Tad Stryker: Huskers Don’t Overthink It, Pound Rutgers

With Nebraska facing a very winnable, must-win game against a reeling Rutgers team, all eyes were on Glenn Thomas to see if he could restart Nebraska’s running game.

Thomas, promoted to play-caller after Matt Rhule fired Dana Holgorsen, cleared that low bar with plenty to spare, and in doing so, provided a lot of cover for Rob Aurich, who was freed up to operate behind the scenes.

Aurich accomplished something no Husker defensive coordinator has done since Charlie McBride — shutting out a conference opponent on the road. That 35-0 win in Lawrence, Kansas, with Joel Makovicka, Ahman Green and Scott Frost scoring touchdowns, and Jason Peter and Grant Wistrom dominating the line of scrimmage, seems a lifetime ago, doesn’t it?

Anthony Colandrea (10) celebrates a touchdown pass during the second half against Rutgers. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

A few simple concepts from the Golden Era of Nebraska football, however, can still work in 2026. Thomas ran his best back, Jamal Rule, at Rutgers early and often, and mixed in play-action passes to his tight ends, and the Huskers thrived. Who could’ve possibly predicted that? (Well over half of Husker Nation, that’s who.) But that’s the beauty of the NU coaching staff not out-thinking themselves. Everyone walked away with a sigh of relief on his lips after the 31-0 rout in Piscataway, except maybe the geeks who count the touches for Husker wide receivers or the guys in my inbox who want to see Rhule fired yesterday.

Those Husker wideouts? They were targeted only 10 times, and made just seven catches. And frankly, that’s a good thing. That’s part of the cleansing work desperately needed to develop an identity for the Nebraska offense — the lack of which has probably been the top complaint levied about Nebraska football over the past decade.

I’ve said it until I’m blue in the face, but a winning football program in Nebraska has to feature a blue-collar power run game with play-action passes to the tight end, and a tough Blackshirt defense. That sort of thing could’ve gotten Nebraska back to the eight- or nine-win level this season.

It needs elite quarterback play to move higher. But one step at a time. First, develop a tough, physical, consistent offensive line. Start contending for the upper middle class of the Big Ten, and build from there. Rhule talked about it from day one. Had Rhule walked the walk as well as he talked the talk, he’d likely have won his 25th game as Husker coach a year earlier.

Nebraska running back Mekhi Nelson splits a group of Rutgers defenders en route to the end zone from 11 yards out. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Sure, Thomas and Aurich did something against the worst team in the Big Ten. Everybody gets that. But you have to start somewhere, and a commitment to that philosophy over the past month would’ve certainly beaten Washington, and likely Oregon, possibly Illinois although likely not Indiana.

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But Rhule and Dana Holgorsen didn’t commit to that, so everyone — the team, the coaches, the fans — suffered the consequences. Now, the post-Holgorsen Huskers have to run a two-game gauntlet at season’s end. Because they frittered away fourth-quarter leads against Washington and Oregon, they absolutely have to at least split against Ohio State and Iowa, although you’d have a legitimate argument to say Rhule needs to win both to be able to claim significant improvement.

To even keep things close against the Buckeyes and Hawkeyes, Rule, the freshman running back, must be the feature behind an offensive line that is primed to do some of its best road grading of the season. (NU also has to at least cut its pre-snap penalties in half.) Mekhi Nelson and Isaiah Mozee can thrive in a change-of-pace back role. The runner with the best instincts is Rule, who broke the 100-yard barrier for the third time this season, and the first time ever in a conference game, with 103 yards on 22 carries. It only happened because Thomas showed enough patience to keep feeding him the ball despite the several times he was held to short gains.

NU ran 43 rushing plays, including 30 from the running back. They had 237 rushing yards and 33 minutes of possession time. Running for 150 to 175 yards against Ohio State and Iowa is not unthinkable. It’s the territory the Cornhuskers need to live in to have a realistic chance in their last two games. The offensive linemen Geep Wade has right now can play well enough if they aren’t diluted and distracted by a dropback pass philosophy. Will Rhule and Thomas allow that to happen? A better question: will they insist it happen?

With a healthy running game to lean on, Anthony Colandrea completed 15 of 22 passes for 188 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for a third. Luke Lindenmeyer had three catches for 52 yards and a TD, and Carter Nelson added two more receptions for 53 yards and a score. It’s hard to believe, but the Big Red finally started using the same sort of occasional waggle-action throw to the tight ends that their conference rivals regularly use against them.

The Huskers finally have put an old-school, Nebraska-like offensive performance on film in a Big Ten Conference game. Will that help remove the handcuffs from the wideouts, who frankly have underperformed over the last month, struggling to get open and dropping passes when they finally do, despite Holgorsen’s manic efforts to get the ball into their hands? It just might, but frankly, it’s a lot more important to get the wideouts to throw downfield blocks that turn a 10-yard run into a 40-yarder.

Defensive end Jordan Ochoa sacks Rutgers quarterback Sean Ashenfelder in the first half. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

If the offense can control the ball with the run, the Huskers have a good enough defense to stay with the Buckeyes and Hawkeyes, especially if they get Owen Chambliss back from his shoulder injury. Shutouts don’t just happen, especially on the road. The Blackshirts tallied another red zone stop, and defensive backs Caleb Benning and Jeremiah Charles got their first career interceptions. Can we see more of that to close out November?

Mostly, though, the Husker players and coaches simply have to convince themselves they really don’t need rocket science to succeed. The less often they try to outsmart the best of the Big Ten, the less likely they are to outsmart themselves, and that’s a gigantic step toward success.

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