Tuesday notebook: Special teams woes still a big problem

As if the two costly kickoff errors Caleb Lightbourn made at Ohio State weren’t hard enough, the viral social media backlash the junior got after the game made it 100 times worse.

The junior kickoff specialist, who already was demoted from his starting punting duties earlier this season, was the butt of plenty of jokes across the sports world for his badly botched onside kick attempt in the first quarter.

Add in the kickoff he sent out of bounds that nearly allowed Ohio State to score just before halftime, and it was another bad day in what has been an all-around bad season for Lightbourn.

Special teams coordinator Jovan Dewitt was asked about how Lightbourn was handling the situation, especially since specialists’ mistakes are magnified as much as any player on the field.

“You think?” Dewitt said. “I think anytime you’re a specialist and you’re on display in front of however many thousands of people that are out there watching you, your mistakes, obviously, do get amplified, but that’s the life you lead when you’re a specialist.

“When you’re a kicker, everybody’s watching you to see how you handle it. It’s not easy for him, obviously, but he’s working through it.”

Lightbourn’s miscues were just some of many problems the Huskers had on special teams at Ohio State. In fact, an argument could be made that had it not been for NU’s third element it could have pulled off the upset over the No. 10 Buckeyes.

Whether it was poor kickoffs, short punts, wrong choices on kick and punt returns, or a blocked punt that resulted in a safety, it was once again a game filled with one special teams issue after another.

Dewitt said fixing the problems was a matter of continuing to try and develop as much consistency as possible in the kicking and return games, which has yet to happen all season.

“Obviously, it’s completely inconsistent, so we’re trying to build consistency there,” Dewitt said. “There are times where we play really, really well on special teams and we covered some kicks down and gave up like a 10-yard kickoff return, a 14-yard kickoff return, and maybe a shorter one than that…

“So, it’s just, you go from really, really good to god awful. Those are the things you can’t have. You just can’t be that way and have a chance to win games. The fact that we were able to be in the game and lead the game with those miscues happening speaks a lot to the character of our kids.”

- Robin Washut

It’s been four years since Nebraska’s defense has had a two-game run of forced turnovers like it’s had the past two weeks.

The Blackshirts recorded two straight games with three takeaways against both Bethune-Cookman and Ohio State, matching their longest such streak since 2014.

The Huskers now have 13 total forced turnovers through nine games. Last year they had 12 all season.

Defensive coordinator Erik Chinander it’s been a long road for his group to develop the mindset of the aggressive and opportunistic defense he wants them to be, but they’re now closer than ever toward getting to that level.

“Yeah, because it’s happening in practice,” Chinander said. “They’re taking those drills seriously. You watch the film of those quote, unquote, turnover drills at the beginning of the year, it looks like it’s the Bad News Bears out there running around. Now it looks like a real football team.”

- Robin Washut

Over the last few weeks, we have finally started to see cornerback Lamar Jackson look like the player many thought he’d be when he was first recruited to Nebraska.

Last week against Ohio State, Jackson forced a fumble and had a key interception in the end zone when the Buckeyes were driving. Jackson is hoping he can keep building off his big day this past Saturday.

“I feel like I’m at the point now where I’m comfortable with everything,” Jackson said. “I’m comfortable with the scheme, I’m comfortable with my teammates and I’m comfortable with my coaches. We are out there trusting each other, and the communication is high, so it’s making everything easier.

“Now I’m just out there and I’m going for the good stuff. The turnovers, the picks, the force fumbles – we are trying to flip the field and get the ball back to our offense any way possible. That’s what we are doing and that’s the mindset on the back end for sure. Anything in the air we have the mindset to come down with it and get a pick. We are just working towards that and I was able to get one this week, so I was excited about that.”

This week Jackson and the Huskers will face off against a familiar quarterback in former NU signal caller A.J. Bush.

“I know AJ (Bush) personally,” Jackson said. “I know he was here for my freshman year, but we got close while I was here. I know him as a person, so it’s going to be fun. Hopefully, I’ll able to pick me off, because I know he’s going to give me a chance. I know he’s going to throw the ball deep for sure. He doesn’t like to go underneath. He likes to sling it to show off that arm.”

- Sean Callahan

JoJo Domann has emerged as Nebraska’s newest defensive weapon since rejoining the lineup three weeks ago, as his versatility to play a hybrid linebacker/defensive back role has made him a valuable asset.

