Huskers Lose Running Back Ajay Allen for Season

Mickey Joseph elaborates on Chinander firing and says offense’s tempo will be dialed back to help defense

Author:
Joe Hudson
Updated:
Sep 20, 2022 5:10 PM EDT
Original:
Sep 20, 2022

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Nebraska has lost its No. 2 running back for the rest of the season.

Ajay Allen was injured during the Oklahoma game Saturday and underwent surgery Monday, interim head coach Mickey Joseph said. Joseph spoke with reporters Tuesday as his 1-3 Huskers go through a bye week before their Oct. 1 game against Indiana.

A true freshman from Louisiana, Allen had 33 rushes for 190 net yards and 5.8 yards per carry. Because he played in just four games, 2022 will be a redshirt year for him. Gabe Ervin Jr., who a year ago suffered a season-ending injury against the Sooners, is likely to step into the No. 2 spot at running back, Joseph said.

Joseph elaborated on his decision to fire defensive coordinator Erik Chinander. "Chins is a good man and a good coach," Joseph said. "But the numbers didn’t add up. ... I didn't see us getting better from Week 1 to Week 4."

Joseph did lay part of the blame on himself for the defense's poor performance in the 49-14 loss to Oklahoma, saying he should have slowed down the Husker offense's tempo. That is something he said he plans to do as Nebraska enters Big Ten play.

As for Bill Busch's new role as Chinander's replacement, Joseph said: "Bill is built for this. He's sharp, he's going to be detailed, he's a really good football coach, and he'll take care of it. I understand and Bill understands what I want. ... Some people think we don't like each other, but we do. We just get after each other on the field."

Joseph addressed a number of other topics, including the staff's recruiting efforts during the bye week. Refresh this page to see the latest additions to the coverage links below. Asterisk indicates item may require a subscription. Go here for the HuskerMax discussion.