Huskers looking for more consistency from defensive line

LINCOLN, Neb. - As a young defensive line, growing pains are to be expected.

But during Thursday's season opener some some of those pains for Nebraska came in the form of long runs and missed tackles.

Despite a 20-17 win, the Big Red surrendered 203 rushing yards to the Bearcats, a number Head Coach Matt Rhule would like to see lower.

“Anytime you give up 200 yards rushing you’re not going to be real happy, but 96 of it was the quarterback,” Rhule said. “A lot of that was pass rush and him getting out and running. We’ll have to work on that. We talk a lot about it, but I don’t know if we do a good enough job doing it.”

Cincinnati quarterback Brendan Sorsby led the Bearcats with 7.4 yards per carry, finding the end zone on both Bearcat scores.

Rhule says, when facing rushing quarterbacks in the future, they’ll have to be more pointed with the pass rush.

“We’ll have to pick our spots a little bit better,” Rhule said. “It wasn’t the traditional run game it was the quarterback. We knew he was a heck of a player, I walked right up to him after the game. I know a lot of higher up scouts were there to see him and the tight end.”