Meno's Moment

[HuskerfaninOkieland]

Linky-dinky doo

 

Meno's Moment

Commentary: Can gifted senior find the necessary aggression to hit it big in 2009?

by Samuel McKewon

 

August 19, 2009

 

Toward the end of Nebraska’s 2008 football season, wide receiver Menelik Holt would see quarterback Zac Lee literally throwing a football by himself, into a net, after practice. Lee, who at the time was about to engage in a battle for the 2009 starting job with then-Husker Patrick Witt, needed a partner.

 

Holt was the guy.

 

“There were some routes I didn’t really have down pat last year to work on,” Holt said. “Some balls in different positions that I wasn’t used to catching. So that’s something we worked on every day.”

 

The two of them would head down to the far, deserted north end of the Hawks Center and play catch, sometimes for an hour. Then they’d carry their pads back toward the locker room, discussing the work they’d done.

 

“Now, we’ve developed a rhythm,” Holt said. “I know where the ball’s going to be placed.”

 

Here’s the thing about Holt, the 6-foot-4, 225-pound senior who is hoping, at long last, for the breakout season that’s often been predicted for him: He has the conscience and good habits of an excellent player.

 

He’s thoughtful. He’s mindful of the younger guys, and helps them when he can. He’s made himself into a serviceable blocker, making several key plays in the Colorado game. He has done most, if not all, of the little things. Certainly more than his predecessor in size, Maurice Purify.

 

But here’s the other thing about Holt (and, tangentially, about Purify): For a wide receiver, the big thing is catching the ball, running with it, and scoring touchdowns. And the longer the catches, runs and touchdowns are, the better.

 

Holt’s caught 34 passes in his career at NU, most of them of the short, over-the-middle variety. And scored just one touchdown, on the last play of a 52-17 loss to Missouri. Frankly, Holt’s probably talked to the media more times, in the last calendar year, than he has career catches. To compare him, at this point, to Todd Peterson, Nate Swift, Purify or Terrence Nunn is a disservice.

 

Are Holt’s modest numbers a result of modest opportunities, or something else? The San Diego native has a year to provide the answer.

 

“When you’re a younger guy or underclassman, you don’t really understand it until you’re there,” Holt said. “It’s time for me to make those kinds of plays. It’s definitely been something I think about before I go to sleep every night. I don’t want it to end, but it has to happen sometime.”

 

After a so-so spring camp – by Holt’s own admission – and a Red/White Spring Game where he virtually disappeared, Holt’s been pleased with his work in fall camp. His best to date, he said. “Ball skills,” he said – catching the ball in the right place, and catching it cleanly – has never been much of a problem.

 

Rather, it’s catching the ball in traffic, with defenders groping after the ball. The best defensive backs get leverage by leaning, just slightly, into a receiver in coverage. Those nudges and racing rubs, if you will, are enough to knock some guys off balance.

 

“I’ve taken a couple hits this camp, and you don’t really want to have that as a receiver,” Holt said. “But I was able to hang on to the ball.”

 

Receivers coach Ted Gilmore refers to it as “courage.” You want the ball? Go own it. He wants to see his receivers show it before they earn starting jobs or a ton of playing time.

 

And not every receiver naturally possesses that instinct. Peterson did; it was his biggest strength. Purify, when he chose to be, was full of courage. Other times, he’d trot as if he were in a forest glade.

 

Holt, from this vantage point, is somewhere in between those standards. He’ll camp in the middle of a zone, receive the pass, and take the shot. He’s done that a number of times. But Holt has to be able to knife through a cover two on a deep post, catch the ball 25 yards downfield, and take the blowup shot. He has to deliver on those short slants on third down, when a linebacker is almost guaranteed to get a glancing blow, at least.

 

And if he doesn’t, well, Niles Paul will. Heck, if fall camp is any indication, Niles Paul has already been doing that. Or Brandon Kinnie will. Somebody will, because Zac Lee’s arm is too big to waste solely on 12-yard outs and bunch routes right to the first down marker.

 

So, to be more aggressive, Holt said, he’s written “attack the ball” right inside his helmet visor.

 

“I think about it before every play,” Holt said. “When the ball’s in the air, I have to have the mentality that it’s mine. I’ve tried to live by that in this camp.”

 

[Igetbored216]

I have been waiting for him to break out and live up to his potential.

[knapplc]

I have been waiting for him to break out and live up to his potential.

Amen. It seems like we've gotten less mileage out of Meno and Purify and Brooks than we "should have."

 

One of the worst things in the world is unrealized expectations. Whether those expectations were realistic or not, when we expect something of someone and they don't produce it, often the backlash can be more than is warranted. Meno is probably dealing with some of that, because we see his physique and those flashes of brilliance and we think he can be another Mo Purify, but he's not Mo Purify - he's Meno Holt. Allowing him to be the best Meno Holt he can be is difficult for fans yearning for a breakout season.

[NUance]

And if he doesn’t, well, Niles Paul will. Heck, if fall camp is any indication, Niles Paul has already been doing that. Or Brandon Kinnie will. Somebody will, because Zac Lee’s arm is too big to waste solely on 12-yard outs and bunch routes right to the first down marker.

 

Wow! My Kool-Aid just overflowed.

[NUance]

I have been waiting for him to break out and live up to his potential.

Amen. It seems like we've gotten less mileage out of Meno and Purify and Brooks than we "should have."

True. But we got more mileage out of Swift and Peterson than anyone thought we would when they first signed. Who can predict these things?

[knapplc]

I have been waiting for him to break out and live up to his potential.

Amen. It seems like we've gotten less mileage out of Meno and Purify and Brooks than we "should have."

True. But we got more mileage out of Swift and Peterson than anyone thought we would when they first signed. Who can predict these things?

True. And I just noticed I wrote "Purify" up there and I meant Paul, as in, Niles Paul. Oh well.

[NUance]

I have been waiting for him to break out and live up to his potential.

Amen. It seems like we've gotten less mileage out of Meno and Purify and Brooks than we "should have."

True. But we got more mileage out of Swift and Peterson than anyone thought we would when they first signed. Who can predict these things?

True. And I just noticed I wrote "Purify" up there and I meant Paul, as in, Niles Paul. Oh well.

Purify fits too. His Sr year was good. Not great.