Tenopir left strong impression on current Huskers

By Brian Rosenthal / Huskers.com

Dylan Utter was 8 years old when Milt Tenopir coached his final season with the Nebraska football team.

Even so, Utter spoke Tuesday as though Tenopir had been his offensive line coach these past five seasons

“He was always at practice,” said Utter, a senior center from Papillion. “You took a timeout to always go say hi to him, and he’d talk to you. When (coach) Cav would have dinners, he’d always be there.

“Once the new staff came, he kind of made himself more a part of the program than before. You kind of got to know him a lot more. He just established what it meant to be an offensive lineman at Nebraska. Without that, it wouldn’t mean as much as it does.”

Tenopir, 76, died Monday at his home after a two-year battle with leukemia. A celebration of life will be held Sunday from 4-6 p.m. on the third floor of West Stadium.

Tenopir coached offensive line for 29 seasons at Nebraska and attended practice as recently as last week, along with his son, Todd.

“Any time someone’s going through their last days and they want to be with you and the team, that means a lot,” Utter said. “He could’ve been with his family, but he considered us family, so that’s kind of special for us.”

Each member of the team greeted Tenopir with handshakes and hugs as they entered the practice field. Tenopir, fighting back tears, would frequently respond, “I love you guys.”

Suffice it to say, the feeling was mutual.

“The guy was sick and the only thing he wanted to do was come to practice,” senior guard Sam Hahn said. “That means a lot to us.”

Utter expressed his feelings on Twitter by saying he’d never forget Tenopir’s words to him during fall camp last year.

Utter declined to get into specifics, saying the story was too personal, but that Tenopir’s encouraging words inspired him.

Hahn, like Utter, joined Nebraska as a walk-on and earned a starting job this season after a fall camp injury to Jerald Foster.

He’d be the perfect example of a player who’s persevered and would make Tenopir beam with pride.

“Milt Tenopir is the Nebraska Pipeline. He created that,” Hahn said. “He’s the one who made it special to play offensive line here. He just had a contagious good attitude. He came up and talked to us in the O-line room and just said, ‘You’re going to have tough days, you just need to keep getting after it.’ In the dog days of camp, he would always show up with a smile on his face.

“When you were having a rough one, he would always encourage you. That’s nothing he had to do. He came back did that on his own free time.”

Hahn’s brother-in-law’s sister worked with Tenopir’s wife, Terry, and his brother sent Hahn a screen shot Monday night of a time he’d Face-timed with Tenopir last year.

“Milt just wanted to stop and talk football with him,” Hahn said. “He didn’t really have to know you, but he just made time for you and stuff. Just a good, genuine guy.”

Bray: Striving for improvement

Surrendering big plays became a notable problem for the Nebraska defense last season, so the fact the Blackshirts allowed only two explosive plays against Northwestern can be considered a sign of improvement.

Unless, of course, both of those plays are touchdowns.

“You can’t allow that explosive play,” Nebraska linebackers coach Trent Bray said. “When you watch that game, there was really two plays they got us on – that deep pass and the long run, which were completely avoidable.”

Illinois, the Huskers’ opponent on Saturday, has struck for five plays this season of 50 yards or more. That’s seventh most among FBS teams.

“That’s the thing, is staying in it the whole game and not letting those big plays happen,” Bray said. “We limited (Northwestern) to two, which is a big improvement from last year, but still, we don’t want any.”

Rotating the D-line

Nebraska defensive coordinator Mark Banker said coaches rotated eight defensive linemen against Northwestern, a practice they’ll continue to use to help keep players fresh.

That tackle Mick Stoltenberg continues to make progress after a knee injury in the season’s first game helps matters, too. Stoltenberg played about 20 snaps against Northwestern.

“I think we rushed him the week before and probably played him too much,” Banker said, “but he seemed to play pain free and with less reps and was more effective.”

Meanwhile, redshirt freshman Carlos Davis, who’s started in place of Stoltenberg the past three games, continues to impress.

“He’s really playing well and much more responsible,” Banker said. “I know in the summer there was always some angst with him – going the wrong direction, getting out of his gap and trying to make a play over here and therefore the fit by the ‘backer was off and caused a big play.

“He’s really matured. I hope he continues to grow because he’s playing really well.”

Reach Brian at brosenthal@huskers.com or follow him on Twitter @GBRosenthal