Why Nebraska isn’t scrimmaging with its veteran players

Nebraska scrimmaged last Saturday without many of its most veteran contributors. The theme may well continue through the rest of the spring and in future years under coach Matt Rhule.

Rhule on Tuesday listed eight Huskers who didn’t participate in the live action inside Memorial Stadium. Defensive linemen Ty Robinson and Nash Hutmacher. Defensive backs Isaac Gifford, Tommi Hill and Marques Buford. Offensive linemen Bryce Benhart and Ben Scott along with receiver Jahmal Banks.

All are established contributors on a spring “pitch count” who went through an hour of drills before the Saturday game. Rhule said they likely won’t scrimmage at any point in a philosophy he learned as a Penn State player under coach Joe Paterno. It also gives younger players a chance to be better evaluated, as Nebraska’s were Saturday.

“It’s like a blood test,” Rhule said. “You send your blood off, they tell you how you’re doing. For us as coaches to see what we’re doing well; for players to see what they did well. A lot of good things came out of the scrimmage.”

Rhule said the quarterbacks were “really good” Saturday, with the offense coughing up just one turnover across extended reps. NU pumped crowd noise into Memorial Stadium to further see how players would handle in-game adjustments. Receivers were “good and bad,” he said, with the group still working to improve against physical press coverage at the line of scrimmage. Wideouts are making a “great jump” in areas like route running, speed, effort and knowledge of the offense.

Nebraska will unabashedly continue to conduct physical practices — “We’re 5-7 until we change that,” Rhule said. With influenza moving through much of the roster, Rhule said he challenged his assistants to push players hard Tuesday.

“I was really happy,” Rhule said. “You don’t see happy very often after practice. It’s not my job to be happy. But I was really happy today with them bouncing back.”

>> Rhule said he doesn’t anticipate any Huskers entering the transfer portal, citing Nebraska’s emphasis on being transparent and available for its players. Said Rhule: “I don’t think it’s prudent for me to coach guys (while) thinking about the portal.”