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Takeaways on Husker Presser Day: Oklahoma week arrives
ByBRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON 35 minutes agoThe 'rivalry' was departing before most of them entered this world.
Questions at Monday's press conference attempting to dig into that subject with Husker players were not going to produce any dramatic memories, beyond versions of the Nebraska-Oklahoma rivalry they have heard about in snippets from others, or seen on old highlights.
Nebraska players on the current roster just knows this version of Oklahoma football is quite good, with a top-tier offensive mind as head coach and a potential top draft pick at quarterback. It's a top-five team with talent and speed all over the field.
Still, Husker wide receiver Samori Toure gave the only appropriate answer from a competitor when asked about being Nebraska being big underdogs to the Sooners, who posted a 76-0 win over Western Carolina this weekend after a first-week 40-35 survival act against Tulane.
"What type of team would we be if we didn't believe, you know?" Toure said.
Let's take off with that same ambition with some presser takeaways.
WHAT ABOUT THESE INJURIES?
Attention is on who exactly the Huskers have available at wide receiver and tight end this week. If you think Scott Frost is going to give that away, guess again. Perhaps in one or two cases, he doesn't know yet."We were down since a lot of our best guys weren’t playing on Saturday," Frost said. "A lot of the consistent players weren’t playing (due to injuries) but the guys who came in did a good job and played hard. But those guys are some of our most talented and skilled guys and we need them back. We know they’re working hard to get back on the field."
He's talking about Austin Allen and Travis Vokolek at tight end, and Oliver Martin, Omar Manning and Zavier Betts at receiver. Martin has missed the past two weeks, but seems close to a possible return. Vokolek was testing out his ankle a couple hours before the game Saturday. Manning was in a boot. Allen and Manning are new injuries, and the worry on Allen is attached to Frost's confirmation that it was a head injury. "Hopefully he recovers quickly." Head injuries, of course, are about a guy passing protocol than simply wanting to play.
Even Chris Hickman, who had 90 receiving yards in Saturday's game, has been playing hurt.
Obviously the Huskers hope to get some of those guys back, yet there's the big picture of the entire fall to consider too, with some just-as-important games that need got against Michigan State and Northwestern in the weeks right after. Just saying, this week's game may have a bigger audience but it's not any bigger than those. The Huskers need to come out of the game in Normal being as close to full strength as possible, n0 matter the outcome.
WHEN'S THE CUTOFF ON KNOWING WHO'S AVAILABLE?
When it comes to those guys on the fence, how much practice time is needed this week to feel good about including them in the game plan for Oklahoma?"“I mean, you want to know on Monday but sometimes you do not have that luxury," Frost said. "We want guys to have practiced if we are going to play them. There is some unique circumstances where you have veterans that have been there-done that, and if you get them back at the end that is probably good enough. But guys need to train in order to perform well and we want them back as soon as possible.”
Oliver Martin would be important to have back after he had more than 100 yards receiving opening week. Can he jump back in without missing a beat or does that take some time to get things spinning right again?
“I think there is a little bit of an adjustment period in all honesty, but that’s on us..." Martinez said. "Maybe we need to get a couple extra reps after practice but still have done a ton of work over the summer and countless other reps that are added to that as well.”
NOT SATISFIED
Left tackle Turner Corcoran still has only three college starts under his belt. That's worth remembering.But the young Husker is already tough on himself in analyzing his play. “I am not satisfied with how I have been playing. I need to tighten up, that is for sure," he said.
What's disappointing him so far? “Like this last game, for instance, I did a little bit better job in the pass game. I still overset a couple of times on the fly technique but there are things that I am just not satisfied with with how I have been playing. Like in the spring, I was playing a lot better. Obviously rolling off an injury, it is not quite the same but I just need to get back to that level of play I was playing at in the spring.”
ABOUT THAT RUNNING GAME...
Scott Frost said after Saturday's game he wasn't content with the production Nebraska was getting out of its base running plays.That's shared responsibility, he said. While Adrian Martinez said he thinks the Huskers are close to getting it on track, it takes detailed work in the trenches and backs picking the right spots with the football in their hands.
