Nebraska Football Player Power Rankings: Game Two – Bowling Green

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Welcome to my most recent edition of my Nebraska football player power rankings. As I have said before, this list will be completely subjective in several ways and may not follow a logical path. Or maybe it will.

This power ranking list will be a combination of the most important, most impactful, a recent contribution, waiting in the wings, rumors of greatness, rumors of not-so-great, players that made one great play to change a game (for better or worse) or any other type of metric that I think should go with this subjective list.

So without further ado, here is my most recent definitive and completely subjective Nebraska Football Player Power Ranking.

Here are links to prior Nebraska Football Player Power Rankings.

Start of Fall Camp
Halfway through Fall Camp
Game One: Ohio

10. Archie Wilson and Kyle Cunanan – Punter and Place Kicker

Prior Ranking: 9th

Cunanan was 7/7 on extra points and Wilson had three punts which one that was almost blocked by a free runner. That play is why they are still on this list. That was a foot away from being deadly in terms of how that game was looking at that point. The fact that Wilson got the punt off was about as big as anything that happened against Ohio.

That was a close one.

9. Jamal Rule – Running Back

Prior Ranking: Unranked

We kept hearing whispers about how good this unheralded true freshman running back out of North Carolina was and now we got to see for ourselves.

I would feel comfortable having Jamal Rule much higher on this list but we have anointed running backs in the past (Maurice Washington for example) who has a big game or two in the beginning but then we find out that it was just a flash in the pan.

In this case however, I do not think that will happen with Rule unless he gets injured. He looked really good and accounted for 122 yards rushing with 8.1 yards per carry. My favorite play was on that 4th and one with Jahsear Whittington and Anthony Jones as lead blockers and Rule just ran the defenders over as well. That same set was used on the goalline for the first touchdown and the staff trusted a freshman running back in that position.

Says a lot.

8. Anthony Colandrea – Quarterback

Prior Ranking: 10th

I don’t want to anoint the guy but Anthony Colandrea is a sight for sore eyes. He is the quarterback this offense has needed for three seasons. Now that seems like I’m anointing him after a game against Ohio but if we had a statue back there at quarterback how do you think Saturday would have gone?

Now Dana Holgorsen said that his completion percentage has to go up. Agreed. A 56% completion percentage is not good. There were a few drops but that still can get a lot better.

He accounted for 298 yards of total offense but the play which made me think that he is the type of quarterback we needed was the scramble and drop off to Mekhi Nelson for the 51-yard touchdown pass. He moves the pocket just enough and drops it off to a player who can make a play. This is nice to have.

7. Owen Chambliss – Linebacker

Prior Ranking: 2nd

As they say, “your best ability is availability.”

Owen Chambliss, who could be the best player on the defense, was out of the game with an injury. Head coach Matt Rhule was hoping he would be back against Bowling Green but Rhule also did not appear to be confident in that fact. That is just me reading his body language.

Apparently the injury is a hamstring and that is concerning because an injury like that just lingers.

So how is he still on the list? Well this is not confirmed but when I saw Nebraska give up a 68-yard pass on a busted coverage my first thought was “that wouldn’t have happened if Chambliss was in there.”

Apparently most of the defense was in man-to-man coverage but a few were in zone and that is how you get a busted coverage like that. It shows how important Chambliss could be to this defense.

If he cannot get healthy then Dawson Merritt, Vincent Shavers or Dexter Foster are going to have to step it up.

6. Luke Lindenmeyer – Tight End

Prior Ranking: 8th

I believe Luke Lindenmeyer will be playing in the NFL next season. I said it at one point last year but it was confirmed last Saturday. He looks and plays like a NFL tight end.

He was credited with 16 knock downs (a stat tallied by Ron Brown) and two catches. Both catches were for first downs and I expect that his quarterback will be looking his way more often going forward.

Dana Holgorsen, unprompted at the end of his media appearance, said that Lindenmeyer had a best performance out of a tight end that Holgorsen has been a part of in his entire career.

