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LINCOLN — Zach Potter is starting to sound a little cocky.
After Monday's practice, the defensive end described the recent "fits" Nebraska's defense was causing the offense.
"Havoc," he called it moments later.
"I've never seen so many interceptions in practices before," Potter said.
If you're a concerned constituent of the dilapidated Big Red football program, those declarations aren't a bad sign. Those words illustrate a resurgence among the Blackshirts.
"You see guys getting all fired up after someone makes a play," Potter said. "Everyone's running to the ball to congratulate him. We haven't really had that the last couple of years."
Nebraska's defense is coming off a disastrous 2007 season; the offense isn't. The defense is scrapping its system and starting over; the offense isn't. Yet it's the defense leading the way emotionally during spring drills.
Monday was the latest example. Defenders might have surprised some of the offensive guys with their energy, offensive line coach Barney Cotton said.
"I don't like to admit it as an offensive line guy, because we should always set the tempo, but our defense set the tempo today," Cotton said.
Ron Brown has noticed the defense, too.
"It's been a world of difference from first week to second week," said Brown, Nebraska's tight ends coach. "First week, they're just trying to learn things. They're running around trying to get lined up and so forth. Now . . . they're flying around making some things happen."
During Nebraska's championship years of the 1990s, Brown said, no defense challenged the Husker offense like the Blackshirts each day in practice.
Those defenses were relentless, Brown said. Each practice, they hooted and hollered and had a good old time.
"That's what you're seeing with our defense right now," Brown said.
Cotton has also seen it before. He was on the Huskers' staff with Bo Pelini in 2003, when the defense underwent a revolution in confidence.
"They start having fun," Cotton said. "When they start having fun, they start getting good.
"Our defense has a long way to go, but . . . they've come an unbelievable distance in the eight practices I've watched."
Bo Pelini has done a great job emphasizing tempo, convincing players to treat each practice like a game, Brown said.
"If you watch our guys, you see them finishing," Brown said. "They're running to the ball like crazy. They're getting 11 guys around the football . . . That intensity has a contagious atmosphere to it."
It's indicative of a Pelini defense. Cotton remembers the Texas A&M game in 2003. Before the game, Pelini predicted five turnovers.
"Nobody predicts five turnovers," Cotton said. "We ended up getting eight that day."
This spring, defenders are ripping at the ball once it's caught. They're disguising coverages. Even Cody Glenn, the running back turned linebacker, had an interception in practice the other day.
Defensive ends coach John Papuchis senses guys feeling good about themselves, which is "half the battle." It's not false confidence, though. Coaches aren't inflating egos. Players are just making plays.
"It's great for our offense," Brown said. "We need that kind of pressure. You don't have fans, you don't have lights, you don't have cameras.
"But what you do have is you have a game-like atmosphere so far here in these two weeks . . . That's invaluable."
This puts a smile on my face.
LINCOLN — Zach Potter is starting to sound a little cocky.
After Monday's practice, the defensive end described the recent "fits" Nebraska's defense was causing the offense.
"Havoc," he called it moments later.
"I've never seen so many interceptions in practices before," Potter said.
If you're a concerned constituent of the dilapidated Big Red football program, those declarations aren't a bad sign. Those words illustrate a resurgence among the Blackshirts.
"You see guys getting all fired up after someone makes a play," Potter said. "Everyone's running to the ball to congratulate him. We haven't really had that the last couple of years."
Nebraska's defense is coming off a disastrous 2007 season; the offense isn't. The defense is scrapping its system and starting over; the offense isn't. Yet it's the defense leading the way emotionally during spring drills.
Monday was the latest example. Defenders might have surprised some of the offensive guys with their energy, offensive line coach Barney Cotton said.
"I don't like to admit it as an offensive line guy, because we should always set the tempo, but our defense set the tempo today," Cotton said.
Ron Brown has noticed the defense, too.
"It's been a world of difference from first week to second week," said Brown, Nebraska's tight ends coach. "First week, they're just trying to learn things. They're running around trying to get lined up and so forth. Now . . . they're flying around making some things happen."
During Nebraska's championship years of the 1990s, Brown said, no defense challenged the Husker offense like the Blackshirts each day in practice.
Those defenses were relentless, Brown said. Each practice, they hooted and hollered and had a good old time.
"That's what you're seeing with our defense right now," Brown said.
Cotton has also seen it before. He was on the Huskers' staff with Bo Pelini in 2003, when the defense underwent a revolution in confidence.
"They start having fun," Cotton said. "When they start having fun, they start getting good.
"Our defense has a long way to go, but . . . they've come an unbelievable distance in the eight practices I've watched."
Bo Pelini has done a great job emphasizing tempo, convincing players to treat each practice like a game, Brown said.
"If you watch our guys, you see them finishing," Brown said. "They're running to the ball like crazy. They're getting 11 guys around the football . . . That intensity has a contagious atmosphere to it."
It's indicative of a Pelini defense. Cotton remembers the Texas A&M game in 2003. Before the game, Pelini predicted five turnovers.
"Nobody predicts five turnovers," Cotton said. "We ended up getting eight that day."
This spring, defenders are ripping at the ball once it's caught. They're disguising coverages. Even Cody Glenn, the running back turned linebacker, had an interception in practice the other day.
Defensive ends coach John Papuchis senses guys feeling good about themselves, which is "half the battle." It's not false confidence, though. Coaches aren't inflating egos. Players are just making plays.
"It's great for our offense," Brown said. "We need that kind of pressure. You don't have fans, you don't have lights, you don't have cameras.
"But what you do have is you have a game-like atmosphere so far here in these two weeks . . . That's invaluable."
This puts a smile on my face.
