husker rob
All-American
NU hopes changes lead to improvement
By STEVEN M. SIPPLE / Lincoln Journal Star
Tuesday, Sep 18, 2007 - 03:08:11 pm CDT
Nebraska hasn’t practiced in full pads since the latter stages of preseason training camp last month.
That will change today, Husker head coach Bill Callahan said Tuesday.
“I think he wants a little contact, since we missed a few tackles in the game,” said Nebraska senior wideout Maurice Purify, referring to the Huskers’ 49-31 loss to top-ranked Southern California this past weekend.
Said NU quarterback Sam Keller: “They pounded us. We need to go back to the drawing board and pound on each other. Get our mojo back.”
Nebraska missed many, many tackles, resulting in a 313-yard rushing performance by Southern California. The manner in which the Huskers lost — their defense was physically dominated at times — left Callahan and the entire team disappointed.
On Sunday, Callahan called all Husker players and coaches together to watch film as a team instead of doing it by positions, as is typically the case. The team hasn’t been called together to watch film of a loss since a 40-15 setback at Kansas in November 2005.
Sunday’s gathering wasn’t a “rip session,” Callahan said. He simply wanted to provide an honest assessment of areas that require improvement.
“There was concern going into film study,” he said. “But after the film study, I came away encouraged that it’s correctable. There were a lot of areas where we’re a player off or a technique off, (when) we didn’t perform exactly correct.
“I’m not trying to deflect any criticism or blame to the players. I want to be very clear about that. I accept full responsibility in that regard. It still falls on my shoulders. I do accept that. We have some things to clean up.
“But it’s still a team effort, still a team game. We’re all in it together. We’re upbeat and positive as we go into this game against Ball State.”
Nebraska (2-1), ranked No. 24 by the Associated Press and No. 22 in the USA Today coaches’ poll, plays Ball State (2-1) at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
Callahan indicated he was open to the possibility of personnel changes.
“We’re going to compete this week for a lot of spots across the board, offensively and defensively,” the coach said. However, “It’s too premature to make any statement relative to changes in personnel. We’re going to get after it pretty good. We’re going to get a pretty good idea of where we’re at. We’ll let the week kind of unfold and evaluate, measure and assess everything at the end of the week. If there are changes to be made, there will be changes made.
“That’s competition. That’s life.”
Nebraska defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove has come under heavy criticism from fans.
“He’s hurt. He’s down,” Callahan said. “I tell him to keep his head up. He’s got my full support. He’ll do a great job this week as he hits the practice field . . . It just hurts. When you have a performance that you didn’t expect — that you never even think could happen — it hurts.”
Callahan anticipates a physical, up-tempo week of practices. He said donning full pads and pitting the first units against each other maximizes the competitive nature of practice.
“When you get out of (preseason) training camp, and you break down into scout teams, you don’t get that opportunity to go against each other as much as you’d really like to,” he said.
He said Ball State’s similarities to what USC does on both sides of the ball allow Nebraska to depart from its regular practice routine of working in half-pads against scout teams.
“There are instances where you have to break down and go against your scout teams to get certain looks that maybe your offense or defense doesn’t have,” Callahan said. “It’s different each week. You have to gauge it.”
Callahan said there were positives that came out of the USC loss. For instance, he mentioned defensive end Zach Potter, linebacker Steve Octavien and cornerback Cortney Grixby for their strong play. What’s more, the coach said, he was encouraged to see several players in the office Sunday and Monday watching film on their own.
“They do care,” he said. “They’re hurt. And they want to rectify the errors. They want the best. I appreciate that about our team, and I see nothing but positive efforts as we hit the practice field today.
“We still have our goals intact.”
By STEVEN M. SIPPLE / Lincoln Journal Star
Tuesday, Sep 18, 2007 - 03:08:11 pm CDT
Nebraska hasn’t practiced in full pads since the latter stages of preseason training camp last month.
That will change today, Husker head coach Bill Callahan said Tuesday.
“I think he wants a little contact, since we missed a few tackles in the game,” said Nebraska senior wideout Maurice Purify, referring to the Huskers’ 49-31 loss to top-ranked Southern California this past weekend.
Said NU quarterback Sam Keller: “They pounded us. We need to go back to the drawing board and pound on each other. Get our mojo back.”
Nebraska missed many, many tackles, resulting in a 313-yard rushing performance by Southern California. The manner in which the Huskers lost — their defense was physically dominated at times — left Callahan and the entire team disappointed.
On Sunday, Callahan called all Husker players and coaches together to watch film as a team instead of doing it by positions, as is typically the case. The team hasn’t been called together to watch film of a loss since a 40-15 setback at Kansas in November 2005.
Sunday’s gathering wasn’t a “rip session,” Callahan said. He simply wanted to provide an honest assessment of areas that require improvement.
“There was concern going into film study,” he said. “But after the film study, I came away encouraged that it’s correctable. There were a lot of areas where we’re a player off or a technique off, (when) we didn’t perform exactly correct.
“I’m not trying to deflect any criticism or blame to the players. I want to be very clear about that. I accept full responsibility in that regard. It still falls on my shoulders. I do accept that. We have some things to clean up.
“But it’s still a team effort, still a team game. We’re all in it together. We’re upbeat and positive as we go into this game against Ball State.”
Nebraska (2-1), ranked No. 24 by the Associated Press and No. 22 in the USA Today coaches’ poll, plays Ball State (2-1) at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium.
Callahan indicated he was open to the possibility of personnel changes.
“We’re going to compete this week for a lot of spots across the board, offensively and defensively,” the coach said. However, “It’s too premature to make any statement relative to changes in personnel. We’re going to get after it pretty good. We’re going to get a pretty good idea of where we’re at. We’ll let the week kind of unfold and evaluate, measure and assess everything at the end of the week. If there are changes to be made, there will be changes made.
“That’s competition. That’s life.”
Nebraska defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove has come under heavy criticism from fans.
“He’s hurt. He’s down,” Callahan said. “I tell him to keep his head up. He’s got my full support. He’ll do a great job this week as he hits the practice field . . . It just hurts. When you have a performance that you didn’t expect — that you never even think could happen — it hurts.”
Callahan anticipates a physical, up-tempo week of practices. He said donning full pads and pitting the first units against each other maximizes the competitive nature of practice.
“When you get out of (preseason) training camp, and you break down into scout teams, you don’t get that opportunity to go against each other as much as you’d really like to,” he said.
He said Ball State’s similarities to what USC does on both sides of the ball allow Nebraska to depart from its regular practice routine of working in half-pads against scout teams.
“There are instances where you have to break down and go against your scout teams to get certain looks that maybe your offense or defense doesn’t have,” Callahan said. “It’s different each week. You have to gauge it.”
Callahan said there were positives that came out of the USC loss. For instance, he mentioned defensive end Zach Potter, linebacker Steve Octavien and cornerback Cortney Grixby for their strong play. What’s more, the coach said, he was encouraged to see several players in the office Sunday and Monday watching film on their own.
“They do care,” he said. “They’re hurt. And they want to rectify the errors. They want the best. I appreciate that about our team, and I see nothing but positive efforts as we hit the practice field today.
“We still have our goals intact.”
