Spring Position Battles - Running Backs

Maybe there are things we can see from the TV set but I order the RBs as Ozigbo 1, Wilbon 2 and Newby 3. Perhaps we will see big gaping holes and Newby will flash more speed that he has shown thus far but until then, we need the wiggle and power that Zig and Wilbon display. Push the pile so the three and four yards become 5 and 6. The defense gets tired when the need two or three to bring those horses down play after play. And teams that focus on the big backs will not be overloaded when Tommy keeps it. He has enough scat and arm tackle breaking to take it in from 40 or more. His running threat makes our offense so much more lethal and hard to stop. Our receivers are going to threaten ANY secondary. Without the run support the front seven of any team will have its work cut out for it with our power and slice/dice run game.

 
^ +1

Just as it takes time for young backs to figure out how to be patient and how to find the seam - It takes time to understand where that defender will be coming from and then making the play to block him. Newby is 2 steps ahead in this area. After watching NU football for the past 45+ years - it is hard to get the concept on how important this is for RB's. We used to have guys move up the WR chart based on blocking - now the same is happening for RB. It's a team sport and you got to help your brothers!!!!

 
Mavric said:
Enhance89 said:
Mavric said:
Don't look now but Newby was easily the rushing leader among the Big 3. Twice the YPC as Wilbon. Nearly two yards better per attempt than Ozigbo.
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He also had the 2nd best YPC on the team last year, but that didn't stop him from getting yanked in favor of other backs at times. Even before his injury, he had games/stretches where he would just disappear. I think his biggest challenge will be finding a way to be more consistent, and as I said in my previous post, I think part of that will come if he runs more like he did Saturday on a regular basis.
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Considering he got injured against Miami and the two games before that he was the leading rusher in both including a 198 yard game, I question your recollection.
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I just spent several minutes trying to find reference of a Newby injury in the Miami game and have come up empty-handed. I'm not saying you're wrong, but I only really remember two instances - one against Illinois (he came back in the second half but had barely any touches) and then the obvious one against Purdue.

Regardless, he still needs to find ways to be more consistent. Even without injury I thought he was a bit of a timid runner last year, but he was much more assertive in the spring game.

 
Enhance89 said:
Mavric said:
Enhance89 said:
Mavric said:
Don't look now but Newby was easily the rushing leader among the Big 3. Twice the YPC as Wilbon. Nearly two yards better per attempt than Ozigbo.
Click to expand...
He also had the 2nd best YPC on the team last year, but that didn't stop him from getting yanked in favor of other backs at times. Even before his injury, he had games/stretches where he would just disappear. I think his biggest challenge will be finding a way to be more consistent, and as I said in my previous post, I think part of that will come if he runs more like he did Saturday on a regular basis.
Click to expand...
Considering he got injured against Miami and the two games before that he was the leading rusher in both including a 198 yard game, I question your recollection.
Click to expand...
I just spent several minutes trying to find reference of a Newby injury in the Miami game and have come up empty-handed. I'm not saying you're wrong, but I only really remember two instances - one against Illinois (he came back in the second half but had barely any touches) and then the obvious one against Purdue.

Regardless, he still needs to find ways to be more consistent. Even without injury I thought he was a bit of a timid runner last year, but he was much more assertive in the spring game.
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With 1,360 career rushing yards, Newby will enter the 2016 season in position to join 28 Huskers in the 2,000-yard club. He's averaged 5.1 yards on 268 career attempts. He catches the ball well (35 receptions for 205 yards) and is Nebraska's most-reliable back in blitz pickup.


He played through injury last season and still rushed for 765 yards (5.2 per attempt). Few folks seem to remember that he rolled his ankle in the third game, at Miami, and never fully recovered.

"Once he rolled that ankle, I don't think he ever got above 85 percent," said Nebraska running backs coach Reggie Davis. "In my eyes, you could see he was a little different player after that."
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LJS

 
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For reference, here are the number of carries:

Armstrong - 98

Newby - 147

Cross - 112

Janovich - 42

Ozigbo - 38

 
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“Just running hard,” Newby said. “Having that mentality of staying north and south. It’s one of the things that all the backs worked on throughout the spring.”


The results were on display Saturday, particularly in Newby’s case.

The 5-foot-10, 200-pound senior — who had a strong showing all spring — made instinctive decisions as he secured each of his six handoffs. Then he let his physical gifts take over. Newby finished with 48 yards and a touchdown.

“Just remembering knee drive,” Newby said, referencing his technique. “Coach stresses it a lot.”
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OWH

 
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Well, I guess Newby is almost a lock as starter. At least we know that if he can't carry the load, plenty of guys are ready to take over. Hope he has a fantastic senior year.

 
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