Armstrong making big difference for Husker offense

By Brian Rosenthal / Huskers.com

Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said last week he’d be happy never again having to coach against Nebraska senior quarterback Tommy Armstrong Jr.

After what Armstrong did to the Wildcats on Saturday, it’s easy to see why Fitzgerald feels the way he does.

Armstrong rushed for a career-high 132 yards on 13 carries, an average of 10.2 yards per rush, and completed 18 of 29 passes for 246 yards and a touchdown in Nebraska’s 24-13 victory over Northwestern at Ryan Field.

That performance earned Armstrong his third Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week Award of his career.

Armstrong credited his offensive teammates for his accomplishment, but Armstrong, obviously, deserves credit for not only giving the Huskers another dimension to their offense with a quarterback run threat, but for limiting his turnovers.

Armstrong entered his senior season having averaged one interception every 24.3 passing attempts. Through four games, he’s thrown only one interception in 106 attempts.

He presented a laundry list of reasons his numbers have improved, and all of it has helped Nebraska (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) rise to No. 15 in the Associated Press Top 25 entering Saturday’s homecoming game against Illinois (2:30 p.m., ESPN2).

“Just knowing where my check-down is,” Armstrong said, “making sure I use my feet every once in a while, run the ball whenever I can, live to have another down, make sure I know where to go with the ball at all times, being quicker with my feet, smarter with decision making.”

He’s also making an emphasis on delivering short passes and letting his plethora of play-making receivers do the rest.

“Those guys turn 3-, 4-yard routes into 20-, 30-yard gains, so I have to be sure to put the ball in those guys’ hands whenever I can,” Armstrong said.

As for his rushing game, well, that’s been a new wrinkle for Nebraska coach Mike Riley and offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf, both of whom have always coached offenses with pass-first, pro-style quarterbacks.

After a 2015 season in which they limited Armstrong’s carries in part to keep him healthy with little depth, they’ve implemented more plays to take advantage of Armstrong’s strong legs.

“Most of the time when Tommy’s running, we hope it’s part of the design. We don’t want him to have to run because the pass protection is broken down,” Riley said Monday at his weekly news conference. “Now he made one great ad-lib play out of the pocket on a scramble that was a big third-down conversion for us (against Northwestern).

“But a lot of the stuff is off of what can be a quarterback run. Sometimes there are options involved in that run, whether he can pass it or hand it off, and the other option off those plays would be him carrying the football. It’s a great weapon for us right now.”

Thinning offensive line

To give you a good idea of how badly Nebraska’s offensive line has been hit by injury this season, consider Riley’s statement that he’s trying to figure out how to put together a scout team line for the first-team defense.

Riley said he’s lost two scout team players from the offensive line, “so our offensive line depth right now is not great.”

More pressing now, of course, is that Nebraska will play without guard Tanner Farmer against Illinois. Farmer left the Northwestern game with a high ankle sprain and will sit out Saturday’s game, with the hope that he can return healthy after next week’s bye.

Corey Whitaker will start in Farmer’s place – he and tackle Nick Gates graded out the highest among the offensive linemen at Northwestern – and true freshman Boe Wilson has moved back into the picture, Riley said. Redshirted freshman Jalin Barnett, who’s been battling injury, is also a possibility.

Meanwhile, receiver Alonzo Moore, who’s played through shoulder pain the past two games (he didn't finish the Northwestern game), is doubtful to play against Illinois. He, too, can benefit from a Saturday off with a bye week ahead.

“He’s played two games like this, so our initial thing is let’s just get him healthy so he doesn’t have to play like that,” Riley said. “He still does a good job and I guess I wouldn’t rule him out totally, but our inclination is to get him healthy.”

Getting explosion

Riley counted 14 explosive plays from scrimmage by the Nebraska offense against Northwestern, which is one shy of his goal for each game. (Riley counts any rush of 10 yards or more and any pass of 20 yards or more as an explosive play).

Conversely, Nebraska allowed only two such plays against Northwestern, a run and a pass that both resulted in touchdowns.

“I think it’s a big factor in winning games, is getting big plays,” Riley said. “We’ve made an emphasis of it. Offensively, we need some big chunks, and defensively we don’t want to give them up. To this point, we’re doing much better on that obviously than a year ago. I think that’s a big, big factor in the games.”

Riley noted the strong blocking by wide receivers downfield that helped unleash some of those explosive plays. Stanley Morgan had an impressive block near the goal line on Jordan Westerkamp’s 10-yard touchdown run off a reverse, and Brandon Reilly maintained his block downfield that freed Armstrong on his 37-yard run.

“That’s part of the game they don’t like to talk about,” Riley said, “but boy they make a big difference when they do that.”

Parrella's impact

Riley said he feels “really, really good” about the buzz surrounding Nebraska football as it pertains to recruiting.

One new member of the staff, defensive line coach John Parrella, a former Blackshirt, has been key in helping maintain that buzz.

“John, I think he grabs kids in a great way. He’s one of those guys that it’s hard to say no to,” Riley said. “He works at it really hard, but there’s a special uniqueness because of his background at Nebraska that he brings to this thing that is special. There’s a passion that he brings to his recruitment.

“He first of all recruits to Nebraska, so he does that well, but I also think he believes in what we’re doing. He can combine that really well as he recruits. It’s a great combination that he brings.”

There’s no denying the results Parrella has brought on the field, too. Questions abounded about Nebraska’s defensive line with the early loss of two players to the NFL and another who quit football, but the defensive line, as evidenced by the play of Kevin Maurice against Northwestern (two sacks) has maintained its strong play, if not improved it.

“I think the kind of the buy-in of those older guys and the character of those older guys, coupled with the teaching that everybody is getting – John is a real, real detailed teacher in what we’re doing out there,” Riley said. “I think that combination is great. I think you see a real vibrant room. Guys stay hungry, they stay on an edge, he doesn’t ever let them relax.”

Reach Brian at brosenthal@huskers.com or follow him on Twitter @GBRosenthal