Coordinators Wednesday 11/2 Presser

[vailhusker]

 

[vailhusker]

Quick hits from Nebraska OC Mark Whipple ahead of Minnesota​

Zack Carpenter • InsideNebraska
Publisher
@Zack_Carp


For Nebraska (3-5 overall, 2-3 in Big Ten) to qualify for a bowl game, the Huskers need to win three of the final four games. Up next is an 11 a.m. contest this Saturday against the Minnesota Golden Gophers (5-3, 2-3).
The Husker offense will potentially be without its starting quarterback, Casey Thompson, who left last weekend's game against Illinois in the second quarter with a throwing-arm injury.
Nebraska offensive coordinator Mark Whipple has a tough task ahead of him, as he'll be calling plays against a Gopher unit ranked No. 4 in the country in scoring defense at 14.4. Outside of allowing 45 points a couple weeks ago to Penn State, Minnesota's defense is allowing 10 points per game, and is coming off a 31-0 shutout win over Rutgers.
Here are the quick hits from Whipple:

Casey Thompson, QB situation​

>> It has not been ruled out that Thompson will start against Minnesota. It's not looking good, but there is still an outside chance. Whipple said that Thompson has been "better" this week after suffering his injury against Illinois. Still, Whipple said that they are taking Thompson's situation "day by day" in their assessment of him even though it's unlikely that he will start or play against the Gophers.
>> Whipple said that there is a "good chance” that Chubba Purdy and Logan Smothers will both play against Minnesota: “I’ll see later on in the week," Whipple said, noting that he feels a lot better about putting either Purdy or Smothers in the game now after this week of practice.
>> Whipple said that practice on Tuesday and Wednesday were both "better" for Purdy and Smothers this week compared to last week.
>> One of the key reasons that Whipple feels more confidence in Purdy is, simply, that he practiced more this week and got reps. He said that Purdy didn’t practice the last two days of practice last week because Purdy had gotten hurt. "He's fine now. ... But going back back, that’s why Logan went in the second quarter because I wasn’t sure where (Chubba) was at."
>> Whipple has more confidence in both Purdy and Smothers after their performances at practice this week.
>> And he has more confidence in Purdy to be better prepared after he practiced this week and after a one-on-one meeting between Whipple and Purdy on Sunday in which he poured confidence in the Florida State transfer: “I told him I believe in you, everybody on this team believes in you," Whipple said. "There's a really good chance you’re gonna be the starter. … One game doesn’t make a career.”
>> On Smothers, Whipple said: “I thought he had his best two days" of practice this week. “Yesterday and today is the best he’s looked since I’ve been here. … So I’m pleased with that. Logan’s done well.”

QB3?​

>> Outside of Purdy and Smothers, Whipple echoed Mickey Joseph's statement from Tuesday's presser that no other backup quarterbacks on this roster are ready to play in a game: “That’s the one you worry about is if you gotta go down to the third guy.”
>> Along those same lines, Whipple said that he's unsure who the third quarterback on the depth chart would be right now behind Purdy and Smothers because one of the quarterbacks behind those two players got hurt at practice this week: “When it rains, it pours."

Gabe Ervin Jr.​

>> Running back Gabe Ervin Jr. has missed the last three games against Rutgers, Purdue and Illinois. Whipple said he's "not sure" whether or not Ervin will return against Minnesota: "He's gotten better. Kind of like Casey, he's (feeling) better," Whipple said, noting that he still isn't confident whether or not Ervin will play.

Minnesota defense​

>> Both of those signal callers are getting more reps and the Nebraska scout defense has been giving them a lot of looks that they are likely to see from a Minnesota defense that has impressed Whipple.
>> Whipple says that the the Gophers have "a completely different defense" than Illinois as the two have "just two different styles."
>> One example: Illinois plays more press man coverage while Minnesota has more split-safety looks in addition to playing more varied and mixed coverages. Whipple said the Gophers' cornerbacks are good, established guys and their safeties are sure tacklers, experienced, big and physical.

