Roy is as good a running back as we've ever had... what we're is missing is the OL that those other guys had
Your joking right? Right? Sure, Helu is a decent and tough running back but to say he's as good a back as we've ever had? How old are you? Ever heard of some guy named Rozier? How about Phillips? How about Green? I could list a lot more but there's not enough room...Sorry but I respectfully disagree...
I'm 44 and my freshman year at UNL was Rozier's Senior year ...1983. Rozier, Phillips and Green were all fantastic, I'm just saying I don't think any of them could do much better than Helu behind this O line. I would give my left trasticle to see Helu run behind the 83, 94, 95, or 97 lines. My grandma could have been an all-conference RB those years. Helu rarely gets more than cracks to run thru and his acceleration is as good or better than any of those guys. When he HURDLES people at full speed in the secondary, it's jaw dropping. He doesn't punish people like Rozier or Stoopid Larry, but I wouldn't trade him for anyone that's playing this year. So i'll say he's not the biggest or the fastest or the toughest ever, but he gets my vote for squirtiest. Maybe it's just been way too long since we've had a rusher leading the conference. Put it this way, do you think we could have won the 95 title with this O line? not. How about with Helu instead of Green? I think yes. Osborne's career success can be boiled down to one factor... O line play.
i agree with your last part about the offensive line and i think that this is the big thing that is missing from this team and has been missing for about 8 years. except for the last drive of the misery game, they seemed to get very little push and really struggle protecting lee against teams that are decent (i.e. va tech) and only half decent (i.e. misery). i don't know if it is talent or poor coaching, but likely a combination of the two. it seems like barney cotton has always received a "pass" on this board and in the media, but i have seen nothing from his players that seem to indicate that they will ever produce a dominant o-line. even back in 2003 when he first came back to NU, the o-line wasn't that great and he had some pretty good talent to work with. time will tell, but i think he will consistently be the weak link on that coaching staff.