Ozigbo
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ColoradoHusk
Heisman Trophy Winner
Phillips accounted for 141 of NU's 220 total yards and a TD, while playing with a broken thumb. K-State knew he was getting the ball every play, and they couldn't do anything about it. Yes, the O-line and the D played important roles in that game, but if you ask anyone on the '94 team who was the star of that game, they will tell you LP.
Toe
All-American
Because of Green’s successful career with the Huskers and the Packers, I will consider him the best back we ever had. However, LP, as far as I am concerned, had the most natural talent.
ColoradoHusk
Heisman Trophy Winner
I may be in the minority, but a player's NFL career has no bearing on my thoughts on how that player was as a Cornhusker. If you used that reasoning, Roger Craig would be considered a better I-back than Mike Rozier, when Rozier beat out Craig in 1981 and 1982 and Rozier won the Heisman in '83. Given my eyeball test, LP was a better I-back than Green. He was able to do different things than Green. Green may have had better overall speed, but LP was the better all around back, IMO.
CheeseHusker
All-Conference
Rozier got hurt in the NFL and he also played for some poor teams. He had an okay career but it never panned out quite like college did.
I've also seen interviews with him where he said he didn't enjoy pro football as much as college.
I've also seen interviews with him where he said he didn't enjoy pro football as much as college.
Undone
All-American
The best part about Ozigbo's journey is not as much about what he did or didn't do under Riley or how Riley did or didn't use him in his system. The best part is that Devine was considered to be the third string guy behind a true freshman and a JUCO transfer at the start of this season.
That whole situation is seriously so perfect for Frost and his coaches to use for anybody else next season. Do you want to be Greg Bell or Devine Ozigbo? I see this especially on the defensive side of the ball; do you want to be Greg Bell (all quit and no fight) or do you want to be Devine Ozigbo (work hard to achieve success) in that situation?
Really hope the coaches can leverage Devine's story for the rest of the team.
That whole situation is seriously so perfect for Frost and his coaches to use for anybody else next season. Do you want to be Greg Bell or Devine Ozigbo? I see this especially on the defensive side of the ball; do you want to be Greg Bell (all quit and no fight) or do you want to be Devine Ozigbo (work hard to achieve success) in that situation?
Really hope the coaches can leverage Devine's story for the rest of the team.
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ColoradoHusk
Heisman Trophy Winner
I had been very down on Ozigbo until this year, and his history showed that he was a pretty average back. The way he used the recruitment "over him" as motivation to get in better shape and embrace the new coaching staff is great to see. I also think the new offense is helping him immensely. Ozigbo is a type of back that takes a few yards to get going, but once he does, he's shown the ability to break tackles and make moves (his weight loss and being stronger also helps this), so he is enjoying the ability to get out in space which wasn't available under Riley/Langsdorf.
EDIT: I also want to add the improvement in o-line play contributing to Ozigbo's success. During Ziggy's first long TD run against Illinois, it was a run straight up the middle, and he wasn't touched until he was 11 yards past the LOS.
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Guy Chamberlin
Heisman Trophy Winner
Devine Ozigbo spent the off-season losing 30 pounds and getting into better shape. 30 pounds is a lot.
I don't think anyone was wrong about him. He was a reliable, hard-working short yardage back sharing carries with the speedier, shiftier featured backs. Everyone liked Ozigbo, but there were probably more people thinking Newby or Cross or Bryant or Wilbon deserved more carries. Just a few weeks ago, Scott Frost had him behind both Washington and Bell.
Ozigbo literally worked his a$$ off to be a better running back. Doesn't seem like the kind of guy who wanted to prove the doubters wrong. More like a guy who had to prove it to himself. Glad he's getting the chance to shine.
I don't think anyone was wrong about him. He was a reliable, hard-working short yardage back sharing carries with the speedier, shiftier featured backs. Everyone liked Ozigbo, but there were probably more people thinking Newby or Cross or Bryant or Wilbon deserved more carries. Just a few weeks ago, Scott Frost had him behind both Washington and Bell.
Ozigbo literally worked his a$$ off to be a better running back. Doesn't seem like the kind of guy who wanted to prove the doubters wrong. More like a guy who had to prove it to himself. Glad he's getting the chance to shine.
Guy Chamberlin
Heisman Trophy Winner
No kidding. There are a lot bigger lanes and much wider corners now. The same lanes Martinez is using for QB draws early in the game.
Players know where they're supposed to be. It's refreshing.
Undone
All-American
I'm not arguing with either of you, but I just wanted to say that my original point that got this tangent going wasn't to try to identify why he's been successful when he's gotten his touches. My point was to point out what got him in a position to get those touches in the first place, which was working his a$$ off (as you mentioned, Guy) to beat out the two guys that had beaten him out in fall camp.
To me, that's the punchline in the Ozigbo story.
ColoradoHusk
Heisman Trophy Winner
With my reasoning, Rozier, had the better college career and Craig was the better pro — he was a star like Green. Craig was the backup for Jarvis Redwine in 1980 — can’t remember if he started when Redwine was injured. He and Rozier were co starters in 1981, kind of like Orduna and Kinney in 1970, and both went over 1,000 yards. In 1982, Craig started the season at FB in front of Rozier — although he played some RB, too. Unfortunately, Craig was not 100 percent due to injury for much of 1982 and was statistically way down. But a healthy Craig could have had a 1,500-plus season in 1982 if he was healthy and was the lone back. I consider he and Rozier very close in talent and ability.
Ozigbo of course doesn’t have Washington’s acceleration, but for a big guy, he gets going pretty quickly. So I will respectfully disagree on this. Otherwise this is an excellent post.