Over the span of nearly a year, Nebraska had only one running back gain 100 yards rushing in a game.

That’s pretty astonishing for a program which has churned out top-shelf running backs and offensive lineman for decades, but here we are.

On Oct., 7, 2017, Devine Ozigbo rushed for 112 yards in 23 carries in a 38-17 loss to Wisconsin. That capped a string of three consecutive 100-yard games for Ozigbo.

But since then it has been mostly barren for the Cornhuskers on the ground, apart from a strong 329-yard rushing performance against Colorado in this season’s opener. Both RB Greg Bell and quarterback Adrian Martinez broke into triple digits in that game.

Last week against Purdue, with Martinez nearly back to full strength and Ozigbo piling up yards, Nebraska averaged a season-high 6.6 yards per carry in a 42-28 loss to Purdue. The Cornhuskers as a team hadn’t averaged that many yards per carry in a game since early in the 2016 season, when they also averaged 6.6 against Northwestern.

Ozigbo just might be the answer Big Red has been looking for.

The senior gained 170 yards on 17 carries against the Boilermakers; his 10.0 yards per carry represented his best average in any career game in which he had at least 10 carries. That 170 yards was also a career high by a fair margin — his best coming into last week had been 112 yards in that aforementioned 2017 game against Wisconsin.

In six career games where he had at least 18 carries, Ozigbo had never averaged more than 6 yards a carry.

Ozigbo got so much of the workload against Purdue because of Maurice Washington’s illness, coach Scott Frost explained after the game.

It’s pretty simple, Mo missed practice all week because he was sick,” Frost said. “So we weren’t going to play anyone that didn’t practice, and Devine practiced better than anybody else. When he got hot, he was a warrior today, and I’ll go to battle with him.”

Granted, Purdue is no great shakes on defense, but if last week is any indication — and if Nebraska wants to help its freshman quarterback and an offensive line still trying to find its feet — a healthy Ozigbo might just make everyone in Big Red Nation feel better.