BRIAN ROSENTHAL / Lincoln Journal Star | Posted: Tuesday, August 29, 2006 7:00 pm
With Nebraska’s inexperienced and somewhat depleted secondary, do coaches expect opponents to unleash a barrage of passes?
Not any more than normal, said NU coach Bill Callahan.
“You’re going to get thrown at, especially in the Big 12,” Callahan said. “This is a spread-offense league. You’re going to have the ball thrown at you, I don’t care who you’re playing against. You’re going to get tested.”
Nebraska will have one secondary player — junior Cortney Grixby — who’s a returning starter at his position, when the season begins Saturday.
Junior college transfer Andre Jones will start at the other corner position. He replaces Zackary Bowman, who’s out for the season with an ACL injury. Jones missed some practice time with a sore hamstring but appears to be fine.
“Andre is very gifted, athletically,” Callahan said. “He’s picked up the system very well. He’s shown the ability to play all the variations of coverage, whether it’s press, bump, off technique. Coach (Phil) Elmassian is wearing him out.”
Tierre Green, a cornerback last season, and Andrew Shanle will make their first career starts at strong and free safety, respectively. Among their top backups are a pair of true freshmen, Major Culbert and Rickey Thenarse.
“They are what we thought they were and thought they were going to be,” Callahan said of the freshmen duo. “They have good speed, athleticism, physicality, they have the ability to play coverage. They’re young. They’re still learning. They’re going to make some errors here and there.
“They learn quickly. They don’t repeat the same type of error in their game.”
Junior Ben Eisenhart is listed as co-No. 2 with Culbert at strong safety.
As for a nickel back? Callahan said Titus Brothers, Isaiah Fluellen and Tyrell Spain can interchange at the position. Fluellen and Spain are converted receivers who’ve never played defensive back on the Division I-A level.
THE OTHER BACK: With so much talk about Nebraska’s situation at running back, some may have forgotten fullback Dane Todd, a senior from Lincoln. Callahan said Todd has been an oversight. “He’s done a remarkable job, and he’s kind of the quiet guy in that mix where he’s going to see quite a bit of playing time, and he’s a guy that has all the tools that you look for in a quality fullback,” Callahan said. “He’s smart, he’s tough and he’s versatile. He can play a lot of different roles. He can line up in the H-Back roll, off the line of scrimmage, out of the backfield. You can motion him out of the backfield. He’s a good receiver. He’s got good hands. He’s a guy that I’m really proud of.”
O-LINE CHATTER: Tuesday’s depth chart revealed no surprises among the offensive line starters. But what about the backups? Callahan said the line is getting deeper and able to rotate more players. “I look at the second offensive line, they’re certainly capable of taking a series or two throughout the game, whether it’s early, mid-point or late, they’re certainly capable,” he said. “I’ve got tremendous confidence in that group as a whole.”
As a whole, Callahan described the O-line as a “solid” line.
“There’s progress,” he said. “There’s improvement. We’ll have to look at it on Saturday, see how it looks under pressure.”
PURIFY NO. 2: Highly touted junior college transfer Maurice Purify is listed co-No. 2 with Frantz Hardy at the “X” receiver position, behind starter Nate Swift.
“He came in and competed well,” Callahan said of Purify. “He’s always a threat when we put him on the field. Coach (Ted) Gilmore is confident we can give him a package of plays where he can go out and execute and grow from that package.”
Also, true freshman Menelik Holt is listed third at “X” receiver, a good indication he’ll play at some point this season. And although he’s not on the depth chart, sophomore Chris Brooks shouldn’t be ruled out, either.
“There is a role for Chris as well,” Callahan said.