Marques Buford Jr. 'dog mentality' makes him NU secondary's "hidden gem"

When secondary coach Travis Fisher asked Marques Buford Jr. to take reps at the safety position, Buford didn’t even blink.

Buford, who was a cornerback during his freshman season in 2021, probably responded exactly how Fisher hoped.

“When I put Marques at safety, he didn't know it was coming,” Fisher said. “I did it right before practice, maybe during practice, I said “Go to safety” and he went right to safety. Whether he knew exactly what he was doing or not, the first thing I noticed was his speed. The first thing I noticed was it doesn't matter if he knew what he was doing. The first thing I noticed was him getting to the rock. Whether he was right or wrong.”

Fisher described that as a “dog mentality” which is something Buford considers himself on the football field as well. That mentality is one of the reasons Buford was moved to safety and will cross-train between corner and safety this spring.

“If you go out there with that dog mentality that ‘hey I don’t care how big this dude is, I’m gonna win this rep’ then it doesn’t matter if you’re 4’11´or 5’10 playing corner,” the Texas native said.

While many wouldn’t expect Buford to play safety due to his 5-foot-10, 190-pound frame, Fisher said Buford is his “hidden gem” because of that.

“That kid, he’s going to surprise a lot of people because I got him at the safety position and you look at him and say ‘5-9, well he’s a corner,’ no he can play any position in secondary,” Fisher said during Nebraska’s first press conference of the spring. “His size, you think a guy like that wouldn’t be so physical, but he ain’t scared of nobody. I mean he’s fearless.”

Buford is adjusting well to a new position, one that Fisher says is a hard position to play in Nebraska’s defense because they do it all.

“The safety is responsible for not only his pass drops but he has to tell the corner what he had, he had to tell the linebacker to his side what he had,” Buford said of the position. “Even if the nickel is in the game, he has to tell him what he had. He has to focus on our pass drop as well as our run fit too.”

During meetings in the secondary room, Fisher said every player learns both positions because he could be asked to play the opposite position at any moment, just like Buford was. The sophomore said he is playing safety on the field but is studying both in the classroom.

Defensive coordinator Erik Chinander said that he and Fisher decided to cross-train Buford in case someone gets injured but also because they know he can handle it on the field and in the meeting room.

“There are all different kinds of learners. Different guys learn differently, some learn off the film, some learn off the walkthrough, some learn off the playbook, Marques learns it all,” Chinander said. “He’s higher learning a little bit like Marquel Dismuke where it’s not just where do I line up in cover three, where do I go, it’s understanding what’s the issues, what’s the spacing, what’s my other guys doing around me so I think once you get to that level then you can become a really good football player.”

Buford said he learned a lot from Dismuke, Deontai Williams and Cam Taylor-Britt, who all graduated/moved on from Nebraska after last season. He is now trying to help the young and new many players just as the older players helped him during his freshman season.

Nebraska brought in several new players with two transfers, two junior college players and a freshman for spring practice. While Buford said he is helping his teammates learn the playbook and techniques, he is also competing with them every day.

“One thing I can say about coach Fisher is nobody has a spot secured. Every day is a competition. He wants his guys to be the most competitive guys on the field and honestly the DB position, that’s how it has to be,” the defensive back said. “You have to be the most competitive edge heavy guy on the team so I feel like bringing in those new guys was what normally happens. We’re going to compete with them the same way we were competing with each other last year.”

Buford has proven he has that “competitive edge heavy guy” mindset, similar to the dog mentality which is both something that could set him apart with a competitive spring ahead of him.

“You’ve got to show me that you’re better than me. If you come out with that mentality then how do you lose,” Buford said. “If you just refuse to lose and then you put the work in not to lose then at the end of the day, more than likely, you’re going to be a winner.”