Nebraska Football: News And Notes From Practice No. 14

Another practice, another chance to see how newbies are stepping up to help take the place of Nebraska football’s walking wounded. Let’s have a look at how this morning’s practice turned out:

(Thanks to our own Jake Bockoven for his amazing work in bringing us these notes as always):

-A large crowd was on hand. A number of players’ family members joined the media on the sideline. Tom Osborne was also present.

– Some players missed practice due to graduation (Jake Cotton, Zaire Anderson, Kevin Williams)

– Offensive lineman Corey Whitaker is out for the year with a torn ACL.

– Fullback Andy Janovich and offensive lineman Zach Sterup are both a coin toss to play against Florida Atlantic.

– The offense and defense appear to be digging deeper into the playbook.

– The offense ran bootlegs, screens, and draws and showed the diamond formation.

– The defense worked on their blitz packages, including standing up a prowling Randy Gregory behind the line.

– Defensive Corodinator John Papuchis was outwardly impressed by the effectiveness of the blitz packages.

– Quarterbacks Tommy Armstrong, Jr. and Ryker Fyfe both took snaps versus No. 1 defense today. Stanton only practiced with No. 3 team offense.

– Armstrong had a strong day controlling the offense and reading blitzes.

– He continues to throw low on short and intermediate routes causing more drops by his receivers (this kind of throw notably plagued Quincy Enunwa and Kenny Bell in 2013). After a slow start, he finished strong, carving up the defense by the end of practice.

– Fyfe had an up and down day as the flow of the No. 2 offense was off. He was not always on target either, throwing a pick to linebacker Trevor Roach.

– Running back Terrell Newby anticipated to be back by Monday. Still no Brandon Reilly.

– The Huskers may be able to play four scholarship running backs this year. Mikale Wilbon looks the part and made a spectacular one-handed catch while running with the second team offense.

– Wide receivers have looked stellar in camp so far, but today was not one of their best days. Many had trouble catching, on or off target. Kenny Bell did drop a few. After one drop, Bell dropped to the ground and started doing push-ups.

– True freshman tight end Freedom Akinmouladin looks very raw. Expect him to redshirt.

– Offensive guard Dylan Utter got a look with the No. 1 offense, replacing Cotton. Givens Price continued playing at right tackle

– Defensive ends Jack Gangwish and AJ Natter appear to have a step on grabbing the backup spots. Both were thrown in with the No. 1 team so the coaches could get a look. Gangwish looked particularly impressive when bull rushing.

– Defensive tackle Kevin Maurice continues to look impressive with the second unit. Look for him to get opportunities on obvious passing downs as he excels at disrupting throws.

– Linebacker Courtney Love is impressing at linebacker. Coaches are trying to get a good read on him. He was thrown in with the No. 1 defense at the start of scrimmage and stayed in with No. 2 unit at times.

– The defensive backs were a large part of making the offense look bad at times. Cornerbacks were constantly in receivers’ faces, often jumping routes to get an knockdown or interception.

– Josh Mitchell and Byerson Cockrell stood out as pass-jumpers. Daniel Davie continues to get the No. 1 unit snaps opposite Mitchell, while Jonathan Rose is working with the second unit.

News And Notes From Nebraska Football Practice No. 14

By Brandon Cavanaugh | Aug 16, 2014