Prankster Pelini pleased with practice
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By the Lincoln Journal Star
Bo Pelini met the media Thursday and, with disgusted expression, immediately declared: “That was the worst practice I’ve been a part of in all my years of coaching.”
Pause.
“Just kidding.”
Laughter following.
Turns out it was a pretty good practice inside Memorial Stadium.
“I thought the intensity was good,” Pelini said. “We made some mistakes. There are some corrections to be made, but not bad, not bad.”
Pelini seemed skeptical that offensive lineman Lydon Murtha and safety Rickey Thenarse would play Saturday against San Jose State. “They haven’t had much practice this week,” he said. Thenarse was in street clothes during the practice.
In the opener, some communication issues on defense dogged Nebraska in a win over Western Michigan.
Though still seeing some of that, the head coach said he has seen improvement on that front during this week.
“There’s still guys who are a little indecisive, or not too sure of themselves,” Pelini said. “It’s like, ‘Go ahead. Make your call. Communicate.’ It’s getting better, but it’s not as consistent as I would like it to be.”
THIS AND THAT: Saturday’s game captains will be Nate Swift, Todd Peterson, Ty Steinkuhler and Alex Henery. ... On the recruiting front, Pelini said that off the top of his head he thought there’d be six official visitors this weekend. “It’s a good group. On a game weekend, you can’t have too many. You just can’t accommodate too many and do it the right way.” ... Shawn Watson said senior quarterback Joe Ganz has always had great ball-placement on his throws, citing in particular a third-quarter 55-yard pass to Dreu Young that the offensive coordinator called NFL quality. “He leverages the ball where only our receiver can make the play. He’s just got a feel for it,” Watson said. “Some guys don’t. They may have big arms and throw it through the wall. But if they don’t have that, they’re going to struggle at quarterback. Joe has that.”
SCOUTING REPORT: CB, Prince Amukamara: It’s trial by fire for Nebraska’s young defensive backs this season.
Going into last Saturday’s opener, Husker secondary coach Marvin Sanders admits he was “curious” as to how his inexperienced players would respond to the bright lights.
“I was curious. I really was,” Sanders said. “I know how they practice. I knew where we were supposed to be, so I expected some mistakes. And that’s not in a negative way, but I’m realistic and understand where we are.”
Sophomore cornerback Prince Amukamara is one of the young guys learning on the job.
Lots of good out there. Some mental mistakes, too.
Occasionally, Amukamara or one of the young guys will mess up what their assignments was supposed to be but still make the play.
“It’s my job to make sure they understand we still have a long way to go,” Sanders said.
Amukmara did seem to have an impressive pass break-up in the second half, where he recovered on a receiver and appeared to bat away a long pass in the end zone.
Sanders smiled at the mention of it.
“He missed it. He keeps saying he made that play. He might have tipped it. It’s hard to see,” Sanders said. “But one thing Prince will do is compete. And that’s more so what I want to see with the group more than anything. And they did. They competed hard. They made some mistakes, absolutely. But if we get that competitive spirit and effort out of them, I’ll get the mistakes corrected.”
Opponent watch: Virginia Tech: The big story in Blacksburg continues to be quarterback Tyrod Taylor, who very possibly could be the starting quarterback by the time the Hokies hit Lincoln on Sept. 27.
Tech coach Frank Beamer had planned to play Sean Glennon this year and redshirt the sophomore Taylor. But after Glennon struggled to lead the team to just 243 yards of total offense in a season-opening 27-22 loss to East Carolina, Taylor was told the redshirt idea was no more.
“We tried to make it work,” quarterbacks coach Mike O’Cain told The Virginian-Pilot. “But you look at it and what can make this football team the best? Obviously sitting one of your best players on the bench is not the answer.”
Tyrod is a better scrambler and could add another dimension to an offense that is inexperienced, especially at the receivers spot.
“Putting another guy in the game that can help you run the football is in our best interest,” Beamer told The Virginian-Pilot. “I don’t think with young receivers you want to rely on throwing the ball 40 times a game.”
Just asking: Junior Phillip Dillard played every snap at linebacker last Saturday. Does Pelini see that happening again or will he be looking to substitute more this week?
“We don’t sub our linebackers a whole heck of a lot. Some. But the guys behind them are young and inexperienced,” Pelini said. “It depends on the situation of the game and how the game goes, but we have guys ready to go. We rep our guys pretty equally during the week so we’ll be ready to go.”
— Brian Christopherson
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