Nebraska Football Ranked Mostly in Middle of Pack in National Offensive Categories

Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson ranks third in the nation in rushing yards with 1,451. Ahead of him are Cam Cook, of Jacksonville State, with 1,659; and Missouri’s Ahmad Hardy, with 1,560.

But Nebraska ranks only 81st nationally in rushing offense, out of 134 FBS teams. The Huskers averaged 144.7 yards per game on the ground. After Johnson, who has declared for the NFL Draft, there is a huge dropoff on the Huskers. Kwinten Ives is Nebraska’s the second-leading rusher with 119 yards on 16 carries. That’s for the entire season, and all of his yards came in the September games against Akron and Houston Christian.

As it stands, with Johnson gone, Nebraska’s running back room will need a serious upgrade before 2026, either with a recruit or two, transfer portal help or a current running back who can fill Johnson’s shoes.

Today, we are publishing where Nebraska ranked in NCAA offensive stats. Recently, we published where Nebraska ranked in NCAA defensive stats. For context, we added the nation’s top-ranked team in each category and the worst-ranked team.

Nebraska finished its regular season 7-5, a one-game improvement over last season. The Huskers will play 15th-ranked Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl on New Year’s Eve.

Nebraska’s numbers

In 17 offensive categories, Nebraska ranks in the top 32 in only six of the categories.

* Completion percentage: 8th best
* Fumbles lost: 17th best
* Passes had intercepted: 13th best
* Team passing efficiency: 23rd best
* Tackled for loss allowed: 32nd best
* Third-down conversions: 31st best

And in the major categories, Nebraska’s offense is in the middle of the pack.

* Scoring offense: 56th best
* Passing offense: 63rd best
* Rushing offense: 81st best
* Red-zone offense: 72nd best
* Total offense: 79th best

In 15 defensive categories, Nebraska ranked in the top 50 in only six categories (defensive stats through games of Nov. 29).

* First down defense: 23rd best
* Fumbles recovered: 39th best
* Passing defense: 2nd best
* Passing defense efficiency: 15th best
* Total defense: 23rd best
* Turnover margin: 47th best

Here’s where Nebraska’s defense ranks in major categories (defensive stats through games of Nov. 29).

* Scoring defense: 53rd best
* Passing defense: 2nd best
* Rushing defense: 95th best
* Red-zone defense: 133rd best
* Total defense: 23rd best

Statistics, while not revealing everything about a team, can add insight into a team’s tendencies. Nebraska ranked high in some categories, low in others, middle of the pack in others. The stats seem on target for a 7-5 team.

Nebraska compared with the best, worst

Third down conversion percentage
1. Indiana: 87-of-156, .554
32. Nebraska: 66-of-146, .452
134. Sam Houston: 36-of-160, .225

Fourth down conversion percentage
1. Cincinnati: 16-of-21, .762
124. Nebraska: 9-of-25, .360
134. Michigan: 2-of-12, .167

Completion percentage
1. Ohio State: 29-of-373, .780
9. Nebraska: 245-of-350, .700
134. Miami (Ohio): 177-of-349, .507

First downs offense
1. North Texas: 334 (123 rushing, 187 passing, 24 penalties)
66. Nebraska: 247 (105 rushing, 125 passing, 17 penalties)
134. Wisconsin: 169 (83 rushing, 78 passing, 8 penalties)

Fumbles lost
1. Indiana: 1
17. Nebraska: 4
133. New Mexico: 13
133. Old Dominion: 13

Passes had intercepted
1. UConn: 1 in 436 pass attempts
13. Nebraska: 6 in 350 attempts
133. Florida Atlantic: 20 in 582 attempts
133. UTEP: 20 in 411 pass attempts

Passing offense
1. Florida Atlantic: 340.2 yards per game
63. Nebraska: 228.2 yards per game
134. Army West Point: 78.3 yards per game

Passing yards per completion
1. Air Force: 17.96 yards
81. Nebraska: 11.18 yards
134. Rice: 8.70 yards

Red-zone offense
1. Oklahoma: 32-of-32, 1,000 percent (15 rushing TDs, 8 passing TDs, 9 FGs)
72. Nebraska: 43-of-51, .843 percent (15 rushing TDs, 13 passing TDs, 15 FGs)
134. Charlotte: 18-of-29, .621 (5 rushing TDs, 8 passing TDs, 5 FGs)

Rushing offense
1. Navy: 298.4 yards per game
81. Nebraska: 144.7 yards per game
134. California: 76.5 yards per game

Rushing touchdowns
1. North Texas: 45
73. Nebraska: 18
134. Charlotte: 5

Sacks allowed
1. Army West Point: 5
107. Nebraska: 30
134. Troy: 57

Scoring offense
1. North Texas: 44.8 points per game
55. Nebraska: 29.2 points per game
134. Massachusetts: 11.1 points per game

Tackles for loss allowed
1. Texas A&M: 2.83 yards per game
32. Nebraska: 4.58 yards per game
134. Ball State: 8.33 yards per game

Nebraska sophomore quarterback Dylan Raiola was having a strong season before being injured against USC. | Kenny Larabee, KLIN

Team passing efficiency (formula based on yards, touchdowns, interceptions and completions/attempts)
1. Indiana: 184.01
23. Nebraska: 153.03
134. Massachusetts: 95.86

Touchdown passes
1. Indiana: 38
41. Nebraska: 22
134. Army West Point: 5

Total offense
1. North Texas: 504.3 yards per game
79. Nebraska: 372.8 yards per game
134. Massachusetts: 247.5 yards per game

Offensive stats are through games of Dec. 6.