Huskers Continue to Roll With Third Practice in Four Days

Lincoln- The Nebraska football team held the sixth of its spring workouts, including their fourth in full pads and helmets, during a two-hour practice on Thursday inside the HawksChampionshipCenter.

The Huskers’ competition at the role of punter remains tight as special teams coach Bill Busch continued to chart drills throughout practice. On the other end of the field, practice closed with a banging round of full-contact goal-line drills which proved to be in full-effect despite the 5:45 a.m. wake-up call for the team.

 

“They do a great job in the morning,” tight ends coach Shawn Watson said. ”I’ve been totally amazed at how these players work. They’re very impressive in the way they approach their work. They’re very professional and work hard every day.

 

“No matter what time, you get the same tempo. Every day, it’s full speed. They are an amazing group. Being the new guy, I can say that, and they’ve been amazing. They came out and got right after business. We could get together at midnight and they’d have the same work ethic.”

 

Watson was additionally happy to see old and new faces get considerable time and attention during the goal-line scrimmages.

 

“The (tight ends) have been doing a really nice job,” Watson said. “We’ve been able to throw (senior fullback) Dane (Todd), (junior tight end) J.B. (Phillips) and (sophomore tight end) Clayton (Sievers) into that mix, and it just gives us more possibilities with adjusting and movement, and they’ve really done a nice job with it. It’s exciting, because they can really bring a lot of things to the table.”

 

Watson further addressed the H-back role that the Huskers have been seeing more of which often involves tight ends lining up in the backfield in the fullback position.

 

“We have to teach them that they’re playing from a different alignment,” Watson said. “It doesn’t sound like a big deal but it is. They just have to get used to playing from the backfield alignment. All their routes now, being six or eight yards deep in the backfield, will have a little more space. But they’re doing a great job with it. Dane (Todd), J.B. (Phillips) and Clayton (Sievers) have done a fantastic job adjusting, and we couldn’t be happier with what they’ve accomplished.”

 

The Huskers return to the practice field Saturday morning with their seventh spring workout at 10:00 a.m.