Huskers hoping to win red-zone battles

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While Nebraska’s defense has plenty of kinks to iron out, one area where the Huskers have succeeded is playing tough in the red zone.

The Huskers are tied for 27th in the country in red-zone defense. Opponents have been inside NU’s 20-yard line 20 times this year, scoring on 14 of those drives, but only getting a touchdown eight times.

Missouri just happens to be tied for 27th in red-zone offense, scoring 17 of 19 times — including 14 TDs. 

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Nebraska's Quentin Castille (19), celebrates a three-yard touchdown run against San Jose State. (LJS File)

Nebraska's Quentin Castille (19), celebrates a three-yard touchdown run against San Jose State. (LJS File)

“We hope to play well down there, because it could come down to limiting them to field goals when they do get down there rather than touchdowns,” NU coach Bo Pelini said. “But they’ve been pretty efficient in the red zone, too. It’s going to be a heck of a test for us.”

So, too, will be trying to lay a hand on Missouri quarterback Chase Daniel. His quick release, Mizzou's spread scheme, and his position out of the shotgun make it difficult to sack him. The Tigers have allowed just two sacks in four games. But there still has to be some form of pressure, Pelini said.

“I know you’re not going to sack him a lot, but it doesn’t mean you can’t try to affect him some,” the first-year head coach said. “You got to collapse the pocket some and make him uncomfortable.”

One team that has been able to make Daniel seem uncomfortable at times is Oklahoma, which defeated the Tigers twice last year.

What’s the Sooners’ secret?

Pelini laughed and said: "Because they're pretty good. They're No. 1. Missouri moved the ball on Oklahoma, but Oklahoma, they're talented, they're able to push the pocket, they're able to affect Chase a little bit. There are a lot of ways to go about it and how to play them. No one has really stopped them. You just hope you can slow them down.”

Injury report: The Huskers had a light workout Monday at Memorial Stadium that lasted about 75 minutes.

"We're ready for a good day tomorrow," Pelini said. "Attitude was good. Kids were upbeat.”

There were some players absent. Senior safety Larry Asante watched from the sideline. Said Pelini: "Larry got dinged up a little bit. He's kind of day-to-day. We'll see where he is."

Offensive lineman Andy Christensen was not at practice. Asked about his status, Pelini said: "Andy has some medical issues that we're dealing with. I can't tell you the timetable right now. Day-to-day, I don't know. He's sick. We're dealing with some medical issues."

And true freshman defensive lineman Quentin Toailoa watched practice with a sling on his right arm.

"He had shoulder surgery," Pelini said. "He had a loose shoulder coming in. We fixed it. We're going to wait until we get him out of that one and we're going to fix his other one. It's something that's kind of genetic. So we're going to get them fixed now rather than wait until the offseason. He should be out of the sling actually in the one arm here in the next seven or 10 days and then we're going to do the other shoulder."

THIS AND THAT: Nate Swift was named the Big 12 Conference special-teams player of the week thanks to his 88-yard punt return for a touchdown against Virginia Tech. The senior from Hutchinson, Minn., is averaging 26 yards per return this season. Swift would rank third in the country with that average, but a player must have a minimum of 1.2 returns a game to qualify for the national stats. Swift has returned a total of four punts in NU's four games.

SCOUTING REPORT: Justin Rogers, a recruit from the 2008 class who came to NU just before the season started, is now practicing with the Huskers.

The native of Birmingham, Ala., has gotten some work at running back and Pelini said coaches will look at him at defensive back, too.

"He's a good athlete," Pelini said. "We're just going to try to figure out where he fits. We were going to leave him at the running back position, but he said he wants to come over and work with the DBs a while."

Just asking: Does Pelini think the Big 12 stacks up favorably with the SEC?

"I think it's a year-to-year thing. It always has been,” he said. “I think you see it across the country. Teams can beat anybody on any given day. Everybody talks about the so-called elite teams, but look what happened, really. across the country last week. ... There's good football being played throughout this country at a lot of different levels. There's a lot of parity out there. That's why you have to be ready to play every week."

— Brian Christopherson