Spring Practice Updates

[nebraskafaninwi]

2nd practice.... http://sports.omaha.com/2013/03/04/spring-football-practice-quick-hits-34/

 

[True2tRA]

Brown, Anderson, Santos

My face exactly when I read the starting 3 LB's. These are the 3 I wanted to start before spring practice. Great gif

Huge upgrade in all around speed and athleticism. Can't wait to see it on the field.

 

[Mavric]

Playing time remains wide open on the defensive line, especially with senior Thad Randle missing all of camp as he recovers from knee surgery. The Huskers run three units in practice, and have 12 defensive linemen available for camp, so each player is getting the full amount of repetitions.

Defensive backs coach Terry Joseph was the last assistant off the field, working late with a number of young players — including safeties DJ Singleton and Charles Jackson — on coverage concepts well after some of the more experienced safeties had gone in for the night.

:thumbs

 

[HuskerNationNick]

]Nebraska held its second practice of the spring on Monday afternoon inside the Hawks Championship Center and the fields north of Memorial Stadium. Here are a few notes and observations to pass along from today's session...[/size]
***Offensive coordinator Tim Beck said the offense is "going back to basics" this spring and really focusing on the fundamentals. In particular, turnovers have been a top emphasis. That could be seen when the quarterbacks and running backs stayed late after practice to work on ball security drills with the slick sleeve wrapped over the football.

***Defensive coordinator John Papuchis said the competition the defensive line will be as tight as any position on the team this spring, especially because of the small numbers the Huskers have up front due to injuries. By splitting up the defense into multiple groups to help the younger players catch up, all 12 active d-linemen are getting the same number of reps every practice.

***Defensive tackle Aaron Curry said he didn't know what his status was right now in getting a medical redshirt. He said he was leaving that in the hands of the coaches, but for now he's still listed as a sophomore.

***Linebacker Zaire Anderson said he feels really good coming back from his ACL injury last season. While the coaches still won't let him go full speed since he's only five months into his recovery, he said he doesn't have any hesitation making cuts or running. In fact, his off-season training and conditioning has gone as well as anyone could have imagined, as he's gained more than 20 pounds of muscle and now weighs in at 227 after coming in at 205 last year.

***Freshman linebacker Courtney Love got a lot of praise from both Papuchis and Anderson. His physicality has immediately stood out through the first couple practices, but his grasp of the defense already has been even more impressive. Anderson even said Love already knows more of the defense than he did at this point last year.

***Offensive line coach John Garrison said lineman David Knevel was as physically impressive of a freshman as he's seen

***Linebackers coach Ross Els said that David Santos is currently working out at the MIKE linebacker spot, but could return to the WILL, which he played last season. Santos said he learned he would start spring at the MIKE shortly after the Big Ten Championship game and has been leaning on former Husker Will Compton a lot.

***Secondary coach Terry Joseph said that Harvey Jackson and Corey Cooper are the current starters at safety due to their experience, but a number of younger players, most notably Charles Jackson, are nipping at their heels. Papuchis said Charles Jackson was working as a No. 2 safety right now.

***Running backs coach Ron Brown said that although he did drop ten pounds in the offseason, Imani Cross hasn't lost his strength and is still repping 500 pounds on squats ? he made sure to emphasize those are reps, not maxing out. Cross said he's now down to 235 pounds to 221 and feels much quicker in his cuts and straight away speed.

Per Rivals

I love C Love's work ethic and he could be a game changer for our LB position. I still think we will see a lot of him this season.

Imani not loosing any strength, while cutting weight... that kid is going to be a BEAST!

 

[Mavric]

Apologize if this is somewhere else already:

On the same day he was having his best game as a Husker, wide receiver Jamal Turner's left knee had never been in more pain.
In the midst of catching six passes for 83 yards against Minnesota — on top of catching the game-winning touchdowns the previous two weeks against Michigan State and Penn State — Turner was playing on a partially torn meniscus. He just didn't know it until after Nebraska beat the Gophers.

<snip>

In 7-on-7 drills, he often lined up in the slot — occasionally against top Husker cornerback Ciante Evans and consistently gave quarterback Taylor Martinez an open target on shallow crossing routes and post corners. In foot drills, he was among the fastest along with junior Kenny Bell and redshirt freshman backup slot Alonzo Moore, who will try to push Turner for playing time this season.

OWH Article

 

[Treand3]

]Nebraska held its second practice of the spring on Monday afternoon inside the Hawks Championship Center and the fields north of Memorial Stadium. Here are a few notes and observations to pass along from today's session...[/size]
***Offensive coordinator Tim Beck said the offense is "going back to basics" this spring and really focusing on the fundamentals. In particular, turnovers have been a top emphasis. That could be seen when the quarterbacks and running backs stayed late after practice to work on ball security drills with the slick sleeve wrapped over the football.

