Despite setbacks, Sevion Morrison back on track in Huskers' RB race

Last year was as difficult of a season as ever on every team and player in college football, and Sevion Morrison was no exception.

After arriving at Nebraska as a four-star recruit out of Tulsa, Okla., and rated the No. 14 running back in the 2020 class, Morrison’s first college season was never even got off the ground due to one setback after another.

Not only was he sidelined for much of the fall while dealing with quad and hamstring injuries, but he also tested positive for COVID-19 toward the end of the year and had to quarantine for 21 days.

While his illness was mostly asymptomatic, the 6-foot, 205-pound freshman was still working his way back to full health at the end of spring practice.

Rather than let all of the hurdles he faced over the past 12 months derail his career, Morrison used this offseason as a chance to get himself back on track physically and mentally. Now, he’s in a prime position to push for playing time, maybe even a starting job, in 2021.

“I got through it, though,” Morrison said. “I just thought to myself, it’s nothing I can control, and I’ve just got to control the controllables… It molded me into something else.”

Maybe the biggest changes Morrison made this offseason were to his diet and sleep schedule. For the first time in his life, he heavily monitors what he eats and now does to bed around 9:30 p.m.

Morrison said he was inspired by former NU running back Devine Ozigbo, who made similar off-the-field changes going into his senior year and broke out with a 1,000-yard season in 2018.

As he did with Ozigbo, running backs coach Ryan Held held Morrison accountable daily and pushed him to make the right choices.

“As soon as (Ozigbo) changed his body, his game play immediately changed,” Morrison said. “Coach Held told him to change his body, and Coach Held’s not going to lead me wrong. Once I really took that challenge – really, Devine, I’m not going to lie, Devine made me take that challenge.

“If he can change his body and perform like that, I know I can change my body and perform like that.”

A player who set the Edison (Okla.) record with more than 5,000 career rushing yards and held multiple Power Five offers, Morrison arrived at Nebraska with high expectations.

His development may have been stunted a bit out of the gates, but head coach Scott Frost said Morrison was well on his way to becoming the player NU had hoped.

“Sevion’s a really talented kid,” Frost said. “We try to recruit as many talented kids as we can, and kids come along at different times and on kind of a different schedule. Sev’s really kind of hit his stride in the offseason program this winter.

“He looks a lot better, looks leaner, looks faster, and he’s been doing a good job. I think he’s grown up a since his first year here, and he’s got a chance to help us.”

Nebraska’s running back depth chart remains to be determined now two weeks through fall camp, but all signs indicate Morrison will have a place firmly in the rotation when the Huskers open the year at Illinois on Aug. 28.

Yes, he's definitely making a move to play,” Held said. “There's no doubt about it. Absolutely.”