Nebraska’s Defense Fuels Resurgent Season

“The ‘backers, V9 [Vincent Shavers Jr.] played a great game. Andrew Marshall’s playing really good football. [Rex] Guthrie continues to just show up, show up, show up. Justyn Rhett got into the game and played well, Jamir Conn.

“So there’s a lot of young guys. What I want them to see is, hey, just continue to stay with thing … We have a month of football to get better. What can Keona [Davis] be by the bowl games? What can he get to by then? I think that’s true for a lot of these guys, they’re really ascending.”

Huskers’ defensive stats

Nebraska ranks 13th in the nation in total defense out of 136 teams, allowing 295.7 yards per game.

After leading the nation in pass defense for a chunk of the season, the Huskers are now third with 134.6 yards allowed. Nebraska has allowed only five touchdown passes in 10 games, two on Saturday at UCLA.

The Huskers are 27th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing an average of 19.9 points per game. Nebraska averages 32.5 points per game, 43rd in the nation.

In third-down conversions, the Huskers rank 38th with a percentage of .353.

“I hope our players see, hey continue to buy in to the first floor of the development and continue to buy in to coach Butler [John, defensive coordinator] and their position coaches and where we are defensively will only continue to take off,” Rhule said.

“And you see guys playing their best football. You see [sophomore defensive lineman] Keona Davis have a career day.

“You see [sophomore linebacker] Dylan Rogers get out there. You see Andrew Marshall making plays. DeShon [Singleton, a defensive back] is a senior batting the ball down, making havoc plays.”

Keona Davis’ development

Davis had his best game against UCLA. When he arrived in Lincoln he weighed about 240 pounds. He’s now at 275, at 6-foot-5. He had seven tackles against UCLA, an eight-yard sack and his first career pass breakup. He is from Salpointe Catholic in Tucson, one of the top programs in Arizona.

“My technique has gotten better,” Davis said recently at a news conference. “I feel like I’m getting a better handle of the game, understanding what’s going on.

“Before then I didn’t know what to do. I was out there doing what I was told. But now I’m getting a feel for it, making moves on the fly.”

Davis has developed greatly since his freshman season. He played in 12 games last season as a true freshman. He had 10 tackles and 1.5 tackle for loss. This season, he has 28 tackles (24 against Big Ten teams) with 3.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and one pass breakup.

“The thing I love about Keona, I remember after the USC game, I said: 'That was your best game,’ ” Rhule said.

“A lot of plays you maybe couldn’t see. Where he didn’t get a huge sack but locked out a tackle, threw him, got off and got on the tackle.

“So you could see some of the technical things really starting to work with him. I think he’ll just continue to get better and better. One thing about Keona he’s coachable, he’s disciplined, he’s coachable.”

But that rushing defense …

Nebraska’s defensive weakness this season has been stopping the run. The numbers support that. The Huskers have been particularly burned on long runs.

Huskers’ rushing defense:

* 90th in the nation
* 161.1 yards allowed per game
* 18 touchdowns allowed

In its three losses, Nebraska allowed more rushing yards than its season average. The Huskers allowed more total yards in each of the three losses than their season average of 295.7.

In their seven wins, the Huskers allowed more than their average rushing yards (161.1) in two games (Cincinnati and Northwestern), and more than their average total yards (295.7) in three games (Maryland, Northwestern and UCLA).

Let’s look at each of Nebraska’s three losses and the rushing stats against the Huskers:

Michigan, a 30-27 loss

* 33 rushing attempts
* 286 yards (8.6 yards per attempt)
* 3 touchdowns
* Total yards: 391

Minnesota, a 24-6 loss

* 35 rushing attempts
* 186 yards (5.3 yards per attempt)
* 2 touchdowns
* Total yards: 339

USC, a 21-17 loss

* 38 rushing attempts
* 202 yards (5.3 yards per attempt)
* 2 touchdowns
* Total yards: 337

An aside: Minnesota sacked quarterback Dylan Raiola nine times and held the Huskers to six points. Sacking Raiola repeatedly was more problematic that night in Minneapolis than the Huskers’ run defense.

Also, Michigan sacked Raiola seven times, and the Wolverines scored on three long runs. Those TD runs were but one of the problems that day in Memorial Stadium.

Nebraska has three road wins this season, for the first time since 2014. If the Huskers beat Penn State, it will be four road wins, for the first time since 2010.

That would be another nice accomplishment for the Huskers, who already have exceeded their regular-season win total from 2024. Probably explains Rhule’s good mood at his news conference.