***Defensive coordinator John Papuchis said the competition the defensive line will be as tight as any position on the team this spring, especially because of the small numbers the Huskers have up front due to injuries. By splitting up the defense into multiple groups to help the younger players catch up, all 12 active d-linemen are getting the same number of reps every practice.

***Defensive tackle Aaron Curry said he didn't know what his status was right now in getting a medical redshirt. He said he was leaving that in the hands of the coaches, but for now he's still listed as a sophomore.

***Linebacker Zaire Anderson said he feels really good coming back from his ACL injury last season. While the coaches still won't let him go full speed since he's only five months into his recovery, he said he doesn't have any hesitation making cuts or running. In fact, his off-season training and conditioning has gone as well as anyone could have imagined, as he's gained more than 20 pounds of muscle and now weighs in at 227 after coming in at 205 last year.

***Freshman linebacker Courtney Love got a lot of praise from both Papuchis and Anderson. His physicality has immediately stood out through the first couple practices, but his grasp of the defense already has been even more impressive. Anderson even said Love already knows more of the defense than he did at this point last year.

***Offensive line coach John Garrison said lineman David Knevel was as physically impressive of a freshman as he's seen

***Linebackers coach Ross Els said that David Santos is currently working out at the MIKE linebacker spot, but could return to the WILL, which he played last season. Santos said he learned he would start spring at the MIKE shortly after the Big Ten Championship game and has been leaning on former Husker Will Compton a lot.

***Secondary coach Terry Joseph said that Harvey Jackson and Corey Cooper are the current starters at safety due to their experience, but a number of younger players, most notably Charles Jackson, are nipping at their heels. Papuchis said Charles Jackson was working as a No. 2 safety right now.

***Running backs coach Ron Brown said that although he did drop ten pounds in the offseason, Imani Cross hasn't lost his strength and is still repping 500 pounds on squats ? he made sure to emphasize those are reps, not maxing out. Cross said he's now down to 235 pounds to 221 and feels much quicker in his cuts and straight away speed.

Per Rivals

I love C Love's work ethic and he could be a game changer for our LB position. I still think we will see a lot of him this season.

Imani not loosing any strength, while cutting weight... that kid is going to be a BEAST!

Along with what you've mentioned. I really am pleased that all of the DL are working out of multiple groups. There will be an increase in development.

 

[huskered17]

Imani.Cross will be a big part of the short yardage game, this year. You could see it last year, when Beck finally figured it out. Its to bad it took so long, or we would have won the UCLA game .I don't think any team out there has a better bunch of running backs. Cut way down on the turnovers, and this years team, will be lighting up the score board. If Bo can just get his defense to at least slow down the other team, we shouldn't have to get into a bunch of shoot outs, and all those close games we had last year. We have the offense to let the defense get more game time experience, and also not having them play scared about making the "big" mistake that cost us a game, because I only see a couple of games, where it could be that tight. I think each season could be the one we our waiting for, but this one has a different feel to it. This could be Bo's best team. jmo

GBR!!!

 

[iowahuskers]

huskered17 I totally agree with you I think we should have gotten imani involved much sooner. I think other teams are going to have a hard time stopping our offense. We have way too many weapons. I'm excited to see Alonzo Moore this year, heard he is tearing up the scout team. I also think our defense will be better than people think. I think we have a lot of speed and athleticism, especially at line backer.

 

[jmfb]

Let's not get too excited yet about Cross in short yardage

We had a good number of 3rd and 4th and shorts that we got stuffed on, especially later in the year when everyone knew we were going tight with Cross in there

Our o-line is not consistent enough or dominant enough yet to make Cross a consistently big threat on short yardage

For what we have now, I prefer an edge play or short PA pass on some of those plays when Cross is in there

Yes, he looks the part, but no he isnt a manster who is so exceptional that he can overcome inconsistent line play- on short yardags downs

THis isnt "hate" against Cross, Barney the O-line or anything else- just an observation by a 40 + year season ticket holder who watched every game

 

[Mierin]

Let's not get too excited yet about Cross in short yardage

We had a good number of 3rd and 4th and shorts that we got stuffed on, especially later in the year when everyone knew we were going tight with Cross in there

Our o-line is not consistent enough or dominant enough yet to make Cross a consistently big threat on short yardage

For what we have now, I prefer an edge play or short PA pass on some of those plays when Cross is in there

Yes, he looks the part, but no he isnt a manster who is so exceptional that he can overcome inconsistent line play- on short yardags downs

THis isnt "hate" against Cross, Barney the O-line or anything else- just an observation by a 40 + year season ticket holder who watched every game

You have the weirdest posting style I've ever seen.

Just thought I'd share.

What is a manster.

Half man - Half monster? I like food.

 

[The Dude]

Half manatee - half hamster.

