***Defensive coordinator Erik Chinander confirmed Tuesday that cornerback Quinton Newsome was the latest NU defender to receive a Blackshirt. But Newsome said he actually earned the Blackshirt last week.
***Chinander said Newsome was a “maturing guy” who had been doing things the right way and playing physically the last few weeks.
***Newsome said the fact that his spot was the one starting position on the defense that didn’t start the year with a Blackshirt was a big motivator for him.
“I knew that if I kept going hard and working hard every day, it would come,” Newsome said.
***Chinander said there were a lot of unknowns with trying to figure out what to expect from Minnesota’s offense.
He said the Golden Gophers were always a team that changed things up week to week, especially coming off a bye. But then you add in all of the personnel shuffling they’ve had to do this year; there wasn’t much consistency to study from each game film.
***With Minnesota going to its third starting running back of the season after losing their top two guys to injury, Chinander said it was hard to predict what their running game would look like on Saturday.
He said there was a chance UM could mix things up with more Wildcat plays and involving the quarterbacks more in the run.
***Chinander said one thing he did expect was for Minnesota to try and throw some “trick plays; gadget plays” at them with two weeks to prepare for this game.
“We just need to play rules football and keep our eyes clean and do our job,” Chinander said.
***Chinander said he’d seen a lot of Minnesota quarterback Tanner Morgan over the past few years, and one thing Morgan was doing differently this season was pushing the ball downfield more in the passing game.
***Chinander made it a point to praise freshman cornerback Marques Buford Jr., saying Buford was “playing really, really well right now.”
Chinander said he hadn’t gotten to see much of Buford until the start of fall camp because of an injury that sidelined him in the spring. While Buford has played well in his opportunities on defense, Chinander said the area that he’d really separated himself was his play on special teams.
***Newsome echoed Chinander’s praise of Buford, saying “he’s a dog” who was “soaking up everything” his coaches and teammates told him.
***Offensive coordinator Matt Lubick said Rahmir Johnson had shown “flashes” of his ability last year in practice, but the level of consistency and production he’s shown this season was definitely a surprise.
Lubick said Johnson was playing like “a complete back” with his rushing, receiving, and pass blocking.
***Lubick said Bryce Benhart never stopped competing even after losing his starting job two weeks ago, which Lubick said showed a lot about who Benhart was as a person.
***Lubick said Nebraska’s offensive depth chart was “etched in sand,” and everyone had to be ready to step up at all times.
***Lubick said NU always worked on its two-minute offense, devoting time to it in as many as 2-3 practices per week. He noted the improvements the offense had made in that area this season were part preparation and part the players building the confidence to execute in those situations.
***Lubick said Zavier Betts was “a little banged up” at the end of the Michigan game, which was why he wasn’t on the field on the final drive. Lubick said he expected Betts to be ready to go for Minnesota.
***Lubick said Omar Manning was on the field at the end of the Michigan game because of where NU was in its receiver “rotation” and the fact that other guys were playing well.
***On the final fourth-down play against UM, Lubick said Nebraska got exactly what it wanted with a Cover 0 look from the Wolverines and had the ideal play call with the one-on-one shot to Samori Toure.
Lubick said the timing with the throw was a little off because Michigan got quick pressure on Adrian Martinez.
***Quarterbacks coach Mario Verduzco said Martinez was a “tough kid” who has “always been tough,” and he’d already moved on from the Michigan loss.
***Verduzco said on the missed crossing route to Levi Falck on the final drive, Martinez threw it “hot” because some early pressure caught him off-guard before the pass because he thought he’d have more time to let the play develop.
***Verduzco said Martinez had been scrambling noticeably less this season than previous years, but that wasn’t anything to do with the coaches telling him to scale back his running.
***When asked about Heinrich Haarberg not getting into the games, Verduzco said head coach Scott Frost was “always mindful” of who had or hadn’t played. They still really like Haarrberg as a player, but it just hasn’t worked out to get him on the field in a game yet.
***Defensive backs coach Travis Fisher said Newsome had his best tackling and all-around game of the season.
***Fisher said cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt did a good job protecting against deep passes with three pass breakups against Michigan. He said Taylor-Britt played his best game against the best receivers.
Fisher said he needed to calm Taylor-Britt down because he wanted to make every play at the beginning of the season. Fisher told him sometimes they don’t need that. Fisher said most of the time, Taylor-Britt just needs to do his assignment and let the big plays come to him.
***Fisher said both Taylor-Britt and Newsome put it all together for the first time this season in the Michigan game.
***The defensive backs have done a great job limiting explosive plays, but Fisher said he wants more turnovers. Nebraska gives up a few explosive plays each game, and Fisher wasn’t to continue limiting those.
***Wide receiver Levi Falck had a 13-yard touchdown catch to end the third quarter and give Nebraska a 22-19 lead heading into the fourth quarter against the Wolverines.
Falck said once he saw his man-coverage protection, he faked out the cornerback and saw him fly the wrong way. Falck said after the catch, he knew he would be alone.
***Falck said Johnson can do it all and makes defenders miss and runs hard. Other running backs like Jaquez Yant and Sevion Morrison follow after that, he said.
***Falck said after Nebraska’s 23-16 loss to then-No. 3 Oklahoma, the team knew “for a fact we can compete with anyone in the country.”
Falck said, in the past, the team had the mindset of “how can we not lose” but has flipped it to “how can we win.”
***Falck said Martinez works so hard every single play it makes everyone around him want to give their all also.
***Falck said the most challenging part about Minnesota is that they have a positive turnover margin, so NU’s offense is putting an extra emphasis on no turnovers.
*** Falck is from Minnesota and watched them growing up. He said he wasn’t recruited by the Golden Gophers and added, “I don’t like Minnesota.”
Falck said he and fellow Minnesota native Benhart, whose locker is next to his, are “excited to get a chance to beat their hometown.”
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