Tuesday notebook: Fyfe healing, but QB situation still unclear

In making his first career home start on Senior Day, Ryker Fyfe was having a dream performance in leading Nebraska to a win over Maryland.

Then, while rolling back during a pass in the third quarter, Fyfe was knocked to the turf and ended up breaking a bone in his left, non-throwing wrist. The fifth-year senior was able to play through the injury, but he quickly had surgery the following Sunday.

While he tried to get back into the mix on a short week in preparation for NU’s Black Friday game at Iowa, his wrist wouldn’t allow it. That left the Huskers to start senior Tommy Armstrong, who sat out the Maryland game with what Fyfe called a torn hamstring.

Things obviously did not go well for Nebraska in a 40-10 loss to the Hawkeyes, and as it turns its attention to its Music City Bowl showdown vs. Tennessee at the end of the month, the situation at quarterback isn’t much clearer.

Following Tuesday’s practice, Fyfe said he’s been taking all of the first-team reps since the start of bowl preparations, with Zack Darlington handling all of the second-team work.

Fyfe is still unable to take snaps under center, but said his wrist has improved significantly from where it was prior to the Iowa game.

“It’s feeling better,” Fyfe said. “It should be good here in like a week or two. I’ve yet to take snaps (under center), but it’s feeling a lot better… It’s just going under center right now. It hurts to take a snap, but other than that I’m doing everything the same, so it’s all fine.”

Fyfe said he hopes to start taking snaps from center by next week, and he’ll continue to wear a soft cast on his left wrist throughout the remaining bowl practices for precautionary reasons.

But just as it was in the final three weeks of the regular season, Fyfe’s standing on the quarterback depth chart all depends on the status of Armstrong, who has yet to practice since the Iowa loss.

Offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf said there was no set timetable for Armstrong to return in order to reclaim his starting role, but noted it probably needed to be “soon”.

“The last few weeks I’ve been doing the same thing, so I’ve just got to prepare like I’m going to start, and if he comes back, who knows,” Fyfe said. “It’s (the coaches’) decision to pick who’s playing. I’m just going to go out and work hard every day...

“It’s kind of like how my whole career has been, I guess. You’ve just got to be ready, so that’s what I’m going to do.”

Seeing how limited Armstrong was against the Hawkeyes, Fyfe was asked if there was a chance he could have played. Fyfe estimated Armstrong was only about 30-percent healthy in the game, and that he wasn’t much better than that.

“It would’ve been kind of tough,” Fyfe said. “I mean, broken wrist. I got surgery five days prior. I mean I would have been able to do it, but it would’ve been a lot tougher. I couldn’t have gone under center… I could have probably played, but it obviously hurt pretty bad.”

- Robin Washut

When it was announced Nebraska was bringing in Arizona’s Donté Williams to coach cornerbacks, initially that led to questions about what’s happening to current cornerbacks coach Brian Stewart?

In 2015 Stewart coached the entire secondary, while in 2016 he was solely the cornerbacks coach. Williams will come in now and coach corners and Stewart will move back to work with the safeties.

However, when the news of the Williams hiring first hit social media there was quite a scare in the locker room on what it meant for Stewart’s future going forward.

“We saw that and the first thing we said was ‘what’s happening with Stew?’,” junior corner Chris Jones said. “We were texting Stew just asking what was going on. We were just trying to figure it out, because nobody knew anything. It sends your head in a whirl because I’ve had a different DB coach almost every year’s I’ve been here. Whatever we can do to help the team though and make the team better, I’m down with it.”

Talking for the first time since the Williams hiring, Stewart said he understands why his guys initially were confused by it, but now everybody is on the same page and ready to move forward.

“We are pretty close,” Stewart said of his position room. “Every Thursday, the night before a home game they come over my house and we eat and have a chance to kind of get to know each other, so we are a pretty close group, so that was the first thing they were thinking about – a close knit group getting broken up, and that’s not the case.

“I’m going to be coaching safeties and Donte' is going to be coaching corners. We’ll probably be even closer, because we’ll be around with each other. I’m looking forward to it.”

-Sean Callahan

Over the past four games, Tennessee has averaged over 50 points per contest. This is in large part due to the Volunteers' dual-threat quarterback Joshua Dobbs.

“He is a big guy, probably one of the bigger guys we’ve faced,” Nebraska defensive tackle Carlos Davis said. “When he gets out in the open, he can move for a big guy. It might look deceiving on film but he’s fast.”

Dobbs is listed at 6-foot-3, 215 pounds, and has a big presence under center for the Volunteers.

Nebraska defensive coordinator Mark Banker has high praise for Dobbs not only because of his athleticism, but also for his intelligence.

“If his major has anything to do with how intelligent the kid is, he’s an aerospace engineer major,” Banker said. “He’ll run off the edge with the ball and drop-back pass and is always a threat to take off and scramble.”

Banker also said that Dobbs could be a pocket passer in the NFL because he is tall, has a big arm, and commands the offense well.

Dobbs was recently named Athlon Sports SEC Offensive Player of the Year after passing for 2,655 yards and 26 touchdowns, in addition to 713 yards and nine touchdowns rushing.

- David Eickholt

Banker isn’t shy about how his feelings regarding the Huskers’ 40-10 loss to Iowa.

“The Iowa game still doesn’t sit well with any of us,” Banker said after Tuesday’s practice. “We over-ran the ball a ton in the beginning of that game.”

Banker cited a 75-yard run and a 77-yard pass in the first quarter of that game as noticeable defensive misses thanks to tackling struggles. At this point in the season, Banker said, tackling is about want-to.

“We’ve worked on tackling more this season than any season that I’ve ever coached,” Banker said. “We can look at it in the offseason and we can change drills … but the other part of it is attitude when you’re going to the ball. That will take care of all angles.”

The Blackshirts will be up against one of their tougher tests of the season against a dynamic Tennessee offense.

“The quarterback, everything goes through him,” Banker said. “He’s always a threat to take off and scramble … All in all, it’s just a really solid group.”

Nebraska will be looking to improve on its average of 400 yards per game defensively, ranking 64th nationally.

- Matt Reynoldson

***Several defense of players and coaches singled out true freshman receiver J.D. Spielman as one of the highlight players on the offense of scout team this season. Banker even said that had Spielman had a better understanding of the offense he would've been able to help Nebraska this season.

***Banker said Nebraska has worked on tackling this season more than any other season in his entire coaching career. He said they've tried to incorporate different drills in practice to improve the Huskers' tackling, but what it comes down to is the "attitude" players take when pursuing the football.

***There was a lot of praise for the redshirt freshmen offensive linemen: Matt Farniok, John Raridon, and Boe Wilson. Offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh said he loves the competitiveness of that group, and he wouldn't be surprised if guys like Farniok and Raridon don't end up getting into a fist fight during practice at some point in their careers because they're both so intense.

***Jones said he definitely plans on coming back for his senior season, but he still plans to apply for an NFL evaluation to see where he stands.

***Center Dylan Utter said the foot injury he was dealing with earlier this season was due to having an "extra bone" in his foot that was getting aggravated.

***Players whist out of Tuesday's practice with various injuries were Armstrong, left guard Jerald Foster, and linebacker Marcus Newby. Offensive lineman Cole Conrad was back at practice after sitting out Friday.