Culbert's speed has him on the move
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By BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star
Major Culbert is not the sort to waste many words answering questions.
How’d practice go Tuesday?
“I did a helluva job today,” he said. “Just got to keep rising.”
Think you might factor into Saturday’s game against Missouri?
“Praying on it. Hoping.”
You like defense or offense better?
“I just want to play. Defense is fine. Offense is fine. I just want to be on the field.”
The sophomore has worn white practice jerseys (offense) and red practice jerseys (defense) since arriving in Lincoln. He has played safety, then running back, and, for the last week-and-a-half, linebacker.
You’d think all that moving might be enough to make a guy cranky.
That ain’t Culbert.
Asked what Culbert brings to the linebacker corps, sophomore Phillip Dillard said: “He adds more of a want-to-be-out-there, excited, joyful guy. He’s happy to be here to play. He wants to earn a Blackshirt.”
It is rarely a curse to be versatile, but maybe, in some ways, that’s what hurt Culbert here.
Back at Narbonne High School in California, the 6-foot, 210-pound Culbert ran for more than 4,000 yards and had 37 touchdowns as a running back. He had almost 2,000 rushing yards as a senior.
Yet as much as he liked touchdowns, he maybe liked hitting more. The Huskers recruited him as a safety, and Culbert was pretty pleased with that.
After all, this is a guy who as a high school junior had 90 tackles, seven sacks, two interceptions and three fumble recoveries while playing defensive back.
College football is a different animal, of course. When Culbert got here, playing time was not easily had.
He played in 12 games and finished with 12 tackles, but mostly he was relegated to special-teams play.
This frustrated some face-painted onlookers, especially those ones who were paying attention last year when the Huskers played Missouri.
For that game, Husker defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove broke out his “Joker package” — a 3-3-5 defense that he thought might match up well against Missouri’s spread offense.
It was a defense that emphasized speed, and Culbert certainly had that. Playing a linebacker/safety hybrid that day, he had six tackles, four solo stops. The Huskers won 34-20.
A hero for a day, Culbert went back to mostly special teams work. No shame in that, but not much glory, either.
Then in December, with the other running backs hobbled, Husker coach Bill Callahan started practicing Culbert with the offense leading up to the Cotton Bowl.
That is where Culbert stayed through the first four games of this season.
As a running back, Culbert had five carries for 35 yards and a nifty 17-yard touchdown, all in the season opener against Nevada.
With Culbert going largely unused and the defense looking downright ugly — not to mention slow of foot — in a 41-40 win over Ball State, the coaches called Culbert back to defense.
That must’ve been hard switching sides of the ball in midseason?
“It was relatively easy, to tell you the truth,” Culbert said. “You have to get in the playbook, but other than that, everything was natural.”
Culbert did not play in Saturday’s 35-17 win against Iowa State — his first game back on defense — but Cosgrove said he could have.
“Unbelievable,” is how he described Culbert’s progress since coming back to defense.
A lot of questions have been asked about Culbert this week with a road trip to No. 17 Missouri on the doorstep.
Given his success last year, the thinking is the Huskers might give the Tigers a heavy dose of Culbert in the Joker package.
“Hopefully,” Culbert said. “I’m trusting in the coaches. Hopefully I get out there.”
Cosgrove, of course, wasn’t biting on how, or if, they’ll use Culbert.
“Depending on what we’re doing we’ll see,” he said. He’s working hard this week. He had an outstanding practice this week. He really shows up, tremendous speed bursts to the ball.”
Dillard just hopes Missouri gets to see some of those speed bursts Saturday.
“I hope that Coach will use him and play him and let him make big plays,” Dillard said. “Because that’s what we need is people out there who want to make plays.”
Reach Brian Christopherson at 473-7439 or bchristopherson@journalstar.com.
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