Every game brings new lessons for Nebraska freshman wide receiver Malachi Coleman.
Thrust into a larger role in his first season because of injuries, Coleman has flashed his potential that made him a four-star prospect, and hasn’t shown himself to be out-matched, especially when it comes to blocking on the perimeter.
“My biggest thing is blocking — being able to set the edge is something Coach McGuire emphasizes a lot,” Coleman said this week. “If you can set the edge for the RBs and the QBs to have room to run, it can set up the passing game.
“When you take another grown man somewhere he doesn’t want to go against his will, that’s fun to me.”
The work Coleman has done as a blocker has caught the attention of Nebraska’s coaches. Nebraska head coach Matt Rhule said this week that Coleman’s effort on the outside were featured by Ron Brown in a pregame ceremony.
“His blocking against Purdue was as good as I’ve ever seen a receiver block in a game,” Rhule said this week. “He got punched about three times and he would just stand up and put his hands up. He doesn’t show up on the stat line, but he dominated and affected the game in the ways that he could, yet never threw a punch back. Some of our older guys haven’t understood that but Malachi has. To me, Malachi has affected every game he’s played in since that Northwestern game. I thought he blocked well. We’re asking him to go in there and crack linebackers. We’re asking our wideouts to do a lot of things right now, ship defensive ends. Malachi did all of it, and when the moment came, he had the chance to go make some plays.”
Coleman nearly had another game-breaking play against Michigan State late in the game. He caught a pass from Heinrich Haarberg in the second half and appeared to have a path to the end zone for a long score, but was tripped up for a 30-yard gain. Coleman finished with two catches for 39 yards, marking his first multi-catch game as a Husker.
“I should have checked behind me I thought I was gone,” Coleman said. “I have to find a way to break that tackle and make that play.”
Coleman said he spends almost every minute with fellow freshmen wide receivers Jaidyn Doss and Jaylen Lloyd. All three have seen their reps and soar as injuries mounted in the wide receiver room, and Lloyd and Coleman have already played in enough games this season to burn their redshirts. Doss has played in four games coming off an early-season injury.
Michigan State played a lot of man coverage against the Huskers, and its secondary was physical all game against Nebraska’s wide receivers. Nebraska’s coaches are expecting much of the same from Maryland this week.
Offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield said all three will benefit from the experience this season.
“Unbelievable growth from three weeks ago,” Satterfield said of Coleman and the group. “When you play that many reps in the game, you’re going to improve daily.”