Nebraska Cornhuskers DC Admits Upcoming Opposing RB is Best Competition Yet

The Nebraska Cornhuskers are looking to move to five wins for the second straight season against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, who are undefeated and coming off two massive wins over the Washington Huskies and Virginia Tech Hokies.

The engine of their offense, running back Kyle Monangai, received high praise from Cornhuskers defensive coordinator Tony White.

Nebraska Cornhuskers DC Tony White said Rutgers Scarlet Knights RB Kyle Monangai is the best they’ve faced yet

White said Monangai and his fellow RB Samuel Brown V along with their “blue collar” offensive line were impressive when addressing the media ahead of the week six matchup.

White even went as far as to say that Monangai is the best running back the Huskers’ defense has seen yet in an article from 247 Sports. He had praise for the all-around nature of Monangai which boasts contact, balance and vision.

“He’s probably the best one we’ve seen to date,” White said of Monangai. “Contact, balance, vision. The guy, he just does not stop his feet. And the really neat thing about him is you see him and his YAC yards are ridiculous. He’s getting hit at two and three yards and then when they spot the ball he’s gaining six and seven. So that’s between falling forward, breaking tackles, the O-linemen hitting the pile forward. They really do a good job at finishing plays.”

Rutgers is 12th in the nation in rushing yards per game with 237.8. Monangai himself has contributed 589 yards rushing and six touchdowns in just four games. His best performance this season came against the Akron Zips when he had over 200 yards rushing and three touchdowns.

Monangai has averaged 147.25 rushing yards per game, which is good for third-best in the country. He has the fifth-most rushing yards of any rusher in the nation.

The Nebraska Cornhuskers struggled to stop the Illinois Fighting Illini run game

While Illinois quarterback Luke Altmeyer’s four passing touchdowns jump off the page when looking at the box score, it was the Fighting Illini’s run game that allowed them to come into Lincoln and beat the Huskers in their 400th consecutive sellout.

Illinois outgained Nebraska 166 yards to 48 yards on the ground. Even if they didn’t find the end zone on the ground, averaging 4.3 yards per rush made the offenses work easy, especially when that four-to-five-yard rush came on first down.

White’s 3-3-5 defense was criticized by many when he came to town, but White silenced those criticisms with one of the best defenses Nebraska has seen since the Bo Pelini era. Still, the 3-3-5 makes it hard to clog up run games against big, downhill Big Ten teams like Illinois.

Rutgers is another run-first team with an offensive line that pushed people around, per White’s analysis. White will have to make adjustments to his 3-3-5 defense to ensure they don’t get gashed like they did against Illinois.

The Hokies held Monangai to just 3.2 yards per carry in their three-point loss, but he still managed to rack up 84 yards and a touchdown. If the Huskers do try to sell out to stop the Monangai-led run game, a familiar foe will be trying to respond with an air attack.

Former Minnesota Golden Gopher Athan Kaliakmanis, who beat the Huskers with nearly 200 yards passing in the 2023 season opener, has had no problem with Nebraska in the past. He came in for an injured Tanner Morgan in 2022 and completed six passes for 137 yards in a similar run-first offense that featured running back Mohamed Ibrahim.

Ibrahim went for 128 yards and two touchdowns in the 20-13 victory against a Nebraska team whose offense is lightyears behind where it is today. If the 2022 Huskers could keep that game within one score, the 2024 Huskers have a solid chance to get to five wins. Holding Rutgers to under 30, which both Washington and Virginia Tech have done, while finishing drives in the red zone is necessary for a Nebraska win Saturday.

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