Quick Hits Tuesday Press Conference

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Tuesday Quick Hits: Latest from Husker coordinators​

ByBRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON 3 hours ago

Matt Lubick and Erik Chinander were among the Husker coaches and players who met with media following Tuesday's practice.

No filler at the top. Let's just jump in with some Quick Hits:

– Omar Manning and Zavier Betts are to the point where "they know the whole game plan," Lubick said. "We trust them. And even though Oliver (Martin) hasn't played, we're hoping we can get him back this week, we feel like we have pretty good depth... Some of those reasons those guys made plays is they were fresh when their numbers came up. So we need to continue to do that the way those two guys in particular are progressing."

– Lubick said it's "whoever practices the best" at left guard. Trent Hixson took that spot instead of Ethan Piper against Oklahoma. Broc Brando has been out but hopefully returns soon. Nouredin Nouili is another interior option that on Monday Scott Frost said could be on the left or right side. "We'll probably play at least two left guards ... but with every position it's whoever practices the best."

– Nebraska's defense did play well, Chinander would agree. And the effort was unbelievable, he thought. But you accept everyone telling you that, "Or you can look at the film objectively and say, 'That wasn't as good as we are.'"


– It was confirmed by Ryan Held that Gabe Ervin is out for the rest of the season. Lubick said as coaches you are prepared for an injury at running back at some point. Unfortunately, it's the nature of the position. Same thought on that from Lubick as past weeks: They feel they have four guys who can play and each practice week will settle who's the guy. "And if a guy gets in the game, and gets on a roll, and is running the ball really hard and he has the hot hand, then he'll take multiple carries.

– Chinander said the Huskers are doing a much better job of keeping the QB in the pocket, despite having only four sacks. "Obviously the sacks are disappointing, plus when you look at it globally, there's been a lot of times when the guy is getting the ball out because he's getting pressure. We're doing a good job of getting our hands in throwing lanes." A lot of ways to impact the QB besides sacks, the coach said. He also noted OU kept a back in most of the game for protection.

– There isn't one worrying stat that has Chinander's full attention. "I know right now, Oklahoma, we didn't get off the field on third down enough. That's got to get better. Some of that is on me too. I need to do a better job with that ... But the rest of the stats, I couldn't really tell you right now."

– Lubick could tell from the start of camp Rahmir Johnson wasn't going to leave the conversation earlier. The coach pointed out Johnson has the most experience and knows the system as well as anyone. "Tribute to his character, not being the one starting off, and and not getting a lot of plays the first couple games, he never stopped prepared the way he prepared." Lubick said a guy in that situation has two choices: 1) It doesn't matter what I do, I won't play. 2) Work harder. "He worked harder."

– Michigan State is tough, and it shows on tape, Lubick said. It also shows the Spartans tackle well. From Nebraska's standpoint, Chinander was mostly pleased with the tackling the first three games, but thought it lacked some against Oklahoma. "Now obviously they have some really good players ... so you're going to have a few extra misses, but a little too many for me. I think we're a much better tackling team than we showed last week."

– The fight from players on offense for four quarters was a positive to Lubick. The negatives he pointed to first were the penalties. "We got to score in the red zone ... We got to get better at. It shouldn't have come down to three field goals. We should have been able to punch some of those in."

– Chinander said Michigan State running back Kenneth Walker III, the nation's leading rusher, will really challenge your leverage. Film shows a lot of missed tackles on him, "so we need to get a lot of hats to the ball."

– The Husker DC credited the Spartan quarterback Payton Thorne for avoiding mistakes. He has nine touchdowns to no interceptions. He'll take a sack instead of throwing it up in desperation. But Chinander also said Michigan State has some receivers who can go win 50/50 balls too.

Thorne isn't to be confused with Michael Vick back there, but Chinander also said there are some plays on film where the QB has tucked it and showed he can roll a little bit. So there needs to be awareness of that too.

– When it comes to the mental health of players, a topic Omar Manning opened up about on Monday, Lubick said sometimes a guy dealing with something can disguise something he's struggling with. "But sometimes if you can break down the barrier with guys feeling comfortable telling you about how how they're playing ... then you have the culture you need. I think Coach Frost does a good job with that creating an atmosphere where players can come in and talk about. I know as coaches, that's what we're here to do, is help guys."

– Casey Rogers is back to 90 to 95 percent, according to Tony Tuioti. He was on the trip to Oklahoma so don't be surprised if you see him get his first snaps of the season this week.

– Lubick said the Huskers have officials out there every day and will continue to diligently address the false start problem on the O-line. "We change up cadence, we do different things. We actually have our scout-team defense try to draw us offsides and try to make it harder in practice than it is in the games, to build on that. We address it, but we still need to be a lot better at it."

Sometimes defense are yelling and moving. "And we practice all that. But at the end of the day, a pre-snap penalty is focus and discipline."

– The return of Travis Vokolek is a big deal "because he blocks like an offensive tackle," Lubick said. He can also split out and run like a receiver. "He just lets you do so many more things when you have him in the game plan." He likes the top four tight ends, including Vokolek, Austin Allen, Chris Hickman and Chancellor Brewington, who he calls "a great surprise." But Vokolek "brings a level of physicality that is different and it showed up in the game against Oklahoma."

 

[vailhusker]

Held talks Ervin, rotation and more​

ByMICHAEL BRUNTZ 3 hours ago
1


Nebraska running backs coach Ryan Held confirmed Tuesday that freshman running back Gabe Ervin will miss the rest of the season after suffering an injury in the loss to No. 3 Oklahoma.

With Ervin out for the year, the competition continues for Nebraska’s running back room with a date against No. 20 Michigan State looming on Saturday.

“Every day we go out and are getting better and I feel good about Rahmr (Johnson), I feel good about Markese (Stepp), I feel good about Sevion (Morrison), we’re moving (Jaquez) Yant up the ladder a little bit. He’s getting better in practice and Marvin (Scott) is. The rest of the guys are hungry and ready to go on Saturday.”

Against Oklahoma, it was Johnson, Ervin and Morrison who saw the field on offense. Johnson saw the bulk of the snaps. Junior Markese Stepp didn’t carry the ball, though he was available. Held said he was riding the hot hand to a degree with his rotation.

“I had every intention of all the guys being ready, and Rahmir was in a flow and I just felt really good about it and I really didn’t want to mess that flow up. It wasn’t anything Markese did, I just felt really good about where we were at,” Held said. “I told the guys we have eight games we’re promised, so they need to be ready to go because there’s going to be a lot of physicality.”


Quick Notes:

— One key for Jaquez Yant was dropping weight, according to Held. Yant got together with director of nutrition Dave Ellis and has been successful in getting down to a lower weight. Held said the difference has been noticeable.

“He was in a situation where he needed to lose some weight and he’s done that,” Held said. “You watch him out there he’s a different guy compared to the weight he was at.”

— Held said Gabe Ervin was probably the team’s most consistent running back in pass protection prior to his injury.

— Held said that prior to fall camp he had a bit of a direct conversation with Rahmir Johnson about needing to make a move on the depth chart or get left behind. Held said he has been impressed with how Johnson has continued to improve over the last year, and said that he’s doing less “gliding” during practice and really turning on the jets and using his speed.


— Held said Michigan State looks like a typical hard-nosed Big Ten team. He said Michigan State doesn’t allow you many “gimmes.”

— Held said the play that resulted in Ervin getting hurt was schemed up well and set for a big gain. "When they lined up how they lined up, we were calling it and, I mean we couldn't have aligned them up better. If we said 'line up here, line up here' that's how we wanted them to line up," Held said.