Nebraska football hammering situational offense

Ask Marcus Satterfield and he’ll say some of the best work Nebraska is getting in as training camp endures isn’t playbook install or conditioning drills.

It’s practicing situational football. Mental reps — for players and coaches — for the unpredictable turns of a tight game.

The Huskers spent 20 minutes at the end of workouts Friday tackling bang-bang scenarios from coach Matt Rhule. No timeouts with six seconds before halftime, and the offense needs a field goal. One timeout and 12 seconds left in regulation.

NU must know what to do now, Satterfield said, not figuring it out in the heat of the moment on a fall Saturday. The team must “embed” correct game management into its personality.

“We don’t know the situations,” Satterfield said. “I think having the extra week allows us to do stuff like that and not try to speed through and get all the plays in and just check boxes. We’re able to slow down and make sure we get everything right.”

Satterfield said the situational emphasis from Rhule in camp has been the best he’s ever been around. Quarterbacks have shown a “high level” of understanding for what to do in different moments, with position coach Glenn Thomas having them think through extra hypotheticals.

Two-minute offense is the area Nebraska has shown the most progress in during the offseason, Satterfield said. The Huskers lost five one-score affairs last season, coming up a late clutch drive short in all of them.

“I think we’ve really emphasized we’re going to be in a lot of close games this year,” Satterfield said. “It’s going to come down to winning two-minute. The scenarios Coach Rhule keeps putting us in is going to help us improve in that situation. We’ve got to be elite at it by the end of the year.”

* With a second team scrimmage set for Saturday, Satterfield said the first two offensive units must be efficient and comfortable with tempo. “Play clean football,” Satterfield said. “Take care of the ball.”

* Running back Dante Dowdell has come on in the last week of practice, Satterfield said. The sophomore Oregon transfer made two good blitz pickups this week that suggest to coaches he can be an every-down back.

“He’s hard to tackle,” Satterfield said of the 6-foot-2, 225-pounder. “If he gets past that box, DBs do not want to tackle him. He gets downhill.”

Other running backs pushing for carries at the top of the depth chart include Rahmir Johnson, Gabe Ervin and Emmett Johnson.

* Third-year offensive lineman Justin Evans continues to work as the No. 1 left guard after making five starts as a redshirt freshman. Satterfield said the 6-foot-1, 315-pounder — likely to be NU’s center in 2025 — has been consistently sound.

“You don’t know he’s out there,” Satterfield said. “He’s like a good official. … He doesn’t really screw up a lot. He kind of just does his job at an adequate/high level. He’s playing with great physicality; he’s improving at his pass protection.”