Rushing yards are more valuable and teams win more if they run the ball better than their opponent as compared to passing yards. Throwing for 300 and running for 150 might add up to 450 yards of total offense but I believe the statistical odds of winning are significantly higher for the team with 300 yards rushing and 150 passing. Passing the ball to advance the ball down the field is somewhat like shooting long distance 2s and 3 point buckets in basketball. There is the saying "Live by the jump shot - die by the jump shot!" You need that inside game in basketball to win titles just as you need that run game in football. In the long run, you win more if you run the ball better than the opponent, all other things being equal.
All this being said, Nebraska will win, or not, based on a combination of outcomes in ALL three major areas of the game: offense, defense and special teams. Our problems in recent years have NOT all been because our O line was not playing very well. Often the O line did not play very well but neither did our defense and, frankly, in my view, our special teams have been very poor, at best. We were above average in field goal kicking and of course our punting was attrocious last year. Sam Fultz was exceptional, most of the time, but had his share of less than stellar kicks mixed in, all too often kicking beyond our coverage or out of the end zone making his kicking distance look great but net punting, at times, not so much. Our kick coverage was 'average'. Our kick off returns and punt returns have been nothing short of awful with a brief exception for DPE his freshman year.
To win 10 or 11 games and or win a conference championship, Nebraska MUST win the offense, defense and special teams play in nearly all those games as we are NOT going to simply show up and win many games just because we are bigger, stronger, faster, etc than our opponent. We might say that in 4 games this year but in another 4 we may only be roughly equal and the remainder, many would say, we are LESS talented (meaning bigger, stronger, faster, etc).
Going all the way back to Solich's last couple seasons, our punter has had to be our "MVP" all too often and we need Alex Henery or somebody to save the day with 57 yard last second kicks. While we need an excellent punter, place kicker, etc, we need more than just a couple strong, consistant, reliable kickers. We need the entire team working well in all phases. The 'team' has to win as a team - not just the O line. O line is very important, but it is only a fraction of the entire picture.
