NU running backs shine in opener
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BY BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star
Cory Ross was, as Nebraska running backs coach Randy Jordan described it, dead in the water.
About to get earholed. Popped. Wasted.
With Nebraska facing second-and-10 at the Western Illinois 34 in the second quarter, Husker quarterback Joe Dailey floated a screen pass to Ross. The junior running back caught it with three Leatherneck defenders around him. Ross was burnt toast.
Only he wasn't. He danced left, then right, and through some Houdini jig, left the defenders grasping air. Ross picked up 12 yards when there seemed none.
That was how it went for Nebraska running backs in Saturday's 56-17 win over Western Illinois. They had their way. Lest it be feared, the run still lives in Lincoln.
When asked after the game how he'd grade his performance, Ross gave himself an A.
"I did a great job. I ran hard. I caught the ball. I broke tackles. I picked up blitzes. The only thing I'm a little upset about is that I didn't get a touchdown," said Ross, who seemed only mildly joking.
If Ross gets an A, the Nebraska running backs as a whole get, at the least, a B+.
By game's end, Nebraska -- newly remodeled Nebraska, mind you -- had amassed 363 yards rushing. Ross led the way with 125 yards on 13 carries, but his freshmen teammates weren't far behind.
Redshirt freshman Tierre Green displayed his blazing speed while running for 112 yards and two touchdowns on only seven carries. His equally green teammate -- Brandon Jackson -- racked up 79 yards on 13 carries.
"I've always preached to them that the wolf is only as strong as the pack and the pack is only as strong as the wolf," Jordan said. "We try to take that into every game and I think we did (Saturday)."
When asked to decipher the difference between his three backs, Jordan began by describing Green.
"He's just lighting in a bottle. You give him a step and he can take it to the house," Jordan said of the Omaha Benson graduate.
Case in point: Green's two touchdowns. His first score came in the second quarter when he bolted through a hole for a 28-yard touchdown in which nary a finger was laid on him. The second touchdown, which covered 34 yards, came late in the fourth when he ran around the corner and just outraced the Leathernecks to the end zone.
"With last year's redshirt, I felt like those touchdowns were a long time coming," Green said. "I felt good about all the plays when they dialed them up tonight. The line blocked well and the receivers blocked well."
Ross felt similarly confident.
"In some cases it was like (their defense) had no idea what we were going to do to them," said Ross, who had two catches for 32 yards.
Jordan praised the way Ross ran both inside and outside the tackles, propping Ross as "an all-around back."
And Jackson? The kid from Horn Lake, Miss.?
"He's just a young pup. We call him man-child," Jordan said of the 6-foot, 220-pounder. "He has the body of a man, but the brain of a child. He's a great kid and he's learning and I think he's going to have a good future here."
But the future is now to Ross, and in his mind, it's a bright one.
Did NU's 300-plus yards rushing shock him? No.
"That's the way this West Coast offense is," Ross said. "We can hit you big for the pass or big for the run. You just never know what's going to happen. We have the talent to break 300 every game."
Reach Brian Christopherson at 473-7438 or bchristopherson@journalstar.com.
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