Curt McKeever: ISU, Huskers both have running game questions
Print
digg it!
Facebook
del.icio.us
Seed Newsvine
Fark It
Reddit
Is the ghost of Texas Tech coach Mike Leach still lingering in Memorial Stadium?
Just when you start to picture Nebraska and Iowa State slugging it out old-school on Saturday, the injury bug hits hard enough to send both teams’ offensive coordinators back to the think tank.
Consider that Iowa State’s Alexander Robinson and Nebraska’s Roy Helu are the Big 12 Conference’s leading two rushers — and neither looks primed to put their stamp on Saturday's game.
Robinson, with four 100-yard games this season, has been plagued by a groin injury he originally suffered against Army on Sept. 26 and has twice since aggravated. In the first half of last Saturday’s win against Baylor, he rushed for 72 yards on 16 carries, but had to call it a day after just three more attempts.
His replacement is freshman Jeremiah Schwartz, who’s more about power than he is speed (which has me thinking of the scene in the Star Wars parody ‘“Spaceballs,” when Yogurt says to Captain Lone Starr: “May the Schwartz be with you.”). Sorry, I don’t see how a slower back doesn’t play heavily into the Huskers’ hands.
What’s more, quarterback Austen Arnaud, the Cyclones’ second-leading rusher, has bruised throwing hand that forced him to join Alexander on the sideline in the second half last week. Arnaud’s replacement, Jerome Tiller, also is a freshman.
Of course, Robinson and Arnaud — who together account for 167 of Iowa State’s league-leading 214-yard rushing average — vow they’ll be in the lineup against NU. But if they are, for how long? Groin injuries beg for an off week, and if Arnaud’s hand swells again, how will he be able to grip the ball?
Meanwhile, you’ve got Helu battling a painful right shoulder. He left the loss to Tech in the third quarter and has followed with another week of limited contact in practice.
With No. 2 I-back Rex Burkhead already sidelined with foot injury, the Huskers have no clear-cut choice should Helu not hold up.
Good luck trying to generate a consistent ground game with that scenario.
Game Day: ISU breakdown, NU injury report
“When that doesn’t happen,” Bo Pelini said after watching Tech hold NU to 10 points, “it’s pretty hard to call plays.”
Do you feel the presence of Leach’s ghost growing?
For starters, that thing would never be interested in watching a game where both teams tried to ram the ball down the other’s throat with a physical running game. And now it’s looking like the Huskers and Cyclones will have to hook up in a basketball-on-grass, spread-the-field shootout.
Could Helu’s status have significant impact on how much we see of Cody Green, and how the Nebraska offense goes about attacking?
Would you be that surprised to see the freshman quarterback, who some would argue is the Huskers’ second-best running option right now, line up in the same backfield with Zac Lee?
Or have Pelini and offensive coordinator Shawn Watson already decided to bite the bullet and sit Lee in order to see what Green can show in a 0-0 game?
Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.
Most Commented Football