BRIAN ROSENTHAL / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Wednesday, October 6, 2004 7:00 pm
Sign No. 1,417 that the Nebraska football program has entered a new era:
The Huskers have played four games this season, and the fullback hasn't carried the football.
Not once. Not even close.
What in the name of Cory Schlesinger is going on, anyway?
"We don't practice it," Nebraska senior fullback Steve Kriewald said. "It's not like we go into the game expecting to carry the ball, because we haven't practiced it. It's not an option."
No pun intended.
When Nebraska's option-based attack went out the window with the arrival of Bill Callahan's West Coast offense, so did the likelihood of Kriewald, or any other fullback, catching a defense off-guard with a big gain on a trap play.
No problem, said Kriewald.
"It doesn't matter to us any," Kriewald said. "Obviously, we'd rather have the balls in the I-backs' hands, too. They're a lot better ball carriers than we are."
Sophomore Dane Todd, who played last week in place of the injured Kriewald, said he didn't come to Nebraska to run the football, anyway. He said he's never kept track of how many times Husker fullbacks carried the ball.
"The only real carries I remembered were Schlesinger's touchdowns in the national championship game (against Miami)," he said. "Other than that, I just knew I was going to come in and be a blocking back.
"Sure, they got more carries in the past than we do now, but it's not a drastic number well, I guess some carries compared to none is a drastic number but we don't notice it at all.
"We were brought in here to block. We weren't brought in here to run. If we were brought in here to carry the ball, we'd be playing I-back."
Kriewald and Todd haven't been totally shut out, though. Each has caught two passes this season. One of Kriewald's grabs turned into a 16-yard gain.
But isn't there even the slightest chance the fullback could carry once, just for old time's sake?
Nebraska running backs coach Randy Jordan chuckles.
"Well, in this offense, they can carry it, obviously," Jordan said, "but I think the importance of their role is to be a good lead blocker, in terms of our iso game."
In that case, the fullbacks must be doing something right.
I-back Cory Ross perhaps the only constant in an offense that's still finding itself has averaged 118 rushing yards per game.
"I tell them to take pride in that," Jordan said. "When you can get a guy over 100 yards, and you're doing most of the pounding, you have to have some gratification in that role."
Kriewald said blocking schemes haven't changed dramatically for NU fullbacks.
They're still taking on linebackers and rush ends, and while they're not cut-blocking as much, they're still on the perimeter once in a while on a toss play. Iso-blocking is pretty much the same.
Even though it may appear fullbacks don't play as often Nebraska has started only one game this season with a fullback on the field Kriewald said fullbacks are involved roughly in about 60 percent of plays.
"It's really not that much different than last year," Kriewald said, "because last year we ran a lot of one-back sets, too."
Jordan said not only have Kriewald and Todd learned the new system, they've also taught him a thing or two about the fullback position.
A running back in college, Jordan said he never understood or respected fullbacks until he experimented playing the position in 1993, his first year in the Los Angeles Raiders' camp.
"I didn't really have a respect for it until I started hitting people," Jordan said. "To be willing to run into a brick wall about 20, 30 times a game, it takes a bit of a heart to do that."
That's something Jordan has seen in both Kriewald and Todd.
"They're interchangeable," Jordan said. "I call them the Bobbsy Twins, because it's hard to tell them apart sometimes on film.
"I didn't know what I was getting when I came here. But it's been a pleasant surprise to work with them."
Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.