Owen Chambliss return from injury will help Nebraska in more ways than one

Many Nebraska football fans were critical of the Blackshirts for their performance in Week 1. However, the truth is that the unit played well.

In Week 2, the defense will play even better, especially now that Pete Thamel of ESPN has confirmed that Owen Chambliss will be back in the lineup on Saturday, or in the lineup for the first time wearing a Nebraska football uniform.

Matt Rhule said earlier in the week that Chambliss was going to come back, but there were still questions. Now there aren’t and here is how that will be impactful for Nebraska football in more ways than one.

Nebraska football defense was fine in Week 1, will be even better with Owen Chambliss

There was a lot of hand-wringing about the performance of the defense. The 68-yard play on the first play of the game caused some panic. It was a blown assignment. Those things happen. However, with Chambliss back in the lineup, he will be wearing the headset. The communication should be better, and players should have a better idea of where to be and what they’re doing.

Yes, they should know those assignments. But this was the first game in a new defense. There were bound to be mistakes. Chambliss will help clean that up wearing the defensive headset. That’s one reason the defense will be better.

Another is the ability of Chambliss to impact the game in a way few Nebraska defenders can. He’s the only player on this defense that was First-Team All-Conference last season. It was the Mountain West, but Chambliss earned that honor thanks to 110 tackles (62 solo), 9.5 tackles for loss, four sacks, an interception and five pass breakups.

Ohio was able to average 4.2 yards per carry the ground. One reason for that was the scrambling of Nick Poulos. He ran for  72 yards and lost just two. That tells you the pass rush was ineffective.

That’s something Chambliss can help with. Not only does have pass-rush ability, he’s also exceptional in coverage, and will also help slow down the QB scrambles. Linebackers who can close ground like him in the middle of the field are valuable, which is why I’d expect him on the field nearly all the time when healthy.

We probably won’t see anything too exotic from Rob Aurich before Big Ten play. But Chambliss is a player who can be used to get pressure. He can spy the quarterback, play the run, or play coverage. He’s a valuable chess piece and this Nebraska football defense will be noticeably better with him on the field.

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