Mitch Sherman, ESPN Staff Writer 9y

Nebraska Cornhuskers preview

The Huskers shocked college football by wandering out west to nab Mike Riley from his Pac-12 outpost, Oregon State. Riley brought a large chunk of his staff to Lincoln, calmly shifting the culture from the rocky Bo Pelini era. Still, it’s a big gamble for a program with seven straight seasons of nine or more wins.

Offense

How the Huskers beat you: Even with a new pro-style scheme under Riley, expect the Huskers to continue making their hay on the ground, especially with QB Tommy Armstrong Jr. back under center (705 rush yards in ’14). Since joining the Big Ten in 2011, Nebraska hasn’t finished outside the top 20 in the FBS in rush yards per game (240.2 in ’14, No. 17), and Oregon State regularly ran the ball well, producing 1,000-yard rushers each season from 2005 to 2010. Leading RB Ameer Abdullah departs (19 rush TDs, 10th in the FBS), but the Huskers have four viable replacements, led by junior Terrell Newby (297 yards, 5 TDs in ’14).

How you beat the Huskers: The common theme in Nebraska’s four losses last season was opponents’ ability to neutralize Armstrong. In nine wins, he had 17 TDs and only 8 INTs and averaged 6.6 yards per carry, accounting for 22 total TDs. In four losses, he had 5 TDs and 4 INTs, and his rushing plummeted to 2.0 ypc as he was sacked 15 times. When pressured, Armstrong is erratic, with a tendency to lock on primary targets. Riley says the presence of OC Danny Langsdorf, most recently the QB coach for the New York Giants, is key for Armstrong’s growth, and the return of four of his top six targets should aid with consistency.

Defense

How the Huskers beat you: DTs Maliek Collins and Vincent Valentine are the Huskers’ two most important defenders, combining for 90 tackles in ’14, including 21 behind the line and 7 1/2 sacks. The loss of DE Randy Gregory to the NFL is a hit on the edge, but the Big Ten’s ninth-best rush defense (177.9 yards per game) should undergo vast improvement in new coordinator Mark Banker’s system, which features a more lineman-friendly one-gap scheme compared with Pelini’s two-gap. Banker says his philosophy is simple: Get to the ball. The only question is whether new full-time starters at LB, juniors Josh Banderas and Michael Rose-Ivey, can help contain the edge well enough to let Collins and Valentine handle the rest.

How you beat the Huskers: “We’ve got a lot of young guys,” says first-year LB coach Trent Bray, “and young guys might need to help us win.” Banderas, Rose-Ivey and David Santos (tied with Banderas as the second-leading tackler returning) have quality reps under their belts, but Rose-Ivey missed last year with a knee injury, and the other two have struggled with consistency. Among the other scholarship LBs, only soph Marcus Newby has experience. That concern also creeps into the secondary, with two new starters on a unit that gave up 45 passes of 20-plusyards, the most in the Big Ten.

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