Make Farm-Ball Great Again
This is farm country, so where are the pigs?
My hardest job is to convince the people of Nebraska that 10-1 is not a losing season.
- Tom Osborne, former Nebraska Football coach
Oh, how distant that quote makes the past seem. I hope I am not alone in my admiration for that iconic SI cover featuring the 1994(?) Nebraska offensive line. I think it encapsulates the Cornhusker ethos perfectly—Cornfed farm boys—you can’t even see their necks for Christ’s sake.
They look like they push more weight around than Dolph Lundgren in an 80s workout montage. Add in the oh so-sexy letterman jackets and now we’re talking swag that would make even the Three Year Letterman blush. And these dudes definitely had enough rings between them to permanently affect their ability to turn door handles.
Whatever reason you attribute to that dominant run in the 90s, be it Tom Osborne being a coaching savant, Nebraska’s S&C (💉) program, or simply the game of College Football (CFB) being much different back then, I think we can all agree that that was a sick era of the sport. To help with finding some inspiration before writing this article, I decided to watch an old video of the 1994 squad vs. Colorado.
It’s pretty crazy how much the landscape of CFB has changed since then. That game was basically the 1990s version of Alabama playing Georgia in-conference; it was essentially the national title game that year (NU finished #1, CU finished #3). Nebraska and Colorado both had multiple All-Americans all over the field. Nebraska’s line was full of undersized monsters with Eastern European last names (CFB wisemen fear these the most). The tailbacks were ripping gains that would make the HodgeTwins cream themselves—and then some (sorry for the visual). The commentary was positively academic. The whole production is just a vibe, there’s no other way to describe it.
I also stumbled upon an old article titled ‘1995 Nebraska and the myth of championship recruiting’ by Ian Boyd, examining that 90s run from the ‘Skers, which I found to be an interesting read. As someone who wasn’t around during the majority of this run, his recap of how Nebraska went from a very good program, to the best program of that era was quite insightful. One of the insights I liked was that the legendary coach, Tom Osborne—more of an offensive genius—was able to hide potential gaps in talent amongst that crew, but needed to recruit more to the elite athlete on defence. Once he was able to achieve such results, the team went on dynasty mode:
Osborne was not an average hire for either a P5 program or an elite institution of football excellence, he was an offensive genius who perfected a power/option I-formation offense in the 80s and then managed to upgrade his defense enough to convert that offense into a five year run of domination from 1993-1997.
Of course, there are also whispers (maybe more like yells) pointing to the ever-so convenient way that those Nebraska teams developed under-recruited and undersized local Nebraska lineman into unstoppable forces of nature that were capable of overpowering the best athletes in Texas, Florida, Georgia etc. with ease. Nebraska fans will point to the substance ‘Creatine’ as a rebuttal.
But, I’m really not here to judge one way or the other. In fact, it’s cooler in my mind to think of the 1990s Nebraska program as this mythical steroid factory turning local farm kids into monsters. It’s very 90s—well, 80s actually but who’s counting. It gives the program more of a dark ethos, which is fucking cool.
I mean, just look at the way their OL clears out the Gators front seven in the 1995 National Championship game. Can you imagine a midwestern program doing this to a prominent SEC program in this day and age?
This play wasn’t an anomaly— Nebraska’s RB1 averaged 7.7 YPC that season. The offence Osborne designed was so innovative and effective, that you didn’t even need a classic volume pig to sustain a productive runner.
I like Boyd’s description of the pure carnage that is occurring on this play:
If you watch the clip above carefully you’ll see that the offense executes multiple reach blocks, the WRs block well, they cut on the backside, and the fullback nearly lifts a LB off his feet when he meets him in the crease. They were just beating the Gators to spots and then whipping them whenever the Gators finally arrived, which was typically with poor leverage and positioning.
In 1994, Nebraska’s lead pig— Lawrence Phillips, an eventual #6 overall pick in the NFL Draft, averaged over 23 carries per game, finishing the season with 286 carries for 1722 yards (still a Nebraska record for a true sophomore) and 16 TDs in 12 games.
Fun fact: in the ‘95 season, Phillips gave a then up-and-coming spunky young coach named Nick Saban a baptism for the ages, rushing for four TDs and 206 yards on 22 carries. That was Saban’s first game coaching Michigan State. He was later quoted as saying that the two RBs who impressed him the most in his coaching career were SMU’s Eric Dickerson, and Nebraska’s Lawrence Phillips.
