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Husker offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield met the media prior to Wednesday's practice, three days before the Huskers play at Colorado.
"It's been a good week so far. You get to play a game. You get to uncover some warts that you need to work on," Satterfield said. "And I think our guys have done a nice job, our coaches have done a nice job, of attacking things we need to get fixed."
The coach also thinks last week's game at Minnesota can help prepare the Huskers for this road trip. He didn't expect it to be as loud as it was up there during Minnesota's 13-10 win and thought it was a pretty hostile environment to play in, especially with so many key possessions right down by the student section.
"So it's not going to shock our guys. We've been in that situation before. In the indoor, with music playing and the fake crowd noise, we've had real crowd noise (now), so I think that will help us. I think it will be a cool environment ... That's why you play this game.
"That's why you approach this game and work like we do – to have opportunities to do things like this."
– What were the key teaching points he had for Jeff Sims after the game?
"Just trust his training. He was under control. I thought he had an unbelievable game from a competitive standpoint," the coach said. "I knew he would be able to use his feet and we could use him in the quarterback run game. But I wasn't aware that he would run that physical. Like, he was a physical runner the other night. That was good to see and I think that's something he can build on. And obviously, we – not he – but we are going to continue (striving at) taking care of the football and keeping the football out of harm's way."
– Satterfield understands that discussions often come back to the individual after a game. "But to me it's layers of coaching and training that we have to continue to do each day. Each position group has to continue to do their job to make sure that the receivers runs routes at the right depths, the offensive line protects him, the backs protect him. So collectively we're all in it together to make sure that everyone on our offense maximizes their ability and their talents. We have to do that with Jeff as well."
– How much does Satterfield look at how many touches a specific guy might have? It was a question connecting to Billy Kemp not having a catch in the first game.
"We were talking at halftime, we're going to come out and run this play, this play, this play, trying to get Billy going because we were aware he hadn't touched the ball," he said. "We didn't get it done. The ball didn't get to him so that's something that we've got to do this week. We've got to make sure our guys touch the ball because he's too valuable of a playmaker. Not just a receiver. He has to have that ball in his hands, whatever it takes to get it in there."
– With Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda out for the year, Satterfield said the young guys just have to see the opportunity there for them to step up.
"We've got a bunch of young receivers that have unbelievable ability and can help us, and this is an an opportunity they're going to have to show what they can do," he said.
– Jaelen Lloyd is one freshman receiver who was already on the field and got a touch in the first game.
"The No. 1 thing is you got to know what to do and he knows what to do," Satterfield said. "On top of that he's very athletic and has a lot of speed and has tremendous ball skills and can help us."
Satterfield said it was "a no brainer" to get him out there.
– And Tommi Hill? His speed makes him someone that "hopefully we can continue to let his role grow gradually through the season." Satterfield believes he gives "an added boost" to what they want to do right now on offense.
– Satterfield said Colorado's defensive approach against TCU was similar to what Husker coaches expected it to look like through preseason studies, which included watching D-coordinator Charles Kelly's work at previous stops.
"You turn the tape on, you see guys flying around, it's a physically gifted, very competitive, tough, athletic guys on defense," Satterfield said.
You have to run the football to have success against it, he's sure. He thought TCU ran it well at times.
The coach stressed taking care of the ball, and the Husker staff showed players video the other day of how Colorado defenders attacked the football and knocked the ball loose in Saturday's 45-42 win over the Horned Frogs, who had two turnovers in the red zone.
– The Huskers had all the full-time assistants on the field except for tight ends coach Josh Martin.
Satterfield felt good about the operation about getting info passed between the staff and getting plays in. He didn't really notice the clock rule changes until half when looking at a stat sheet that featured only three drives in the first 30 minutes.
– Satterfield said all of Matt Rhule's situational work with the team showed in the opener.
"We didn't see anything that we hadn't done multiple times," he said.
He thinks the two-minute drive at the end of the half was a useful situation to experience in Game 1. It was going quite well until the pick in the end zone. "We get to learn from that moment."
Despite the game not going Nebraska's way after the Anthony Grant fumble – with the Huskers going from a four-minute offense trying to run out the clock to a two-minute offense trying to win the game after Minnesota tied it – Satterfield said that moment was met with guys who were keeping their poise on the sideline.
"They didn't freak out ... There's a lot to learn from and we had three really good situational moments from the game the other night."
– How's Anthony Grant doing?
He's been good this week, the coach said, with the same approach.
"Nobody wants to fumble the ball. It's not affected how he works, not affected how he approaches his day. We trust all of our guys and he'll have an opportunity moving forward at some point this year to vindicate himself."
– Satterfield liked how the running game picked up steam as the Minnesota game went along.
"These are Big Ten/Pac 12 opponent that we're playing. So you're not going to put the ball down and just run through them initially. The way that we play, it's a collective amount of body blows that take place during a game that eventually you try to wear on a defensive front ... that you start popping those runs, kind of like we did in the second half."
– The coach said that O-line has to just keep going to work and it's a group that holds thing together for the offense.
He pointed out that all three sacks Nebraska had were during a six-play sequence and one was actually on a run off an RPO player where Sims got stuck in the read.
"So I was proud of how we protected and proud of the run game. I thought they did a nice job of creating holes for our guys."
– Heinrich Haarberg is "just super athletic," so Satterfield wants ways to have him on the field.
"If he's not playing quarterback, he doesn't need to sit over there with us waiting his turn. He can help us in a bunch of different ways."
