Huskers Continue Bye-Week Workouts

Lincoln- The Nebraska football team again donned half pads for Wednesday’s two hour practice inside Memorial Stadium. The Huskers continued work on developing the younger players, while also continuing preparations for their 2:30 p.m. matchup with IowaState on Oct. 1.

 

Offensive coordinator Jay Norvell was satisfied with the way the off-week practices have gone.

 

“These are great practices for us,” Norvell said. “They give us a chance to do a lot of fundamental things. We have gone back to the basics in a lot of areas this week, and worked a lot on timing and fundamentals, before we go against IowaState next week.”

 

Defensive coordinator Kevin Cosgrove also addressed the media after practice, emphasizing how pleased he is with the success of the pass rush through the first three weeks of the season. Cosgrove’s Blackshirts currently rank first in scoring defense, third in pass efficiency defense and ninth in total defense.

 

“We have been doing a very good job mixing up our rush calls, and I think our kids are very in tune with what we are calling, and they are executing,” Cosgrove said. “They have a good understanding of what is going on and down and distance, and our get up off the ball has been very good because of that.”

 

While pleased, however, Cosgrove stressed that he is not surprised by the impressive number of sacks his Blackshirts have piled up. Nebraska has already recorded 20 sacks this season, a marked improvement over the 25 sacks the Huskers collected in 11 games in 2004.

 

“I knew that we had some pretty good pass rushers,” Cosgrove said. “I saw it in the spring, and with the addition of (freshman defensive end) Barry Turner and the development of the others guys we already had in the fall, I saw it coming.”

 

Cosgrove also expressed pleasure with the success junior defensive end Adam Carriker has enjoyed early on this season.

 

“He has played outstanding,” Cosgrove said. “He is a blue-collar guy who goes to work with his lunch pail everyday. He has played well in every game, and we expect him to be consistent and get those same results every game.”

 

Nebraska will continue its bye-week preparations Thursday afternoon. Coach Callahan and requested players will be available after the workout.