Through Nebraska’s first three games of the season, there haven’t been positives to take away after each game. The offense looked sloppy in the first week before getting dominated by Colorado the following week and then beating up on a team they should be beating up in Northern Illinois. However, the winning celebration was very short-lived, as the announcement noted that Gabe Ervin and Rahmir Johnson were both done for the season due to injuries.
Both players sustained their respective injuries in the Cornhuskers win over Northern Illinois (Ervin – dislocated hip, Johnson – dislocated shoulder) and will require surgery. Against Northern Illinois, Ervin accounted for 67 yards on the ground and added one touchdown while adding 20 yards receiving to his game total. This brings his total season yardage to 199, with his 20 receiving yards taking him to 219 all-purpose.
The second best is quarterback Jeff Sims, but with his appearance questionable due to injury, you have to go through Heinrich Haarberg before you get to Anthony Grant’s 67-yard total on the season. Rahmir Johnson accounted for 65 rushing yards before his season was cut short.
So, with two of the top three running backs out for the season, does Nebraska have enough in the backfield to carry them the rest of the way?
One point to the favor of the Huskers is the added benefit of having Haarberg and Sims as options at quarterback, as both have shown they can pull the ball down and run on their own. This is the better dynamic to Sims’ game and what makes him so effective, but his lack of a passing threat makes him a bit of a liability. Haarberg had 122 yards rushing against the Huskies, but that’s likely the worst team they will face the rest of the way, so is this production expectation sustainable?
Looking at pure running backs that have taken snaps this season, Nebraska only has two. Anthony Grant has taken 24 total snaps this season and carried the ball 16 times for 67 yards and one touchdown. So far, his involvement in the offense has been 19 percent of all offensive snaps.
Trevin Luben has one snap all season, one carry, but it went for 18 yards. Despite getting 18 yards, you know nothing of what Luben can bring now that his name will be called. He has essentially not been involved in the offense all season long.
However, in his Monday press conference, head coach Matt Rhule noted that Emmett Johnson and Kwinten Ives will back up Grant this week despite neither player having played on offense all season. Both running backs are freshmen.
Johnson is a three-star running back from Minnesota, and Ives was a three-star athlete from New Jersey. Ives totaled over 1,600 yards as a senior in high school, averaged over 10 yards per carry, and totaled over 3,000 yards combined in his final two years in high school. Johnson ranked number one in Minnesota, totaled over 2,500 yards his senior season, and scored 42 that season. Those are massive eye-popping numbers to consider as we look to lean on him some this season.