Huskers Get Physical in Ninth Spring Workout

Lincoln ? The Nebraska football team held the ninth of its 15 spring workouts Wednesday afternoon inside the HawksChampionshipCenter. The Huskers conducted a second-down scrimmage, starting the scrimmage in second-down situations, like 2nd-and-9 or 2nd-and-7, and playing it out.

After practice, Head Coach Bill Callahan stated that while he is pleased with the progress of his team thus far in spring ball, there is still work to be done.

“I was pretty pleased with the overall scrimmage today,” Callahan said. “We are making strides, but we have a long ways to go yet. We just need to keep scrimmaging and keep improving. We are getting quite a bit of situational work in.”

The Huskers continued to place an emphasis on establishing the running game in the scrimmage, and continuing to build upon the physical play of the offensive unit.

“We pounded (the I-backs) pretty good today, but I thought that they responded really well,” Callahan said. “We worked hard and we scrimmaged quite a bit today. We are trying to build that mindset of running the football and building upon the physicality of our offensive line and our backs.”

Callahan also addressed the status of freshman quarterback Harrison Beck, who was held out of Monday’s practice and Wednesday’s live scrimmage work with an injury.

“We have been really smart with (Beck),” Callahan said. “We haven’t stretched him in terms of practice because we want to make sure that when he is fully rehabbed so that when he comes back, there will be no reoccurrence of that injury. He is capable of going right now, but we a being a little reserved and a little cautious.”

The Huskers return to the practice field Friday afternoon with their 10th spring workout at 2:30 p.m. Friday will also mark the first day of the two-day Nebraska Spring Coaches Clinic, which will be highlighted by an appearance from Tampa Bay Buccaneers Head Coach Jon Gruden, one of three coaches with NFL head coaching experience who will be featured at the clinic.

In addition to Gruden, Nebraska Head Coach Bill Callahan and his entire staff will provide instruction at the clinic, while former Kansas City Chiefs Head Coach Frank Gansz will also be a featured speaker on the second day of the clinic. The Nebraska Spring Coaches clinic will also feature former Nebraska defensive coordinator Charlie McBride as this year’s “Nebraska Legends” speaker. High school head coaches Jerry Ralph (St. AugustineHigh School, San Diego) and Mark King (Lincoln Southwest) are also on the clinic agenda as speakers.