Given how unique Domann’s role is in that he can line up at outside linebacker, safety, or nickel depending on the game situation, there wouldn’t seem to be many teammates to learn from with that experience.

However, it just so happens that Domann has an ideal resource in senior Luke Gifford.

A former safety recruit who also transitioned to outside linebacker, Gifford was a few years ahead of Domann in morphing into a linebacker with defensive back coverage skills. That’s why Domann is making it a point to be Gifford’s shadow as much as possible.

“I pick his brain as much as I can,” Domann said. “Every time we’re on the sideline together I say, ‘Hey, what’re you doing on this? Where are your eyes? What’s your eye control? What’s your footwork?’ All those kinds of stuff.

“And he’s taken me under his wing. He’s great; a great teammate, a great leader, a great mentor for me kind of moving down from safety to back and kind of following in his footsteps in that aspect.”

Like most others, Gifford can see the blossoming potential Domann has shown in his new role not only based on the past three games, but also in what he’s seen every day in practice since Domann returned to action off back-to-back knee injuries.

“He adds another dimension,” Gifford said. “JoJo’s pretty versatile, so any time you can have him out there is huge. He can cover and then see the ball skills… That’s always been the kind of player that JoJo’s been, so it’s nice to see him out there and carry some of those things from practice out to the field.”

- Robin Washut

At a position that was considered one of the biggest question marks for Nebraska going into the season, cornerback has answered the call in a major way.

The sophomore has started every game and leads the defense with 657 snaps played, 57 more than the next NU defender (Dedrick Young). Bootle also leads the team with 15 pass breakups on the year, tying for fourth place on the school’s all-time season list.

His 15 PBUs are the most by a Husker since 2005, and he’s just two more away from matching DeJuan Groce’s record of 17 set back in 2000.

But the one thing Bootle hasn’t done yet this season – of in his collegiate career, for that matter – is to haul in an interception.

That fact wasn’t left on Bootle’s friend and former Husker cornerback Chris Jones, either, as Jones made sure to remind him via Twitter on Sunday.

The tweet was obviously done in fun, but it still fueled Bootle’s fire even more to finally notch that first career pick.

“No, (Jones) was just joking around a little bit,” Bootle said. “We talk all of the time about it; usually it’s just private conversations. That one we made a little bit public, kind of just joked around, gave my people some things to laugh about. It wasn’t nothing too serious.”

When Bootle finally does get that interception, he already knows his message to Jones.

“Chris Jones, if you’re watching, don’t say nothing to me when I get that,” Bootle said.

- Robin Washut

***Chinander was asked about head coach Scott Frost saying that Saturday’s loss to Ohio State was the defense’s best game of the season. Chinander said he shared the same opinion as quarterback Adrian Martinez in that no matter how well you play, losing is never acceptable.

***That said, Chinander agreed that the defense had made a lot of progress over the year, most of all in its overall confidence and comfort with the scheme. Chinander said at the beginning of the year he would be talking to the defense on the sideline during games at it would be “crickets” with him feeling like he was talking to himself.

He said before the first drive vs. OSU the players were all talking and firing each other up. Chinander said some players said they were only going to allow the Buckeyes to get a field goal after they started their drive deep in NU territory. Then other players jumped in and said, “Hell no, we’re not giving them anything.”

***Tight end Jack Stoll said the players are still talking about the possibility of going to a bowl game at 5-7 if they can finish the year with three straight wins. He said the coaching staff hadn’t brought that up, but the players are using it as motivation even if the chances are slim.

***Chinander said Illinois’ running game had some triple option elements with two really good running backs (highlighted by Reggie Corbin) and a dual-threat QB in Bush. Chinander said there were some similarities between what Illinois does on offense and what Nebraska runs.

***Tight end Austin Allen said his group never got frustrated over the lack of targets in the passing game early on this season, as they knew it was just a matter of building trust with Martinez. He said the increased role of the tight ends the past couple of weeks was a direct result of an increased trust level there.

***Defensive line coach Mike Dawson said when a new staff takes over at a program, the seniors can sometimes be difficult to work with because of their relationships with the previous regime. He said that wasn’t the case one bit with guys like Mick Stoltenberg and Freedom Akinmoladun, who he said set a positive tone from Day 1 and were guys that truly bled Husker Red.