Advertisement Red Review: Nebraska has officially abandoned running the football Share Shares Copy Link Copy

Once the backbone and lifeblood of the Nebraska football program, the Cornhuskers have effectively abandoned the running game throughout the 2017 season.As coach Mike Riley put it Monday, "We've still got to go that direction." Riley, of course, was referring to the dormant arm of his offensive ecosystem; only three Power-5 programs average fewer carries in conference play this year than Nebraska's 30.83. In 2011, under Bo Pelini, the program averaged nearly 20 more carries per game.With three games remaining, Danny Langsdorf's offense is on pace to finish the season with 384 carries, 47 percent fewer than the team averaged from 2008 to 2016. One can only imagine what the Tom Osborne-led 1990s iterations would think. Remember: This team ranked in the top 25 each season from 2010 to 2014, yet currently ranks 112th. No Big Ten team has run the ball less or less effectively. Many will point to the loss of Tre Bryant, who began the season with consecutive 100-yard performances, as the reason why the team transformed into a pass-heavy outfit. But this trend manifested as soon as Riley came to Lincoln. And, considering how poorly the offensive line has played in conference play, there's reason to believe that Bryant wouldn't have continued piling up notable performances. For those who haven't seen Tanner Lee get pressured ad nauseum, Nebraska's offensive line play has been uninspiring. Perhaps it should come as no surprise, then, that the line is incapable of forming holes for running backs to tear through. More than one-fifth of Nebraska carries this season have been stuffed at or behind the line of scrimmage, one of the worst marks in the country, according to data provided by Football Outsiders. For comparison, less than 11 percent of Ohio State team carries have been stuffed. Against Ohio State and Purdue, Langsdorf dialed up a combined 43 runs for 84 yards, a pitiful 1.95 yards per carry. Put another way, two of Nebraska's worst eight games since 2000, as defined by rushing yards, have occurred this season. At 3.72 yards per rushing attempt, Nebraska ranks among the 25 worst programs in the country on a per-play basis. Specifically, that has proven to be crippling in the red zone, where Nebraska has scored a touchdown on just 45.5 percent of drives, the ninth-worst mark in the country. Less than 7 percent of Nebraska possessions have ended with a rushing touchdown, so it should come as no surprise that only Virginia has fewer rushing touchdowns in conference play than Nebraska's two. Alabama, mind you, has 23.