With all the love that Newby's getting...

[Ric Flair]

All three looked great to me. They're very different backs too, with different styles and skill sets, which makes it difficult for a defense to gear up to stop them. But one good part of the game Saturday was how all of our running backs performed. Ron Brown is unsurprisingly doing a heck of a job with that unit.

[Count 'Bility]

Anybody else think we are trying to keep AA somewhat fresh for conference play? I just think that a combination of trust in our depth and an idea of not killing AA by running him 30 times a game is just part of the plan. I believe it was discussed that Ameer tired towards the end of last year. We need our most reliable RB for the whole season and not necessarily for 40 carries against Wyoming.

I really think so. Once Newby came in, it appeared AA was done for the night. Until of course it got to crunch time.

[TheSker]

The quality of our depth on both sides of the ball is as good as it's been in a long time.

[Guy Chamberlin]

I thought Ameer looked either too timid or simply not strong enough as a Freshman to be our featured running back. He totally proved me wrong last year as a Sophomore. But I think he really worked at it.

 

Newby looked fearless and electric right out of the box. A true freshman. We have every reason to be excited.

 

No idea what threads you've been stuck on C-4 but everyone and his dog noticed Imani Cross' game, and his second TD was the singular ESPN highlight of the game.

[WhatDoIKnow]

Imani is my spirit animal. I can't believe I beat everyone else to that.

[BOurNe sUpremacy]

Hey, I'm big on Cross, he looked fantastic, I've been giving him love for over a year now and he didn't disappoint Saturday night--quite the contrary. Comparing him to Newby is like apples and oranges, Cross being more he pounder, though it's fab that he has the moves of a smaller back.

 

Newby is, well, the newbie, though he looked like a seasoned veteran out there. He appears to be a special talent. Seemed like he elevated the game of the rest of the team when he was in there.

 

Cross is going to be a great one for us too, as is Abdu. We are lucky. If we had Adam Taylor on board, wow! Guess he's not ready, which surprises me.

[Husker_x]

Maybe I didn't sing his praises loudly enough, but I am also damn impressed with Cross. His work ethic really showed up on the field Saturday. Out of all the backs we have, he's the one who instantly makes me see flashes of Alabama football. That spin/thouchdown run was a thing of beauty.

[The Dude]

Funny people are down on AA now too.

What?

People on here have talked about how AA seems to "run timid" and "wasn't decisive". Just a couple quotes I remember off the top of my head.

I hadn't noticed that at all. Nor would I agree with any of it.

 

Abdullah played a great game, but that's nothing new. We knew what we have in him. Now, I would say Newby was a little tentative at times, but like Cross last year (and Abdullah his freshman year) that's to be expected.

I agree with you, and if the board wasn't such a dumpster fire with mixed threads I would look for some of the quotes.

Okay, after re-watching the game I did notice Abdullah take a few plays off when he was in pass pro. Luckily they didn't turn out to be negative plays, but I imagine they probably would against a better team. I did notice him pick up a blitz nicely once, however. He still ran the ball really well for the most part.

[HuskerShark]

I love Imani.

[StPaulHusker]

Imani played great. I just think we were all a little surprised at just how good Newby really was.