Castille making presence felt
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By the Lincoln Journal Star
As Roy Helu Jr. sat out Friday’s practice with an injury, a couple other young running backs were drawing the praises of Husker offensive coordinator Shawn Watson.
Watson said sophomore Quentin Castille and redshirt freshman Marcus Mendoza have been outstanding of late.
“When you’ve got depth, you can put fresh legs in there,” Watson said after the first of two Friday practices. “Now, with Marlon (Lucky), Roy and Q, and if Marcus will continue to develop, maybe we’ll have four instead of three. I can tell you right now, we have three for sure. Marcus would add a nice mix to that.”
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While Marlon Lucky, Roy Helu Jr. and Quentin Castille usually get all the attention, Husker offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said another running back is emerging as a possible weapon -- 5-foot-10, 185-pound Marcus Mendoza.
Quarterback Joe Ganz has said the redshirt freshman is like a smaller Marlon Lucky.
“He’s got so much speed,” Watson said. “We can do a lot of stuff with him. It’s really kind of endless because he’s probably as good of a perimeter player as he is a tailback. He’s learning to be a college tailback which is what’s been encouraging.”
Castille, who has trimmed down about 20 pounds from last year to his current 235, said he feels better than he did in the spring.
“I feel like I’ve gained momentum but I’m not going to stop,” he said. “It’s part of me being a competitor.
“I don’t feel that it’s a race. We have three or four main guys right now and if their number is called upon, they need to execute.”
Just because he’s lost some pounds doesn’t mean Castille has lost his bruising running style.
“My physicality, I still have it,” he said. “I’ve (shrunk) a lot, but I told coaches I still want to be a power back, too. I combine the agile with the physicality. ... I feel a lot more comfortable running outside than I did before. I feel like I can turn the edge faster than last year.”
Fumbles hurt Castille last year. While rushing 76 times for 343 yards and four scores, he also fumbled four times.
During the Spring Game, he looked impressive, only to fumble on one of his five carries.
Castille is confident the fumbles are something he can do away with.
“It was a big issue that I need to work on but it wasn’t real, real serious,” Castille said. “The reason why I was fumbling is because it was like second-effort stuff — me getting stopped in the backfield and trying to move a defender off me or something like that. It wasn’t (like) running through the line and fumbling like that.”
THIS AND THAT: After a two-hour scrimmage on Thursday, some guys were held out of Friday’s first practice inside Memorial Stadium. Among them: Helu, Major Culbert, Ndamukong Suh, Mike McNeill, Latravis Washington, Jaivorio Burkes and Anthony West, who has a knee bruise. ... Quarterback Joe Ganz said the running back Helu dinged his shoulder. The safety Culbert has an ankle injury but is expected to return soon. ... The deadline for the Los Angeles Angels to sign freshman wide receiver Khiry Cooper has come and gone. Cooper was at Friday’s practice, so consider the will-he-leave-for-baseball story buried.
SCOUTING REPORT: LB, Cody Glenn: Linebackers coach Mike Ekeler has been enthused about Cody Glenn for a while, but he especially liked what he saw out of the senior during Thursday’s scrimmage.
“I told him afterwards, 'I think the game is starting to slow down for you.' Because he's starting to really understand it, starting to think the game, and today you could see it out there just slowing down a little bit," Ekeler said.
Of course, Glenn only switched to linebacker in the spring after having spent his first three years at running back.
While Glenn has excelled, Ekeler said the transition isn't near as easy as he's made it look.
"We're so diverse defensively. We have so many different defenses in and all these different concepts. We throw a lot at them. We're more multiple than anybody in the nation," Ekeler said. "I'd be shocked if anyone was half as multiple as we are. For him, a guy who hasn't played defense since high school, to come in and pick it up like he has, it's pretty phenomenal.
“If the common person really understood what these guys had to process in a split second, they'd be shocked. They'd have a lot more respect for what happens out there.”
Opponent watch: Kansas State: K-State junior quarterback Josh Freeman made some waves at Big 12 media days last month when he said he was the best of all the talented quarterbacks in the league.
“If I said I was fifth- or sixth-best, what would that say about my confidence?” Freeman told the Kansas City Star this week.
Freeman did produce some large numbers last year, passing for a school-record 3,353 yards. But a 5-7 season came with it, and the Cats have lost their All-American wide receiver and Freeman’s greatest weapon, Jordy Nelson.
Even so, K-State coach Ron Prince has a good feeling about where Freeman’s at as the games approach.
“For the first time if we say, ‘We need you to win the game,’ we feel like he has command of what’s happening that he can go out and do that,” Prince told The Star.
Just asking: Will the new coaching staff welcome back the Nebraska-unique pancake statistic?
“Absolutely,” Nebraska offensive line coach Barney Cotton said. “We will. We will.”
The pancake stat, created to recognize physical play of Husker offensive linemen, was a longtime Nebraska staple. It disappeared in the Bill Callahan regime.
Cotton said this coaching staff will have two different categories — one for traditional pancakes (where defenders are flattened), and one for knockdowns, “which will be any time a guy gets knocked off his feet,” Cotton said.
— Brian Christopherson and Brian Rosenthal
