Tuesday notebook: Pierson-El getting better by the day

With every practice and every game he gets under his belt, De’Mornay Pierson-El takes another step closer towards returning to the player who became a Nebraska fan favorite two years ago.

The past year has definitely been one of the most difficult of the junior wide receiver and return specialist’s career. On Oct. 31, 2015, Pierson-El suffered a brutal knee injury while celebrating a touchdown against Purdue.

The injury not only cost him the rest of his sophomore season, it forced him to miss the follow spring practices and even limited him to open this past fall camp.

But every time Pierson-El steps onto the field, a bit of the confidence and swagger that made him a second-team All-American as a true freshman builds back up.

“It’s something I’m feeling,” Pierson-El said. “For the most part, I’m just getting into my groove and I think everybody’s starting to see it. It’s just finally catching. Hopefully another week of preparation will have me right back in the same spot again.”

The Alexandria, Va., native had his best outing since his injury last week, fittingly, in a win over Purdue.

Pierson-El came up with his first touchdown of the season on a 40-yard catch and run that turned out to be the game-winning score. He ended up tying and setting season-highs with three receptions for 69 yards in the victory.

"I’ve loved watching him almost day-to-day gaining confidence, and you know, the neat thing is you can just feel it in talking to him that he knows that’s happening,” head coach Mike Riley said. “He knows he feels good ... I don’t know if he thinks he’s back to 100 percent or not, but I know he feels good about where he is, and we all have seen it.”

Riley said there was a point this offseason where there was serious discussion over Pierson-El possibly redshirting the 2016 season in order to give him proper time to fully recover from his injuries.

But that idea was quickly put to rest by the person who was ultimately assigned to make the decision - Pierson-El.

“I’m absolutely glad that I’m playing, and not even just for that reason – just to be around my teammates and everything like that,” Pierson-El said. “It was a decision that I didn’t know where it was going to go at first, but I’m certainly glad that I made the decision to play this year.”

- Robin Washut

Wisconsin might not be known for doing anything overly fancy offensively, but as Riley and his staff watch film of the Badgers this season, it hasn't taken long to know they’ll be facing far from a basic attack.

Yes, UW prides itself on a power running game, and that’s backed up by the fact that running back Corey Clement currently ranks as the No. 2 rusher in the Big Ten at 102.8 yards per game.

But Wisconsin brings some unique wrinkles to the table as well. In particular, Riley said the Badgers love to try and confuse defenses with a flurry of pre-snap motions and shifts.

By doing so, they often create assignment breakdowns by opposing defenses, which generally lead to big plays for the running game.

Also, because of their success on the ground, Riley said the Badgers love to catch defenses creeping up on the line of scrimmage and burn them with play-action passes.

Wisconsin’s most productive weapon through the air is tight end Troy Fumagalli, who leads the team with 25 catches.

“You know some people nowadays offensively, one of their big curveballs is to go fast, up-tempo, to not huddle,” Riley said. “These guys, their curveball is multiple formations, multiple shifting, and multiple tight ends that move. They try to mess with your gap cancellation by shifting their tight ends, motioning the tight end, and getting an advantage of running the football in a certain direction…

“It’s creative in its way, so we really have to play a sound game alignment wise. Just getting lined up correctly against this team and giving ourselves a chance to play from there.”

- Robin Washut

Much of the talk this week regarding Nebraska’s banged up offensive line has revolved around the statuses of tackles Nick Gates (ankle) and David Knevel (foot), and understandably so.

But one injury that hasn’t been discussed much was the dislocated pinky finger senior center Dylan Utter suffered on his right snapping hand two weeks ago at Indiana.

Utter had to temporarily leave the game to go to the sideline after the injury, mostly because senior quarterback Tommy Armstrong insisted.

"To be honest, I was kind of scared,” Utter said. “I don’t like dislocations or looking at any of that stuff. So I just kind of showed Tommy my finger and asked him what I should have done and he told me, ‘Get off the field!’”

Utter had his finger put back into place on the sideline and was back on the field the very next offensive series. There is still some pain from the injury, and he has to tape his pinky and ring fingers together during games in order to help keep it in place.

But given all the other ailments his fellow linemen are playing through, Utter said the credit should go to guys like Gates and Knevel.

“They always preach to us about grit and stuff like that, but as offensive lineman, you never want to let your teammates down and I think that kind of fuels their fire,” Utter said. “If they can go, they’ll go. They want to help us out as much as they can.”

- Robin Washut

If there’s one thing Nebraska’s offense simply cannot afford to do against Wisconsin on Saturday night, it’s turn the ball over.

Unfortunately, that has been a bit easier said than done for the Badgers’ opponents this season.

Wisconsin comes in ranked third in the Big Ten with eight interceptions to go along with three fumbles gained, giving it 11 total takeaways on the year. Defensive back Derrick Tindal leads the way with three of those eight interceptions.

But that threat doesn’t just stop with traditional turnovers. The Badgers are second in the conference in third-down defense at 24.7 percent (22-of-89), and they’ve only allowed three fourth-down conversions on eight attempts.

On top of that, three of UW’s 11 forced turnovers on the year have come inside the red zone.

“They force turnovers,” Armstrong said. “We watched clips here and there from when they played Michigan State. They went to Michigan State and forced some key turnovers to win that game. Michigan State actually put up a fight, but turnovers were a key to that game. They played LSU really, really tough.

“And we watched just a little bit of the Iowa game also. The one thing that they do well is they make sure you have to earn every score you get, and I don’t even think Iowa scored a touchdown in that game… Whenever we get a chance to move the chains and get in the end zone we have to take advantage of it and trust in our defense to get us stops.”

- Robin Washut

***Both offensive tackles Nick Gates (ankle) and David Knevel (foot) practiced on Tuesday, as did wide receiver Jordan Westerkamp (back), who returned for the first time since being injured vs. Purdue on Oct. 1.

***Tight end Cethan Carter (elbow) remains out, but he was doing some light running on Tuesday.

***Defensive coordinator Mark Banker said Wisconsin’s Corey Clement would be “by far” the best running back Nebraska will have faced this season.

***Banker talked a lot about Wisconsin’s pre-snap motions and shifts it does on offense to try and confuse opposing defenses. While NU will obviously have to prepare for that, Banker has been telling his players that from offensive tackle to tackle and the quarterback back to the running back, nothing ever moves. The Huskers can’t get caught up in all the other movement and must stay focused on their own assignments.

***Defensive tackle Kevin Maurice said Wisconsin’s offensive line would definitely be the biggest unit the Huskers have faced this year. However, he said that doesn’t change anything about their preparation. All it does is make the defense know they have to be ready for a physical challenge.

***Banker and the rest of NU’s defensive coaches said they fully expect Wisconsin to use two quarterbacks on Saturday. Freshman Alex Hornibrook will start, but they are planning on senior Bart Houston to play quite a bit.

***Nebraska’s coaches definitely have a lot of respect for UW tight end Troy Fumagalli, who leads the Badgers with 25 receptions for 303 yards and a touchdown. Linebackers coach Trent Bray said Fumagalli would be a major test for his group in coverage.

***Nebraska’s coaches said they haven’t looked back at all at any of NU’s previous games in Madison. They said the players who played there in 2014 haven’t even mentioned that game this week, so it’s clear the focus in on this season and this game.

***Nebraska changed things up on Tuesday by only practicing in half-pads. The Huskers usually go full pads on Tuesday given that they have Monday’s off, but they might be wanting to get the players as fresh and healthy as possible going into Wisconsin.

***NFL scouts from the New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers, Cleveland Browns, and Buffalo Bills were in attendance for Tuesday’s practice.