NU football notes, 3/30
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By the Lincoln Journal Star
THENARSE DEALS WITH TRAGEDY: Rickey Thenarse was back at spring practice on Saturday after missing Friday’s workout while dealing with the death of a brother.
The Husker junior safety has had two brothers die as the results of shootings in recent months and was a witness to the most recent one.
Thenarse, a native of Los Angeles, arrived back in Omaha late on Friday night.
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“He’s a strong kid,” Husker coach Bo Pelini said. “He has the support of everybody around here. He’s just going through a difficult time with his family.”
GOING FULL PADS: The Huskers went full pads for the first time this spring season, working out inside of Memorial Stadium.
“I thought the tempo was good,” Pelini said. “It was physical. We made a lot of strides the first three days, especially defensively. They’ve got a lot to learn. But the tempo’s good, the effort’s good.”
Pelini also spoke about how important it is for some leaders to emerge during spring ball.
One guy who hasn’t had any problem taking a leadership role? The No. 1 quarterback.
“I think Joe Ganz does a nice job of taking control on the offensive side of the ball, but it has to come from more than just the quarterback. It’s got to come in every group,” Pelini said. “It’s there, it’s steadily showing itself, but it remains to be seen who those (leaders) are.”
BY THE NUMBERS:
500
Number of kids — from age 8 to eighth-graders — who participated in the Husker Youth Experience on Saturday.
The participants were allowed to watch part of the practice, do their own version of the Tunnel Walk, and even go through some drills with players after the practice.
“Obviously the fans and the people of this state are huge in our program, and it starts with the kids at this age,” Pelini said.
SCOUTING REPORT
DE Barry Turner
Pelini said he felt Husker senior defensive end Barry Turner had his best practice on Saturday of this spring so far.
Turner, who had three sacks last season, is expected to be a key figure in a defensive line that struggled.
“He’s got a lot of ability,” Pelini said. “We just got to get him headed in the right direction. “
Pelini admitted there are some growing pains all the defenders are going through as coaches try to install things while working against an offense that shows so many formations.
“You get challenged with the offense,” Pelini said. “With as much as they do formationwise, it adds to the number of things you have to cover and (players) have to adjust to, which is going to make us better in the long run but is hard installationwise early.”
OPPONENT WATCH
Texas
With the early departure of Jamaal Charles to the NFL, the Longhorns are in search of a running back to fill the void. The three-way battle between Chris Ogbonnaya, Vondrell McGee and Foswhitt Whittaker has tightened even more after Texas’ annual spring scrimmage Saturday.
“Those three have all had a great spring, and the competition between them is a good one,” Texas coach Mack Brown said.
Ogbonnaya, a senior, started with the first-team offense in the first two plays of the game, gaining 3 yards on one carry. McGee scored on a 1-yard touchdown run and finished with 26 yards on eight carries. Whittaker looked impressive all scrimmage slashing through the second-team defense for 43 yards on eight carries.
— Brian Christopherson
