Here are the final snap counts and grades for Nebraska’s offense against Fordham, courtesy of PFF.
QUARTERBACK
HOL take: Quarterback Adrian Martinez was Nebraska’s highest-graded overall offensive player on Saturday at 92.3. Martinez had three zone-read runs (22 yards) and two scramble runs (23 yards) on pass plays that went for 45 yards.
Back-up Logan Smothers saw 29 snaps He had two zone-read (15 yards) runs and two scramble runs (14 yards) for 29 yards.
Both Martinez and Smothers were charged with a fumble. They were the Huskers only two of the day.
Martinez was 4-of-7 Saturday on throws that traveled 20+ yards for 116 yards. 30.4 percent of his throws were 20+ yards on Saturday. Martinez was blitzed just three times and under pressure only five times on 27 total dropbacks. Last week he was under pressure on 26 of 44 dropbacks.
On nine dropbacks, Logan Smothers was blitzed twice and under pressure both times. He finished 4-of-7 for 50 yards
RUNNING BACK
HOL take: Seven different running backs saw snaps on Saturday. Gabe Ervin Jr. got the start, but Markese Stepp and Sevion Morrison took more reps as the game moved on.
53 of Stepp’s 101 yards came after contact. He had three of Nebraska’s six runs that went for 10+ yards. The long run of the day also came from Stepp, which went for 19 yards.
Marvin Scott III had the only other run from a back that went for 10+ yards on Saturday.
130 of the running back yardage came after contact. As a team, NU averaged 2.92 yards after contact.
WIDE RECEIVER
HOL take: Six of Samori Toure’s eight catches went for first downs. 48 of his 133 yards came after contact.
Omar Manning remains perfect the year. He has now been targeted five times in two games and has made five catches for 80 yards.
It was also good to see both Zavier Betts and Alante Brown get going after not seeing a snap this week.
TIGHT END
HOL take: Six different tight ends saw snaps on Saturday. Austin Allen was NU’s second-highest graded player overall, while Chancellor Brewington came in at No. 5. The pair was targeted six times and hauled in six catches for 69 yards.
James Carnie and A.J. Rollins also made their Husker debut on the final snap of the game. It’s also very interesting to see Chris Hickman’s snaps fall behind both Brewington and Nate Boerkircher.
OFFENSIVE LINE
HOL take: A total of 15 different offensive linemen played for Nebraska on Saturday. There were just three QB pressures allowed on the day and one penalty. Teddy Prochazka and Trent Hixon saw some work with the No. 1 offensive line for 10 snaps replacing Turner Corcoran and Cameron Jurgens.
It was the second straight game where Jurgens graded out well. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen 15 different offensive linemen play in a game for the Huskers. Noticeably absent was Broc Bando, who did not play on Saturday. This snap shot though really gives you a good idea of who the top three units are on the offensive line.
