Huskers trying to get grip on fumbles
By Rich Kaipust
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
LINCOLN Wondering what possible good you could find when dissecting the nation-high 33 times that Nebraska has fumbled the football this season?
Well, at least the Huskers have picked up or fallen on 21 of them.
It could be dumb luck, it could be hustle .... I don't know, center Mike Caputo said. It's one of those two. Maybe both.
Caputo scrambled for a ball that quarterback Taylor Martinez lost against Texas. Tight end Ben Cotton picked up after his quarterback at Kansas State. Martinez hit the turf to get a ball that I-back Rex Burkhead bobbled at KSU.
Good for us, NU receiver Niles Paul said, but we shouldn't put it on the ground in the first place.
The fact that Nebraska has recovered 63.6 percent of its fumbles has not only minimized the damage but probably masked some of the problem.
A real problem.
Consider this: Air Force has 183 more rushing attempts than NU with 14 fewer fumbles. Of the nine teams that have run it as often or more than the Huskers, only Georgia Tech is close to NU with 26 fumbles (12 lost).
Nobody else in the Big 12 has more than 23 fumbles and six teams have 16 or fewer.
Coach Bo Pelini said this week that it isn't for a lack of Nebraska emphasizing or drilling it.
You've got to take it to the field, he said. We went a couple weeks where it really dramatically improved I thought our execution improved then it kind of crept up the other day again.
Some of those things have been exchange problems, out of the gun and in the read game, but it's an area we have to continue to clean up.
Martinez has been charged with 11 fumbles, losing four. The redshirt freshman has recovered five of his bobbles, including a 20-yard touchdown run against Idaho when the ball was poked loose at the 14 and bounced twice before he picked it up and carried it into the end zone.
It was maybe symbolic of the Huskers' uncanny knack for getting it before the opposition.
Ever since last year, we've really focused on just going down there and making the extra effort and always following the ball, because no play's guaranteed, Paul said. We're always around the ball.
Austin Cassidy recovered one of Paul's fumbles on a punt return against South Dakota State. Jay Martin got one back for Cody Green when the backup quarterback fumbled at Washington.
Left tackle Jeremiah Sirles said there always should be an incentive to get the football if players realize the offense's livelihood depends on it.
You can't do anything when you're off the field, so you do everything you can to get back on that ball, Sirles said. You play hard, you see the ball on the ground, go down there and fight for it, scratch for it, claw for it.
If you're in the area, you got to do everything you can to get that ball back. I've been in a few piles, but I haven't gotten one.
If the Huskers had their way, there won't be any to find Saturday night at Texas A&M. But they've had at least two in nine of 10 games, and as many as eight against Idaho, five against Iowa State and Texas and four against South Dakota State.
Not all have had happy endings, either.
I-back Roy Helu has fumbled in three of the past five games, and his first-quarter turnover against Texas led to the Longhorns' 10-0 lead. Paul's fumble on a kickoff return at ISU fed the Cyclones' momentum as they pulled even at 24-24 after trailing 24-10.
To put the 33 fumbles in perspective, Nebraska had 21 in 14 games a year ago (losing 11).
The funny thing is we work on it all the time, receiver Mike McNeill said. It's something we've got to fix. Obviously we haven't been very good at it. We're leading the country and that's probably not a good stat, but we are working on it.
