Nebraska offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen delivered a blunt message to his running backs this week as the Huskers prepare for a Halloween night Blackout matchup against Washington at Memorial Stadium.
After back-to-back narrow losses to Indiana and Oregon, Holgorsen made clear that the ground game must improve if Nebraska’s offense is going to take pressure off quarterback Anthony Colandrea and compete in the Big Ten’s physical style of play. “The running backs have got to play better,” he said. “They’ve shown spurts; we have good players in the room; all three (Jamal Rule, Mekhi Nelson, and Isaiah Mozee) have been banged up. Welcome to Big Ten football. Grow up… Play through it. They’ll respond and play better.”
He expanded on the idea of growing up with his classic directness: “Suck it up and go, man. Gotta coach them better. Gotta put them in a better position to be successful, but at the end of the day, we went into that game with four backs, and we didn’t finish with four backs.” Holgorsen added that the bye week should help, noting the group “looked fast and fresh” in recent practice and expressing optimism that Rule and Mozee will be available.
Holgorsen framed Big Ten games as a “race to 21” points, with the offensive line needing more consistency and the backs needing to produce more reliably. Colandrea has been Nebraska’s most productive offensive player, often leading in both passing and rushing, and Holgorsen praised his warrior mentality while wanting the backs to help lighten that load.
Nebraska enters at 5-2 overall and 2-2 in the Big Ten after the close defeats. Washington arrives at 4-3 (1-3 Big Ten) for the 7 p.m. CT kickoff on the Big Ten Network. The Huskers have protected the ball well this season (no lost fumbles on 270 carries through seven games), but production and health in the backfield remain the focus.
