For Nebraska junior running back Mekhi Nelson, his life priorities changed in September when he became a dad.
Sure, football remains important in Nelson’s life, but as any parent knows, life is different when it’s your family, your flesh and blood.
“It means everything to me,” Nelson said at a news conference Tuesday leading into Saturday night’s key game against Washington (7 o'clock CT, Big Ten Network).
“I was getting told by everybody on the staff who is a father there’s nothing like it.
“But you don’t know that feeling until you actually have your own. You’re holding him and you see your face on a baby and it’s the best thing in the world.
“Words can’t even describe it. Even while my girl was still carrying him, I felt like my mentality changed.
“I’m not just playing football for me now. I'm playing it for my son. Like my son got to eat. So I go out every day with that on the front of my mind. I got to do it for my kid now.”
Nebraska coach Matt Rhule, a father of three, announced at a news conference in September that Nelson was about to become a father.
“There’s no greater gift in the world than to be a father and I’m excited to see the man that he’ll continue to become,” Rhule said.
Rhule might have been referring to Nelson being arrested in Florida on a misdemeanor battery charge on June. The charges were dropped in July.
Onto the football business
Nebraska (5-2, 2-2 Big Ten) comes off a bye against a Washington team (4-3, 1-3) coming off a bye, too. Both teams need this victory to propel their season’s second half.
Nelson and his running back room might be an area where Nebraska can thrive. The Huskers rank 29th nationally in rushing with 194.4 yards per game. Washington ranks 53rd against the rush, allowing 131.1 yards per game.
But Nebraska only gained 128 yards on the ground against Indiana, and gained 78 against Oregon. Both games were tight Nebraska losses.
“We just got to play to our standard,” said Nelson, who has gained 309 yards on 71 carries with four touchdowns this season. Nelson also has 11 receptions for 153 yards and one touchdown. Nelson is the Huskers' third-leading rusher behind Jamal Rule and Anthony Colandrea.
“When we see holes, we got to accelerate through them and we just got to break tackles.
“We got to run through tackles and I feel as though this week is a week that we’re going to get better on that. And everything that we’ve been lacking the last couple of weeks, I feel like we’re just going to hone in on those and get better at that.
“And hopefully this week, we get back to our groove.”
Ball security
Rhule, at his Monday news conference, talked about accountability and also his team’s ability to hold onto the ball. Nebraska leads the nation with zero fumbles lost.
Nelson was asked about the Huskers’ ball security and why it has been so good.
“Just relying on Day One things,” Nelson said. “Coach EJ [assistant coach-running backs Barthel] … I’ve been here three years, but every time we start camp, whether it’s spring or fall, we go over the five points of ball security.
“EJ makes sure that it’s instilled into our head and then even while we’re in practice we have a ball security sheet and it tracks the number of reps that we have when we’re running the ball.
“It’s based on a three-point system. So a 'one' is like horrible ball security, 'two' is OK. And the 'three' is you got perfect ball security.
“So I feel as though things like that just help remind us we got to really hone in on holding the ball and securing the ball.”
Nelson was asked how he has graded.
“I’ll say I have some twos, some ones here and there, but we try to be threes in the game and in practice as much as possible,” Nelson said.
“So, we actually do get on each other when we get that new sheet every single day. We’re like yo, why is your grade this low?”
Taking on the Huskies
Nelson said he spent some of his bye week watching Washington tape.
“I feel as though they just have athletes and, they do lots of twists and things like that,” Nelson said. “And I feel as though they have big D linemen, big [line]backers that fill the run.
“We just got to put our big boy pads on, go out there, break tackles, and make big plays.”
Nebraska has designated Saturday night’s game a Blackout game.
“I feel like it’s going to be a crazy atmosphere,” Nelson said. “Last year, it was something that I didn’t even expect. I knew it was going to be big, but I didn’t think it was going to be that big. So, I just feel as though going into this year, I feel like it’s going to be better than last year.”
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