Real football is inching closer.
Nebraska finished its fourth practice of fall camp on Thursday morning, and offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield took the podium to answer questions from media members.
In case you missed it, here are Tuesday's quick hits from defensive coordinator Tony White. Here are the quick hits from Satterfield, the Huskers' play-caller.
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>> While Thursday’s practice involved the full roster practicing at the same time, the Husker coaching staff is splitting everyone up to have two rep-filled practices.
“It’s a little bit old school, but I’m kind of liking it,” Satterfield said of the dorms.
At the start of fall camp Satterfield told his offensive players he appreciated the work they put in during the summer. The coach thinks those players made a “huge jump” as a unit knowing what to do and how to do it.
“Our leadership is starting to step up at the top. I think they had a great summer," Satterfield said. "Our strength staff did an unbelievable job, with the player-run practices, the leaders on our offense did a nice job and you can tell it’s a lot smoother transition obviously from a spring to a fall camp.”
Who are the leaders emerging? Satterfield, careful not to miss anyone, didn’t want to say names outside of the starting quarterback.
“It’s the usual suspects,” the coach said. “We challenged Jeff (Sims) in the summer to really start to make this his team and I think he’s done a really nice job.”
>> While Thursday’s practice involved the full roster practicing at the same time, the Husker coaching staff has been splitting everyone up to have two rep-filled practices.
When media members got to view practice on Tuesday, Sims and Heinrich Haarberg were the two scholarship quarterbacks with the veteran group. The third scholarship quarterback, Chubba Purdy, was throwing with the younger group.
Satterfield said splitting up the roster is “unbelievable” for every position, not just the quarterbacks. Everyone is getting reps and opportunities to show what they’re capable of.
“There are kids who have gotten nearly 100 reps the first four practices, and most places they’re not getting 50 the whole time they’re in camp,” Satterfield said. “It may not be pretty ball all the time, but it’s guys out there getting to compete and they’re getting better with every single rep. In the long run it’s going to help us.”
>> What’s Satterfield seen from some of his summer arrivals at receiver? The coach didn’t waste much time thinking before answering, “A lot of speed. A lot of speed.”
Malachi Coleman, Jaidyn Doss and Demitrius Bell are key members of a mighty intriguing 2023 class. Coleman, especially, is looking the part already as a 6-foot-4, 190-pounder.
“It’s pretty impressive," Satterfield said. "They don’t know what to do yet obviously, but when they’re just out there running routes, one-on-ones and stuff, they have a lot of speed.”
With a wide-open receivers room, it’s not a stretch to think one or more out of that freshman group can earn snaps in the rotation.
>> How often has Satterfield seen freshman receivers break into a rotation and play right away early in the season?
There have been a handful of those first-year receivers who have seen action in the month of September, Satterfield said, but the coach thinks it usually takes time for them to learn the speed of the game and develop to be physically strong enough.
But never say never. If a freshman can play, Satterfield will play him.
“You will see later on, in the latter parts of the season, where a kid develops and gets into a position where he can contribute in some phases of the game,” Satterfield said. “Obviously it’s not unheard of, there are freshmen all over the place who come in and play early, and if those guys can learn what to do and how to play and match the physical elements they need, then we’ll put them in. We don’t care how old they are, as long as they produce.”
>> As the offensive line goes, so goes the Husker offense. The good news is Nebraska will have a veteran presence at center in Ben Scott, a transfer from Arizona State.
What’s Satterfield seen from the 6-5, 305-pound Scott, who has 11 starts at center under his belt from last season?
“Physicality, maturity, a guy who’s played a lot of football,” Satterfield said. “He’s been here since last spring, so I’m sure it feels like he’s been here this whole time. That group is unbelievable like I’ve said before. Just with how close they are and the unit they are. He’s made it that much stronger.”
>> With the wideout room being as wide-open as it is, that doesn’t mean there aren’t any no-doubt contributors. Billy Kemp IV, a veteran transfer from Virginia, is one of those no-doubters who’s also been taking some of the young receivers under his wing.
The 5-9, 180-pound Kemp will likely be used in a variety of ways, just like he was at Virginia. He could be the safety blanket for Sims and potentially lead the offense in catches.
“He’s just so super competitive. It’s just so important to him. He’s so respected and he doesn’t really say anything, it’s just about how he works and how he competes,” Satterfield said. “I mean, his leg could be falling off and you’d have to pull him off the field. He’s one of the most competitive kids I’ve ever been around. He’s doing a really nice job right now of leading those young kids, tutoring those guys in the meeting rooms as well.”
>> Nebraska has a solid running back room right now with Gabe Ervin Jr., Anthony Grant and Rahmir Johnson, backs who all bring something a little different to the offense.
What qualities is Satterfield looking for in a running back?
“Being dependent, knowing what to do, dependent in pass protection, dependent catching the ball, dependent in route running, dependent hitting your landmarks,” Satterfield said. “Just a guy we can depend on. Obviously with the physicality we play with, he needs to be durable, get the ball downhill, run between the tackles.
"I think it’s going to take more than one, it’s going to take two or three, especially in this league with the way these guys play defense. It’s gonna be a long year for a running back as much as we’re gonna run it.”
Does Satterfield prefer one back getting the bulk of the carries or more of a running back by committee approach?
“The preference is to have Bo Jackson,” Satterfield joked, “but there’s not a lot of Bo Jacksons out there. So we have a room full of really talented guys who do a lot of different things. We don’t want to be one of those teams that have five running backs who get two carries a game. We want some guys who have a role in the offense. But it’s going to take more than just one for us to be successful this year.”
>> There isn’t a number of carries Satterfield has in mind for the fullback each game. It just depends on the flow of the game and the situation, which are all unique.
“There will be certain games, certain defenses where they’ll be utilized more and there’ll be some where maybe they don’t have as big a role in that game. It’ll fluctuate,” Satterfield said. “Just depends on, we have tight ends and fullbacks, they both can do the same things for the most part. It’s just that fullback in between the tackles can give you a little bit more vertical push at times.”
>> Following Bob Wager’s resignation last week, Josh Martin has been leading the Husker tight ends. Satterfield said the former special teams analyst is a confident coach who looked ready to roll once called upon.
“It’s amazing, we’ve not had to meet with the tight ends. Garret (McGuire) and I thought going in we’d go back and forth with the pass game, and then Donnie (Raiola) could help in the run game. But he’s been rolling,” Satterfield said of Martin. “He hit the ground running on Friday, he learned everything in install one and install two. He has one or two questions a day, but those guys (tight ends) know what to do, how to line up, they’re playing at a high level and with confidence.”
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