I-back picture refocused with Glenn's move to defense

[sea o' red]

http://journalstar.com/articles/2008/04/03...eb741919889.txt

It started with two reporters around Roy Helu after Wednesday’s football practice. By the interview’s end, there were about a dozen.

 

“Most questions I’ve ever got,” Helu said in a laid-back monotone.

 

The secret’s out. Helu is someone Husker fans better put on their radar screens, or at least that’s the impression one obtains when listening to Nebraska coach Bo Pelini.

 

“Roy’s a heckuva player,” Pelini said Wednesday. “He really does a lot of things well. He’s elusive. He catches the ball well. He can run inside or outside. I think he’s a tremendous football player. He’s having a heckuva spring so far.”

 

One day before, Pelini had said Helu was one of the strongest parts of the offense so far in this young spring season.

 

Put Pelini’s praise next to the news that the running back logjam lost a man Wednesday — with senior Cody Glenn moving to linebacker — and, indeed, there was very good reason for a large group of people to surround Helu.

 

Senior running back Marlon Lucky returns after accounting for 1,762 total yards last season, but it seems like he’ll be pushed by two sophomores.

 

Of those sophomores, Quentin Castille has so far seemed to garner more talk around the coffee pot than Helu.

 

Part of it is that Castille put up more yards than Helu last season: 347 to 212. Another part is just the look of Castille: an 18-year-old with a freakish frame, 250-plus pounds and still fleet of foot.

 

But make room now in your conversations for Helu, who was hardly shabby in his freshman campaign, averaging 4.6 yards a carry, sometimes looking the fastest of any of the backs.

 

Time has only helped him learn the offense better. “Mentally, I’m a lot sharper,” Helu said. “It’s confidence, (that) is what I’m trying to say.”

 

Helu is also 10 pounds heavier than he was last year. The Danville, Calif., native is 6-feet and 216 pounds — a weight he wouldn’t mind being at in the fall.

 

You’ll get no brash depth chart predictions from Helu. It’s surely not lost on him that Lucky had the most rushing yards last season of any Big 12 running back returning this year.

 

“We all just want to work hard,” Helu said. “We all know Marlon is a real great player. We just want to help out.

 

“It’s funny. We all joke around. We’re not too serious with each other. We don’t get heated about who gets more reps or whatever.”

 

There were more reps to go around Wednesday — with No. 34 absent from running back drills. Glenn wore an unfamiliar red defensive practice jersey with no number on it instead.

 

After three years of playing running back, Glenn decided he was going to give it a try at linebacker.

 

“We all laughed and joked around with him how he’s not going to be our buddy anymore,” Helu said.

 

For his part, Glenn seemed excited about the switch — kind of like the first day of school, he admitted.

 

“It all comes down to me just trying to help the team out, wanting to win,” Glenn said. “I can’t say we’ve won a lot of games since I’ve been here. So really, this is my senior year. Basically, I just want to win. Whatever it takes, that’s what I want to do.”

 

Pelini obviously could do little judging of Glenn at linebacker after just one practice.

 

“It doesn’t happen overnight,” Pelini said, “but that doesn’t mean it’s not going to happen.”

 

Pelini said Glenn is working at the WILL position. “But God only knows where he could end up.”

 

Asked if the move was permanent, Pelini responded: “Nothing’s ever permanent.”

 

Later, Pelini said: “If he ever decides to go back, so be it.”

 

Glenn said he’d like to make a final decision on which position he’ll play in the fall before spring ball ends.

 

It was hardly an easy decision for Glenn. He told Pelini on Saturday he was interested in switching, despite the fact he had maybe his best practice of the spring at running back.

 

“I was kind of like, ‘Man, do I really want to do it?’” Glenn said. “I’m like, ‘Well, I’m going to go ahead and do it and give it a try now even though I’m doing real good at running back.’”

 

Even with Glenn on defense, Pelini seems quite satisfied with the depth at running back.

