Thursday notebook: Washington TBD, Frost says 'calm down' on fan mania

Freshman running back Maurice Washington was able to suit up in a jersey and helmet for Nebraska’s walk-thru practice on Thursday after being limited all week with a stomach illness.

His status for Saturday’s game remains to be determined, but if nothing else, Washington’s situation ended up serving as a good reminder of just how rabid Husker Nation can be at times for head coach Scott Frost.

Frost said Washington was feeling so ill that he threw up six times on the practice field on Tuesday before told to go home. However, Washington’s absence led to some fan speculation about his status with the program, which only continued to build as the week went on.

“I just kind of laugh at it sometimes,” Frost said. “I’m used to the mania of things around here and people inventing things. I’ve lived that before. But I heard second-hand about all the stuff that was being said about Mo…

“People need to calm down a little bit. Not everything is newsworthy or a disaster. We’ve had a little bit of a bug going around, and a pretty bad one, so he’s ready to go and we’ve got to make sure he’s ready to go so we can get him out there.”

As Frost mentioned, he is no stranger to how rumors and emotions can run wild inside the Nebraska football bubble. That trait arguably made him more suited than anyone to come to Lincoln and handle all that comes with the head coach position.

Frost said for the most part that passion was what made the Huskers’ fan base such a valuable asset, but this week also showed what else can happen along with it.

“The attention is great. The enthusiasm is great,” Frost said. “I appreciate the people that are still behind us, and I think that’s the vast majority of (NU fans). We knew this wasn’t going to be easy from where it was when we found this program. There’s a lot of things that we’ve got to improve.

“We’re in the process of doing that, and we keep doing the things that we know work. It’s going to get good. Nobody’s more disappointed than me that it hasn’t happened yet, but we’re going to stay the course, and I know inevitably with the way that we’re going to do things, we’ll get there.”

- Robin Washut

The message all week within Nebraska’s locker room was the need to finish practices as well as it started them.

With four straight strong sessions now in the books, including a much better Thursday walk-thru than last week, Frost said his team had bounced back as well as he could have hoped.

"Today was a lot better than last week,” Frost said. “Monday was really good, Tuesday was good, and Wednesday was good. We're practicing well. Sooner or later that kind of work is going to lead to results.

“I'm just pleased we were better this week than last. There were more plays executed well, there was more attention to assignment. The guys have had a good week."

Now the hope is that the good practices translate into a better performance on game day when Purdue comes to town on Saturday.

"I want assignment-sound football, but the No. 1 thing is to play with passion, enthusiasm, and effort,” Frost said. “I'm not sure we've played as hard (since) the Colorado game, but there was a lot of enthusiasm and excitement going into that game. A lot of hope.

“Nothing's changed except for three results. I hope they go out and play with the same fire they played with in Week 1."

- Robin Washut

During his weekly television show on Sunday night, Frost noted that junior safety Deontai Williams was a guy who had been playing well enough to deserve a bigger role going forward.

Williams’ stats certainly back up that opinion.

Aside from being one of only two Huskers with an interception, which he got late last week vs. Michigan, the former junior college transfer has been one of NU’s highest-graded players over the past three weeks per Pro Football Focus.

In fact, it hasn’t been close. Williams currently boasts a cumulative defensive grade of 90.8 and a coverage grade of 92.5. Linebacker Mohamed Barry has the next-highest overall grade at 73.2, and Luke Gifford has the second-best coverage grade at 77.1.

Those grades are a bit skewed because Williams has only played a combined 36 defensive snaps over the first three games (Dicaprio Bootle has played 215), but his production in that limited opportunity supports Frost’s opinion that a bigger role is warranted.

“Anyone of those guys that come in the game has that ability to make plays, and if those guys are in the game they’re held accountable,” defensive backs coach Travis Fisher said of how he evaluates his group. “For Deontai, it’s the second game he’s got in the game and made a play. In Colorado, he made a big play when we needed it, and also later in the game he made a great catch. Great effort from him.

“Guys like him, when he gets on the field obviously helps us out. He’s fast, he can cover. He’s definitely earning himself more and more reps.”

- Robin Washut

As if Nebraska’s defense didn’t have enough of its own problems to worry about this week, Purdue’s offense could give the Huskers all they can handle on Saturday.

The Boilermakers come in ranked third in the Big Ten Conference averaging 483.5 yards per game, including boasting the league’s second-best passing offense at 318.3 ypg.

Quarterback David Blough, who will face NU for the fourth straight season, has completed 71.6 percent of his passes with six touchdowns and one interception. He’s also second in the conference with a pass efficiency rating of 164.2.

Nebraska defensive coordinator Erik Chinander said he knew immediately that Blough was “a real guy” when he saw him make the quarterback gold-standard throw – a 20-yard out route to the opposite sideline – on a dime on film.

"I think he's an exceptional passer," Chinander said. "He's an adequate runner. He can run it a little bit... but I think he can throw it as [well] as anybody in the league. We're really going to have to be great in melting the zones, and we're going to have to be tight in man coverage."

Blough also has one of the most dynamic and versatile weapons in the Big Ten at his disposal in star freshman Rondale Moore.

A player who has lined up as both a perimeter and slot receiver and as a running back in the backfield, Moore leads the league in receptions (8.3), receiving yards (93.0), and all-purpose yards (183.0) per game, and he’s tied for third with five total touchdowns on the year.

“If you’re on defense and you don’t know where that guy is at, you’re a little bit crazy, because they’re going to find a way to get him the football,” Chinander said. “Whether it’s a fly sweep, whether it’s putting him in the backfield and motioning him out, or screening him out of the backfield, whether he’s in the slot or at No. 1 (receiver) and running some difficult patterns, I think we always have to have conscious awareness of where he’s going to be at, and I think we have to have a good plan.

“I don’t know if you can ever just stop him from a gain, but how you can limit him to what he’s going to do.”

- Robin Washut

For a player who came into his freshman season with some high expectations for his role in Nebraska’s high-powered offense, Miles Jones has been notably absent over the first three games.

A former four-star recruit, Jones entered the year listed as the co-No. 2 running back along with Washington and behind co-starters Greg Bell and Devine Ozigbo.

But he has yet to play a single snap on offense or special teams to start the year, seemingly leaving him as a sure redshirt candidate.

But running backs coach Ryan Held wasn’t ready to close the book on Jones’ first season just yet.

“He’s still doing some stuff for me, but then he’s working some at receiver this week,” Held said. “He’s had a good week of practice. We’ve got to find a way to get Miles going. He’s getting better every week, it just hasn’t fit yet to put him in. We’ll see this week; he has a chance to get in the mix for sure.”

- Robin Washut

***Frost said Adrian Martinez had finally gotten the lion’s share of the No. 1 quarterback reps all week, which will make him more prepared that he was at Michigan and build better continuity across the entire offense having worked all week with him as the starter.

"He's gotten more of the ‘one’ reps this week and the lion's share of the reps this week so I think he'll be more prepared going into the game,” Frost said. “Continuity helps, particularly when you have new guys that haven't played much there. They need those looks at what they're going to see on Saturday so hopefully that gives us a boost."

***Nebraska senior receiver Stanley Morgan Jr. has caught at least three passes in 15 straight games. Morgan needs five receptions on Saturday to move into the top five on the NU career receptions list.

***Nebraska will play host to Purdue on Homecoming on Saturday afternoon. The Huskers have won nine straight Homecoming games at Memorial Stadium and have won better than 75 percent of Homecoming games in school history.