Apparently a bunch of Top 25 programs came a knocking for Luke’s services so I’m glad he decided to stay here for one more season.

5. Andrew Marshall – Cornerback

Prior Ranking: 6th

Matt Rhule and defensive coordinator Rob Aurich both said that they decided to leave Andrew Marshall on an island all game long. Which means they can use other defenders to help in other areas of the field. He tied with Donovan Jones for most snaps in the game with 64 and was targeted six times with one pass break up.

Ohio tried to go after him and Andrew Marshall said, “no sir.”

4. Janiran Bonner – Swiss Army Knife

Prior Ranking: 5th

Watch the clip below. It was a third a long that Jacory Barney converts and almost scores. Watch Bonner (#4) as he comes off of one block and takes on the Ohio secondary defender after the double team with Lindenmeyer. Bonner takes that defender right out of the picture. It is likely that defender retired from football.

How many statistics did Bonner have? One target. But it is clips like this which show how important he is to this offense.

I am sure he will get his touches. Holgorsen will make sure of it.

3. Jacory Barney Jr. – Wide Receiver

Prior Ranking: 4th

I understand you aren’t supposed to block behind the ball but that “blind side” block called on Jacory Barney Jr. was a terrible call. It ended up negating a 57 yard touchdown which felt like it was going to put the game out of reach in the second quarter. It would have made it 21-13.

On a related note, in one of my group chats during the game I said that if that penalty is not called and the Husker defense doesn’t blow a coverage call on the first play of the season then the score at halftime is probably 21-6 which would have made us feel a whole lot different.

But that is not how football works.

Barney graded out as the top wide receiver in the game (PFF) with five catches on eight targets for sixty yards.

Part of his importance might have gone a bit unnoticed. In the fourth quarter he returned a punt for nine yards which gave the offense starting field possession at the 30 instead of the 21 yard line. It doesn’t seem like much but that difference in starting field possession is a bigger deal than people realize. Coaches know the percentages but the chances of scoring starting from the 30 compared to the 21 is a whole lot higher than we think.

On that punt return he was surrounded when he caught it but still almost got 10 yards out of it.

2. Jahsear Whittington – Defensive Lineman

Prior Ranking: 3rd

So get out your bingo card. Did you have “puke and rally” on it?

Or how about lining two defensive linemen up as fullbacks on offense?

Well Jahsear Whittington impressed me with his ability to get pressure on the quarterback from the interior of the defensive line. He was only credited with 0.5 sacks in the game but he graded out as the best pass rusher (PFF) on the team. You can tell he can be relentless and has an abundance of moves.

I expect that he is going to make some big plays for Nebraska when they need it most in Big Ten play.

1. Justin Evans – Center

Prior Ranking: 1st

Anthony Colandrea might have something to say about this but until proven otherwise it is Justin Evans who is the leader of this offensive unit that just looks “different” and actually acts different compared to past seasons.

Now that first drive coming out of halftime leaves a lot to be desired but when there were opportunities to crumble like we have seen in previous seasons going against non-Power Four opponents it was this unit that did the exact opposite.

After that miserable first possession of the second half all the offense did the rest of the game was score touchdowns every time it touched the ball.

It is clear that if the offense doesn’t shoot itself in the foot that it should have no problems moving the ball this season and I’m giving Justin Evans the credit for that.

Most Recent Ranking

10. Anthony Colandrea – Quarterback
9. Archie Wilson and Kyle Cunanan – Punter and Place Kicker
8. Luke Lindenmeyer – Tight End
7. Cameron Lenhardt – Defensive End
6. Andrew Marshall – Defensive Back
5. Janiran Bonner – Swiss Army Knife
4. Jacory Barney Jr. – Wide Receiver
3. Jahsear Whittington – Defensive Lineman
2. Owen Chambliss – Linebacker
1. Justin Evans – Center

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