Nebraska Football: Huskers Must Continue Reshuffling Offensive Line

It seems a little wrong to call them backups now. After a strong showing against Northwestern, right tackle Givens Price, right guard Chongo Kondolo and center Ryne Reeves made a case for a starting position on Nebraska's offensive line.

The three were able to make that case thanks to rotation.

It was that lack of rotation against Michigan State that had many confused. Even offensive coordinator Tim Beck broke his silence when speaking with reporters about failing to rotate the offensive line:

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You got a guy that you trust and you know has done a good job — when do you pinch hit for him? You feel like he's due. We felt like we were due and our guys were going to go out there and eventually just make a play, get a little momentum and get a little spark. We just didn't do it.

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In Evanston, Illinois, that all changed.

In the second quarter, Price, Kondolo and Reeves helped with Nebraska's seven-play, 80-yard touchdown drive, as The Grand Island Independent's Bob Hamar pointed out. The trio was also a part of another Husker touchdown later in the second half.

The argument has now become whether or not the three have earned a starting position on the offensive line. If nothing else, their performances proved that Beck needs to continue rotating the offensive line.

It's not just fans who noticed the benefit of rotating. Fellow offensive linemen saw it, too.

“We had a lot of guys step up and play really good football — Chongo, Givens and Reeves,” left guard Jake Cotton told reporters. “Guys who hadn’t got in against Michigan State came in and played their butts off. I think film is going to be really kind to them tomorrow.”

What the film will show is that Price, Kondolo and Reeves deserve to be a part of the game plan going forward. In the second half against Northwestern, the three showed just how beneficial they are to the team.

"On the second possession of the third quarter, Moudy moved to the left side," ESPN.com's Mitch Sherman noted. "Reeves entered. Kondolo and Price took the right side. The next three drives produced 185 yards and three touchdowns."

Price, Kondolo and Reeves are proving that they have more to offer the offensive line than just their talents. They're also becoming leaders, as Price told reporters:

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I don’t know what he told the other guys for sure, but what he told me was I need to be more consistent in what I do. He came to us after the game and said he probably should have played some of us. So we kind of took that as, ‘You know what? We need to give him a reason to put us in early.’ And that’s what we did during the bye week.

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That attitude is exactly why Beck needs to continue rotating the offensive line going forward. As long as the players are proving they're capable of stepping up in practice, they should be on the field every Saturday.

Now that Price, Kondolo and Reeves have shown what they're capable of, there really is no reason to not let them keep going. As the three get more comfortable, the small mistakes they made on pass protection will be corrected.

However, improvement does take experience. All three proved against Northwestern that they deserve the chance to earn the playing time.

Beck admitted after the Michigan State game that he should have rotated more. If nothing else, that's the primary reason Nebraska should make sure it continues during the final five games of the regular season.