Nebraska Football: Cornhuskers' X-Factor vs. Michigan State

Despite losing to Nebraska, Illinois head coach Tim Beckman had nothing but good things to say about Ameer Abdullah. However, it wasn't just the popular I-back who got some credit from Beckman.

"He is very good. Their offensive line is very good," Beckman said in his postgame press conference. "I think Ameer would be the first one to tell you that."

After defeating Miami at home, Abdullah actually was the first to say that at the Husker podium.

"They did great," Abdullah said. "They played physical. It starts off with the pipeline. They had to get a push and I felt they got a push the whole night."

After Illinois, it's clear that Nebraska's offensive line has become the X-factor. In order to provide Abdullah and all of the Husker running backs the room to run, the offensive line has to be on its game. In the last few weeks, the unit has done just that.

People have taken notice too. After defeating the Hurricanes, HuskerOnline.com's Dan Hoppen made note of the successes he was seeing from the offensive line.

As for the offensive line itself, the group has a very creative nickname for itself. The name, as reported by the Lincoln Journal Star's Steven M. Sipple, highlights what this group wants to accomplish.

For offensive lineman Alex Lewis, he says it's all about taking that name and putting it to use, especially for a particular player, per Huskers.com.

"As an offensive lineman that's what you live for," Lewis said. "When you have a guy back there like No. 8 (Ameer Abdullah) it always gets you going and fired up. The crowd starts cheering and you can't even explain it."

To date, Nebraska's offense has rushed for 1,774 yards and 16 touchdowns on 256 carries. While right guard Mike Moudy has said the unit has to continue improving, per Brian Christopherson of the Lincoln Journal Star, the results so far have been promising.

Even quarterback Tommy Armstrong acknowledged the hard work of the offensive line, per Huskers.com:

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The offensive line is doing an incredible job. Like I said, I’m just trying to put them in the right position to block and see things easier. Get set a lot quicker and stuff like that. It’s easy if you get set quick with our tempo and then be able to see things happen faster for offensive line to adjust to certain things. I think McNeese State was a great thing for us. They blitzed us a lot. They played a lot of different things for our offensive line and just for our receivers and stuff as a whole as an offense. We saw a lot of things that we could have changed and could have worked on better and I think that it helped us throughout the season.

"

Walking away from the close call with McNeese State, the offensive line has come away stronger. While Abdullah only had 54 yards and one touchdown on 17 attempts against the Cowboys, the Husker offensive line has given the I-back better blocks since. Abdullah hasn't had less than 100 yards per game as a result, per ESPN.com.

Senior offensive lineman Jake Cotton doesn't want to take all the credit, though.

"There are plays where we just don't block anybody, we bust assignments and stuff—but he'll get a 25-yard run," Cotton said, per Nicole Auerbach of USA Today. "People will say, 'Wow, the offensive line.' No! Actually, it's quite nice to block for a guy who can bail you out of some trouble. That's the kind of back he is. He creates something where nobody else thinks that could happen."

Regardless, the Nebraska offensive line has become the X-factor. Against a team like Michigan State, the unit will have to play stronger than it has to date. The Spartan defense should expect a tough group, though.

No matter what, Abdullah is just happy with what he's seeing, per Huskers.com. "I can’t say more about those guys, I am really proud of them."