Corcoran said nobody on the Husker O-line feels OK about where the running attack is. It is not just me. It is not just Coach (Greg) Austin. It is all of us. We are a unit and we all think and feel like the same thing all of the time. We know when things are supposed to hit and they were not hitting the way we were wanting them to. We were not blocking it the way we should have and like we know how to do. We just need to do a better job.”
Frost said it's not on just the O-line.
"I think it’s a combination and that we have to be more consistent. On some plays, it's one guy here or there or it's missing a hole in another play. They had the box packed so that made it a little tough but we still need to be able to work on that. It has to be a collective effort with the tight ends and running backs and offensive line and the receivers."
ERVIN'S ATTITUDE IMPRESSES FROST
While the Husker running attack struggled to get the I-backs rolling (111 yards on a combined 31 carries On Saturday), true freshman Gabe Ervin did pop free on a few runs in the second half.He finished the day with 58 yards on 10 carries and showed his burst when getting to the perimeter.
"The thing I liked the best was that it looked like he was running with a little bit of attitude and like he was going to make the play happen and find a hole and get us yards," Frost said. "We need an aggressive attitude, including with the running back group."
READING BETWEEN THE LINES
How do you essentially say it was a bad call without saying it's a bad call?Frost pulled off that maneuver on Monday when asked if the Huskers could have operated in a different matter to keep from drawing the flag on the offensive pass interference call that wiped a touchdown off the board Saturday. One of three TDs that came off the board due to penalty.
"I don't think anything could have been done differently, no," Frost answered.
Enough said. Read you loud and clear.
YOU'RE UP FIRST, DEFENSE
Husker defenders were obviously a big fan of Frost's decision to defer after winning the toss before the Buffalo game, which put the Blackshirts on the field first. That hasn't been the usual move in the Frost era, but you wonder if it might become more common.“I trust the defense," the coach said. "We talked about trying to score at the end of the first half and getting the ball back in the second half. And I think with the way the wind was blowing, we would kick it through the end zone, and we want to put the defense out there and have the possession in the second half. That probably will not always be that way but that first couple weeks we felt like that was the right decision.”
TOUGH GUY TO RATTLE
Oklahoma has long been a program to, in Barry Switzer terms, "hang half a hundred" on opponents.Certainly the Sooners have been one of the most explosive offenses in college football in the Lincoln Riley era, and he knows how to make QBs into Heisman winners too. Spencer Rattler could be the next candidate.
"Wow, you turn it on and the speed just pops out right away," Frost said. "At every position, the size and speed of the guys. So really encouraging our guys to execute the same way we have been and improve that, but try to do it as absolute fast as possible. Because I know the speed of Oklahoma is going to be a little different than what we have seen the last couple weeks. He can make any throw ... and he is surrounded by really good O-line and a lot of weapons on the perimeter and the backfield. So formidable opponent, for sure.”
That OU defense, led by coordinator Alex Grinch, may have had some stumbles against Tulane in Week 1, but Frost expects them to be a different animal from what Nebraska has seen too.
“They are tough to figure out. He does a good job mixing things up, disguising things. You can not always tell what colors they are in. When their line moves and stunts a lot, it creates chaos on defense is the best way I can say it. I have known Alex for quite a while. Good guy, good coach.”
NO BIG SPEECHES NEEDED
Frost believes building up the proper emotion for a game like this one will take care of itself."I don’t think there is going to be a lot of motivational speaking that’s going to need to be done," he said. "These guys know how good of a team we are getting ready to play and they’re going to be in the spotlight nationally. I think the guys are excited and we’ve gotten a lot better over the last few weeks. We need to keep that going and keep improving on the things we haven’t done well on.”
QUOTE FOR THE ROAD
We'll let wide receiver Samori Toure have the last word, since he got us started at the top. Here's how he finished off that thought about Nebraska not backing down from the challenge ahead."I see no reason why we can't go in there and talk to the world. I wouldn't say we have to play a perfect game but we definitely have to be dialed in on everything. We can't beat ourselves and shoot ourselves in the foot. We have to play with discipline."