The Nebraska Cornhuskers run unit doing what they do best—leaving more CU Buff laundry on the carpet than your local laundromat.
Unfortunately, all good things come to an end eventually, and as we all know, things haven’t been going particularly great for the Cornhuskers since Osborn’s departure. There were a few bright moments in the 2000s, but the program has essentially descended into being an afterthought in the CFB landscape.
CFB is better when Nebraska is relevant. From that lens, I hope the Cornhuskers can find a way to reclaim some of their former glory. I think by now even the most hardcore of the Nebraska faithful have accepted that the program is never going to reach the heights it once did in the 90s, not when your home state produces at best one or two four star prospects out of high school each cycle. But perhaps—with the now-expanded playoff—some semblance of relevancy could be achieved again.
This past recruiting cycle provided a glimpse of hope for that dream. Long-time UGA Bulldog commit and former OSU pledge, QB Dylan Raiola, who is a Cornhusker legacy, flipped his commitment from the Dawgs to the Black Shirts at the last minute. He is the second highest rated recruit in Nebraska football history (RB Marlon Lucky in 2005 is #1).
His father—Dominic Raiola, was an offensive lineman for the ‘Skurs between 1997 and 2000. Many believe it was the play of the OL that was the key to those dominant Nebraska teams. That’s probably the right idea, and dominating the line of scrimmage still holds true as a key determinant in who wins football games today. The good news is that the Huskers return nearly 75% of snaps from the OL in 2023. Each of Nebraska’s top four RBs from a season ago averaged over 4.0 YPC, so it’s not just a veteran line returning, these guys were at least half decent.
The RB Room
Once one of CFB’s most coveted positions amongst prominent high school recruits, the Nebraska RB position, like the program, is not really something you hear much about anymore. There is good reason. In the past five seasons, the Huskers have produced zero 1000-yard rushers. Even more disturbing, 2022’s Anthony Grant is the only player to receive over 150 carries (218) in this time span.
Devin Ozigbo is the last Husker runner to clear 1000 yards in 2018. He averaged a very 1990’s-esque 7.0 YPC, which explains how he was able to achieve the previous feat with only 155 totes.
However, with the amount of returning OL snaps, it’s probably a good idea to take a look at the current RB room, and ask the preeminent question: will there be a pig in 2024?
The four most prominent names in the room include:
r-SO. Emmett Johnson — Johnson became the RB1 for the Huskers down the stretch of last season. He had 11 carries total before Oct. 21, then he had a 12 carry game vs. Northwestern, rushing for 73 yards. He would not receive less than 11 carries in a game in his remaining five games, including a season-high 17 carries vs. Maryland, where he rushed for 84 yards. On the year, he finished with 90 carries for 411 yards and two scores (5.2 PPG).
r-JR. Gabe Ervin Jr. — Ervin (hip) is out for Nebraska's spring practices. He participated in only three games last year before injury, but did have a nice 17 and 16 touches in his final two outings. He scored ~5 and 17 points in each, and finished year averaging just over 9 PPG.
SR. Rahmir Johnson — Johnson (shoulder) is out for Nebraska's spring practices. He’s entering his sixth year with the Cornhuskers, and has yet to really establish himself in the rotation.
SO. Dante Dowdell — Oregon transfer and rising sophomore Dowdell is a 6’2, 215 pound bruiser from Mississippi. He played sparingly in his first season with the Ducks.
Note. Last year’s momentary RB1 Anthony Grant has run out of eligibility.
As unfortunate as it is for Ervin and Rahmir Johnson, the fact that they’ll be missing spring could be a boon for Emmett Johnson, who was already leading the way in carries during the second half of 2023. Dowdell’s inclusion in the room makes EJ’s path to RB1 status less clear.
I think the critical question to ask when projecting whether there’ll be a 1000-yard rusher for Nebraska next season is: what is the track record of the current staff?
Coaching & System
When I wrote about the Nebraska program last year, I included a section on the staff. I’ve added on the additional part from my article on Nebraska WR Jaylen Lloyd last month:
Enter new head coach Matt Rhule, who returns to the collegiate ranks via the NFL. Rhule was fired from the Carolina Panthers in the 2022 NFL season but does bring an impressive track record of turning fledgling programs around quickly (see Baylor, Temple, etc).
The OC he brings in is a man by the name of Marcus Satterfield, who joins by way of the South Carolina Gamecocks. Satterfield served as the OC and QBs coach in 2021 and 2022. Prior to that, he served with Rhule on the Carolina Panthers' staff as the assistant offensive line coach in 2020.
