The last two seasons running back Mikale Wilbon’s role in Nebraska’s offense has been limited.
The junior from Chicago has shown flashes, but has yet to get anything more than a couple of spot touches in a game. In fact, Wilbon has just 28 offensive touches for 158 yards the last two seasons. This spring he’s hoping that can change.
Wilbon finds himself in a battle at running back with sophomore Tre Bryant and junior Devine Ozigbo. All three are trying to become NU’s featured I-back, as the Huskers look to replace senior Terrell Newby.
Through six spring practices Nebraska has yet to do any live “to the ground” tackling, so it’s been hard to evaluate the running back position at times. However, head coach Mike Riley feels like there has been some movement.
“We do, but we are not going to announce anything about it,” Riley said when asked if he sees any separation between the I-backs. “There is no need to, because we want them all to think competition and performance and production, and let them keep playing.”
The opportunity to replace Newby as the featured back has the attention of everyone this spring.
“I feel like when Terrell (Newby) was here, it just made everybody better just because he’s another guy that can do it all, and he’s adding pressure to everybody else,” Wilbon said. “It’s just more competition and it really pushed all the backs to do better.”
Wilbon has gotten off to a strong start this spring, and you could argue he's very much in the discussion to be the starting I-back, despite the perception he’s running third behind Bryant and Ozigbo.
“This year I just have a different mindset,” Wilbon said. “I talked to Coach (Reggie) Davis right before spring ball started, and he told me right off the jump that: ‘You are going to have a bigger role. You are going to get more reps.’ That just put in my mind that now I’m involved a lot. Now I just have to turn it up a lot.”
Wilbon feels he’s come to the furthest mentally the last two seasons.
2015 and 2016 were not been easy for the former four-star recruit. Wilbon has had to learn patience, and the ups and downs he’s gone through have gotten him ready for this spring.
“I dropped the ball in the Maryland game on a screen pass,” Wilbon said. “It was just on my mind for a few months. I talked to Coach (Reggie Davis) right after, and he was like ‘man you have to let those plays go.’ Nobody is perfect, so you’ve got to let those plays go and go back out there and play relaxed and play your game.”
The big thing that has Wilbon and all the players excited on the offense is the change in quarterback style.
Having passing quarterbacks like Tanner Lee and Patrick O’Brien is going to open up more opportunities, and we’ve already seen that this spring. The biggest change will be NU’s running backs will get the ball more on check down plays, where before Tommy Armstrong looked to scramble in those situations.
“It’s like a bigger run,” Wilbon said of the check down game. “If we catch a 5-yard pop or something like that, it bursts to a big gain. It could happen like that, because some defenses don’t even account for the running back. That’s a big weapon for us.
“Before the spring they already told us that they are going to check the ball down a lot. We are just harping on that and focusing on that now too.”
