Husker Notes: Quarterbacks Well Prepared

To say quarterback Luke McCaffrey was ready when coaches called his name during Nebraska's game against Northwestern may be a bit of an understatement.
 
Noah Vedral, forced to leave the game for one play because his helmet came off, hadn't even reached the sideline when McCaffrey, a true freshman, had already made his way onto the field.
 
His Johnny-on the-spot response comes as no surprise to players and coaches who've grown to understand how quickly McCaffrey operates.
 
"That's the beauty of football," McCaffrey said. "Football is a fast game and one where every player needs to be ready, because you never know when your number's going to be called."
 
That sequence happened only moments after quarterbacks coach Mario Verduzco asked head coach Scott Frost, hypothetically, who he'd want to play quarterback for a snap should Vedral need to leave the game.
 
"Oh man, that was wild, now," Verduzco said. "I must have breathed it into existence or something like that."
 
McCaffrey ran one play, keeping the ball for a 3-yard gain, before giving way to Vedral, a sophomore who'd entered the game in place of injured starter Adrian Martinez to begin the fourth quarter.
 
Whether Martinez is healthy enough to play Saturday when Nebraska (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten) plays at Minnesota (5-0, 2-0) isn't certain. What is certain is that no matter who plays quarterback, he'll be prepared.
 
"Every week's a game week, and no matter who's playing, everybody's got to be ready for game day," McCaffrey said. "Every week is an opportunity to go practice and get ready in your craft."
 
Frost said Thursday that Martinez, McCaffrey, Vedral and Andrew Bunch will all travel to Minnesota, but he shed no light on the starting status of the quarterback position.
 
Should it be Vedral, the top backup to Martinez, you'll hear no concerns from Verduzco.
 
"He's practiced really well all through camp, since the beginning of the season, keeps himself well-prepared," said Verduzco, who also coached Vedral in 2017 at UCF.
 
"Just from being around him as much as I have, he's always been really calm and collected. When he's had the opportunity to get 'X' amount of reps in terms of preparing for a game, he's usually been pretty sharp."
 
Verduzco pointed to two plays against Northwestern to illustratem Vedral's poise and decision making. One occurred when Vedral had the wherewithal to corral a bad snap and throw the ball away. The other came on the Huskers' final offensive play, when Vedral gained as many yards as possible to set up Lane McCallum's game-winning field goal.
 
"He certainly could have done his job and got us back to the middle of the field," Verduzco said of Vedral's keeper, "but he saw an opening, and he took it for a lot more yards than we had expected. It certainly helped our kicker out, I think.
 
"He had the presence of mind to see a bigger hole, and, 'Let's go.' And he got us more yardage. Almost scored."
 
As for McCaffrey possibly playing for more than one snap?
 
"If that were to happen, I'd feel really comfortable with him, just because of his performance in practice," Verduzco said. "He's practiced really well. Does a nice job every time he's in there."
 
McCaffrey arrived on campus in January and participated in spring football. Where does he believe he's improved the most during his time on campus, and especially during the season?
 
"Oh, I could probably hone in on a lot of things," he said. "Just an understanding of how to put a game plan and bring that to the field, and get ready and prepare for game day. It's so easy to watch and evaluate, but the second you're under center, it's completely different."
 
McCaffrey himself wasn't certain if he'd be the next man up until he heard his name.
 
"Me and Bunch were standing there," he said, "and he said, 'Luke, go!' and I got all juiced and ran out there."
 
Nervous?
 
"Not too bad," he said. "It was fun. I got the juice flowing a little bit."
 
Per NCAA rules, players can play in four games in a season and still preserve a redshirt. Frost said coaches will be wise with how they use McCaffrey, noting he won't play in more than three more games.


 
Kicking Equation
 
Another week, another question about who handles place kicking duties for Nebraska.
 
"There's a lot of things making it reset every week – injuries, competition and trying to figure out the best formula," Frost said. "It seems like we've had to do that math every week.
 
"It's been interesting."
 
Of note, Matt Waldach, the club soccer player who recently joined the team, will travel to Minnesota.
 
"He has done a good job. Gabe Heins has done a good job," Frost said. "Obviously, Lane did enough for us to win last week. We're just trying to piece it together."
 
Waldach is a sophomore from Geneva, Illinois, and Heins is a freshman walk-on from Kearney, who made 5 of 8 field goals his senior season, with his longest from 44 yards.
 
Nebraska's uncertainly at the position began before the season even did, with returning starter Barret Pickering injured. He's yet to return, and the No. 2 kicker, freshman walk-on Dylan Jorgensen, has also been sidelined with an injury after playing in Nebraska's first two games. Punter Isaac Armstrong kicked at Colorado, and McCallum has since handled place kicking duties.
 
As a team, Nebraska is 4-of-10 on field goals, with only one attempt longer than 40 yards.


 
Challenging Washington
 
Running backs coach Ryan Held said his goal is to get sophomore Maurice Washington in position to play four full quarters. Whether injury or suspension, that's rarely happened this season for the electric playmaker.
 
"I'm challenging him this week to have a great week, which up to this point he's done a really good job," Held said. "I'm going to be on him to be a champion on Saturday."
 
"I might take a bottle and smash it over my head, whatever it takes to get him ready."
 
Maybe a road game will help, given Washington has put up far better numbers away from Lincoln halfway through the season. In two road games, Washington has 25 rushes for 166 yards, and four catches for 118 yards. In four home games, he's run 19 times for 112 yards and caught seven passes for 39.
 
"Maurice has had a good week," Frost said. "We need him to be ready to go for a whole game. He obviously makes us a better team when he's out there, so we need him out there more often."
 
As for true freshman Rahmir Johnson, he's played in two games, meaning he has only two more games he can play if coaches want him to maintain a redshirt season.      
 
"He's really been practicing well, but we want to save these two games to be able to utilize him and save his redshirt year," Held said, noting injuries could change that scenario. "He's going to be a really good player for us, so we want to be smart, if we can."
 
Johnson, Held said, is getting closer to being able to run the entire offense.
 
"I wouldn't be comfortable with 100 percent, but he's getting to where now after each week he's getting to 80, 85 percent," Held said. "There's still 15 percent I want him to tighten up on. But he's one guy who's definitely gotten better every week. I'm very pleased with his progress."
 
Former Husker Honored
 
Dominic Raiola, a consensus first-team All-American in 2000, when he also won the inaugural Dave Rimington Award as the nation's top center, has been named one of 10 finalists for the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame.
 
A native of Honolulu, Raiola was also a two-time first-team All-Big 12 selection who set Nebraska season records for pancake blocks in 1999. Following his Husker career, Raiola was selected in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft with the 50th overall pick by the Detroit Lions.
 
The 2020 Class of the Polynesian Hall of Fame will be announced Oct. 23, and the class will be honored during the Polynesian Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Weekend and during the Polynesian Bowl on Jan. 17 and 18, 2020.
 
Reach Brian at brosenthal@huskers.com or follow him on Twitter @GBRosenthal.