Mickey Illinois Prep Presser

[vailhusker]

 

[vailhusker]

Quick hits from Mickey Joseph's Thursday presser ahead of No. 17 Illinois​

Steve Marik • InsideNebraska
Staff Writer
@Steve_Marik

We're two days away from the Big Ten West division clash between No. 17 Illinois (6-1 overall, 3-1 in the Big Ten) and Nebraska (3-4, 2-2). The Huskers will try to snap a two-game losing streak to the Fighting Illini.
On Thursday morning, Husker interim head coach Mickey Joseph met with the media for the final time before Saturday. Here are the highlights of what he said.

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Joseph is focused on building a physical team​

On Tuesday, Joseph talked about how he wanted his team to match the opponent's physicality these next five games. How did he see his team respond this week at practice?
"I think they're a physical group right now. I think they believe they're a physical group," he said. "We had a physical practice Tuesday and a physical practice Wednesday. So we want to continue to be physical. We have to try to be the most physical team on the field every Saturday. That's what Nebraska was built on. Nebraska football was built on being physical, and that's what we have to get to."

Tommi Hill getting more comfortable at receiver​

Tommi Hill, the second-year player and transfer from Arizona State, started the first four games of the season at corner opposite Quinton Newsome, but has since moved to receiver.
Hill, a 6-foot, 200-pounder, used the bye week to work on his receiver skills, something he hasn't honed since he last played the position in high school. Joseph said Hill is working at the X receiver position, which is the receiver who lines up on the line of scrimmage most of the time.
"He had a better week this week," Joseph said.
Joseph added he's seen enough at practice to make him believe Hill can play receiver at the Power Five level. So Hill has been active at practice.
"What we're not going to do here is have them be robots. We don't coach the athleticism out of them," Joseph said. "So, before I let them do that, I'll stop a coach. So, Cass (Mike Cassano, interim receivers coach) has done a great job with him (Hill), getting him ready. He's a very athletic kid, that's his strength. So we have to let him play at his strength."

Nebraska practiced in the stadium Thursday​

The Huskers took to Memorial Stadium to practice on Thursday and will be inside the Hawks Championship Center on Friday, according to Joseph.
"We wanted to go in the stadium so we could get a feel for it," Joseph said. "The quarterbacks get to throw in the stadium, because the wind in Nebraska can be a little tricky at times."
Joseph said it was a good, detailed practice, and the players were "on point" with everything.

Joseph is proud of the backup inside linebackers​

Joseph said he's proud of the backup inside linebackers — guys like Eteva Mauga-Clements, Chris Kolarevic and Ernest Hausmann — because they went from playing around 20 snaps pre game to 60 following the injuries to starters Nick Henrich and Luke Reimer.
That's not the easiest thing to do.
"They were really detailed this week," Joseph said. "Ernest had a really good week of practice, so between those three kids, they'll have to hold their own. Luke's going to have to play more snaps since Nick's out. But I'm really proud of those three kids."

Rahmir Johnson update​

Rahmir Johnson was one of the key players on last year's Husker team. This season is a different story, however. Johnson was been caught between running back and receiver and hasn't cracked the rotation at either position.
How can Johnson get on the field and contribute on offense?
"He had to get healthy first of all, and he's healthy now," Joseph said. "He's stacked days. He had a really good week of practice this week."

Broc Bando update​

Broc Bando, a sixth-year player and starting right guard for the first six games, didn't make the trip to West Lafayette, Indiana, a couple weeks ago for the Purdue game. Second-year player Henry Lutovsky started in Bando's place.
Joseph declined to say why Bando didn't make the trip, but did give an availability update.
"We're trying to get him back, but we're going to look at him again tomorrow and we're going to look at him on Saturday to see if he'll be ready to go by game time," Joseph said. "Like I tell you with injuries, nobody tells these kids they're ready to come back unless they say, 'Mickey, I'm ready to go.'"

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Omar Manning update​

Joseph was asked if receiver Omar Manning was able to get back to work over the bye week, and Joseph responded by only saying, "No."
Manning hasn't played since suffering an injury at Rutgers and hasn't caught a pass since Georgia Southern.

InsideNebraska - Quick hits from Mickey Joseph's Thursday presser ahead of No. 17 Illinois

Mickey Joseph spoke with the media for the final time before Saturday's game against No. 17 Illinois.

nebraska.rivals.com

 

[LoudHogRider]

Joseph was asked if receiver Omar Manning was able to get back to work over the bye week, and Joseph responded by only saying, "No."
Manning hasn't played since suffering an injury at Rutgers and hasn't caught a pass since Georgia Southern.

He - and his production - will be mist ...

 

[Baron Winnebago]

He - and his production - will be mist ...

We'll always have that one touchdown reception that stood after video review.

 

[LoudHogRider]

We'll always have that one touchdown reception that stood after video review.