LINCOLN — Mike Riley and Tom Osborne chatted about many things when they met recently for lunch, but Riley in particular sought input on three topics from Nebraska football’s all-time leader in coaching victories.
And on the last of those topics — what offensive style Osborne thought necessary to succeed at NU — the College Football Hall of Famer probably didn’t tell Riley anything surprising.
“He said he thought it was important that a team run the ball,” Riley said. “Because if you’re a team that has to count on throwing 60 times a game, some games that might be difficult, is what he said. And I get that.”
Riley has spent this winter at a crossroads of sorts, a veteran head coach accustomed to a certain offensive style settling in at a place best known for years and years of running the football — and with a dual-threat quarterback as a returning starter.
That has led Riley to stay open-minded as Nebraska prepares an offensive plan for the start of spring practice next Saturday, especially when it comes to a quarterback run game that he never really had at Oregon State.