 

“It’s deep, it’s good,” he said. “We feel real good about that position.”

 

Helu is a big reason for that, though the California kid knows he still has plenty to prove.

 

“I’ve done what I’ve wanted learning-curve-wise,” Helu said. “But we’ll see how that goes to the field.”

 

And what does he think about the sudden spotlight, all these questions?

 

Helu smiled. “No, this is fine.”

[Dhuskers]

cant wait to see how this all turns out

[Touchdown Tommie]

It could be an interesting rest of spring ball and then a very competitive fall ball at the running back and quarterback position....I LOVE IT!!!!!!!

[Husker_x]

It'll be really interesting to see what the versatility of Lucky, the power of Castille, and the sharp speed of Helu can do behind an O-line which is playing aggressive, Nebraska-style football, and TEs and receivers that know how to block. I'm thinking Pelini will lean on the running game to protect the young defense. At least we know we have a lot of tools in the right places to see that happen. Either way, it should buy them some more time to get comfortable with the system.

[admo]

Sounds good...

[captain obvious]

I don't understand all the positivity about this. I'm disappointed for Cody Glenn. He showed a lot of potential at RB.

[bbhusker]

The positive is that we are set at the running back position and Cody is willing to try a different position to help the team out. We need all the linebackers we can get and from the sound of it Cody is really busting his butt, which in turn is going to make all the other linebackers work harder to stay ahead of him.

[sarge87]

I don't understand all the positivity about this. I'm disappointed for Cody Glenn. He showed a lot of potential at RB.

Don't be all sad for him, I think he wants to get out there and play more. With all the RB's we have, you never know if you're going to get to play or not. He could be a big asset to the defense because he knows what an offenses tendencies are having played on that side of the ball. He could end up being a good run stopper that we have lacked.

[Drowning_in_the_Sea_of_Red]

I can't wait to see Helu on the field more this year and into the future.

 

We saw glimpses of what he can do last year. He could end up being pretty special when it's all said and done.

[HuskerTrucker]

I DO NOT want to see a situation where we have running back by committee. It never works. I hope that one or two of these backs stand out from the rest, hopefully the younger ones that just need more time to grow.

[rkhufu7]

I DO NOT want to see a situation where we have running back by committee. It never works. I hope that one or two of these backs stand out from the rest, hopefully the younger ones that just need more time to grow.

Will we have I-backs that don't back down? The guys that run through tackles and don't run out of bounds? Under Osborne, our QBs were that way also. Running QBs and FBs really threw teams for a loop under old system. The only teams that do that now are the service academies and GA Tech. Va Tech does it some, but never were dedicated to the Vick/Randle type QBS, they mixed in some Druckenmillers and the immobile guy they had part of 07. VY, Smith, El Roberson III and the QB at Okie State would all have made GREAT NU QBs under Osborne. We just need to recruit mobile QBs with the height and the arms, BRAINS and TOUGHNESS! Colt McCoy is to soft/injury prone to QB NU. I think that McGhee at A & M fits the NU mold of old, but could also fit the NEW Millenium OZ-Bone offense that will eventually be employed, under the name, NEBRASKA OFFENSE!

[Touchdown_Farmer]

I hope this works out well for Cody, I'm sure he is dissapointed with how his time at NU has gone. I think this move goes well for him. Another question, does this show how deep we are at RB, or how thin we are at LB? Both I suppose. It is interesting that Bo said that the coaches might suggest a player move but they won't force them to make the move. Looks like Bo is gonna squeeze every ounce of potential out of this team! BO BIG RED!

TD

[MCAT800]

Alot of things to pick up, doubt he will be much of an asset to the linebacking corps

[bbhusker]

Gotta disagree with you MCAT, on the defensive side of the ball they are starting from the ground up. Starting at fundamentals and technique before they start to work on schemes. Besides, with the way we tackled last season, Cody should be on a mostly level playing field after he spend some time on special teams the last few years.