5 things to watch for Nebraska football vs. USC

Nebraska football will take on USC for the first time in a decade this Saturday. Before that, the two teams met in a bowl game in 2014, as well as a home-and-home series in 2006 and 2007.

This will be the first trip to Nebraska to the LA Coliseum since that 2006 game which was still during the heyday of Pete Carroll.

Things have changed a lot for the Trojans. Nebraska is still essentially in the same place, trying to rediscover itself as a college football power.

Nebraska football is 5-4. USC is 4-5 and both teams need this game in order to become bowl-eligible. The Huskers need one win in two games, while the Trojans need to win two of three. UCLA and Notre Dame are looming on the schedule though, so it’s win or go home for USC.

Here are five things to watch

Will the Nebraska offense improve?

Matt Rhule said he wanted to see the offense score 10-14 more points. He also said he thought that Dana Hologerson was the man to do it after naming him as offensive coordinator.

The former Houston and West Virginia head coach will be calling the plays. That’s probably a good thing for Dylan Raiola and the entire offense.

Rhule admitted that Satterfield was “trying to do too much” and it feels like the Huskers need to simplify things. Find a few things that work and stick with them.

It’s strange to have a new offensive coordinator in the 10th game of the season, especially when he wasn’t on the staff previously, but it’s better than forging ahead with Marcus Satterfield.

Nebraska football fans everywhere will be watching Hologerson and the offense closely.

Who’s going to play QB?

Matt Rhule said that Dylan Raiola was going to try to practice on Tuesday. It was subtle and got overlooked in the wake of a new OC, but that’s a much different tone than last week when Rhule said Raiola would play.

If he’s healthy, Raiola is going to be the quarterback. The Huskers just need to do a better job of putting him in a position to succeed.  Satterfield just wasn’t doing that. Things looked way too hard.

Heinrich Haarberg could have a bigger role or could start if needed. It will be interesting to see what the offense looks like if he does, but the health of Raiola will be something to monitor this week.

Huskers have to stop the run

It’s easy to focus on all of the USC athletes on the perimeter because they have a lot. It’s going to be a huge challenge for the defensive backs and maybe the most difficult outside of Ohio State and Indiana.

However, USC runs the ball better than some might realize. The Trojans are averaging 5.4 yards per rushing attempt as a team. Starting running back Jo’quavious Marks is averaging 5.7 yards per carry and has 100 yards or more in three of his last five games.

Marks averages 97 yards per game and the run defense, which allowed just 2.6 yards per attempt before the Indiana game is now allowing 3.3. The Huskers held Ohio State to 64 yards on 31 carries. Yet, they allowed Indiana and UCLA to go for over 100.

It feels like that will be a key stat to watch this week and if Nebraska football can hold USC under 100 yards rushing, they should have a better chance of pulling off the road upset. 

A dual-threat quarterback again

Despite averaging 30 points per game, USC decided to change quarterbacks and will go with former UNLV starter Jayden Maiava.

Maiava hasn’t played much last season but he threw 353 passes for UNLV last season (completed 63 percent). He also ran for 227 yards and three touchdowns. Miller Moss had 18 touchdown passes compared to nine interceptions, which is twice as many TD passes as Raiola has.

That’s how high the standard is for the Trojans. Maiava might not throw the ball as well down the field as Miller but he’ll add a running threat and that worries me. Nebraska can’t allow any big runs to the quarterack this week like they did to Ethan Garbers.

Nebraska’s offensive line needs to deliver

USC is allowing teams to run for 133 yards per game and 4.2 yards per attempt. USC is allowing 22 points per game and 1.2 turnovers per game. Up front, USC has 11 sacks in nine games plus 39 tackles for loss.

Their front can be disruptive but teams have had success running the ball. Michigan ran for over 300 yards against USC. It will be interesting to see what the run game looks like under Holgorsen, but I expect more runs out of (spread) pass formations.

It seemed to me like Nebraska was trying to play power football running it, except the offensive line is average, the tight ends aren’t great at blocking and there isn’t a true fullback.

Coach the team that you have, not the team you want. Regardless, the offensive line is going to need to be solid if the Huskers are going to win on the road in LA.

For More Nebraska content, follow us on Twitter, like our Facebook Page, and Subscribe to the Husker Big Red YouTube Channel. You can also find our podcast on Apple or Spotify.