After Nebraska’s wide receivers made a minimal impact in the season opener against Ohio State, it looks like that group will have more firepower at its disposal this week at Northwestern.
Head coach Scott Frost confirmed that standout junior college transfer Omar Manning, who did not travel to OSU, would make the trip to Evanston, Ill., and be available to make his Husker debut on Saturday.
“Omar is ready to play,” Frost said.
Frost also said there was a chance that NU’s three true freshmen wide receivers – Alante Brown, Marcus Fleming, and Zavier Betts – could be in line for increased workloads against the Wildcats.
Brown and Fleming each played 11 snaps at Ohio State, with Brown catching one pass for 16 yards late in the game. Betts did not see the field.
“Those guys are close,” Frost said. “I think the younger receivers are doing a good job of coming along. I think Coach (Matt) Lubick is doing a good job bringing them along. For a bunch of different reasons, I think they all got set back a little bit, whether it was a virus or an injury or an absence. But they’re getting close…
“I think we’ll have a role for some of those guys. Hopefully this week or soon after it.”
The most notable addition to the rotation, however, is Manning.
At 6-4, 220, Manning brings a combination of size, strength, speed, and talent that NU hasn't seen at wideout since maybe Maurice Purify. He led Kilgore C.C. with 35 receptions, 727 yards, and six touchdowns last year as a sophomore while averaging nearly 21 yards per catch.
Earlier this fall, Frost said that the former Kilgore (Texas) C.C. star and TCU commit had missed too much practice time due to injury and personal reasons to earn a role in the season opener.
Along with getting back to 100 percent physically, offensive coordinator Matt Lubick said recently that the next biggest challenge was boosting Manning’s confidence back up to the level it was when he signed with Nebraska last winter.
“He’s explosive,” Lubick said last week. “He brings some size to the table… He has strong hands; he’s physical. So he has a lot of skill sets that we want to utilize. The key is just getting him healthy and confident. Because he is getting healthy, and he’s showing some good things in practice.
“Now the next part is getting him confident, so he can play at his best. Confidence is knowing your assignments and repping it over and over and over, and that takes time, that takes practice, and he’s doing a really good job of it right now.”
On Thursday, Frost said Manning, despite his JUCO experience, was in the same boat as the three true freshmen in that he just needed to be on the field enough to learn the offense and earn the coaches’ trust.
How many snaps Manning plays on Saturday will give a good idea of how caught up he is since two weeks ago.
“For all those young guys, it’s a matter of being here, being here consistently, and continuing to learn,” Frost said. “Through sometimes not their fault, they just haven’t been able to get the reps and get the experience. But when those guys are around, we recruited them for a reason. They’re talented, so they just need to keep learning and keep getting more consistent.”
