The hammer is polished: How Nebraska's Gabe Ervin became a leading rusher contender

Gabe Ervin looked down at himself and raised his eyebrows. Come to think of it, the offseason went pretty well.
Like a running back too focused on his blockers to keep track of his rushing total, so have the last eight months been for the Nebraska third-year player. His daily tick-tock routine — lift, eat, lift, eat — suddenly brought him to August reshaped and refreshed.
The weight is up, from 212 pounds last season to upwards of 225 now which has him running with more power. Ervin is another year removed from a non-contact ACL tear at Oklahoma in September 2021. A nagging turf toe injury — perhaps brought on by overcompensating for a right knee that was “not all the way there” last year — is long gone.
“I guess it’s just, like, developing,” the 20-year-old said. “Because I’m a junior now. The year’s coming up, just developing to this frame. I like it.”
If Ervin’s not the favorite to take the first carry at Minnesota later this month, he’s at least in a dead heat with Anthony Grant and Rahmir Johnson — backs with a combined 360 more career touches than him at Nebraska — for a prominent role.
Perhaps no one on the Huskers’ roster of 120-plus benefited more from spring practices under the new staff. Coach Matt Rhule dubbed Ervin one of the stars of the offseason — the back is one of the fastest members of the team and listed as 15 pounds heavier than anyone else at his position.
“He can hopefully be that battering ram that puts games away,” Rhule said in March.
Nebraska coaches this week laid out the standards they’re looking for as they define a running back pecking order. Dependability, offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield said — as a runner, a blocker, in health. Ball security, playbook details and the ability to regularly get four yards, position coach E.J. Barthel said.
Ervin’s rise was no given considering he has appeared in just a dozen college games, including two starts as a freshman two years ago. He missed most of 2021 with injury and received just 21 touches last fall. Yet his impression on the new staff was strong enough that it factored into NU’s decision not to add a rusher from the transfer portal.
Barthel said Ervin has learned how to “be a guy.” How to prepare for practice. How to take care of his body. How to contribute to position meetings. Barthel — a staffer with the NFL’s Carolina Panthers in 2020 and 2021 — emphasizes how the world’s best players are elite off the field too.
“He’s really taken ownership of being a mature, veteran player,” Barthel said of Ervin. “Which is hard to do when you haven’t played a lot.”
The native of Buford, Georgia, has the personality for a starring role. While Johnson and Grant are quieter workers, Ervin carries a dash of charisma and pinch of fire — “He’s more of the ‘out’ guy,” Johnson said. The former three-star prospect who once had Georgia among his finalists has leaned into the grind in Lincoln, outlasting five fellow scholarship backs at Nebraska who hopped into the portal during that time. He’s on his third running backs coach in three years.
Ervin’s nature is to aim for the feature job — “I want to be the guy; I really want to be the guy” he said. But he’s also embracing a committee approach that could fold in redshirt freshman Emmett Johnson and frosh Kwinten Ives along with the rest of the scholarship group.
“We’re going to be a relentless running back room,” Ervin said. “They’re going to not only not be able to stop me, they’re not going to be able to stop Rahmir Johnson, Anthony Grant, Emmett Johnson. We all got it.”
And so the “earn it” phase continues. Ervin, the hammer, is putting the final polish on an offseason that could lead to some big fourth-quarter swings.
“I’m fully healthy and I thank God for it,” Ervin said. “Everything feels good. I’m so grateful to be out there because I know how it is when you’re not out there. I don’t take every day for granted.”