BRIAN ROSENTHAL / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Wednesday, September 15, 2004 7:00 pm
Lance Brandenburgh and Michael Keenan are true freshmen on the Nebraska football team.
They're not sitting out this season. They're playing. On special teams.
Playing. Contributing. Learning. Helping. Call it whatever you want.
Just don't use the words "burn" and "redshirt" in front of Nebraska special-teams coordinator Bill Busch.
"It's a missed concept, I guess, that playing special teams means you're burning a redshirt year," Busch said. "They're contributing in a great area for us. They're playing football. That's what they came here to do. That's what they're doing."
That's how Brandenburgh and Keenan see it, too.
When the NU roommates received the call last week from graduate assistant coach Aaron Stamn, saying that Busch wanted to meet with them the next morning about playing on special teams, they didn't hesitate.
"It's fun getting on the field," Keenan said. "It's a lot better than watching the game."
Brandenburgh, a native of Overland Park, Kan., and Keenan, of Kansas City, Mo., saw their first collegiate action in Saturday's loss to Southern Mississippi. Both played on the punt block and kickoff return teams. Keenan also played on the kickoff cover team. Both are backups on punt protection.
Never mind if they don't see a snap this season at their regular position linebacker.
"I think it's worth it, as long as we're helping out the team," Brandenburgh said.
"Coaches want to win right now, and so do we. I definitely don't like losing."
Brandenburgh and Keenan emerged as special-teams contributors a week after Nebraska struggled covering kickoffs and returning punts and kickoffs in its season opener against Western Illinois. Among the problems were ball security and allowing kickoff returns of 98 and 75 yards.
Busch said those problems were correctable, and have been corrected. He also said they weren't the sole reason coaches decided to play Brandenburgh and Keenan.
"They were playing very well," Busch said. "We just wanted to get them on the field. That's what it came down to.
"It wasn't so much someone else had to be replaced, as much as those guys were just really good. We just had to get them ready to go play. It was more their ability."
Santino Panico, another true freshman, also debuted in the Southern Miss game as a punt returner. He cleanly fielded four punts, returning two for a total of 10 yards.
Keenan, a WILL linebacker, and Brandenburgh, a MIKE linebacker, figured they would probably redshirt this season but didn't rule anything out. Brandenburgh described it as being "kind of on the bubble."
And Keenan?
"I was pretty surprised. I didn't expect (to play)," Keenan said. "I went through all of two-a-days and all the other practices, and I just wasn't good enough to play linebacker, or anything like that. And then they're like, Hey, you should do special teams.' It was definitely surprising."
Early reviews are good, Busch said. He was impressed with the duo's play and their ability to respond quickly. And the Huskers had no glaring special-teams breakdowns against Southern Miss.
Nebraska defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach Kevin Cosgrove was also pleased.
"We think they're very good football players," Cosgrove said. "As freshmen, especially guys that we're going to count on next year, I think it's a great experience, a great learning experience for them to get game action, no matter what their role is. I think it always helps them the following year."
That's not to say that, since they're already playing, Brandenburgh and Keenan won't see some time at linebacker this season. It might come in a lopsided game, or perhaps in the event of an injury or two.
"Those guys are heavily involved in our depth at those positions," said Busch, who also coaches outside linebackers. "This gives them an opportunity to know that they can be in the game at any time, also, at the linebacker spots."
Said Brandenburgh: "If we get a chance to play (linebacker) … it'd be awesome to get in there."
Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.