EJ Barthel Hired as Running Backs Coach

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sho said:
Emmett Johnson, RB.  I believe he was Mr Football in MN.  And has been buried on the depth chart here.   Sounds like he thinks he shouldn't have been so low.
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I had wondered why he didn't get much of a shot - esp after Allan went down with the injury.  The RB room just seemed in consistent this year -  Grant started out great but faded, sometimes we would see Gabe, then RJ occasionally (until the Iowa game),  the others were ghosts. 

 
TGHusker said:
I had wondered why he didn't get much of a shot - esp after Allan went down with the injury.  The RB room just seemed in consistent this year -  Grant started out great but faded, sometimes we would see Gabe, then RJ occasionally (until the Iowa game),  the others were ghosts. 
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Our line had a lot to do with the lacking of running yards.  Later in the year, we were playing better run defenses 

 
Barthel did a really nice job this year at UConn as they were hit really, really hard with injuries at RB.  I watched more UConn football this year than I care to admit and every game it seemed like they were rolling a new guy out at RB.  Despite all the injuries, each guy that played seemed to run hard, know his role and was ready to play which deserves a tip of the cap to the coach.

 
I liked Applewhite, but never understood his RB substitutions and who he gave opportunities to.  Or that he couldn't teach Grant to block in the passing game.  I think Gabe Irvin is a better all-around back, bigger, stronger and could have put up the same numbers early in the year as Grant did against easier defenses.  And helped with pass-pro better.  Now that's just my gut opinion.  And, Yant shouldn't have been in the mix.

Having said all that, I feel it's good to have a different coach in charge of RBs with a different vision and knows Rhule.

 
admo said:
I liked Applewhite, but never understood his RB substitutions and who he gave opportunities to.  Or that he couldn't teach Grant to block in the passing game.  I think Gabe Irvin is a better all-around back, bigger, stronger and could have put up the same numbers early in the year as Grant did against easier defenses.  And helped with pass-pro better.  Now that's just my gut opinion.  And, Yant shouldn't have been in the mix.

Having said all that, I feel it's good to have a different coach in charge of RBs with a different vision and knows Rhule.
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I was actually impressed by a few Grant blocks in the Iowa game, but yeah for the most part it was bad. And not being able to make him understand the times he needed to get upfield and when he could dance. And agreed on Ervin, plus I would say Rahmir showed against Iowa that he really could be effective as well. He had the highlight reel stuff early, but as an armchair coach forcing the lead back role to Grant hurt us later in the year.

 
Yeah for the most part his (Grant) blocking skills were markedly bad all season.  Hopefully we get some new blood in there next year not just in our new RB coach but personnel wise.  Nebraska sorely needs it.
 

 
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Dogs In A Pile said:
Going to have to fix the OL before there is any chance of successfully running the ball. We tried it in the 2nd half last Friday and ended up with 20 rushes for 18 net yards. It almost cost us the game.
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In part, that was also due to our runningbacks failing to run North-South and instead trying to bounce outside where they weren't fast enough to outrun defenders. Best games were when the backs were willing to run forward and accept 3-4 yard gains when available. Habit of trying to bounce outside was a recipe for failure too often.

 
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