 

[huskered17]

Let's not get too excited yet about Cross in short yardage

We had a good number of 3rd and 4th and shorts that we got stuffed on, especially later in the year when everyone knew we were going tight with Cross in there

Our o-line is not consistent enough or dominant enough yet to make Cross a consistently big threat on short yardage

For what we have now, I prefer an edge play or short PA pass on some of those plays when Cross is in there

Yes, he looks the part, but no he isnt a manster who is so exceptional that he can overcome inconsistent line play- on short yardags downs

THis isnt "hate" against Cross, Barney the O-line or anything else- just an observation by a 40 + year season ticket holder who watched every game

We shall see. I said it about him early last year and, was told he ran to high or he wasn't quick in his decisions enough. Some players do it on just their athleticism, till they have the time to get it right. All I am saying is Cross is one of those players that don't come around very often. We both have seen a lot of Cornhusker games.

GBR!!!

 

[Ed Helms]

Good interview from the ESPN.com Big Ten Blog. Bo gives some good detailed answers.

Some highlights:

How did the "Harlem Shake" video come about?

Bo Pelini: We were just having some fun with it. It was actually my daughter, she just turned 12, she had a sleepover the night before. And her and her friends, they'd been telling me what this "Harlem Shake" thing was and they were showing it to me. And I thought it was a good idea, that our kids would have fun with this. We had fun with it, and it was something different.

Was that a way to loosen things up as you get started with practice?

BP: No doubt. The team, they had a good time. It was fun. I'm just glad I didn't throw my back out. It was probably the first time I'd danced since my wedding.

As a coach, is it kind of exciting to be able to work with a young group that has some athleticism on defense?

BP: Oh, no doubt. It's going to be fun. This a real eager group and a real hard working group. These kids want to play. They're eager, they soak in everything you tell them. Sometimes guys get to a point in their career where they think that they know. These kids know they don't know. They're like sponges right now. It's a fun time to work with them and help them develop into the kind of players they can be.

Is there a whole lot of competition this spring, given how many starting jobs are open on defense?

BP: Absolutely. Like I told our guys, "Don't worry where you're lining up on the depth chart. Worry about taking care of yourself and your reps. Concentrate on making yourself a better football player." At the end of the day, it's only 15 practices. These jobs aren't going to be won or lost this time of year. Now we're going to make some strides, and maybe certain guys put themselves in position to be starters. But there's a lot of football to be played and a lot of practices to be had before we actually kick this thing off at the end of August. So if every guy just concentrates on making themselves better and tries to make the most out of every single rep that we have, then that's going to give them the best opportunity to grow as a football player and be ready to play in the fall.

What is the next step forward for Taylor?

BP: Just like any quarterback, it's such a difficult position, so much goes into it. Continue to work on being efficient and on decision-making. Eliminate turnovers and just continue to manage the offense. He has such confidence in himself that sometimes he tries to win the game by himself. As a quarterback, you've got to continue to let the offense work for you and let the game come to you. You don't need to try and win the game on every play. It all comes down to decision-making and managing the game, managing the offense. I think he made a lot of strides last year, but like any guy who's a young football player -- and all these guys are still young, they're all still learning how to play the game -- he has a ways to go in that regard.

Link: Spring Q&A: Nebraska's Bo Pelini

 

[jmfb]

Let's not get too excited yet about Cross in short yardage

We had a good number of 3rd and 4th and shorts that we got stuffed on, especially later in the year when everyone knew we were going tight with Cross in there

Our o-line is not consistent enough or dominant enough yet to make Cross a consistently big threat on short yardage

For what we have now, I prefer an edge play or short PA pass on some of those plays when Cross is in there

Yes, he looks the part, but no he isnt a manster who is so exceptional that he can overcome inconsistent line play- on short yardags downs

THis isnt "hate" against Cross, Barney the O-line or anything else- just an observation by a 40 + year season ticket holder who watched every game

You have the weirdest posting style I've ever seen.

Just thought I'd share.

What is a manster.

Half man - Half monster? I like food.

Half Man- Half Monster

Like Lacy from Alabama- 235 lbs and fast, consistently running people over and getting the 3rd and 2, 4th and 1 .Low Pad level, explosive TO THE POA and THROUGH THE POA (Cross Hasnt really shown me that so far), low to the ground, just a brute/bully etc

We havent been able to consistently make those downs power running, Cross or otherwise

Not sure what the answer is, but IMO it isnt Cross

You post how you want to, I'll post how I want to LOL. all I care about is legit content. What a waste a forum would be if everyone were exact clones of one another

I like the offense, seeing progress, but Im not happy with our 3rd and 4th and short efficiency. I dont think most Husker fans feel real confident we are getting first downs running inside on those downs. I know Im not.

GBR

 

[Goal-line]

Heard a lot of good things about Alonzo Moore playing receiver. Armstrong also looking good, just needs to work on ball handling.

Ball handling? He would have to go some to beat out Martinez in that category. :laughpound