NEBRASKA FOOTBALL FALL PRESS CONFERENCE WITH COACH RHULE
Robert Hamberg
Hello Husker Nation! As fall camp continues into its second week we have already seen quite a few noteworthy news story lines. From unfortunate injuries to some insight on our potential QB1. On Saturday Head Coach Matt Rhule held a press conference to discuss the week of practice with the media, here are some of the highlights from his press conference:
– Neither the defense or the offense appears to have an upper hand in the practices
– Turner Corcoran is cleared to practice, but will not be practicing until Monday. Rhule says that he will be an important piece of the offense moving forward.
– Gunner Gottula has all the measurables that you look for in an offensive lineman.
– The offense is getting to a point where they can start being more creative, even with all the true freshman that will be playing. Rhule emphasized that “we have enough players to win.”
– Minus a couple turnovers in some areas the head coach does not want to see, the QB play has been good. The ball is moving and passes are being thrown and caught.
– Rhule’s biggest thing he is looking for in QB’s is how they respond when things are going wrong, how well can they handle adversity. Noting that Heinrich Haarberg is used to the fire because he has seen it.
– Tristan Alvano is in the 120 man roster and kicking at the moment.
– Kickers have been fairly consistent at this time in camp and have been almost automatic from within 25 yards, and fairly reliable within the 30 yard line.
– Rhule likes the whole RB group but the big challenge is needing a RB that can protect, catch passes, and turn those 4 yard runs into 8 or 80 by making a defender or two miss
– The defense came out on Wednesday and Saturday with unbelievable competitive nature and is getting better at pressuring the QB and taking the ball away. The big question moving forward is can the defense take away big plays.
– Blye Hill is now on the 120 man roster and can now do individual work
– Jerimiah Charles injured his shoulder, unknown the extent of injury. Rhule described it as a “dinged up” shoulder.
– The defense will be looking to rotate at least 3 Linebackers
– Saturday’s practice was closed completely to the public, however Coach Tom Osborne showed up and the Husker staff wisely chose to let him stay and observe.
– Saturdays scrimmage was done the same way that Rhule scrimmaged at Baylor in 2019.
– The team scrimmage was held on grass versus in the stadium on turf.
– Players are moving out of the dorms today
– Princewell Umanmielin’s talent is very apparent and Rhule said he needs to continue and improve upon his successful freshman season.
– Jake Peter had a lower extremity injury, meniscus repair, will most likely be out the rest of the season.
– Brice Turner will be out with a broken bone in the hand, unknown when he will return.
– Single digit jersey’s will be voted on next week by the team.
Saturday’s press conference lasted 17 minutes and Head Coach Matt Rhule covered on a lot of topics fairly quick. Overall it seemed that Rhule is pleased with the progress of this years camp and the progression of both the offense and defense. To me this seemed like the kind of press conference an established coach with an established team would be giving. There was no fluff, there was no off topic tangents, just a quick rundown of what happened this week and where the team sits from a competitive stand point. As fall camp progresses I feel more and more like this is going to be a team that is going to surprise a lot of people nationally.
By now we all know that Tony White and his defense will be strong again, but do not sleep on this offense. Not only do we have more competition at the QB spot, we also have much more depth at the wide receiver, running back, and tight end spots. These QB’s will have bigger targets to throw to and I expect this offensive line to be able to provide better pass protection, even with the loss of Teddy Prochazka. Things are shaping up to potentially be an exciting year for the Corn Huskers. As we get closer to the opening kickoff I will be doing my game by game prediction and final record prediction for the Huskers.
Go Big Red!
