Yes, sir: Bryant making early impression

By Brian Rosenthal / Huskers.com

Why yes, Tre Bryant did indeed feel butterflies fluttering about his stomach before his first career game in a Nebraska football uniform.

“I’d lie to you if I told you I didn’t, sir. I definitely had butterflies,” Bryant said. “Once I got the first kick return in and took a knee, it felt really normal to me, yes sir.”

Yes, sir. No, sir.

Such manners become Bryant, a 5-foot-11, 200-pound running back and kick returner from St. Louis. He’s welcoming, smiling and sincere with his pleasantries.

It’s not a stretch, either, to say that’s why we’re talking about a true freshman’s handling of nerves while debuting before 90,003 fans at venerable Memorial Stadium.

That, and Bryant’s laugh. He’s got a good, loud laugh.

Reggie Davis has heard it plenty, and he’s appreciative.

“He’s a good guy, got a good sense of humor, pretty calm, pretty even keel,” said Davis, the Nebraska running backs coach. “But like any other guy, he likes to joke around, have fun.”

Bryant carefully balances his fun with business. That’s not an easy task for any college student, especially not for a newcomer who must learn to manage microscopes and spotlights as deftly as he dodged defenders in his collegiate football debut.

“I think he’s got a pretty good hold on how things need to be as far as his attitude in certain situations,” Davis said. “He knows when it’s time to work and he’s able to focus. And he knows how to let loose when things are a little looser.”

Bottom line, those admirable traits, combined with his physical talents, are why no redshirt is required for Bryant.

Entering Saturday’s ESPN2 11 a.m. game between Wyoming (1-0) and Nebraska (1-0), Bryant maintains his position as No. 1 kickoff returner and No. 3 running back.

Bryant will tell you not until the second week of fall camp, at the earliest, did he begin thinking less and acting more, with the belief he could play as a freshman.

Davis all but scoffs at that notion.

“He might have said it was the second week before things were comfortable for him, but he’s been on top of things ever since he’s been here,” Davis said. “He’s hasn’t made a lot of mistakes, now, from Day One. Just being able to see how smart he was and be able to retain all the new information, that was evident early.”

As a result, Bryant is 100 percent on par with his running back peers – senior Terrell Newby and sophomores Devine Ozigbo are ahead of him on the depth chart – in terms of knowing the playbook.

“All of us can run, run pretty physical, run pretty hard. Just keep focusing on little things, pass protection, knowing all your plays,” Bryant said. “Just like with pass protection, sometimes we have a route out of the backfield off that pass protection, sometimes we don’t. It’s remembering which one and which one not to do.”

As Nebraska’s knowledgeable fans understand, freshman running backs won’t see the field until they’ve proven themselves adept at pass blocking.

Bryant, who starred at Christian Brothers College High, ran for 1,331 yards and 30 touchdowns as a senior. He also played in an offense that required him to protect his quarterback now and then.

“I was able to see him do that in high school,” Davis said. “But again, that’s high school, so when we got him here and got a chance to work against some of the linebackers, there was obviously some stuff that needed to be worked on and corrected and perfected from his technique.

“He stepped right in, and he listens really well. He corrects the things you tell him to after one or two times. He’s not, as I say, one of those rep guys. He gets it, and he gets it fast, which has helped him get on the field so fast.”

So has Bryant’s instincts as a running back.

He took his first carry midway through the fourth quarter of Nebraska’s 43-10 season opening victory over Fresno State. Bryant found a hole and burst over the left tackle for 13 yards. The next play, he ran around left end for 12 yards, leading a series that would end with Bryant’s 3-yard touchdown run.

Davis took note of Bryant’s physical style of running in Nebraska’s first fall scrimmage.

“He’s just real instinctive and he knows how to … he can see the hole quickly and he can get through the hole,” Davis said. “Some people can see it but can’t always get through it, but he can get through it.”

Bryant finished with five carries for 36 yards, all on that touchdown drive.

“I liked what I saw,” Davis said. “The guy is, when you talk to him and get to know him, he’s even keel. He just comes, goes to work and doesn’t bat an eye. That’s what he did in the game. He just came right in and did everything we asked him to do and did it well. I was happy to see that.

“You always kind of wonder about the freshmen, the first time in front of 90,000. It’s easy in practice, but how are they going to do it when all of Big Red Country is watching? He did really well. I was happy.”

So was special teams coach Bruce Read, whose kickoff return team averaged 18.2 yards last season, with only one return longer than 30 yards.

Bryant, on his first and only return, gained 32 yards, as he followed the blocks of redshirted freshmen Carlos and Kahlil Davis.

“I got to the 30 untouched,” Bryant said, “so it was basically good blocking, and I ran pretty hard and just tried to finish as much as I could.”

Read described Bryan as a “super steady kid” who takes care of the football and isn’t intimidated by anything.

“He goes out and he plays,” Read said. “He’s had a really nice camp. I think he’s going to be a real solid kickoff returner for us. I was hoping we could get a little spark somewhere early in the season because that's kind of what it takes is when the blockers start feeding off the runner, and the runner is feeding off them and then it takes off.”

And when that happens, it becomes readily apparent why Nebraska coaches decided they could ill afford to have Bryant sit out the 2016 season as a redshirt.

“We just took it a day at a time,” Bryant said. “We didn’t really think too much about it. If we redshirted, it wasn’t a big deal. Take it on the chin and keep moving forward and keep getting better. If we don’t, still take it on the chin and keep moving forward and we definitely have to get better every day.”