In fact, Satterfield and Rhule have been together more often than not in the last decade—they served together on Baylor's staff (Satterfield was the TEs coach in 2019 and recruiting coordinator in 2018; Rhule was HC); they also worked together at Temple from 2013 to 2015 (Satterfield served as OC, Rhule as HC). In between those years, Satterfield spent two years as the head coach of the FCS program Tennessee Tech (2016-17).
With regards to the patterns of each coach, there are some notable stat lines from their tenures. At Carolina, WR DJ Moore was targeted 118 times over 17 games (just under 7 targets a game), of which he produced 888 yards and seven TDs on 63 receptions. The year before (2021), two separate WRs received over 100 targets (Moore—163, the other—110). Moore crossed the 1,000-yard mark, securing 93 receptions for 1,157 yards and five TDs in 17 games (9.5 targets a game).
The 2020 season was a committee in the backfield, but two WRs went over 1,000 yards in 15 and 16 games, respectively. Robbie Chosen (formerly Robbie Anderson) was targeted 136 times (8.5 targets per game), DJ Moore—118 (7.86 targets per game).
The running back position is less intriguing, as the patterns of the staff suggest it will likely be a committee this season. The most notable campaign is Jahad Thomas' 2015 season. Thomas rushed 276 times for 1262 yards and 17 TDs over 14 games in 2015 (19.71 carries per game).
There has been an addition to the staff, however. Glenn Thomas joins as the co-OC from the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he served as an offensive assistant coach. Prior to that, he was the OC of Arizona State (2022), UNLV (2020-2021), co-OC at Baylor (2017-2019), and Temple (2016). Again, this is a coach with ties to Rhule, so it's not a surprise that he's found his way to Lincoln.
Thomas’ time with AZ State and UNLV produced zero 1,000-yard receivers. However, of the three seasons, two of them did feature a 1,000-yard rusher. Let's keep that fact in the back of our minds this offseason as we proceed with our research.
It’s now time to discuss the aforementioned fact in the back of our minds re:Glenn Thomas’ pig farming antics at AZ State and UNLV.
In 2021, it was Charles Williams who led the way for a struggling UNLV program. He rushed 254 times for 1261 yards and 15 TDs, despite playing for a team that was playing from behind most of the time.
Former Wyoming Cowboy Xazavian Valladay was Thomas’ lead pig in 2022 when he OC’d Arizona State. Valladay rushed 215 times for 1192 yards and 16 TDs.
There were zero 1000 yard rushers during his time at Baylor. In fact, the most carries the lead back got was 109. Yuck. But that was when he was a co-OC, rather than the sole OC. Whenever he’s been the primary play caller, it seems his preference is to have one lead back. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case here, as Marcus Satterfield still serves as the primary OC.
Satterfield’s only had one 1000-yard rusher in his history of play calling at the FBS level. Jahad Thomas did it at Temple in 2015, with 276 carries for 1262 yards and 17 TDs. I checked to find the record of Tennessee Tech, an FCS program, but their website doesn’t seem to have individual stats from 2016/17.
Closing
I am mildly intrigued and perhaps half-mystified by my yearning for old school Nebraska football to make a comeback in the year of 2024. Speaking more pragmatically, the staff are not a plus here for the RB position. I think it’s safe to say Satterfield, the primary play caller, is not a Known Degenerate Pig Farmer (KDPF). Furthermore, I think his preference is just to call the game based on who his best players are. As we saw with Jahad Thomas, that could be the tailback. His co-OC has a better history with respect to concentrating touches to one player.
On the personnel side, I like what I see. Emmett Johnson is a player I want to take some late shots on in Bestball formats only. I don’t think I would draft him in re-drafts. I like that Nebraska is returning a lot of OL snaps. The Huskers do have some tough matchups in 2024, though. They play at Ohio State and Iowa, and host Wisconsin. Typically, these are tough teams to run the football on.
But how sick would it be if there’s a pig in the backfield this season for the Huskers? Even better if the OL are juiced out of their minds. Until that dream becomes reality, we’re left grasping for straws at the end of deep Bestball drafts. Draft it into reality as they say (nobody says this because it definitely never works that way).
I’m curious what the pigs think:
Article on Jaylen Lloyd
If you enjoyed this content, I encourage you to join the Pig Pen (subscribing), and follow me on twitter.
Have questions? Find out what people are saying about VolumePigs here.