Huskers Look Back on First Two Weeks of Fall Camp

With Friday marking the final two-a-day of fall camp and players returning to classes on Monday, Huskers.com caught up with assistant coach John Papuchis, senior cornerback Prince Amukamara and senior wide receiver Niles Paul to get their take on the first two weeks of camp.

The Huskers practiced twice on Monday, Wednesday and Friday of this week, with single practices on Tuesday and Thursday. The team will practice again on Saturday to mark the ninth practice in six days before a day off on Sunday. When Nebraska returns to practice on Monday, all players will join the squad after the beginning of fall camp was limited to 105 players in accordance with NCAA rules.

With the Sept. 4 season opener against Western Kentucky only 15 days away, Papuchis thinks the Huskers have had a productive camp thus far and he's been pleased with the play of his defensive ends.

"I feel good (about the position)," Papuchis said. "I feel better right now than I have the first three years in terms of the depth of guys that we have that we can play. I feel good. Pierre Allen's played well, a lot of people know what he can do, and I expect him to take his game to another level this year. Both Josh (Williams) and Cameron (Meredith) have had good camps. They're young guys, they're learning and they're getting better in their technique every day."

After leading the nation in scoring defense and pass efficiency defense in 2009, the Huskers are once again expecting to field one of the country's most dominating defenses this fall, despite losing five starters, including three NFL Draft picks. One reason for that optimism is the strength of the Husker secondary, led by Amukamara and fellow cornerback Alfonzo Dennard.

But the secondary has been challenged by going up against an improved offensive unit that includes Paul, who is on the preseason watch list for both the Biletnikoff Award (presented to the nation's most outstanding receiver) and the inaugural Paul Hornung Award (presented to the nation's most versatile player).

"The wide receiver and the corner battles are pretty entertaining," Amukamara said. "There are battles every day, and I guess the people who are winning right now would have to be the corners. I can't lie to you," he said with Paul intently listening nearby.

When asked about a deep jump ball during Friday's morning practice that Paul pulled down over him, Amukamara laughed and admitted that the wide recievers do have their moments.

"That (catch) did happen today. It was a good play made by Niles Paul," Amukamara admitted with a grin on his face.

While Paul also enjoys his one-on-one battles with Amukamara, he said their individual competition has served as motivation for the rest of the team.

"I think me and Prince's battle has kind of taken over the whole spirit of the offense and defense because you see more guys at more positions competing," Paul said. "Everybody wants to get one-up on the other guy. You kind of see the whole nature of fall camp changing because it's (not about) just going out there and going through the motion but people actually competing and wanting to be the winner."

The added competition has led to what Paul described as the most intense fall camp in his four years on campus. He believes the intense competition will be beneficial for the entire team, including the offense.

The Husker offense returns nearly all of its skill position players from last fall, including all three quarterbacks who took a snap last season, all 12 players who had a rushing attempt and 17 of the 20 players who caught a pass. With the skill talent returning, Paul said he has already seen a more explosive Husker offense during the first two weeks of camp.

"I've seen an offense that is going to open it up and utliize all of its playmakers. We're going to utilize everyone we can and play to their strengths" he said. "I see Coach Watson utilizing all of his players and pretty much getting the ball in his playmakers' hands."