Avoiding turnovers​

>> Following the game, I wrote a column about how costly the Huskers’ mistakes and missed opportunities were in the loss to Illinois. Two turnovers inside the 30-yard-line and settling for a field goal on another red zone possession were huge. Whipple agreed with that premise on Wednesday.
>> “That was probably the biggest disappointment last week is we had the ball in the red zone twice and turned it over twice. … That flipped the game. Obviously, don’t come out with any points and turning the ball over, you’’re not gonna win that way especially against the No. 1 defense in the country.”

 

[vailhusker]

Quick hits from Nebraska DC Bill Busch ahead of Minnesota​

Steve Marik • InsideNebraska
Staff Writer
@Steve_Marik

Nebraska (3-5 overall, 2-3 in Big Ten) has four games left in the regular season, and if the Huskers want to qualify for a bowl game, they'll need to win three of them.
Up next is an 11 a.m. home tilt against Minnesota (5-3, 2-3). PJ Fleck's Gophers have won the last three meetings and four of the last five.
For a second straight week, Nebraska's defense will face a strong rushing attack, led by star running back Mohamed Ibrahim, who is fourth in the country in average rushing yards per game with 136.43.
Nebraska's offense, which has a situation at quarterback, will face a Minnesota defense that's allowing just 14.4 points per game, also fourth in the nation.
On Wednesday, Husker interim defensive coordinator Bill Busch met with the local media to talk about his unit and the matchup. Here are the quick hits:

>> There are many similarities between Illinois and Minnesota, Busch said. The objective is the same for both offenses — stay ahead of the sticks by running the football. The Gophers are a heavy zone-run team, and are diverse in how they get to it.
"They change the surface a lot in their run game," Busch said.
The coach called Minnesota's offensive line "extremely gifted up front" and Ibrahim "one of the most elite backs I've ever had to coach against."
>> Minnesota still has packages where it uses six, and sometimes seven, offensive linemen in short-yardage or goal line situations. Busch said his defense will use a "T" call in those instances, noting extra tackles are in the game.
"They do that not quite as much as what they have in the past, but they have that ability to do that," Busch said of the jumbo packages. "They've also in the past had the ability to do a lot of Wildcat, but they haven't done as much of that this year. But we're sure preparing for that because they have that in their DNA."
>> Busch said he's not worried about Nebraska's quarterback situation. He's interested in his side of the ball and creating more opportunities for the offense, which he wanted to do more of against Illinois.
"It's just do your job and get ourselves off the field," Busch said. "We got ourselves off the field a lot on Saturday, but could have been better obviously at giving our offense more chances, and we forced one turnover and that's just not good enough football."
>> What has Busch seen from Ernest Hausmann? Busch said there were two things that came out of the Illinois game in regards to the freshman inside 'backer.
One was the coach never looked at the film and said, "The issue was Nick Heinrich was out. That means earnest played very well."
The second was, Busch said Hausmann is going through a learning curve, even saying Hausmann's start against Oklahoma was "a lot different than playing North Star (High School in Lincoln)." The coach is impressed with Hausmann's development, even if it's not quite showing on the field right now.
>> Busch said he doesn't delve into the special teams meetings as much as he used to, but in regards to that blocked extra point where an Illinois defender easily got through Nebraska's offensive line, Busch said it was a technique error.
Busch sits in on protection meetings the staff has every Friday at 8 a.m., and knows there are many coaches working to correct it.
"With that phase right there, it was basically a technique error that has to be able to be corrected," Busch said. "We feel our kicker is kicking very well right now. Tim (Bleekrode) is kicking the ball very well."
>> Busch was very complimentary of starting safeties Marques Buford Jr. and Myles Farmer.
"He (Farmer) has really thrown his face in there, and Buford does it all the time, too," the coach said. "So those guys are also in the run fits. Buford has to cover a little bit more than the rest of them do, but they're two mature safeties."

 

[Eaton Beaver]

"He (Farmer) has really thrown his face in there,