Huskers healthy as ever after bye week

Here are some quick notes to pass along following Nebraska’s practice on Tuesday morning…

***Lubick said he and the offensive coaches went back and studied all the things they thought they did well and where they struggled through the first eight weeks during the bye.

As far as fixing their weaknesses, Lubick said they already knew most of their problem areas, but they were able to delve into the finer details of why the struggles were happening and figure out ways to fix them.

***Lubick called Purdue defenisve end George Karlaftis a “special player” and a “difference-maker” who was “every bit as good” as what NU saw against Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson.

***When it came to fixing Nebraska’s pass protection issues, Lubick said it was more than just improving the play of the offensive line. He said the running backs needed to be better in pass pro, and the quarterbacks needed to do a better job of identifying blitzes and adjusting protections before the snap.

***On wanting to be more aggressive as an offense, Lubick said he felt they’d done a good job of creating more explosive plays this season. But they still needed to be better in terms of exploiting defensive weaknesses more and being more physical off the ball.

***Lubick said NU’s offense was “as healthy as we’ve been” all season coming out of the bye which included receivers Zavier Betts and Omar Manning.

***Lubick said tight end Austin Allen had “been good since Day 1” but always works to get better. Lubick said Allen “drives the emotion of the team” as a vocal leader and set the tone every day by being a “perfectionist.”

***Defensive coordinator Erik Chinander opened his press conference by thanking everyone who had reached out to him and his family following the tragic death of his father two weeks ago.

Chinander had to fight back tears as he recalled how much his father meant to him as a son and a football coach. He said he “earned everything” from his dad about how to be a coach, and most of it wasn’t about X’s and O’s but how to be hard on players while also making sure they knew he loved them.

***Chinander said it was “amazing” to see so many of his father’s former players come back for the funeral. He said there were current players, their dads, and even their grandfathers who all played for and were impacted by his father.

***As far as Purdue, Chinander said it would be a unique challenge having to prepare for three different quarterbacks. He said all three brought something different to the table, but each could run the full offense, so NU couldn’t just assume one would run, one would pass, etc.

***Chinander said Purdue’s David Bell was one of if not the best receiver in the Big Ten and one of the best in the country. He said when NU played Purdue last year, Rondale Moore was a little banged up and the Huskers felt that Bell was the most dangerous threat.

***Chinander confirmed that Deontai Williams would be out this week and that Myles Farmer would start in his place at safety. Chinander said he had total faith in Farmer to take on “a huge responsibility” as a starter because he’d already answered the call before.

When Farmer was vauted into the starting lineup last year at Northwestern, he responded with two interceptions.

***After Farmer, Chinander said guys like Noa Pola-Gates, Lane McCallum, Phalen Sanford, and Marques Buford would be the next guys up at safety.

***Farmer said he was ready for the challenge because he’d already played so many game snaps over the last two years.

***Farmer said Bell had such a big game against Iowa because the Hawkeyes played soft coverage against him and he could run clean routes. Last week against Wisconsin, though, Farmer said the Badgers were very physical with him at the line of scrimmage and “knocked him around” all game.

***Buford said he knew after the Fordham game that he wasn’t going to redshirt this season. He’s currently playing on every special team except for the field goal unit.