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"It's been a good week so far. You get to play a game. You get to uncover some warts that you need to work on," Satterfield said. "And I think our guys have done a nice job, our coaches have done a nice job, of attacking things we need to get fixed."
The coach also thinks last week's game at Minnesota can help prepare the Huskers for this road trip. He didn't expect it to be as loud as it was up there during Minnesota's 13-10 win and thought it was a pretty hostile environment to play in, especially with so many key possessions right down by the student section.
"So it's not going to shock our guys. We've been in that situation before. In the indoor, with music playing and the fake crowd noise, we've had real crowd noise (now), so I think that will help us. I think it will be a cool environment ... That's why you play this game.
"That's why you approach this game and work like we do – to have opportunities to do things like this."
– What were the key teaching points he had for Jeff Sims after the game?
"Just trust his training. He was under control. I thought he had an unbelievable game from a competitive standpoint," the coach said. "I knew he would be able to use his feet and we could use him in the quarterback run game. But I wasn't aware that he would run that physical. Like, he was a physical runner the other night. That was good to see and I think that's something he can build on. And obviously, we – not he – but we are going to continue (striving at) taking care of the football and keeping the football out of harm's way."
– Satterfield understands that discussions often come back to the individual after a game. "But to me it's layers of coaching and training that we have to continue to do each day. Each position group has to continue to do their job to make sure that the receivers runs routes at the right depths, the offensive line protects him, the backs protect him. So collectively we're all in it together to make sure that everyone on our offense maximizes their ability and their talents. We have to do that with Jeff as well."
– How much does Satterfield look at how many touches a specific guy might have? It was a question connecting to Billy Kemp not having a catch in the first game.
"We were talking at halftime, we're going to come out and run this play, this play, this play, trying to get Billy going because we were aware he hadn't touched the ball," he said. "We didn't get it done. The ball didn't get to him so that's something that we've got to do this week. We've got to make sure our guys touch the ball because he's too valuable of a playmaker. Not just a receiver. He has to have that ball in his hands, whatever it takes to get it in there."
– With Isaiah Garcia-Castaneda out for the year, Satterfield said the young guys just have to see the opportunity there for them to step up.
"We've got a bunch of young receivers that have unbelievable ability and can help us, and this is an an opportunity they're going to have to show what they can do," he said.
– Jaelen Lloyd is one freshman receiver who was already on the field and got a touch in the first game.
"The No. 1 thing is you got to know what to do and he knows what to do," Satterfield said. "On top of that he's very athletic and has a lot of speed and has tremendous ball skills and can help us."
Satterfield said it was "a no brainer" to get him out there.
– And Tommi Hill? His speed makes him someone that "hopefully we can continue to let his role grow gradually through the season." Satterfield believes he gives "an added boost" to what they want to do right now on offense.
– Satterfield said Colorado's defensive approach against TCU was similar to what Husker coaches expected it to look like through preseason studies, which included watching D-coordinator Charles Kelly's work at previous stops.
"You turn the tape on, you see guys flying around, it's a physically gifted, very competitive, tough, athletic guys on defense," Satterfield said.
You have to run the football to have success against it, he's sure. He thought TCU ran it well at times.
The coach stressed taking care of the ball, and the Husker staff showed players video the other day of how Colorado defenders attacked the football and knocked the ball loose in Saturday's 45-42 win over the Horned Frogs, who had two turnovers in the red zone.
– The Huskers had all the full-time assistants on the field except for tight ends coach Josh Martin.
Satterfield felt good about the operation about getting info passed between the staff and getting plays in. He didn't really notice the clock rule changes until half when looking at a stat sheet that featured only three drives in the first 30 minutes.
– Satterfield said all of Matt Rhule's situational work with the team showed in the opener.
"We didn't see anything that we hadn't done multiple times," he said.
He thinks the two-minute drive at the end of the half was a useful situation to experience in Game 1. It was going quite well until the pick in the end zone. "We get to learn from that moment."
Despite the game not going Nebraska's way after the Anthony Grant fumble – with the Huskers going from a four-minute offense trying to run out the clock to a two-minute offense trying to win the game after Minnesota tied it – Satterfield said that moment was met with guys who were keeping their poise on the sideline.
"They didn't freak out ... There's a lot to learn from and we had three really good situational moments from the game the other night."
– How's Anthony Grant doing?
He's been good this week, the coach said, with the same approach.
"Nobody wants to fumble the ball. It's not affected how he works, not affected how he approaches his day. We trust all of our guys and he'll have an opportunity moving forward at some point this year to vindicate himself."
– Satterfield liked how the running game picked up steam as the Minnesota game went along.
"These are Big Ten/Pac 12 opponent that we're playing. So you're not going to put the ball down and just run through them initially. The way that we play, it's a collective amount of body blows that take place during a game that eventually you try to wear on a defensive front ... that you start popping those runs, kind of like we did in the second half."
– The coach said that O-line has to just keep going to work and it's a group that holds thing together for the offense.
He pointed out that all three sacks Nebraska had were during a six-play sequence and one was actually on a run off an RPO player where Sims got stuck in the read.
"So I was proud of how we protected and proud of the run game. I thought they did a nice job of creating holes for our guys."
– Heinrich Haarberg is "just super athletic," so Satterfield wants ways to have him on the field.
"If he's not playing quarterback, he doesn't need to sit over there with us waiting his turn. He can help us in a bunch of different ways."
Wednesday quick hits: Satterfield talks Sims, receivers and Husker run game
Husker offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield sets up some of the keys ahead for Nebraska.
247sports.com
