NU finds a catch in TE Dreu Young

husker rob · September 7, 2007

NU Football: Huskers find TE catch in Young

BY RICH KAIPUST

WORLD-HERALD BUREAU

LINCOLN — You would think that Dreu Young went home last Saturday night and replayed the Nebraska-Nevada game over and over in his mind.

A wide receiver at Cozad High School, Dreu Young started his emergence in spring practice with Mike McNeill injured and the Huskers lacking vertical threats at tight end.The NU redshirt freshman was playing his first career game. And it even included the tight end's first college pass reception.

Only the details were hazy in the aftermath of the Huskers 52-10 rout.

"I've never really been one to remember everything after a game," Young said. "After the game, I couldn't even have told you how many yards I made on the catch."

Heres a theory, though: Maybe things have been moving so fast for Young that he just can't keep up.

It was three years ago when he was barely 180 pounds and playing receiver as a junior at Cozad High. It was roughly 18 months ago when he was about to sign with Colorado Mines, an NCAA Division II school. It was just last year when he was an unknown walk-on with seven or eight tight ends ahead of him on the NU depth chart.

Last week he was catching a short pass from Sam Keller and turning it into a 14-yard gain to finish the third quarter against Nevada, playing before 84,078 fans.

"It feels good to know that I finally got that first game under my belt," Young said. "People back home are always asking me if I'm going to play this year or have to wait until next year or just going to play special teams. It was good to actually get on the field and play a few snaps and get a catch."

Young started his emergence in spring practice with Mike McNeill injured and the Huskers lacking vertical threats at tight end. The 6-foot-4, 220-pounder took that momentum into preseason camp and was being praised by head coach Bill Callahan the week before the season started.

NU assistant coach Joe Rudolph said Young simply pushed all the right buttons and never stopped.

"The thing about Dreu is whatever you ask him to do, he does it to detail," Rudolph said. "He works extremely hard and he goes full speed all the time. And when you do that, you give yourself a pretty good opportunity."

Certain packages will continue to feature Young because he can do things many of the other tight ends can not. That's where the former receiver comes out in him.

"Dreus a tight end who can stretch the field, and that's huge in our offense," Keller said. "We really like to see guys who can get downfield and pull safeties off the hash or bring linebackers and create mismatches. It's nice to have those guys who are lanky or long, who can get out and run and make things happen."

Young played about 25 snaps against Nevada, the reward for taking care of business through camp. He returned to practice Tuesday a little more comfortable than he felt the previous week.

"Last week I was really nervous," Young said. "I didn't know how practice would go and if I screwed something up, would that take away my shot? This week I'll be more relaxed."

Young easily could be somewhere else right now. It wasn't until he received a late-January call from former NU offensive coordinator Jay Norvell in 2005 that he cut ties with Colorado Mines. Cozad coach Ron Bubak said that probably was the result of the lightly recruited Young putting together his own highlight tape and sending it to places such as NU, Kansas and Kansas State.

"Sometimes you go down to Nebraska as a walk-on and get lost in the shuffle, but it was the right place for him to go," Bubak said. "I'm just proud as heck of him and how advanced he's become."