Nebraska is looking to add a more reliable and proficient passing game starting this season. Several additions could help the ‘Huskers to do that, including the pickup of WR Isaiah Neyor.
Matt Rhule explained Neyor’s potential impact in Lincoln during a recent interview on ‘Always College Football’ with Greg McElroy. He noted how their offense is hoping to add a different dimension with a pass attack that they don’t see as much of within their own conference.
“Yeah, I think, when you look at the Big Ten? You put on a bunch of Big Ten games. Then you put on, like, SEC games, obviously I’ve been in the Big 12. I think the difference you see is explosive passing games,” Rhule said. “Like, there’s just not as much of it in the Big Ten. There’s a lot more underneath passing games, controlling the middle of the field. Maybe some of that has to do with weather at times.”
That’s where a receiver like Neyor comes in. He can be a vertical threat for Nebraska and be a weapon that can get them on top of and past defenses that are playing them in certain looks.
“What we wanted – and Isaiah was a guy that could take the top off in coverage. Two years ago here, they had Trey Palmer. They went to Iowa, beat Iowa and really it was because he ran by them,” said Rhule. “Neyor brings to us a guy at six-foot-three, 220 pounds who’s a 4.3 player. He has got good ball skills.”
“If you’re going to try to play man coverage, we want to try to run by you. If you’re going to try to play quarters coverage, we want to try to run by you. We weren’t really able to do that very much last year – here and there we could,” Rhule said. “That’s what Isaiah brings.”
Neyor has spent the four seasons of his collegiate career at Wyoming and Texas with two apiece with the Cowboys and Longhorns.
In a pair of years in Laramie, he caught 52 passes for 1,126 yards and 12 touchdowns. Almost all of that came as a redshirt sophomore with 44 receptions for 878 and each of his dozen scores.
However, his two seasons on The 40 Acres weren’t what anyone wanted them to be. Neyor didn’t appear in his first year in Austin after a knee injury in fall camp cost him the entire campaign. He then only appeared in one game for the Longhorns last year, which was the season opener against Rice, and caught just one ball for 14 yards.
Now, with Neyor joining Nebraska in the portal this offseason, he’ll look to add to a passing game that struggled last season. The Cornhuskers completed less than a dozen throws a game at 52.1% for an average of 135.9 yards and 0.8 touchdowns from their three quarterbacks. Their leading receiver, Billy Kemp, finished with 35 catches for 310 yards and a touchdown. Thomas Fidone III, although a tight end, also found some success with 25 receptions for 260 yards and a team-high of four scores.
A little life in the passing attack wouldn’t hurt for an offense like Nebraska’s. They’ve certainly tried to address that, though, both at the key position in quarterback and with potential targets like Neyor.
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