Recruiting never stops and it’s easy to miss the top stories day-to-day. Recruiting analyst Greg Smith recaps all things Nebraska recruiting news, analysis and more so you never miss a thing.
There were so many storylines to talk about coming out of the Huskers’ first game of the 2020 season. So little was actually known about what the Huskers would look like before the season began. That happened for a variety of reason, including coach secrecy. Now that we’ve gotten our first look at Nebraska this season, one thing that immediately stuck out to me was how many players from the 2019 and 2020 recruiting classes saw action against the Buckeyes.
“It’s that class. It’s this past class. I think we’ve done a good job bringing some talent in here,” Coach Scott Frost said on Monday. “You know, the Big Ten, it’s hard to play as a freshman in this league. Not that it can’t be done, but it’s just a big physical league and it helps you to be 21 or 22-year old instead of 18 or 19-years old. So, it takes a little while to develop those guys, not just knowing the x’s and o’s but physically. We had a bunch of guys that played a lot for maybe the first time on Saturday. I expect we’ll have some more this week out of that ‘19 class and out of the ‘20 class.
“When those guys are up and ready to go and ready to contribute, we’re going to be a better football team.”
By my count, 14 players from that touted 2019 recruiting class saw the field on Saturday. In a lot of cases, these were not small roles. Dedrick Mills, Wan’Dale Robinson, Bryce Benhart and Ty Robinson are starters. Luke McCaffrey was heavily involved in the game plan. That 2019 group is slowly emerging as the core group of the program.
“There are a lot of good individuals in that class,” McCaffrey said on Tuesday. “Our coaching staff did an incredible job of recruiting people with great character and great skill sets. You see guys like Wan’Dale and Bryce Benhart who showed out on Saturday. He’ll continue to play well. Hopefully now we can bring that individual talent to the field for some wins.”
Nebraska’s patience with the 2019 group last season seems to be paying off. We should continue to see more of the guys that have played already and some extra ones we didn’t see. It won’t be long before that group is the core of the team. They are getting a lot of useful experience in the meantime.
Recruit Watch
>> Jihaad Campbell, a 2022 edge rusher from New Jersey, was offered by Nebraska.
Extremely Blessed to receive an offer from The University Of Nebraska. #Huskers #GBR pic.twitter.com/LT3525X5bR
— Jihaad Campbell (@RealJihaadC) October 27, 2020
>> Columbus 2022 Athlete Ernest Hausmann showed off some edits the Huskers did for him.
Thanks for the pictures!! #GBR🔴⚪️☠️ @CoachChinander @BarrettRuud @SeanDillonNU pic.twitter.com/p6ZsAOcLOt
— Ernest Hausmann (@Ernest_Hausmann) October 26, 2020
ICYMI
>> The Straight Up Breakdown Podcast has a new episode this week. Former Husker Jay Foreman and I are looking forward to the Wisconsin matchup this weekend.
>> Jacob Padilla did some Nebraska film study to dive into the two-quarterback snaps at Ohio State.
>> After a promising start for the Huskers’ offensive line, there is still more work to be done writes Derek Peterson.
>> We can expect new wrinkles still from Nebraska’s offense as they look to tighten the screws for Wisconsin.
>> Legendary Nebraska coach Tom Osborne joined the Red to Black Podcast this week.
>> As I wrote, ‘no block, no rock’ is important but the Huskers must bridge the gap to get playmakers involved.
>> The Huskers are hoping wide receiver Omar Manning can help them this week.
>> Stopping the run is the focus for Nebraska no matter who is at quarterback for the Badgers.
