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Jackson closing in on 1,000
LINCOLN -- Brandon Jackson was talking with reporters about his broken right hand when Randy Jordan, his position coach, walked by following practice on Friday.
"He's not doing interviews. He hasn't done anything," Jordan said. "His hand is messed up."
Jackson smiled. Jordan "gives me a hard time," he said.
Jordan was out of sight, heading up the stairs to the walkway that connects the Hawks Championship Center to the locker room and coaches' offices in the Tom and Nancy Osborne Complex. His voice came from the stairwell, however, one last remark.
"And he's still 50 shy," said Jordan.
The 50 was a reference to rushing yards, an amount that would put Jackson over 1,000 for the season. The first-team all-conference running back has rushed for 951 yards on 181 carries.
Rushing for 1,000 "means a lot to me," Jackson said. "But I'm not focused on that. I just want to focus on helping my team out and the yards will come, just focus on helping the team win."
Whatever his focus, though, reaching 1,000 "would be great," he said.
If he gets there, Jackson will be running with a fast crowd. Only 20 Cornhuskers have rushed for 1,000 or more yards in a season, with seven of them accomplishing it twice.
Given his 5.3-yards-per-carry average, Jackson would have surpassed 1,000 yards several games ago if not for Nebraska's I-back committee. He carried only 27 times in the first five games, and 11 of those carries came off the bench in the 56-0 destruction of Troy.
But production, team not personal, is the purpose of the committee, which includes Marlon Lucky, Cody Glenn and Kenny Wilson. And it has produced 2,296 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns.
The committee isn't exactly intact as the Cornhuskers prepare to play Auburn in the Cotton Bowl on New Year's Day. Lucky has been slowed by a back problem, and Glenn is hobbled by what coach Bill Callahan has described as a "mid-foot sprain." His status for the bowl is uncertain.
Jackson is expected to wear a cast for another week or so and then, with proper healing, trade the cast for a splint.
"I'll be ready," he said of the bowl. "If it's not, I'll be ready anyway."
Because of the cast, he has been limited to individual drills in practice, no teamwork or contact. He can run with the ball and catch passes out of the backfield with his left hand.
Jackson is third on the team in catches, behind wide receivers Terrence Nunn (41-589) and Maurice Purify (33-621). He has caught 31 passes for 319 yards and two touchdowns.
Catching passes is nothing new to Jackson.
In high school "we went four- or five-wide, and I was a wideout most of the time," he said. And "I played a little wideout in middle school."
Running the ball is his strength, however, and he has become a better pass-protection blocker.
"That's one thing I tried to focus on in two-a-days, learning how to use great technique in blocking. And I feel like that improved a lot during the season to where I am right now," Jackson said. "I felt that was the No. 1 thing because anyone can run the ball; anyone can catch the ball.
"But you have to be a man to go out there and block a 250-, 350-pound guy."
The last part is true. But not anyone can run the ball and catch it the way he has.
The broken hand occurred late in the third quarter of the Big 12 championship game. It was hit by the helmet of an Oklahoma linebacker, said Jackson, who carried 13 times. "I thought it was just kind of swollen. I was going to try to go back out there, but the pain got more intense."
Even so, dealing with a broken hand isn't nearly as bad as dealing with the two shoulder surgeries that limited his play last season. By comparison, the broken hand is "nothing," he said.
The cast extends to his elbow, with black wrapping to keep it dry.
He asked for the black wrapping "so no one could sign it," he said. "If I had white, guys would try to make marks on it."
He paused, then added: "I told them I wanted hot pink, but they said no."
He laughed. Just kidding.
"I didn't want hot pink," he said.
Jackson, a junior, is the most experienced of the I-backs. That made him the "daddy" of the group, a reporter suggested.
Actually, "I feel like I'm the granddaddy," he said.
He doesn't move like a granddaddy, though. A granddaddy doesn't rush for 1,000 yards.
Jackson isn't to 1,000 yet, of course, as Jordan reminds him, good-naturedly.
"He tells me, 'You know you're a couple of yards short,' " Jackson said. "Everybody gives me a little bull for that. But it's not my ultimate goal. My ultimate goal is to just come out in the bowl game, have fun and win."
