Nebraska football offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield has led his offense to much better turnover margins in 2024. But on Tuesday, the Husker OC fumbled.
Satterfield was asked about his level of concern with a run game that hasn't gotten on track. That run game is 99th in the nation in total yards and in that same area for yards per rush.
"I have to commit to it," Satterfield said, pointing out that the offense has done a good job of getting the ball to the receivers with perimeter runs, despite the perimeter blocking issues. "I've got to make sure I get in the mindset of, in order to win in this league, you have to establish the run game. Through the bye week and through this past week we're going to work getting back towards that."
Being 19 games into a tenure somewhere and not having the mindset of what it takes to win in a league is concerning. You'd hope that would at least get figured out and not be something you have to work to get back to after the first year. That concern wasn't alleviated just a couple minutes later when Satterfield was asked what he's targeting for yards per play.
"Between four and six," Satterfield said. "I honestly don't even know what leads the country on yards per play."
Four yards per play would be last in the nation. Six yards per play would be 57th in the nation. Nebraska's current 5.54 yards per play is 89th.
Satterfield played at East Tennessee State in the mid to late 1990s. Besides one year as an assistant in the NFL, he has been involved in college football for about 30 years. To not have an idea of what your target is for yards per play is baffling. To be in charge of the offensive side of the ball and have no idea what you're producing, or even what you hope to be producing, is simply irresponsible.
Against Indiana, in a game that Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule admitted became more of a pass game due to the growing deficit, the Huskers looked to establish the pass first. NU ran with Dante Dowdell for two yards. After that, five consecutive passes before a punt.
As matter of fact, of Nebraska's first nine offensive plays, the Huskers threw the ball eight times. One of those was aided by a pass interference call.
Nebraska is 0-for-5 in games that would clinch bowl eligibility under Rhule. With five games to go in the regular season and one more win needed to get back to a bowl for the first time since 2016, now is not the time to have an identity crisis about what it takes to be successful in the Big Ten. At the very least, now would be a good time to get caught up on what numbers make for a successful offensive coordinator.
Watch the full press conference below.
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Kaleb Henry is an award-winning sports reporter, covering collegiate athletics since 2014 via radio, podcasting, and digital journalism. His experience with Big Ten Conference teams goes back more than a decade, including time covering programs such as the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Oregon Ducks, and USC Trojans. He has contributed to Sports Illustrated since 2021. Kaleb has won multiple awards for his sports coverage from the Nebraska Broadcasters Association and Midwest Broadcast Journalists Association. Prior to working in sports journalism, Kaleb was a Division I athlete on the Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville Track and Field team where he discussed NCAA legislation as SIUE's representative to the Ohio Valley Conference Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.
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