Husker Football Notes, 10/4: Mann, Octavien back to practice
digg it!
Facebook
del.icio.us
Seed Newsvine
Fark It
Reddit
BY BRIAN ROSENTHAL / Lincoln Journal Star
Nebraska senior center Kurt Mann returned to practice Tuesday.
Mann, who has been recovering from mononucleosis, hasn’t played since Nebraska’s season-opening victory over Louisiana Tech. Junior Brett Byford has been starting in Mann’s place.
“If he’s ready, he’s ready,” Nebraska coach Bill Callahan said during Tuesday’s news conference. “If he’s not, we’ll just back him down for another day. We’ll take it a game at a time.”
It’s unclear whether Mann will be able to play Saturday night when No. 22 Nebraska plays Iowa State in Ames, Iowa.
Jay Norvell, Nebraska’s offensive coordinator, seemed encouraged by what he saw from Mann in Tuesday’s practice.
“It was a nice hot day, and he got a chance to get a good sweat going. He had a good workout today,” Norvell said. “He’s got a good look in his face again. It was great to have him back.”
Also, linebackers Steve Octavien and Clayton Sievers returned to practice Tuesday. Both have missed Nebraska’s last two games because of injuries.
Nebraska defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove said he was pleased with what he saw Tuesday from Octavien.
“We’re just going to watch him through the week and see how he develops,” Cosgrove said. “He picked up things very well (Tuesday). It was like he hasn’t missed a beat. I was happy with that.”
STICKING WITH BASE: Cosgrove said coaches are sticking with their base 4-3 defense against spread offensive sets because that base formation puts Nebraska’s best 11 players on the field. “I’m not going to take (linebacker) Stewart Bradley off the field,” Cosgrove said. “That makes sense, doesn’t it?” Cosgrove said coaches are developing players for a nickel package (five defensive backs). He singled out true freshmen Rickey Thenarse and Major Culbert as defensive backs who are making great progress. “As soon as those guys develop, we’ll move forward and get more and more into our playbook,” Cosgrove said. “You may see nickel this week. I don’t know.”
PAY NO ATTENTION: You may have noticed that Iowa State statistically ranks as one of the nation’s worst defensive teams. The Cyclones are ranked 108th against the pass (252.6 yards per game), 61st against the run (124.8) and 95th in total defense (377.4). Callahan’s thoughts? “Ah, meaningless,” he said. “Meaningless.” Callahan said the Cyclones may have given up some big plays but that they play hard. “If you watch them on film, they’re physical, they’re a young defense, they’ve got a lot of players that are just coming on.”
TAYLOR’S BIG GAME: Regarding the troubles Iowa State apparently has had defending the pass, remember that last year, Nebraska quarterback Zac Taylor had his coming-out party in a double-overtime victory over the Cyclones in Lincoln. Taylor set school passing marks by completing 36 of 55 passes for 431 yards and two touchdowns. “The receivers really played a big role, obviously, in that game,” Taylor said. “They played really smart. They were getting open. We ran a lot of crossing routes against them, and receivers were smart about sitting it down. And I had a lot of time to find them. That was the biggest thing.”
CALLING ON GLENN: Callahan said he was happy to see running back Cody Glenn bounce back from a third-quarter fumble and score the winning touchdown in overtime against Kansas. Glenn, who hadn’t played the previous two games, had five consecutive runs of 11, 4, 8 and 9 yards before fumbling on his next carry. Callahan noted Glenn’s 11-yard run on third-and-one. “He broke into the secondary, ran over the safety, lowered his pads,” he said. “What I like about Cody … his pads are over his feet. He’s got a lean in his run that allows him to get his pads down and to power over particular tackles. And he’s got enough quickness and change of direction to make people miss.”
RELYING ON THE RUN: Nebraska’s running attack has fared pretty well against the likes of Louisiana Tech (252 yards), Nicholls State (261) and Troy (316). It’s been a little bit of a different story against USC (68) and Kansas (116). Still, Taylor said he has confidence in the ground game as the Huskers continue Big 12 play. “I think we can run the ball on anybody with our offensive line,” Taylor said. “They do a good job. There are times when on a certain drive, teams are going to stop you. They’re on scholarship, too, and they’re going to make plays.”
UNLUCKY 13: Against Kansas, Nebraska tried a bit of trickery by lining up for a punt on fourth-and-1, then switching quickly with Taylor under center. Nebraska simply tried to draw KU offside, and then took a delay of game penalty. The problem? Corey McKeon, who, like Taylor, wears No. 13, was also on the field for the play. Frank Gaines, a former longtime college football official and now the clock operator at Nebraska home games, said Nebraska would’ve been penalized 5 yards for having two No. 13s on the field, “but since Nebraska had not snapped the ball, and since the ball was not declared ready for play, under the definition for ‘down,’ there was no penalty.”
Most Commented news