Tony White on Colorado matchup, Gbayor’s instincts and new wrinkles on film

Nebraska defensive coordinator Tony White met with the media following the Huskers’ 40-7 win over UTEP.

White’s defense held the past-paced Miners offense to 205 total yards — 149 passing, 56 rushing — and just 4.1 yards per play. The defense also recorded a safety and two interceptions on the day.

Up next for White’s defense is a Colorado offense that gained 504 yards in a 31-26 win over North Dakota State last Thursday. Buffs’ quarterback Shedeur Sanders went 26-of-34 for 445 yards and four touchdowns with one interception, which was bad luck as it ricochet off an NDSU defender’s leg.

Here are the highlights from White’s time at the podium:

Like it will every season under head coach Deion Sanders, Colorado saw a coaching staff shakeup. Last year’s coach who began the season as offensive coordinator before being demoted midseason, Sean Lewis, is now the head coach at San Diego State.

Pat Shurmur, who began 2023 as an analyst at Colorado before replacing Lewis as OC, is again calling plays for the Buffs. White sees the Shurmur wrinkles.

“You can see who they’re trying to attack, where they’re trying to get the ball to,” White said. “Trying to really, really attack coverages.”

For opponents that feature more of a run-heavy attack with multiple tight ends, White said he’ll have his defense do more drills during the week dedicated to stopping inside runs. For offenses that want to throw the ball around, like Colorado wants to and UTEP, White will have his guys do more 7-on-7 drills so they get used to playing in space.

And Matt Rhule listens to his coordinators.

“That’s a great thing with coach. He says, ‘Hey, what do you guys need?’ And if it’s more seven-on-seven, then we do more seven-on-seven. If it’s more team, more team,” White said. “Whatever it is we need to do to put these guys in the situation that they’re going to be in in the game.”

Hunter was a treat to watch last Thursday against North Dakota State. As a receiver, he caught seven catches for 132 yards and three touchdowns while playing 57 snaps. Defensively, he recorded three tackles while playing 72 snaps in a four-quarter game that went down to the wire.

“He’s a special talent. He’s the best two-way player, one of the best athletes in the country. There ain’t no way to sugarcoat that,” White said of Hunter.

Both Nebraska’s offense and defense will need to be aware of where Hunter is at all times. That could result in bracketing Hunter when he’s on offense, but that in turn creates more room for the two other dangerous Colorado wideouts: Jimmy Horn Jr. (7 catches, 198 yards, 1 TD) and FAU transfer LaJohntay Wester (5 catches, 58 yards). When Hunter is playing corner on defense, does Marcus Satterfield’s pass game attack him, or stay away? Do they run to Hunter’s side to make him tackle?

Whatever the deal will be, White will also appreciate the level of athlete that will be on display.

“It’s one thing to face them and to have to defend that, and then it’s another thing when you’re watching, you’re just watching football, and you really just admire the way he goes about the game, his love for the game, the way he plays,” White said. “You can see him — he’s a playmaker, no matter where you put him.”

White said his defense didn’t utilize the helmet communication much against the Miners, primarily because of the speed at which UTEP’s offense was operating at, but also because Memorial Stadium was loud.

The fans brought it.

“That’s the thing on the defensive side of the ball, the crowd is the loudest,” White said. “The crowd was awesome. I’m going to start keeping a count of how many penalties the crowd gets for the other team’s offense. But it also hinders us as well. So that’s why we had our normal signals and went about business as usual.”

The noise factor was also a reason the defensive coaching staff was wearing long neon green sleeves on the sideline during the game. That wasn’t a fashion statement by the way — White said it was a suggestion from defensive lineman Jimari Butler, who wanted a way to quickly locate White and the coaches on the sideline.

And that’s a good start, right? The plus-1 in turnover margin. That’s after considering Nebraska ended 2023 at minus-17 in turnover margin.

No, White quickly responded. Not good enough when there were more takeaways out there to get. One in particular stood out to White: the pass that hit safety DeShon Singleton in the face mask and fell to the turf for an incompletion.

“That’s one that we have to be able to take,” White said. “As you play in these kinds of games, the ones coming up on Saturday, you have to make those plays.”

White gave a glimpse into everything he looks for with his defense that helped create those takeaways.

“It’s the start of the play — they align correctly. Their eyes were right. They knew the call. They communicated with the guy next to him, the guys up front getting pressure and using the right leverage,” White said. “So there’s a whole multitude of steps that was probably the most important thing for those guys to be in those positions.”

White went on to mention backup rover Rahmir Stewart, who had the defense’s second interception on the day. Stewart had gotten beat on a certain concept that crossed his face, and UTEP got an explosive out of it. The Miners went to that same concept again and Stewart adjusted.

“He self-corrected on the field and got the interception. Those kinds of things right there show you how really good football players can think on the field and self-correct,” White said. “So it was really cool to see a young guy be able to do that.”

What a turnaround Mikai Gbayor has had to his Nebraska career. After not playing a snap his first two seasons in Lincoln, Gbayor has found new life under the Rhule coaching staff.

The 2023 campaign was a breakout season for Gbayor, who spent time at both inside linebacker and Jack linebacker. He recorded 24 tackles, three tackles for loss and 0.5 sacks while playing in all 12 games with four starts.

It appears Gbayor is primed for another strong season. Against UTEP, Gbayor, manning one of the inside ‘backer spots, tied for the team lead in tackles with five. He was flying around.

“He’s just a really instinctive football player. It’s about getting him in position to let him go out there and let him use his instincts,” White said. “So those little things might not show up to everybody, but when you go back and watch the film, you really have an appreciation for guys who trust the process, who really believe in what they’re doing, believe in their teammates and then go out there when the lights are on and actually go and do it.”

Gbayor played just 17 snaps against UTEP — 15 of them came inside the box — but made his presence felt.

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