Nebraska running backs have talent but need consistency, right approach

Nebraska running back coach Ryan Held knows his group has one of the largest question marks by it heading into the season. He is buckling down on finding a starter and several other players he can rely on.

“This year as the running backs coach, I’m definitely going to earn my money,” Held said on the Sports Nightly on Tuesday.

Nebraska is desperate for consistency at the position and to have a good rotation of players that are talented and can stay healthy.

Marvin Scott III had the most game-time experience of the returning running backs during the 2020 season with 24 carries for 62 yards. Held said Scott is focused on keeping his body healthy and in top shape and learned the details of the plays.

“He's a talented young guy. He's very strong for his age, very mature, body-wise,” Held said. “Now, I have to just continually work on him in an everyday approach of coming to work every day with the right mindset to really be able to take his game to the next level and be a consistent performer for us.”

Another player that Held said needs to focus on his everyday approach is second-year freshman Sevion Morrison. Morrison didn’t play during his first season in 2020 but is Edison (OK) High School’s all-time leading rusher.

Held knows that Morrison can continue to improve to help the running back’s room and Nebraska’s offense.

“Sevion is talented, I'm excited about him. But I'm not satisfied because he has to show a consistent approach day to day that he can get this deal done and have his body right, day in and day out,” Held said on Sports Nightly. “So I can count on him and so he can go days in a row and not miss a day because of whatever.”

Rahmir Johnson had the second-most carries in the 2020 season of the returning running backs with eight. He didn’t compete in the spring because of a hamstring injury but is healthy for the fall.

Held said Johnson has shown flashes of the athlete he can be for the Huskers but he needs to be more consistent on the field.

“Rahmir has talent but he's got to come with a mindset that I'm going to be a physical running back, that can run between the tackles, we know he can run outside, but he's got to be able to run inside,” he said. “I'm looking forward to fall camp to see what he does.”

Held said during a press conference in the spring that almost all of the running backs missed a practice at some point during the fall. This left a lot of room for newcomers like walk-on Jaquez Yant and freshman Gabe Ervin to take a lot of reps.

Yant, who is now on scholarship, took the second or third most reps in the running back room in the spring.

“This summer has been big for him. He needs to continue to lean up because he's just a big guy. He's got to have his diet right and everything and just continuing to learn the plays,” Held said. “But he's a guy that's got a bright future we just got to stay on him to be consistent.”

As for Ervin, his coach said he was extremely impressed with how the early enrollee handles himself.

“He's been very business-like he's been very focused. He wants to play, he wants to make an impact,” Held said. “He's really done a lot of things, to put himself in a position to make an impact as a freshman. He's got talent, he can run, he can catch the ball, he’s smart, he loves the game of football, but he is a freshman.”

The running backs coach continued to explain how Ervin has a bright future but he doesn’t want to put too much pressure on a young student-athlete.

Cooper Jewett, a versatile walk-on from Elkhorn South, is entering his third season at Nebraska and has been in the running back’s room for the longest period of any back on the team.

“He is not afraid to contact them, he got the heck knocked out of him a lot of times in the spring,” Held said of Jewett. “He's done a really good job. He's an asset to our team, a really good walk on and if he just continues to progress, I think he can really help our football team along the way.”

USC transfer Markese Stepp is healthy and ready to battle for the starting role after missing all of the spring with a foot injury, according to Held.

“He was able to practice a couple of days early in helmets and you were able to see that he's a guy that will hit the ball downfield,” Held said.

Stepp, just like every other back, has an opportunity to become Nebraska’s playmaker at running back and to be the go-to guy on fourth-and-short situations.

The Huskers will need to limit quarterback Adrian Martinez’s rushing attempts because of the uncertainty at backup quarterback. In order to do that, Held’s group will need to step up to help reinforce Nebraska’s running game.

There are a lot of running backs with potential but Held is desperately trying to translate that potential onto the field in the form of a reliable, talented and dangerous running back’s room.

“Even more this year, we've got to be able to help our team on all phases of the game because we have talent in the room,” Held said. “Now we just got to be able to go out there and I (have) got to be able to count on guys when I come into work and I know who's going to be able to be someone we can count on day in and day out.”