Nebraska’s Tony White teaching situational football

A key goal for Nebraska this week is playing smart, situational football as the Husker defense practices different in-game situations, thinking about each challenge and how they should react.

“It’s just that week of camp where you’re not only challenging them physically, because you’re hitting that mark where their bodies are beat up, but also mentally in all those situations so that way when those situations arise in the game you know how to act,” White said.

The response on the practice field comes following a team-wide scrimmage day on Saturday which left White feeling that the NU defense didn’t tackle well enough.

“You want to see the things you practice and preach every day, you want to see it show up on the grass live; get the coaches out of there, get all the cameras out there and let them play ball,” White said. “It didn’t show up like it needed to, not with that the group that we have.”

* White is continuing to evaluate the cornerback position, where the Huskers are seeking a second starter alongside Tommi Hill. The players who White feels are performing well in practice include USC transfer Ceyair Wright, freshman Mario Buford and redshirt freshmen Jeremiah Charles and Dwight Bootle II.

“That thing is rotating every day,” White said.

* Freshman linebacker Vincent Shavers continues to receive strong reviews for his practice performances. After head coach Matt Rhule indicated on Saturday that Shavers will not need to redshirt this season, White said the freshman is one of the next players up in the linebacker rotation.

“He’s young and raw, but the guy’s explosive and he’s aggressive as all heck; we’ve gotta tone him down a lot of the time in practice,” White said.

* Junior linebacker Stefon Thompson is still in the process of “finding his groove” within the Nebraska defense, White said. The Syracuse transfer is an experienced player who appeared in 36 games with his former school but has taken time to adjust to Nebraska’s standards according to linebackers coach Rob Dvoracek.

“His biggest challenge has been adjusting to the way that we do things here,” Dvoracek said. “From literally everything, (from) how we practice, the number of reps we have, how we expect the guys to run to the football, how hard we play and how physical we play in practice. He’s getting better every week and I’m proud of him for that.”