Tuesday notebook: Despite flaws, Lee playing best football yet

In a game where he completed just 50 percent of his passes, led Nebraska’s offense to just 10 points, and threw his 10th interception and fourth pick-six of the season, one would think the film session for Tanner Lee would be a rough one following the loss to Wisconsin.

According to offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf, it was quite the contrary.

Against arguably the most talented defense he’d faced yet in his college career, the junior quarterback actually put together one of his most impressive performances as a Husker in the 38-17 loss to the Badgers.

“I think he’s been really good the last two games especially,” Langsdorf said. “I thought he had some really smart decisions, I thought he threw the ball accurately, I thought he moved nicely in the pocket - had a scramble, stepped up a few times against some rush and made some throws.

“I just think he’s been really sharp, really solid. He graded out great in our last game just with all of the things we’re asking him to do. So I’ve been very pleased, especially over the last two games…

“I think he’s just getting more and more comfortable, and I think that’s why he’s playing faster and making better decisions… I think there is a lot more confidence in his game.”

While Lee only completed 16 of his 32 attempts, Langsdorf noted that included four smart “throwaway” passes out of bounds rather than forcing throws into coverage. The film session also showed there were at least four drops by his receivers on what were considered catchable balls.

Lee also wasn’t sacked in the loss, but Langsdorf said he was hit in the pocket eight times, meaning he was still under heavy pressure from UW’s aggressive pass rush.

“Tanner Lee, considering it all, made some really good throws and really hung in there,” head coach Mike Riley said. “We didn’t have any sacks, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t harassed or hit and he hung in in great shape and made plays.”

Lee agreed that his confidence has grown significantly over the past six weeks, which he hopes only continues on through the rest of the year.

“Just trying to get better each game and build off of each outing,” Lee said. “Learn things and being able to apply it to the next game is something I am focusing on.”

- Robin Washut

From the moment he was diagnosed with a torn meniscus in his knee in July to when he finally took the field for the first time this season last week vs. Wisconsin, Chris Jones knew there was no way he’d be out as long as everyone expected.

Shortly after suffering the injury during summer workouts, the senior cornerback took to Twitter to promise that there was no way he’d be out for the projected 4-to-6 months he was given by his doctors.

When he was back in uniform agian on Saturday night, Jones was rewarded with knowing that all of his hard work the past three months had paid off.

“Every day it was just go in (the training room), not really say much, just grind hard, and just see what the outcome was going to be,” Jones said. “When the time came to test it out, everything was perfect, everything was strong. I felt confident, and I came out here to practice and felt great. Now I’m here today.”

Jones said his spirits were constantly raised with each day during his recovery, as his knee seemed to get stronger with every test NU’s training staff put him through.

He said the last big hurdle before officially being cleared was fully trusting his knee again, and the trainers had him hop up and down on the one leg to really put that trust to the test. When his injured knee actually felt stronger than the other one, Jones knew he was good to go.

“When (the injury) happened, at first I was down, but then I just thought to myself, ‘There’s no reason to get down. Just fight and keep pushing yourself every day,’” Jones said. “I told myself I was going to keep pushing myself every day, and if I came back early, I came back early. I just prayed about it, and I felt like, ‘You’re going to be back.’”

The Jacksonville, Fla., native only ended up with two tackles vs. the Badgers, but his playing time increased more and more as the game went on and he was a staple in NU’s redzone defense.

Defensive coordinator Bob Diaco said Jones’ recovery went exactly to plan, and now that he’s officially back in the cornerback mix, his role would only continue to increase by the week.

“Everything that happened with Chris happened by design,” Diaco said. "We had a plan together as a football family and it was executed, and it was just the right amount for him just to get his beak wet, so to speak.

“Now he’s going to be back in the role that most people anticipated, and that is appropriate for this week.”

While the injury still ended up costing Jones five games of his senior season, he said looking back the time off may have been somewhat of a blessing in disguise.

“Believe it or not, I really think that this injury was the best thing that ever happened to me,” Jones said. “I learned so much about this game. My football IQ went up. Just being around those guys and being able to help them in the DB room and just being on the sidelines, you see the game from a whole different perspective.

“You see stuff like not running to the ball or just giving up on a play. You see those things and you say, 'Oh, I used to do stuff like that.' You see the game from a whole different perspective when you're on the sidelines."

- Robin Washut

Mikale Wilbon did all he could throughout last week to get back on the field after spraining his ankle in Nebraska’s win over Illinois, but as he tried to go through pre-game warmups prior to kickoff vs. Wisconsin, he knew it just wasn’t going to happen.

