his biggest game this season
Everyone may be thinking that one player is quarterback Dylan Raiola. While Raiola is always up for having a big game, in this case, it is actually running back Emmett Johnson who has the opportunity to go off this week.
When looking at the rankings of defense, especially rushing defenses, USC is pretty close to the bottom of the barrel. USC has the No. 133 rushing defense with only a success percentage of 46.4 on run plays.
For Nebraska, this is music to the ears of leading rusher Johnson, who has 837 rushing yards on the season, averaging 5.7 yards per carry. Johnson also adds nine rushing touchdowns to his season stats, but he could see a lot more this game.
The offensive game plan against USC has to be to feed the ball to Johnson as much as possible. Johnson is coming off a game against Northwestern where he ran for 124 yards on 27 carries and two touchdowns. This comes after his game against Minnesota, where Johnson only had 14 carries, tied for the second least this season, and 63 rushing yards, his lowest rushing game of the season.
If Nebraska can't get the run game going against USC with Johnson leading the way, the Cornhuskers are going to lose their 29th consecutive game against a ranked opponent and miss the opportunity for a big upset win.