bennychico11
All-Conference
http://www.journalstar.com/huskerextra/foo...ce173256792.txt
Marlon or Roy?
How about Quentin?
With so much preseason discussion about the “or” that separates I-backs Marlon Lucky and Roy Helu on the depth chart, position coach Tim Beck provided this nugget in the first week of Nebraska’s fall camp:
Sophomore Quentin Castille is seriously in the mix, too.
“I tell you what, he’s playing really well right now,” said Beck, the running backs coach.
“Probably one of the biggest surprises in camp.”
Castille has been impressive partly because he’s using his slimmer frame to his advantage. The 6-foot-1 Castille said he weighed as much as 255 pounds last season. He now weighs 233.
“I feel a whole lot quicker, a whole lot faster,” Castille said. “I’m combining the physical attributes of the game, my physical parts, with like the finesse part of our game now. It’s helping me block more and be able to take it to the holes a whole lot more.”
Teammates have noticed. Offensive lineman Matt Slauson said Castille seems intent on hitting somebody hard every time he pops through a hole. Very hard.
Castille, of course, showed that admirable trait last year, too. The difference, Slauson said, is how quickly Castille is now doing it.
“I’m not exactly sure how much weight Quentin has lost, but he is so fast now,” Slauson said. “I mean, he was fast before, at least from my perspective. But he is blazing. He’s juking guys, and he’s really fun to watch.”
Castille is Nebraska’s second-leading returning rusher, behind Lucky. As a true freshman, Castille ran 76 times for 343 yards and four touchdowns. In the Huskers’ otherwise forgettable game against Oklahoma State, Castille rumbled for a career-best 102 yards. That included a career-long 23-yard burst.
He also fumbled inside the OSU 1-yard line. Nebraska recovered. No such luck the other three times Castille lost the ball last season.
In five carries in the April spring game, Castille fumbled once.
“Ball protection, I mean, it’s something to work on, but I don’t want to harp on it too much, you know what I mean?” Castille said. “I just run.
“Holding on to the ball … the only thing I’m messing up on is I’m thinking too much. It’s helping me now; I know more things, so it’s helping me like that. I don’t really worry about holding on to the ball. I just run.”
Still, ball security might be the reason there’s not a third “or” on the depth chart.
While Castille fumbled four times in 76 carries last season, Helu had zero fumbles in 45 carries. Lucky had 281 combined touches — 206 attempts rushing, 75 receiving. He fumbled once.
“I think everybody has talked about his ball security,” Beck said of Castille. “That’s one of the things that he’s focused on. He’s a great kid. He’s working really hard to improve that area. So far, he has.”
Beck said there’s a fine line between talking to a player about fumble problems and harping on the subject.
“You coach it, you correct it, and you make them conscious of it, but you can’t beat ’em up over it,” Beck said. “I tell them the fastest way to be standing next to me is don’t hang on to the ball. I think that’s pretty much motivation in itself.”
Castille said taking care of the ball was, at one time, No. 1 on his list of things to work on this fall. Now, he said he tries not to think about it, period.
“Assignments,” Castille said, describing his new top priority. “I need to work on my assignments, as far as picking up blitzes and knowing which hole to cut into, reading my blocks and things like that.”
Marlon or Roy?
How about Quentin?
With so much preseason discussion about the “or” that separates I-backs Marlon Lucky and Roy Helu on the depth chart, position coach Tim Beck provided this nugget in the first week of Nebraska’s fall camp:
Sophomore Quentin Castille is seriously in the mix, too.
“I tell you what, he’s playing really well right now,” said Beck, the running backs coach.
“Probably one of the biggest surprises in camp.”
Castille has been impressive partly because he’s using his slimmer frame to his advantage. The 6-foot-1 Castille said he weighed as much as 255 pounds last season. He now weighs 233.
“I feel a whole lot quicker, a whole lot faster,” Castille said. “I’m combining the physical attributes of the game, my physical parts, with like the finesse part of our game now. It’s helping me block more and be able to take it to the holes a whole lot more.”
Teammates have noticed. Offensive lineman Matt Slauson said Castille seems intent on hitting somebody hard every time he pops through a hole. Very hard.
Castille, of course, showed that admirable trait last year, too. The difference, Slauson said, is how quickly Castille is now doing it.
“I’m not exactly sure how much weight Quentin has lost, but he is so fast now,” Slauson said. “I mean, he was fast before, at least from my perspective. But he is blazing. He’s juking guys, and he’s really fun to watch.”
Castille is Nebraska’s second-leading returning rusher, behind Lucky. As a true freshman, Castille ran 76 times for 343 yards and four touchdowns. In the Huskers’ otherwise forgettable game against Oklahoma State, Castille rumbled for a career-best 102 yards. That included a career-long 23-yard burst.
He also fumbled inside the OSU 1-yard line. Nebraska recovered. No such luck the other three times Castille lost the ball last season.
In five carries in the April spring game, Castille fumbled once.
“Ball protection, I mean, it’s something to work on, but I don’t want to harp on it too much, you know what I mean?” Castille said. “I just run.
“Holding on to the ball … the only thing I’m messing up on is I’m thinking too much. It’s helping me now; I know more things, so it’s helping me like that. I don’t really worry about holding on to the ball. I just run.”
Still, ball security might be the reason there’s not a third “or” on the depth chart.
While Castille fumbled four times in 76 carries last season, Helu had zero fumbles in 45 carries. Lucky had 281 combined touches — 206 attempts rushing, 75 receiving. He fumbled once.
“I think everybody has talked about his ball security,” Beck said of Castille. “That’s one of the things that he’s focused on. He’s a great kid. He’s working really hard to improve that area. So far, he has.”
Beck said there’s a fine line between talking to a player about fumble problems and harping on the subject.
“You coach it, you correct it, and you make them conscious of it, but you can’t beat ’em up over it,” Beck said. “I tell them the fastest way to be standing next to me is don’t hang on to the ball. I think that’s pretty much motivation in itself.”
Castille said taking care of the ball was, at one time, No. 1 on his list of things to work on this fall. Now, he said he tries not to think about it, period.
“Assignments,” Castille said, describing his new top priority. “I need to work on my assignments, as far as picking up blitzes and knowing which hole to cut into, reading my blocks and things like that.”
