Fall Camp (1 Viewer)

[KidsSeeGhosts]

Nice run from Ervin there. Dude is seemingly more and more legit.

 

[Florida Big Red]

Yup - Ervin’s offer list 30+ (from all the big boys too) should have been a giveaway.

It’s as impressive of a list for a Husker recruit as I can remember in recent memory.

 

[...TrueColors...]

Yup - Ervin’s offer list 30+ (from all the big boys too) should have been a giveaway.

It’s as impressive of a list for a Husker recruit as I can remember in recent memory.

Robinson, Pola Gates, Fidone are three right off the top of my head with better offer lists.

 

[Black Dean]

I’m drinking the koolaid now, I definitely see 6, maybe 7 wins! GBR

 

[Kaladin]

 

[Havoc34]

I ❤️ Turd

 

[vailhusker]

 

[Baron Winnebago]

RSS at 2-5: We JuSt DoNt HaVe ThE hOrSeS yEt

 

[Toe]

I feel like we have solid starters in place at most positions now, but don't have depth yet. My forecast for the season pretty much depends on injuries, like this could be a good season if everyone stays healthy, but even just a couple injuries at key spots could derail things in a hurry.

 

[KidsSeeGhosts]

Sure hope those TE injury rumors aren't true.

 

[NeAz]

Sure hope those TE injury rumors aren't true.

Pretty sure Vokolek is out for a 4-6 weeks with an ankle injury. Not sure about anyone else.

I hope I’m wrong though. That room went from a strength to the biggest weakness real quick.

 

[KidsSeeGhosts]

Vokolek out for 4-6 weeks isn't end of the world. Would be great to have him back by OU though.

 

[vailhusker]

The Huskers jumped back into camp practices on Tuesday, two days after a scrimmage followed by an off day.

Nebraska defensive coaches Erik Chinander, Travis Fisher Tony Tuioti and several defenders spoke to the media after the practice. While the top group is solidifying its place, Chinander said he likes that the older guys on defense are secure enough in themselves and their talents to drive the young guys to try to beat them out.

"We're to the point also with maturity that those older guys are taking those younger guys and helping them and saying, 'Take my job, but you're not going to do it. I want you to try to take this thing. I want you to practice hard and see if you can get in the game as a reserve role or special teams and I'm going to help you. But I know you can't take my job,''" Chinander said. "And I think that's a pretty good feeling."

Some Quick Hits:

– Chinander thought the Sunday scrimmage went well from his vantage point. "We did some really good things on defense. I thought we tackled pretty well. A couple missed ones we got to get cleaned up. But overall, I thought the tackling was really well and that's what you want to see when you go live. That's a couple things we haven't gotten as much."


The D-coordinator said the Huskers caused a couple turnovers.

"Coach Frost put us in some good situations that we need to teach from and get that dialed in, because with this older group it's going to be a little bit more about getting lined up and executing the defense and more about mastering the situations as we move forward. I think a little bit more of that work is necessary, but I was pretty pleased."

– What's left to learn? Who the next guys up after the starters, Chinander said. "There's that first string, even though it's not solidified yet. There's still a lot of guys battling for reps, probably a lot of guys that deserve reps in games. Don't know if we're going to get all of them to play because there's so many guys that are playing at a high level. But who's going to be the next group in? 'Are you that next guy in and can you play special teams?' Because you're going on the (road) trip."

– Damion Daniels has kept his progress from spring going and looks more twitchy and lean to Chinander. "He just looks like he's able to play hard if we leave him in there for two, or four, or eight. He's able to go the whole time, and I think that's a huge win for him, and for us."

– Tyreke Johnson is putting himself in the fight at cornerback, making a pretty solid early impression on Travis Fisher and Erik Chinander. "The situation really is not too big for him as it is sometimes from a new guy coming into the program – whether they're from a smaller school or freshman. So he's got a lot of confidence, he's got a lot of grit to him," Chinander said. "He also knows the technique really well. It's just learning a new language probably for him ... But he's done some really nice things in nine practices."

Fisher said Johnson has "come in swinging" and is fighting through camp like everyone else.

– Marques Buford came up from Fisher. The corner is back from a spring injury, suffered on the first play of practices, and has had a good camp. "Right now you'd think he'd never had an injury." He's a first-year frosh to at least keep in mind as the depth chart gets sorted out through the camp and season. Fisher didn't offer a lot for clues on who was where just yet. "I recruited them all. So all of them are my favorites." Someone new steps up every day, according to Fisher.

– Braxton Clark has been back practicing after fighting back this offseason through an injury suffered last season. Fisher said he was happy with how his DBs fought through a sweltering heat on Tuesday to compete at a high level, but he also doesn't want to give too much credit just yet. "We'll see how it shakes out."

– Chinander said JoJo Domann probably can't carry the never-come-out workload during a longer season. But he thinks some depth is developing with Isaac Gifford, Javin Wright, Simon Otte and John Bullock.

– The D-coordinator feels like the D-line can go two platoons deep, and maybe a third. "So it's a pretty deep group. Now that we've developed some depth, you want to get those guys some breaks. You want them to be able to rush the passer and be fresh for that, and play the run. But you also want to get the best guys enough reps, so I think that's a good balancing act and Coach Tuioti and Coach Dawson are doing a good job with rotating those guys right now.

"I don't see a huge drop-of with the 1s and the 2s."

