Huskers Welcome Visitors to Fall Camp

Lincoln ? The Nebraska football team welcomed a handful of new faces to Memorial Stadium during Wednesday’s practices, giving the team a change of pace after nearly two weeks of fall training camp.

 

The Huskers practiced for two and half hours in full pads during the morning and met again for a two hour practice in sweats later that afternoon. 

 

Joining the Huskers for the morning practice were four Nebraska football secretaries who took on some coaching duties including calling plays at the end of the Husker scrimmage.

 

“Our four secretaries came out today and they called the offensive and defensive plays in the last period,” Coach Callahan said.  “So it was kind of fun to see Joni (Duff), Teri (Riggins), Linda (Leupold) and Sarah (Boehler) come out to practice and have a little fun.  They don’t always get to see what we do out here, so it’s nice to get them out here and get them involved.”

 

Coach Callahan wanted to bring the support staff onto the field to foster the sense of family and fun that he says already surrounds the Nebraska football program.

 

“The players enjoy it because we really work hard to create a family atmosphere and these gals are like these kids’ moms away from home.  It’s great to see the players embrace these ladies when they came out on the practice field today,” Callahan said.

 

Callahan also noted that changing the pace of practice and injecting humor can “take the edge off” of what can be a highly stressful time for players.  On Wednesday the Huskers got as much humor as they could ask for as another new face, comedian “Larry the Cable Guy”, stopped by to watch practice.

 

“He’s a Husker fan and he’s a heck of a comedian as well so we had him come in a give a few jokes to our team and he ended up in the middle of the team breakdown, so all in all it was a pretty positive experience for our guys,” Callahan said.

 

Despite the new blood circulating through the Husker ranks on Wednesday, a few faces faces were noticeably absent.  Junior linebacker Steve Octavien missed Wednesday’s workouts after undergoing surgery to remove his appendix on Tuesday evening, while I-back Brandon Jackson sat out to regain his strength after carrying the ball more than 30 times during a physically intense full contact scrimmage the day before.

 

“Steve (Octavien) has been excused for medical reasons.  He had his appendix removed last night,” Callahan said.  “He’s recovering but the prognosis is very good.  They are telling me that he could be out running on Friday and be in full pads by Monday.”

 

The rest of the Huskers continued with scrimmaging drills Wednesday morning including quarterback Zac Taylor, who continues to impress both his coaches and teammates in the preseason.

 

“He’s one of the better quarterbacks in the Big 12 and he’s going to have a great season this year,” cornerback Cortney Grixby said.  “He makes us better.  He’s a very good quarterback.  He’s very accurate and that does nothing but help us out with our coverage.”

 

Callahan agreed and expressed excitement over the strides Taylor has made during fall camp.

 

“Zac’s progress has been accelerated greatly.  He’s absorbed everything that we’ve given him.  We’re really pleased with where he’s at and hopefully where we can take him.  He’s an outstanding person, a quality leader and an outstanding quarterback.”

 

Callahan also commented on running back Kenny Wilson and his performance in the Nebraska scrimmages thus far.  Wilson wore the offense’s yellow jersey on Wednesday morning, indicating great effort in Tuesday’s practice.

 

“He’s getting better.  He’s getting a good feel for what we’re trying to accomplish.  He has a nice understanding of the basic core runs we’re featuring him in,” Callahan said.  “It’s good to see him come alive.  He’s had some outstanding efforts.”