Nebraska’s offense has spent the first three games looking like a different operation, and Pat Fitzgerald didn’t bother soft-pedaling what he saw on film.
The Michigan State head coach said Monday that the Huskers are not just getting better production from different names. In his eyes, the whole machine has changed.
"They're completely different, in my opinion, after watching the tape last year to watching the first three games," Fitzgerald said during his Monday press conference.
Fitzgerald painted a picture of an offense that is working in sync across the board, from the line to the skill players. He pointed to the blocking up front, the depth in the backfield and the threats outside as signs that Nebraska is functioning at a much higher level than it did a year ago.
"They're all in sync. Everybody's in sync offensively.
They're operating at a very high level. The O-line's playing very good.
The young back reminds me of Lawrence Phillips. Big, explosive, athletic.
He's had incredible runs. They've got multiple guys.
(Jacory) Barney and (Kwazi) Gilmer on the outside, to me, are as challenging of guys that we've seen. So I think they're a complete offense, for sure."
Fitzgerald did give credit to Jamal Rule as one of the reasons Nebraska looks sharper this season, but he also made it clear this isn’t just a one-player fix. The Huskers had Emmett Johnson last year, and this year’s improvement feels bigger than a single personnel change.
He also tied the leap to Dana Holgorsen’s ability to run the offense the way he wants. Fitzgerald said Holgorsen had more freedom with a mobile quarterback, while last year’s setup with Dylan Raiola didn’t let him open things up the same way. When the Huskers later had a more mobile option, it was true freshman TJ Lateef trying to figure it out on the fly.
"They've got weapons everywhere. They can score every time you kick or punt it to them, and every time they're on offense with anyone they give the ball to.
So this is as good of a Nebraska team as I've seen in a long time. I think they're very confident.
I think they're very well-coached. And they deserve to be confident because they're playing at a very high level."
Fitzgerald’s perspective carries some weight. Now in his first season at Michigan State, he spent nearly two decades at Northwestern and saw Nebraska often. One of those matchups helped define the end of Scott Frost’s run, when Fitzgerald’s 2022 Wildcats came back to beat the Huskers in the season opener.
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