Nebraska’s 3-3-5 defense no problem for Corey Collier

Corey Collier doesn’t know exactly why, but learning a new defense at Nebraska has been easy.

It might be because the sophomore defensive back got comfortable playing all over the field in high school and has the versatility defensive coordinator Tony White requires of his secondary. It could be a result of Collier’s adjustment to college after his freshman year at Florida, where he learned that football at this level is more mental than physical.

Whatever the reason is, of all the challenges of his upcoming third season in college and difficulties of coming to a new school, learning a new scheme is further down the list than adapting to Nebraska weather.

“I picked it up real quick,” he said, “so I think it’s really easy compared to Florida’s defense.”

Collier played sparingly as a Gator the past two years and committed to Nebraska in December.

Even for a lifelong Floridian, Lincoln offered certain comforts of home. He bonded with secondary coach Evan Cooper, also from Florida, during the recruiting process. He was also able to reunite with Florida teammate Chief Borders and Dwight Bootle, with whom he shared a defensive backfield in high school.

In his first month practicing with the Huskers, Collier has played mostly safety, lining up at both the boundary and free positions. While learning the defense hasn’t been an issue, playing safety has required more than just knowing where to line up and move.

“Just knowing everything and knowing what everybody in the secondary’s gotta do,” he said. “That’s probably the most challenging because everything is basically on the safety. If the corner lines up wrong, that’ll be on you. You gotta communicate.”

Scott’s calls: Senior Ben Scott has already found his place along the offensive line.

Working at center throughout spring ball has meant Scott has needed to be a vocal leader along the line with his offensive calls, and that he’s needed to have an understanding of the offense to do so. The Arizona State transfer hasn’t quite needed an adjustment period, because he’s stepped in right away to lead his teammates along the line.

“I’ve been here for, what, four months now, so I think I’ve developed a good chemistry with all the guys on the line,” Scott said. “Everyone’s rotating in, we have like three different lineups we can possibly use in one practice, so I’m just building that chemistry. They’re understanding the calls I make.”

In terms of pure numbers, Nebraska’s offensive line group is one of the smallest on the roster this spring. The limited amount of available, healthy players has meant additional reps and learning opportunities for those linemen already on the practice field.

It’s also meant some great competition — with Scott highlighting the “challenge drills” where NU’s offensive linemen work on practicing their blocking technique against one of their offensive line teammates.

“We’re both going at it as hard as we can, and it’s good for us instead of a guy just holding a bag and asking to be driven,” Scott said. “It gives us a better look like (what) we’re going to get against a defensive lineman that’s going hard at us and we have to drive him out of the way.”

Knee braces: While Nebraska’s offensive linemen often wore knee braces during Scott Frost’s tenure as head coach, many Huskers have shed the knee braces this spring.

Sophomore Teddy Prochazka said the braces are now optional, but he has chosen to keep wearing them personally to help with his knee issues.

“It was a pretty big celebration once we realized that we didn’t have to wear them anymore,” Prochazka said. “Then I looked around the room and I was the only one wearing one.”