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Tuesday notebook: Chinander's heart is in Nebraska

Aside from all of what Friday’s game a Iowa could mean for Nebraska in terms of capping off the year with some major positive momentum, another notable storyline is Erik Chinander returning to his alma mater.

The first-year Husker defensive coordinator was a walk-on offensive lineman for the Hawkeyes from 1998-2002 and was part of the ’02 Big Ten title team that went to the Orange Bowl

On Monday, head coach Scott Frost joked that he and Chinander used to exchange trash talk about their schools, and “now he’s on the good side.”

Chinander made it very clear on Tuesday that he was now all-in as a Husker.

“Obviously it’ll be cool to go back to that stadium. I’ve got a lot of friends and family coming wearing red to the game, so that’ll be good…” the Allison, Iowa, native said.

“I told the guys … my favorite place in the whole building, in the whole complex, is when you walk out of that gate and it says, ‘I play for Nebraska.’ I coach at Nebraska. I get to coach at Nebraska. No doubt about it, I grew up in Iowa, but home is where the heart is, and my home’s in Lincoln. My heart’s in Lincoln.”

Senior safety Tre Neal said Chinander hasn’t let any potential mixed emotions about Friday’s reunion show this week in practice, as the coach has been all business. But Neal, who spent his previous two seasons playing for the coach at Central Florida, said he can tell this won’t be a normal week of game prep for Chinander.

“He’s like, ‘I play for Nebraska,’” Neal said. “But deep down, you know, you love your alma mater. So it’ll be different for him. I’m excited to see how he reacts, just going back over there and coaching.”

The return to Kinnick Stadium will be special, but Chinander is far more concerned with what the Iowa game means for Nebraska and his defense.

“It’s an important game for our team,” Chinander said. “It’s really important to finish strong, really important for the defense to play well in this game and get some momentum going into spring football.”

- Robin Washut

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NU coaches have mixed feelings on short weeks

Some coaches don’t mind mixing things up with a short week of practice and playing in a national TV slot like Nebraska will in Friday’s showdown on FOX.

Others, especially those who live by their in-season routines, can’t stand it.

Those opinions are fairly across the board within Nebraska’s coaching staff. Frost said he’d definitely prefer to have another day to prepare for an important West Division matchup, but he understands the tradition that surrounds NU’s annual Black Friday games.

“It’s not ideal, but around here that’s a tradition and I think that’s probably more important than getting us another hour or two more of sleep,”Frost said.

Chinander is one coach who definitely doesn’t like short weeks.

“No, I hate the short weeks because I love practice,” he said. “The guys love the game, I love the game, too. But Saturday is for the boys. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, those are my days, so when I miss a day, I don’t like that very much. But I know it’s good to get a (Friday) game after Thanksgiving.”

Then there’s offensive coordinator Troy Walters, who isn’t nearly as concerned with missing a day of prep.

“I like shorter weeks because you get to play sooner, and our guys are at a point on offense where we know what we’re doing," Walters said. "We know the plays, we know the system. So we’re fired up.”

- Robin Washut

Considering elements, Dewitt proud of special teams

Jovan Dewitt said he was probably the most nervous special teams coach in the country last week giving the circumstances.

Not only were the conditions less than ideal for the kicking game, but the Huskers were also without some key special teams players like Jacob Weinmaster.

“We had several guys that were out on special teams,” Dewitt said. “Going into that game the kicking coach (Dewitt) was really nervous. There were 20-something mile an hour winds. There was blowing snow all over the place, and two or three of your top special teams players were not playing. So that made me a little bit on edge.

“I have a heart rate monitor that goes off during the game on my Apple Watch and it was at like 128 every time we lined up to kick or received a kick. That’s not good. After the game it was really high then got really low and I was able to relax.”

Dewitt said his heart rate monitor peaked out with Barret Pickering’s third field goal attempt. He added that Pickering has gained a lot of confidence throughout the season and making the kicks he made in those conditions last week only adds to that.

“It was about 135-140, I actually took a screenshot of it. It was pretty high, but it was a good feeling,” Dewitt said about Pickering’s game-winner. “He’s earned confidence more from how we’ve handled things week to week as opposed to just one game, one situation.

"But yeah, I think any time you go into a pressure situation like that with less than ideal conditions and you’re able to handle it, I would think that would lend its self to giving you more confidence.”

- Nate Clouse

Huskers to face another stout defense this week in Iowa

Last week Nebraska squared up with the nation’s top-ranked rush defense in Michigan State, and things don’t get much easier for the Huskers this week with Iowa.

The Hawkeyes are right near the top of the Big Ten in virtually every defensive statistic. Walters said the challenge starts up front with Iowa.

“Very stout up front. Got 6-7, 6-6, 6-7 D-linemen,” Walters said about Iowa’s defense. “They’re aggressive, active; they create pressure. They really want to create pressure with four guys. And then on the back end, they’re very sound. They don’t do a lot, but what they do, they do well.”

Running back coach Ryan Held said not only do the Hawkeyes do a good job of using their length up front, but they’re so in-tune with their scheme that they are rarely out of position.

“They are just such a well-coached team,” Held said. “They know where they need to be. They’ve run the same defense for many years and have tweaked it.

“That’s a program that is 20 years ahead of us in terms of system. You can see why they are good. They have their model and they stick to it. They know what guys they need to recruit that fit what they are looking for, so we have a great challenge ahead of us.”

- Nate Clouse

Quick hits

***Walters said receiver J.D. Spielman was “limited” on Tuesday and was still considered “day-to-day” going into the Iowa game. “We’ll wait and see,” Walters said. “He’s been limited, so we’ll just wait and see," Walters said. "He’s day-to-day. Hoping to have him, but if we don’t we’ll go with the same guys we played against Michigan State.”

***Walters said he liked the fact that Nebraska has had to play in such bad weather the past two weeks because it shows what the staff has been telling the team all year: “For us to win a championship here, we’re going to have to play in those conditions.”

***Chinander said Iowa’s tight ends were so dangerous because not only could they play a traditional, physical style at the position, but they were also just as good lined up in the slot or perimeter as receivers.

Chinander said that keeps defenses from staying strictly in a base package because you sometimes need to match up defensive backs on those tight ends on passing downs since linebackers struggle to stay with them.

***Chinander said the Michigan State game was valuable for the future of Nebraska’s defense because it showed that there were going to be games where the defense would have to win it, and Saturday proved the unit was capable of doing it.

***Quarterbacks coach Mario Verduzco said even though Adrian Martinez had one of his worst statistical days against Michigan State, it was actually one of his best performances of the season considering the circumstances.

Verduzco said Martinez spent all week preparing for “a dogfight” against a tough MSU defense in bad winter weather, and he more than held his own.

***Verduzco said backup quarterback Noah Vedral was still day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.

***Because of how tall and long Iowa’s defensive line is, offensive coach Greg Austin said the blocking schemes would focus much more on leverage, whereas last week it was about “power on power.”

***Running backs coach Ryan Held said if you didn’t know any better, you would’ve thought Nebraska was an undefeated team getting ready to play for a national championship based on how hard the team practiced on Tuesday.

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