The Huskers’ Sixth Practice News And Notes

As you can imagine, the Nebraska football team took precautions during their first practice with pads. There was popping, but thankfully it was just the Huskers’ equipment. It was encouraging to see Charles Jackson and Michael Rose-Ivey supporting each other through much of practice.

Rose-Ivey’s body language showed emotional devastation. He and Jackson also walked around encouraging players during stretches.

– None of the quarterbacks had fantastic days as consistency’s been a problem all week. Snaps were evenly distributed among five quarterbacks with all units including the first team.

– Armstrong had one of his better practices, but was knocked unconscious about midway through and didn’t return.

– Johnny Stanton was given a few opportunities to shine and continues to hit the short to intermediate passes, but struggles with the long ball. His quickness on the run remains.

Zack Darlington took snaps with the lower strings and did take some contact which is encouraging. Both led good drives against the No. 2 defense.

A.J. Bush continues to look the part and should do well against the scout team this season.

– The signal-callers ran a quick option drill early in practice. Tim Beck told the option pitchers, “Don’t flip it, just push it”. Armstrong looks very smooth pitching the ball.

– Quarterbacks and running backs joined each other for a running drill. During said drill, the ball carrier is supposed to burst through two pads and punch through a third.

Running Backs coach Ron Brown repeatedly yelled, “Be a violent runner!” Imani Cross and Johnny Stanton stuck out as just that.

– The quarterbacks are getting in sync with their receivers as camp goes on. Armstrong was on target when he was on the field. His best pass was a sideline go route to Alonzo Moore.

– Newby showed particularly good hands out of the backfield on a screen play; got upfield quickly.

-Running back Adam Taylor was helped off the field during scrimmage he appeared to be suffering from a leg injury.

– Chongo Kondolo worked extensively with the first team offense at right guard. Mike Moudy dropped down to second unit for the time being.

– David Knevel also ran with the first string offense at left tackle, as Alex Lewis was given most of the day off. Knevel looked much better than earlier in the week when going against Randy Gregory.

– Defensive end Greg McMullen continued a strong fall camp by showing off his play recognition skills. He broke up two screen passes.

– Defensive ends Joe Keels and Jack Gangwish played with the first string defense during the scrimmage when Randy Gregory was taken out. Gangwish particularly impressed, getting into the backfield multiple times.

– Marcus Newby saw more time at linebacker, often used in the pass rush role we’d heard Pelini mention for him.

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– Daniel Davie put in plenty of work at cornerback.

– Byerson Cockrell played well at the nickel spot, though he didn’t particularly stand out. He also got some work in at safety.

– Ameer Abdullah, Kenny Bell, Alonzo Moore, Jamal Turner, and Terell Newby worked at kick returner with Newby looking like a strong candidate for the No. 1 spot.

– Mauro Bondi and Drew Brown booted kickoffs during practice. Both did well on kickoffs but were once again inconsistent on field goals.

– The kickoff unit wore purple jerseys during kickoff practice. The players were wearing different numbers so they couldn’t be identified by the kick return team.

– Randy Gregory, Alex Lewis, and Josh Mitchell sat out of the final scrimmage. Most likely coaches wanted to get backups more reps (and not tempt fate).

– LeRoy Alexander continued practicing. He wasn’t in any base defense sets, but he suited up to go against the kick return team.

– Some position groups seen:

Linebackers: SAM – Santos, MIKE – Banderas, WILL – Anderson

Nickel: Santos and Banderas. Trevor Roach also spent some time at the MIKE slot while Banderas slipped to SAM.

Safeties: Corey Cooper, Nathan Gerry

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