LINCOLN, Neb. — This spring on the practice field at Nebraska, seven offensive linemen bring 152 returning starts over four years in the Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and SEC. That’s more than 2 ½ seasons of starting experience, on average, for each of the five spots up front on offense.
And it’s not even the trait about the Huskers’ O-line that encourages coach Matt Rhule the most.
“There’s a healthy competition,” Rhule said, “and there’s a lot of depth being built. The young players, they might not think they’re good yet, but they’re going to be really good players.”
The young tier of linemen are pushing the older players for spots, Rhule said.
Nebraska ranked second in the Big Ten last year in rushing yards per game (176.8) and fourth in yards per rushing attempt (4.4). Its offensive line showed notable improvement under second-year assistant coach Donovan Raiola.
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The position group, in fact, rates as the most reliable entity for a Nebraska offense that’s auditioning two true freshman quarterbacks this month and reshuffling its wide receivers and running backs as transfers mix with returning contributors.
There exists no such variability on the O-line, with Bryce Benhart, Teddy Prochazka, Ben Scott, Turner Corcoran, Justin Evans and Henry Lutovsky back. Newcomer Micah Mazzccua joined the mix in January after his four seasons at Florida and Baylor.
“They help all the young guys out,” Raiola said. “That’s the kind of culture you want to build. And now, the room kind of runs itself. That’s what you want to get to, that point where we understand the expectation and they understand it, too, and take it upon themselves.”
Corcoran, starter of 31 games at Nebraska, is missing most of practice this spring after he underwent foot surgery last fall. He’s helping coach the young Huskers.
“Players learn from players way more than they learn from us,” Rhule said.
Benhart’s 41 starts at right tackle for the Huskers since 2020 equal the Nebraska career record for an offensive lineman. Scott, a center and another sixth-year senior, enters his second year with the Huskers after three seasons at Arizona State.
Scott and Benhart, both 23-year-old graduate students, conversed in December before their decisions to return after a 5-7 first season for Rhule.
“There’s a lot of unfinished business,” Benhart said.
Prochazka, the replacement in October for Corcoran, has started 11 games at left tackle. Evans started five last season at guard. He’s working there and as the backup to Scott at center.
Lutovsky, with four starts, is playing guard with the top group and tackle with the No. 2 line. A similar hybrid role might be in order for Corcoran when he returns in August.
Mazzccua, a 21-game starter at the Power 5 level, fits also at guard. He’s worked primarily with the second-team line this spring after a tough transition to Nebraska in the winter.
“We do things a little different here,” Raiola said, “(but) he’s actually taken to it and he’s improving every day, which is awesome.”
What makes Nebraska’s style different under Raiola? He teaches “the right way,” Scott said, but his methods are demanding. As a former center, Raiola expects Scott to decipher a defense like he’s got a “sixth sense” for it, according to Scott.
“It’s an adjustment for sure,” Scott said. “But once it’s clicked (for Mazzccua), you can see that Micah buys into it.”
A specimen at 6 feet 5 and 325 pounds, Mazzccua graded by Pro Football Focus as the second-best guard in the Big 12 in 2022. That he has faced a challenge to earn reps with the starting group at Nebraska speaks to the improved depth and quality of the Huskers line — in addition to the raised expectation level.
Tyler Knaak, a second-year transfer from Utah, and converted defensive linemen Jason Maciejczak and Ru’Quan Buckley are practicing with the second-team line. All have impressed Rhule.
“If given an opportunity, they can play,” he said.
With the freshman QBs, Dylan Raiola and Daniel Kaelin, Nebraska is configuring its protection schemes differently than it did last fall for Jeff Sims, Heinrich Haarberg and Chubba Purdy. Only Haarberg remains in the program.
An offense built for Raiola or Kaelin would lean less on the QB run game. So the linemen are trained to build an NFL-style protection, Rhule said, that allows the quarterbacks to navigate the pocket and step up into throws. By contrast, the QBs at Nebraska last season looked for breakdowns in protection that opened interior seams and led to running room.
“All of these little nuances are really important as we put together this year’s team,” Rhule said.
Alongside Raiola and Kaelin, early enrolling linemen Grant Brix and Gibson Pyle are adjusting to Nebraska. The Huskers see bright futures for both, Rhule said.
Brix, a four-star signee, fit behind Raiola and tight end Carter Nelson as the third-highest-ranked recruit in the Huskers’ 2024 class. He’s put on weight, Rhule said, and started fast in his work on training as a tackle to play a role in succeeding Benhart and Prochazka, a fourth-year junior.
‘He’s excited every day, I’ll tell you that much,” Benhart said of Brix. “ He’s eager to learn. I’m teaching him as much as I can.”
For Donovan Raiola, the lone Rhule holdover from the previous 2022 Nebraska coaching staff, a grateful feeling defines his time in Lincoln.
He’s grateful for the opportunity to work with Rhule’s staff and this group of offensive linemen. He’s grateful to spend time around his nephew, Dylan Raiola, the five-star signee who’s aiming to impress in his public unveiling as a Nebraska QB on April 27 in the Red-White game.
Donovan Raiola’s first group under Rhule also included Nebraskans Gunnar Gottula, Sam Sledge and Brock Knutson as true freshmen last season.
The entire group of players, it seems, loves to play for Raiola. He is fiercely loyal to them. Asked last week to name a player who’s pleased him the most of late, he offered a typical answer for the 41-year-old coach.
“All of them,” Raiola said.
On this, perhaps, he’s justified in a spring of meshing the old guard with the new blood of the Nebraska offensive line.
