Lunch With Bo: Offense Only Scratching the SurfaceWhile many Nebraska football fans may be surprised by the success of the Husker offense this season, head coach Bo Pelini says he expected the offense would be much better.
Nebraska ranks fourth nationally in rushing offense, averaging 344 yards per game, and eighth in total offense with 513 yards.
Pelini said Tuesday during Nebraska’s weekly news conference that the success doesn’t surprise him.
“I don’t buy into all the stats and focus on that, but I think we’ve gotten better and I knew we would,” Pelini said. “We’re better up front, and it always starts there.
“I do know that even though we put up some good stats we can still get a lot better. We’re not even close to where we can be in a lot of phases.”
Last season, Nebraska’s offense got conservative and had less big-play potential while the team struggled through numerous injuries. Nebraska played to the strength of its defense, Pelini said.
“We were kind of in a situation where we were beat up pretty good and weren’t able to move forward with the offense like we would have liked to,” Pelini said. “We are excited with the offense coming into the year, and I think we’re seeing the scratch of the surface of what this offense can become.”
A big part of the success of the offense is because of redshirt freshman quarterback Taylor Martinez, who has averaged 140 yards per game rushing with eight touchdowns.
“We put him in there because that’s what we thought he could be,” Pelini said. “He’s explosive and putting up some great numbers. I think the exciting thing is that he’s got a long way to go. There are so many areas he can be better.”
Nebraska will be looking to finish non-conference play with an undefeated record for the first time since 2005 when the Huskers play South Dakota State at 6 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium. The game will be a pay-per-view broadcast.
South Dakota State was ranked in the preseason top 10 in the Football Championship Subdivision a year after reaching the FCS playoffs, but the Jackrabbits are 0-2 following a 24-14 loss to Illinois State last week.
The game against the FCS opponent was scheduled before Pelini arrived at Nebraska. On Tuesday, Pelini said he respects FCS teams, but feels Nebraska owes it to its fans to play BCS schools when possible, and probably won’t schedule FCS teams in the future.
“You never say never, but it’s not what we’re looking for,” Pelini said.
Pelini grew up watching Division 1-AA football (now known as FCS) at Youngstown State.
“You look across the board, and 1-AA football is pretty good,” Pelini said. “Those kids are out to prove they belong in one of these programs. I see it everyday that guys on the scout team make plays against the starters and challenge them. You have to be ready to play and have respect for the game or it will creep up and bite you.”
