Explosive Running Backs Face Off In Miami-Nebraska Matchup
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MIAMI (SportsDirect Inc.) – Miami's Joseph Yearby and Nebraska's Terrell Newby each had to wait their turn as Duke Johnson and Ameer Abdullah were making history at their respective programs a year ago, but both players looked a lot like their predecessors in their last time out.
A pair of talented running backs coming off career days eye an encore performance on Saturday when Newby and the Cornhuskers make a rare regular-season visit to Florida to face Yearby and the Hurricanes.
Johnson needed only three seasons to become the leading rusher in Miami history before declaring for the NFL Draft while Abdullah wrapped up his senior year as the second-leading rusher in school history at Nebraska.
Yearby exploded for a career-high 243 total yards and scored the tiebreaking touchdown midway through the third quarter as the Hurricanes pulled away from Florida Atlantic last Friday 44-20. Newby set personal bests across the board in Nebraska's 48-9 rout of South Alabama, accounting for 236 scrimmage yards and three total touchdowns as the Cornhuskers rebounded from a heartbreaking home loss to BYU the week before.
Nebraska, which defeated Miami 41-31 in Lincoln last year to pull ahead 6-5 in the all-time series, will play its first regular-season game in the Sunshine State since these same schools met for the first time in 1951.
TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN2. LINE: Miami -3.5
ABOUT NEBRASKA (1-1): The defensive spotlight for this contest figures to focus on the secondary, which has given up eight pass plays of at least 21 yards and is allowing opposing quarterbacks to complete 59.3 percent of their attempts. "This week at practice, I felt like the big emphasis for us is going to be deep-ball coverage … We have to learn how to assert ourselves early so teams later in the game don't want to take those deep-ball shots," secondary coach Brian Stewart told the Lincoln Journal-Star. The inability to defend the deep ball has contributed greatly to the Cornhuskers' 120th-ranked pass defense.
ABOUT MIAMI (2-0): While top receivers Stacy Coley and Braxton Berrios are expected back after each sat out against Florida Atlantic, linebacker Darrion Owens (knee) joined running back Gus Edwards (foot) as key contributors that will miss the rest of the season. Yearby is getting plenty of help from Mark Walton, who became only the third Miami freshman in the last 20 years to rush for three TDs in a game last weekend. Sophomore Brad Kaaya (15 straight games) and former Hurricane great Ken Dorsey (23 and 17) are the only Miami quarterbacks in the last 20 years to throw for at least one score in 15 consecutive contests.
EXTRA POINTS
- Nebraska was the only team to exceed its season total-yard average against Miami's 14th-ranked total defense a season ago. The Hurricanes rank eighth in FBS in total defense through two games in 2015.
- Miami has forced seven turnovers – tied for the most in the country – in its first two contests for the first time since 2004.
- The Cornhuskers have produced an FBS-high 51 plays of at least 10 yards through two games, but none have covered more than 40 yards.
PREDICTION: Nebraska 38, Miami 34
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