Jackson closing in on 1,000
LINCOLN -- Brandon Jackson was talking with reporters about his broken right hand when Randy Jordan, his position coach, walked by following practice on Friday.
"He's not doing interviews. He hasn't done anything," Jordan said. "His hand is messed up."
Jackson smiled. Jordan "gives me a hard time," he said.
Jordan was out of sight, heading up the stairs to the walkway that connects the Hawks Championship Center to the locker room and coaches' offices in the Tom and Nancy Osborne Complex. His voice came from the stairwell, however, one last remark.
"And he's still 50 shy," said Jordan.
The 50 was a reference to rushing yards, an amount that would put Jackson over 1,000 for the season. The first-team all-conference running back has rushed for 951 yards on 181 carries.
Rushing for 1,000 "means a lot to me," Jackson said. "But I'm not focused on that. I just want to focus on helping my team out and the yards will come, just focus on helping the team win."
Whatever his focus, though, reaching 1,000 "would be great," he said.
If he gets there, Jackson will be running with a fast crowd. Only 20 Cornhuskers have rushed for 1,000 or more yards in a season, with seven of them accomplishing it twice.
Given his 5.3-yards-per-carry average, Jackson would have surpassed 1,000 yards several games ago if not for Nebraska's I-back committee. He carried only 27 times in the first five games, and 11 of those carries came off the bench in the 56-0 destruction of Troy.
But production, team not personal, is the purpose of the committee, which includes Marlon Lucky, Cody Glenn and Kenny Wilson. And it has produced 2,296 rushing yards and 25 touchdowns.
The committee isn't exactly intact as the Cornhuskers prepare to play Auburn in the Cotton Bowl on New Year's Day. Lucky has been slowed by a back problem, and Glenn is hobbled by what coach Bill Callahan has described as a "mid-foot sprain." His status for the bowl is uncertain.
Jackson is expected to wear a cast for another week or so and then, with proper healing, trade the cast for a splint.
"I'll be ready," he said of the bowl. "If it's not, I'll be ready anyway."
Because of the cast, he has been limited to individual drills in practice, no teamwork or contact. He can run with the ball and catch passes out of the backfield with his left hand.
Jackson is third on the team in catches, behind wide receivers Terrence Nunn (41-589) and Maurice Purify (33-621). He has caught 31 passes for 319 yards and two touchdowns.
Catching passes is nothing new to Jackson.
In high school "we went four- or five-wide, and I was a wideout most of the time," he said. And "I played a little wideout in middle school."
Running the ball is his strength, however, and he has become a better pass-protection blocker.
"That's one thing I tried to focus on in two-a-days, learning how to use great technique in blocking. And I feel like that improved a lot during the season to where I am right now," Jackson said. "I felt that was the No. 1 thing because anyone can run the ball; anyone can catch the ball.
"But you have to be a man to go out there and block a 250-, 350-pound guy."
The last part is true. But not anyone can run the ball and catch it the way he has.
The broken hand occurred late in the third quarter of the Big 12 championship game. It was hit by the helmet of an Oklahoma linebacker, said Jackson, who carried 13 times. "I thought it was just kind of swollen. I was going to try to go back out there, but the pain got more intense."
Even so, dealing with a broken hand isn't nearly as bad as dealing with the two shoulder surgeries that limited his play last season. By comparison, the broken hand is "nothing," he said.
The cast extends to his elbow, with black wrapping to keep it dry.
He asked for the black wrapping "so no one could sign it," he said. "If I had white, guys would try to make marks on it."
He paused, then added: "I told them I wanted hot pink, but they said no."
He laughed. Just kidding.
"I didn't want hot pink," he said.
Jackson, a junior, is the most experienced of the I-backs. That made him the "daddy" of the group, a reporter suggested.
Actually, "I feel like I'm the granddaddy," he said.
He doesn't move like a granddaddy, though. A granddaddy doesn't rush for 1,000 yards.
Jackson isn't to 1,000 yet, of course, as Jordan reminds him, good-naturedly.
"He tells me, 'You know you're a couple of yards short,' " Jackson said. "Everybody gives me a little bull for that. But it's not my ultimate goal. My ultimate goal is to just come out in the bowl game, have fun and win."
