Red Report: Squeeze the rock
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By the Lincoln Journal Star
Nebraska coach Bill Callahan had plenty of praise for running back Quentin Castille on Friday at the Big Red Breakfast in Omaha.
“I can’t believe the size of this guy when you see him,” Callahan said. “He’s 255 pounds. He looks like a guard. But he’s really a great-looking kid, he’s tapered, he’s cut. He’s really defined physically where he looks like he’s about 225 pounds.”
He also likes Castille’s hands. The freshman might see a few passes thrown his way.
There is one concern, however.
Said Callahan: “The only thing I tell him is, ‘Q, just secure the football. Don’t worry about anything else. Just hold tight to the ball and let your natural skills take over.’”
One freshman running back who likely won’t see action Saturday is Marcus Mendoza. It appears the Houston native is looking at a redshirt season.
“We’re probably going to put him on the shelf a little bit this year, unless we absolutely need him,” Callahan said.
The Bowman watch
Senior cornerback Zackary Bowman is coming along well in his return from a serious knee injury.
“Bowman’s practiced considerably the last week. I think he’s near 50 reps per practice,” Callahan said. “He’s doing real well. He’ll play in this game.”
Quick hits
* Callahan said he thinks senior left tackle Carl Nicks “has the most talent” of anyone on the offensive line and has “the potential to be special.”
* When speaking about the right guard position, the coach said: “Mike Huff and Matt Slauson are also competing for that spot.” Slauson is back from a shoulder injury that nagged him during fall camp, but apparently the junior Huff is battling for playing time
* Callahan shared a story about freshman running back Roy Helu wearing No. 10. “I kept asking him, ‘Roy, aren’t you going to change my number?’ He said, ‘No, Coach, this is my favorite number.’ I said, ‘You just don’t look like a running back in that number for some reason. It looks like a quarterback’s number, Roy.’ But he won’t change it.”
The coach will live with it. He said Helu’s upside “is going to be incredible.”
* The first names Callahan mentioned as kick returners are Cortney Grixby and Andre Jones. Grixby was also the first name given as a punt returner.
Callahan said he thinks Husker coaches spend more time coaching special teams than any other phase of football.
“We think it’s going to be a big play this year,” he said of the return game. “That’s the one area that we really want to improve this year. It was not a solid area for us a year ago.”
* He talked about junior Marlon Lucky, who figures to start today, but hasn’t faced contact in a couple weeks since suffering his second concussion of fall camp.
“We’re always going to err on the side of caution,” Callahan said. “We’re going to be very conservative with our approach and do the best interest for those student-athletes down there. But Marlon assured me, he’s fine, he’s OK, ‘Coach, it’s no big deal, I just got a little headache.’”
Opponent watch
Nevada aims to come with ‘pistol’ blazing: Chris Ault did what you’d expect of a hall of fame coach shortly after he began his third stint at Nevada in 2004. He recognized that the Wolf Pack needed some innovation to try and bring about more offensive potency.
Thus, the birth of the ‘pistol’ attack.
“Back in the saddle the first year, we were just pathetic,” Ault said. “My concern was, ‘How can you get better and compete?’ Our conference is much like the Big 12 from top to bottom — you’ve got to show up every Saturday to play.
“Long story made short, I just felt that I wanted the quarterbacks more involved in the offense — not just dropping back and not just running a bootleg — and came up with a thought process between the season.”
What Ault had in mind was to create a spread scheme that would not only improve play-action pass opportunities, but also produce a straight-ahead running attack. After much trial and error, the Wolf Pack settled on having the quarterback line up four yards behind center, with a lone running back another 3½ yards directly behind him.
“We went that entire spring, three springs ago now, and didn’t run one time under center,” Ault said. “It was ugly — snaps over the head, the whole shooting match — as you can imagine. But as spring went on you could see what we felt would be really advantageous for us if, in fact, you could get the timing down. And ever since then, there’s an awful lot of people adopting the theory of some of it.”
The alignment ended up being a perfect fit for Jeff Rowe, who produced 8,423 yards of offense (fourth-best all-time at Nevada) before being selected by the Cincinnati Bengals in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL Draft.
Welcome to Sam's town: Excuse Ault if he does a double take when Nebraska quarterback Sam Keller takes the field today. Had things fallen differently for Keller in Tempe, Ariz., last fall, Nevada would be through with the touted senior. But before the Wolf Pack played Arizona State (and lost 52-21) in the second game, Keller had transferred to NU after ASU coach Dirk Koetter changed his mind and named Rudy Carpenter to start the opener.
The Wolf Pack will rely on multiple looks to try to keep Keller under tighter wraps than Carpenter, who torched them for five touchdowns.
“At Arizona State, and in that conference, he’s seen all kinds of looks. I don’t think there’s anything that he’s nodding his head and saying, ‘Well, that’s brand new to me,’” Ault said of Keller. “He’s a veteran quarterback that’s had some great experience and happens to be in a real fine offensive scheme, and I think it’s going to fit him well. But we are a multiple-package defense, and we think that’s important for us to continue with that.”
Quotable: “I think when you’re playing programs like a Nebraska, one of the toughest things you’re playing is not so much the players themselves, who are very good, and the coaches, who know what they’re doing, but you’re playing a tradition. And tradition is tough.” — Ault
About Reno: Of course, Callahan spoke about Nevada, or "Reno," as he often calls them.
"Big play-action team. They do it well," he said. "That's one of the areas that, you watch their offensive line tomorrow, they come roaring off the ball. ... I don't think they've been shut out in (Chris Ault's) coaching career. He's always had the ability to move the ball."
— Compiled by Brian Christopherson and Curt McKeever
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