The Huskers hit the practice field today,
but not for a practice. Head Coach Bo Pelini said after today’s session
that they conducted a situational walkthrough instead. “We had some
situations we wanted to cover, and it gives your guys a legs break so we
can hit the ground running on Monday and get ready for Western Kentucky,” he said.
The three weeks of the camp has been
one that thus far, Pelini has been happy with as far as certain aspects
go, one of the big ones being the physical aspect. Pelini, noted for
his penchant for intensity, said that from that standpoint it’s gone
very well. “It was real physical. The guys practiced hard and I thought
we got a lot of work done,” Pelini said. “Guys played hard. Overall, I
think it was a pretty consistent effort. I thought it was good
competition.”
On what areas he saw the most growth:
“I
thought I saw it across the board. Believe, we are not battle tested.
We are not the finished product by any means, but I have seen growth in a
lot of areas. Time to focus on Western Kentucky, but what we need to do
is get ready to play football (and) continue our growth. It’s game week
now.”
On potentially playing all three contenders at quarterback:
“It’s
like any other position. We will play what we need to do to win the
football game. We could play 10 guys. I don’t have a crystal ball. We
have our plan, but you will just have to wait to see what it is.”
Dealing with Injuries
“I
think it helps that we are a deeper football right now. I feel pretty
good about where we are injury-wise. Losing a couple of guys is never
fun. That’s never good. That’s part of the game. I think we have more
than capable depth and replacements for those guys. Obviously, anytime
you lose anyone, it’s not good for the football team, but most
importantly it’s not good for those kids. I feel for them, because they
have worked really hard in the off-season and you hate for their season
to get taken away.”
On potentially releasing a depth chart:
“No, not really. That’s kind of a flowing thing. We’ll see. I don’t really see any need to do that.”
On the eagerness to just get out there and play:
“Guys are sick of hitting each other and they are ready to play some football and see where we are.”
On freshman receiver Quincy Enunwa:
“I
think he’s played pretty well. I think he definitely has shown us some
ability. He’s a mature kid. He’s shown he’s a very capable player, so
we’re not afraid to use him.”
On how he feels about situation with safeties:
“I feel good about them. I feel we have good depth. I think they’ve made progress. I feel real good about that spot.”
On senior defensive end Pierre Allen:
“I
think he’s had a big time camp. He’s played really well. He is playing
at a pretty high level right now. I think his confidence has just grown.
I think he’s healthier, bigger, faster, stronger than he has been. He
played at a pretty high level last year, but he looks like a guy focused
on taking it to another level this year.”
On if there are any concerns after three weeks:
“There
are always concerns. Probably my biggest is that we haven’t played a
game yet. You’ve got to go out there, and you’ve got to get out there
for the first time and do it when the lights come on. One place in
particular, probably playing a team that we don’t have much of an idea
of what they are going to do and how they are going to do it. It’s just
kind of an unusual opener. It’s hard to really nail down how to prepare
for this football team. But we have been there before, so it’s not that
big of an issue. I just think we are ready to play. I am ready to get
started.”
On how you prepare for an unfamiliar opponent:
“Obviously
you want to look at their personnel. You want to kind of see what those
guys looked like from last year. From a coaching standpoint, you have
to jump around a little bit, which is not the most ideal situation, but
it doesn’t affect our players very much.”
On balancing touches with running backs:
“Our
guys are all capable and pretty interchangeable. I think it’s a good
problem to have. They are all going to get their touches. They are all
going to get playing time.”
On dealing with higher expectations:
“I
could care less about expectations, because my expectations are a lot
higher than anybody else’s. I’m going to go about my business, and we
are going to do our thing as a staff and as a football team based on our
standards and those are really high.”
The Huskers will return to the practice field on Monday as we officially hit the less-than-one-week mark until the official beginning of the season.