“If you were looking, I wasn’t full speed at all,” the junior running back said. “I could run pretty well, but when I was cutting I could kind of feel it in my ankle and all.”

The good news is that Wilbon returned to practice on Monday and was again a full participant for Tuesday's full-pads session, making his odds of getting back to action against No. 10 Ohio State on Saturday look better by the day.

Wilbon was just starting to come into his own prior to the injury, racking up 51 carries for 228 yards and a touchdown over his first three career starts vs. Northern Illinois, Rutgers, and Illinois.

What was even more encouraging for Nebraska was the 1-2 punch it was developing with Wilbon and junior Devine Ozigbo in its running game. With Wilbon doing the bulk of the work early on, he set the table for Ozigbo to close out back-to-back conference wins with run-heavy fourth quarters.

Knowing the Huskers need to be at full force in order to upset the Buckeyes, Wilbon said he’s excited to get back to work alongside Ozigbo.

“I don’t think people can stop that because we bring everything to the table,” Wilbon said. “Devine brings a power running game to our offense, he also can catch, and he’s also got good feet. Then I bring a more speed-type, more shifty type running to our offense and I can also catch – and I’ve got a little power, I would say.”

- Robin Washut

On a first-and-10 from around midfield, Lee took a snap under center, trailing Arkansas State by four in the first start of his Nebraska career.

A seven-step drop and a fake handoff later, a perfectly thrown ball was falling into junior wideout Stanley Morgan’s hands for a 44-yard touchdown, Lee’s first in a scarlet uniform.

But after nine interceptions in the next three games, the Huskers went away from the deep ball to an extent, working to get Lee comfortable in the system. His longest completion against Rutgers was just 18 yards, and most of his big-play success against Illinois came via crossing routes.

Against Wisconsin, however, Lee and Langsdorf saw matchups they could exploit vertically against the Badger defense.

The Huskers went deep as early as the second play, finding De’Mornay Pierson-El for a big gain before the drive was eventually derailed by a pick-six.

In all, Nebraska had six “chunk passing plays” – completed passes of 15 yards or more – against Wisconsin. The Huskers went deep at least four more times on incompletions, two notable plays being a vertical to Pierson-El in the end zone and a deep fade to freshman Tyjon Lindsey.

On nearly each one of those throws, Langsdorf said, Lee gave his receivers a chance to make a play.

“I think he’s doing a nice job of seeing things,” Langsdorf said. “He had a beautiful throw to Stan on the touchdown play.”

Lee’s teammates have also been very vocal about praising his decision-making the past two games. Langsdorf has taken notice of Lee’s willingness to throw the ball away after a rough stretch that included three pick-sixes, not counting the one against Wisconsin.

Lee’s improved choices in the heat of battle have allowed Langsdorf to re-open the playbook, a change that was on display under the lights on Saturday night.

“He’s seeing the deep ones; he’s checking it down,” Langsdorf said. “I think there is a lot more confidence in his game.”

- Matt Reynoldson

***Running back Tre Bryant was back in pads on Tuesday for the first time since re-injuring his knee in Week 2 at Oregon.

***Nebraska was without two Blackshirt defensive backs on Tuesday, as safeties Aaron Williams (neck) and Antonio Reed (knee) both sat out.

***Receiver De’Mornay Pierson-El (shoulder/ankle) practiced but wore a green no-contact jersey.

***Linebacker Dedrick Young practiced with a big club cast on his right hand.

***Diaco said he was “crushed” and “disgusted” after the loss to Wisconsin, and when he went to bed Saturday night he felt like his defense got beat up and pushed around all game. Looking back on the film, though, Diaco said that wasn’t the case at all. What really hurt Nebraska was its own mistakes, and he was actually more encouraged than anything because all of those errors were correctable.

***Ozigbo said it’s definitely been “different” this week with all three top running backs at practice again, and he wasn’t sure how the workload was going to be distributed this week. He said he felt he’s earned a place in the backfield rotation with the work he’s done the past three weeks.

***Diaco called Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer the “founding father” of the modern spread offense, calling the system not “a spread offense”, but “THE spread offense.” Diaco said you have to defend so much of the field against OSU and do so at such a fast tempo, as the Buckeyes can get plays off after just 11 seconds.

***Diaco said the defensive staff has definitely reviewed the game film of last year’s loss at Ohio State to try and pick up on any keys or hints from what the Buckeyes did on offense. However, he said they had to be “very crafty” in how they review that film with the players as to not hurt their confidence at all.

***An NFL scout from the New Orleans Saints took in Tuesday’s practice.