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Holt ready to show up 'big'
As the temperatures flirted with 100 degrees on Monday, Menelik Holt felt fatigued, tired, perhaps a bit disappointed at his performance during the first day at Nebraska's fall camp.
When the junior wide receiver got home, there was plenty of thinking about football.
"I thought about all the years I sat out," he said. "I want to make it to where there's no choice: You have to play me. That's something I can control. I can't expect anyone to give it to me, so (Tuesday) I went in with the attitude, 'You know what, I'm going to control my destiny today, make the catches I can, make the blocks I can.'"
His effort was rewarded by receivers coach Ted Gilmore, who called it one of the receiver's best practices as a Husker.
"If he can continue to build upon that, we've got something," Gilmore said. "That's the thing. You got a lot of guys that do certain things good, but we don't have a lot of guys that do everything. So until someone steps up and can be your every-down player, the competition continues."
Told about the praise, the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Holt said it was probably his run-blocking that earned it.
"That's probably one of the main reasons why I didn't get a lot of playing time last year," Holt said. "There's no way I can be on the field with the size that I am and not run-block. That's just something that can't be accepted and Coach Gilmore didn't, so therefore I didn't play. I stepped that up and that's something I made a key point."
Nebraska is searching for receivers to be every-down players, and Holt welcomes any expectations of him.
"I'm glad people expect me to step up, because that's what I want to do," he said.
Because of their similar size, Holt can't help being compared to former Husker Maurice Purify.
He's the first to admit he's still a long way from that level.
"I need to be able to play big like he played big," Holt said. "I can't duplicate everything, but I can do the best Menelik can do, and that's play big."
He also said he isn't about to let one good day of practice go to his head. He said one of his issues last year is he'd relish one good play and then underperform on four.
Holt had just four catches for 97 yards as a sophomore, all of them coming in the final four games.
It's been a waiting game, but Holt sees this year as his big opportunity.
"I was raised by a village. It took the whole program. It took (Bill) Callahan. It took that old staff. It took the new guys. It took Coach Watson, Gilmore and all the receivers," Holt said. "We really complement each other. Nobody in the receiving corps believes one should play over the other. No one believes one is better than the other. Between us, we're a family. We're brothers."
As the temperatures flirted with 100 degrees on Monday, Menelik Holt felt fatigued, tired, perhaps a bit disappointed at his performance during the first day at Nebraska's fall camp.
When the junior wide receiver got home, there was plenty of thinking about football.
"I thought about all the years I sat out," he said. "I want to make it to where there's no choice: You have to play me. That's something I can control. I can't expect anyone to give it to me, so (Tuesday) I went in with the attitude, 'You know what, I'm going to control my destiny today, make the catches I can, make the blocks I can.'"
His effort was rewarded by receivers coach Ted Gilmore, who called it one of the receiver's best practices as a Husker.
"If he can continue to build upon that, we've got something," Gilmore said. "That's the thing. You got a lot of guys that do certain things good, but we don't have a lot of guys that do everything. So until someone steps up and can be your every-down player, the competition continues."
Told about the praise, the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Holt said it was probably his run-blocking that earned it.
"That's probably one of the main reasons why I didn't get a lot of playing time last year," Holt said. "There's no way I can be on the field with the size that I am and not run-block. That's just something that can't be accepted and Coach Gilmore didn't, so therefore I didn't play. I stepped that up and that's something I made a key point."
Nebraska is searching for receivers to be every-down players, and Holt welcomes any expectations of him.
"I'm glad people expect me to step up, because that's what I want to do," he said.
Because of their similar size, Holt can't help being compared to former Husker Maurice Purify.
He's the first to admit he's still a long way from that level.
"I need to be able to play big like he played big," Holt said. "I can't duplicate everything, but I can do the best Menelik can do, and that's play big."
He also said he isn't about to let one good day of practice go to his head. He said one of his issues last year is he'd relish one good play and then underperform on four.
Holt had just four catches for 97 yards as a sophomore, all of them coming in the final four games.
It's been a waiting game, but Holt sees this year as his big opportunity.
"I was raised by a village. It took the whole program. It took (Bill) Callahan. It took that old staff. It took the new guys. It took Coach Watson, Gilmore and all the receivers," Holt said. "We really complement each other. Nobody in the receiving corps believes one should play over the other. No one believes one is better than the other. Between us, we're a family. We're brothers."
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