Nebraska defensive coordinator Rob Aurich is headed home this weekend, and he’s excited.
The Spring Lake, Mich., native was born and raised in the state. Now, he’s returning as a coach with the Nebraska football team. The Huskers will take on Michigan State Saturday afternoon in East Lansing.
“It’s a great chance to go home,” Aurich said. “There’ll be a good handful of people at the game that are excited for the moment.”
Aurich is also excited to get his first chance coaching in the Big Ten. A Big Ten football fan growing up, the coach said he believes it’s the best conference in the country.
“An opportunity to go compete against anyone from this conference is always a great opportunity,” Aurich said. “We try never to make anything bigger than what it is. We’re going to go play a good football team that’s committed to running the football and match up our best against theirs.”
The Spartans’ rushing attack begins with fifth-year running back Cam Edwards. The tailback has 288 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns on the season. Aurich called Edwards a “slasher.”
“I think he does well after contact to continue to get yards,” Aurich said. “I think he’s pretty nifty in the hole for being a bigger guy. You’ll see him jump cut all over the field; I think that’s the best thing he does. Sometimes you watch him in their zone game, there’s not necessarily a hole there and he makes a hole. So, credit to him, he’s a nice back.”
Aurich said he’s expecting a heavy rush attack but is preparing the Blackshirts for anything.
“Looking at the offensive coordinator and his past at Washington and Alabama, there’s certainly enough in his history to warn us to proceed with caution at times,” Aurich said. “He does have a deep bag of answers he’s gone to.”
One way Nebraska will try to limit those big plays is by forcing turnovers. Through three games, the Blackshirts have just three total take aways. Under Aurich, the Huskers have adopted the motto, “Take three,” meaning they aim to get three turnovers per game. Aurich said he hopes to see more takeaways as Big Ten play begins.
“I think we need to target and prioritize the ball more as pass rushers when we get an opportunity too,” Aurich said. “It’s been a low completion percentage season so far. The quarterbacks are under 50% right now, so a lot of turnovers happen on catch-and-run opportunities. Those have diminished a little bit, credit to our secondary, but we need to find ways to take those away.”
Another way to force more turnovers is through forcing fumbles. Aurich and his staff teach a variety of different methods, including the Peanut punch, and the crossbody punch. He said he hopes this will help the turnovers increase.
“We feel like we’re teaching it at an adequate level,” Aurich said. “We feel like we need to prioritize it as a staff more.”
Aurich and his staff will keep working to put their players in position to make plays as they prepare for the first road test of the year. Kickoff between Nebraska and Michigan State on Saturday is set for 4 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network and the Huskers Radio Network.
“We’ve been home for three weeks, which is a great blessing, and it’s been fun to get to know Memorial the way we have, but I love road games,” Aurich said. “I love road games. It’s just you and the boys, and you get to go to work, and you get more time together. So I’m really excited for the opportunity for us to have this weekend, this week together, as we start this Big Ten season.”