– Deontre Thomas said he's never felt better health-wise, and believes Husker fans haven't yet seen his best football, which he's planning on showing in 2021.

— One of the more striking physical transformations of the summer was along the offensive line was that of junior defensive tackle Jordon Riley. Riley dropped around 30 pounds from where he was when he arrived on campus, and said the change was brought about because he had injury issues last season and felt like he was playing heavy. Riley is in the mix at the nose tackle spot behind Damion Daniels.

— Tony Tuioti said Daniels is having the best camp that he’s had at Nebraska because he’s in shape and in a better place mentally. Tuioti said Daniels has gone from only being able to do two or three consecutive reps to seven or eight.

— Nash Hutmacher has been getting reps at times with the ones and is “holding his own," Tuioti said.

— Tuioti feels good about his top six defensive linemen, and noted that Hutmacher is also pushing to potentially get into that group as well.

— Tuioti said freshman Jailen Weaver is “a large man,” and that the staff is working with him to get back in shape after coming in overweight.

– Chinander doesn't think guys have hit a camp wall yet. "Guys get nicked up here and there, and maybe if they get nicked up and they're a vet that has proven themselves and all those kind of things, maybe you shut it down to keep it from getting to something worse."
But there hasn't been a lot of guys who have needed multiple days off.

– The coordinator thinks the Huskers could do more hockey line rotating, "and especially up front."

There's at least 14 guys in the front seven Chinander feels they can bank on, with that number maybe stretching to 17 or so when some young D-linemen are counted. Added the coach, "Outside backers, D-line, inside backers are going to roll, whether that's three guys or four guys, but you're going to see those guys roll. The DBs have always been sort of a different story, but I think you're going to see those guys get subbed in and out, but that's really not as much of a hockey rotation there. Because it's so important for those guys to make calls back there

"But I think up front you'll definitely see some mass substitutions coming."

– A good quote from Fisher to end matters: "This is all about work. It's not about taking credit. This is all about work. Right now, to me, it's no time for giving credit. It's just time to work."

 

[slattimer]

Vokolek out for 4-6 weeks isn't end of the world. Would be great to have him back by OU though.

If that means we’re in more 11 personnel looks and get 3 wrs in the game more. I’m for it.

 

[whiplash]

Is the fat man wearing a yellow tie?

 

[vailhusker]

 

[Steveweiser316]

Love the shorts

 

[vailhusker]

 

[vailhusker]

 

[vailhusker]

It was running backs and quarterbacks day after Nebraska's Wednesday practice, and some of the top personnel pieces are beginning to be clear with those I-backs.

Mario Verduzco and Ryan Held spoke, as did the main backup QBs and three running backs who could be positioning themselves for leading roles: Gabe Ervin, Markese Stepp and Sevion Morrison. And, yeah, those guys are carrying a bit of a chip with them. Their coach will tell you that.

"There's a lot of stuff out there, 'We don't have a very good group. What's the group?' Everything is a little unproven," Held said. "So our guys want to go out there and prove that we have talent in the room and be able to be a position that helps our football team. We need to be."

What else?

– Held said "it's starting to come to light" who's where. "I'm not going to give you the depth chart right now, but it's starting to work itself through. It's a very competitive group and they're very supportive of each other in the room – good and bad. So it's fun. It's fun coming to work every day because I don't have a day that's played a million snaps. So every day is a new opportunity for us to look at a situation and have it presented us, and then go out and execute it in the way we need to."


– Held said the Huskers are probably down to about four guys, and a couple other guys need to pick it up or they'll be left behind. "The other guys have been a little more inconsistent, but I haven't given up on them. They have to come to work and get better, because the talent's there. But I need consistency. We don't get to hit reset like these guys do, they play video games and hit reset. We don't get to reset it. We got to go out there and I got to know that you know what you're doing."

– Stepp was limited in the Sunday scrimmage, but was involved today in some goal-line work, Held said. "He runs hard. Very engaged. He's getting better. Building him up. I'm very pleased with Markese. He has a chip on his shoulder, because he wants to come in here and help our football team win games." Held wouldn't say Stepp is still limited physically. It's just a matter of getting more reps and getting his body used to it again. The coach doesn't see the back being hesitant on the foot that was injured, though.

– Sevion Morrison is now at 205 pounds. "He's done a really nice job. He's lost weight. He's changed his body in the summer. He's always had nice feet, but even better now. His vision is getting better each day, even though he's had really good vision. He's dialed in. He paid the price this summer, so he's done well up to this point." Held added that Morrison is definitely making a move to play.

– Held's group has all all been out there this fall. He knocked on wood. So that helps in the process of formulating the depth chart quickly, as hoped. "I'd say it's coming very quick down the train tracks," he said.

– Gabe Ervin knows the playbook "really well," his coach said. "He's a student of the game. He loves football. So he studies and it matters to him. That's the thing. It matters. That's why he's put himself in position to be a contender for the spot."

– Ervin told media he came in with the mindset to be the lead dog. Said you have to have that. "Yes, I'm ready."

– “I feel like Coach Held is in a good predicament in deciding who the lead back is,” said Markese Stepp

– Held brought up the old movie "Days of Thunder" when describing the mission for his backs. "Harry tells Tom Cruise, 'You've got to drive through the smoke.' We can'
t tiptoe through the smoke. We got to drive through that deal."

More updates to this coming.