His team had just pulled off a dramatic come-from-behind victory at Purdue less than 48 hours earlier, but Mike Riley still had a list of things Nebraska needed to improve upon entering the final stretch of the season.

One of the items near the top of that list was tackling, or the lack thereof his team showed against the Boilermakers.

Purdue ended up with a moderate 363 yards of total offense on the night, but that number could have been much lower had NU been able to wrap up at the initial point of contact, Riley said.

“We gave up six explosive plays, and a lot of those were due to missed tackles…” Riley said. “It’s going to be really easy to point out in the video with the players of what those missed tackles meant to those drives. I mean, that’s how they got at least three of their explosive plays, was missed tackles at the line of scrimmage.”

Defensive coordinator Bob Diaco said he counted nearly 50 yards of "unnecessary" yards after contact for Purdue's offense in the game.

However, he said much of that came during a brief lapse late in the first quarter, noting that his defense buckled down and tackled much better to close out the game and spark the comeback.

With so many players dealing with injuries at this point in the season, Diaco said it was difficult to really practice tackling in practice. Still, he said he and his staff do all they can to stress tackling as much as possible.

"Late-season, practicing tackling is hard, because the players and bruised and battered," Diaco said. "So it's hard to come to the grass and really be dynamic with guys as their shoulders are sore, their arms are sore, their wrists and hands and elbows are sore.

"We try to train around it and maintain the fundamentals of tackling."

After venting over the missed tackles on Saturday night, Riley made to follow up by saying he felt Nebraska’s tackling overall this season has for the most part been better than in previous years.

“I really appreciate how our defensive coaches coach tackling,” Riley said. “We do it virtually every day, and one day a week (Tuesdays) it’s a pretty lively session. Even without necessarily taking guys to the ground all the time, the emphasis put on position for tackling and the actual technique of tackling is really well-coached by our defensive coaches.

“So it becomes very obvious when we miss a tackle of what we can go back and work with that player on doing

- Robin Washut

As injuries mounted on Nebraska’s offensive line essentially since the start of the season, Brenden Jaimes was thrown into the fire at the start of Big Ten play to make his first career start at right tackle at Illinois.

Five games later, the true freshman from Austin, Texas, hasn’t looked back yet.

After becoming just the fifth true freshman offensive lineman to start a game at Nebraska since 1972, and the first since 2011, Jaimes has now started the past five outings for the Huskers, giving him the most starts by a freshman offensive lineman in school history.

It remains to be seen whether that streak will continue this week vs. Northwestern, as senior David Knevel - who opened the year as the starter - has returned to practice the past two days after coming back from an ankle/foot injury.

But even if Knevel is cleared to play, the Huskers could very well opt to stick with the player who is already well on his way to cementing himself as one of their tackles of the future.

“Jaimes appears to be really, really stable every day - same guy, comes to work,” Riley said. “You know he did play in a very good football program in high school that played well into the playoffs… So he’s used to a lot of football. Maybe that helps him, or maybe who he is personally helps him more than that.”

- Robin Washut

Of a 2017 recruiting class that included 12 offensive players, Nebraska's coaches have pulled three of those players’ redshirts this season.

Jaimes, wide receiver Tyjon Lindsey, and running back Jaylin Bradley have all seen significant action this season, and all three saw the field in Saturday’s win over Purdue.

However, following the mid-season bye week and now eight games into an up-and-down season, the grind of the schedule can be grueling for newcomers.

"Some of these guys haven’t gone that long in a (preseason) training camp and then the season wears on,” offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf said. "I think it’s really important that they continue to take care of themselves and rehab and really get their focus back and make sure that, week-to-week, it’s the same as it was at the beginning of the year.”

As injuries have piled up for some veterans, the true freshmen have been thrust into the spotlight.

Jaimes took over as the starting right tackle in September after Knevel and Matt Farniok went down in the first three games of the season. Running backs coach Reggie Davis said Saturday was the first action Bradley had seen as a featured back. Lindsey has stepped in to exploit mismatches against Big Ten defenses.

But newcomers may have more trouble dealing with bumps and bruises than their veteran teammates. Bradley was the first true freshman to deal with injury after spraining his ankle against the Boilermakers.

As temperatures drop and the Big Ten grind becomes more physically and mentally taxing, maximizing the focus and learning will be imperative for the Husker freshmen.

"We’re at a point in the season,” Langsdorf said, "where throughout a lot of different games we’ve been able to do some different things and we’ve had to tweak game plans.

"So it’s just making sure that they’re up to speed if that haven’t played much, make sure they’re sharp in their assignments and their focus. As the season wears on that’s more and more important especially for the young guys."

- Matt Reynoldson

Given the complete overhaul of the tight end position this past offseason and all of the praise surrounding senior Tyler Hoppes, the cast of young but talented players at the position has been relatively under the radar.

That’s slowly starting to change, however, with the steady emergence of redshirt freshman Jack Stoll.

The Lone Tree, Colo., native recorded his first career reception, converting a third-and-8, in the fourth quarter against Ohio State. Two weeks later, he made NU’s 70-man travel roster for the first time in place of injured sophomore Matt Snyder.

Tight ends coach Tavita Thompson said he’s seen a light turn on for Stoll over the past few weeks, and part of that has been how he’s responded to the position group’s emphasis on getting its young guys up to speed as fast as possible.

“Stoll is amazing and he pushes those (older) guys every day,” Thompson said. “It’s funny, everyone in the room acknowledges that he’s going to be a great tight end. He is really good, his physical skill set and everything he does.

“It’s a big playbook and it’s a lot of learning. We get him in here and there, we have some small packages for him. Stoll is a dang good player.”

- Robin Washut

***Safety Aaron Williams (neck), running back Jaylin Bradley (ankle), tight end Matt Snyder (undisclosed), and holder Zack Darlington(illness) did not practice on Tuesday.

***Safety Antonio Reed (knee) and Knevel (foot/ankle) both fully practiced, and linebacker Luke Gifford (hip) suited up but was limited.

***Diaco said if Northwestern’s Justin Jackson wasn’t the best running back NU will have faced this season, “he’s in the conversation.” Diaco said Northwestern was a veteran offense across the board, led by Jackson and three-year starting QB Clayton Thorson.

***Diaco said the tackling vs. Purdue was obviously an issue, though it was really only noticeably bad during a brief stretch in the early in the fourth quarter. Diaco said he counted nearly 50 yards after contact for the Boilermakers, which he called “unnecessary” yardage that shouldn’t have happened.

***Diaco said it’s hard to practice tackling a lot at this point in the season because the players are so banged up, but they still try to emphasize it as much as possible by training around actually tackling to the ground and focusing on the fundamentals of tackling.

***Diaco said the red zone defense needs to be better, as Purdue was a perfect 4-of-4 in the red zone with three touchdowns. Diaco said at the end of the season the goal for the defense is average around 3.5 points per opponent trips to the red zone, which he said would put NU “in the upper echelon” nationally.

***Cornerback Chris Jones was hard on himself on Twitter for his play vs. Purdue, but Diaco said Jones had nothing to be hard on himself about. Diaco said Jones has done a “fantastic” job since “miraculously” coming back off of his injury. Diaco said Jones was healthy but obviously still not 100-percent caught up with his fundamentals. Diaco said Jones was getting closer each week to getting back to his old self.

***Center Cole Conrad said it’s definitely been a difficult month for him personally after losing his starting job to injury and then getting it back due to an injury to Michael Decker. Conrad said he’s ready to make the most of his second chance the rest of the season.

***Linebackers coach Trent Bray said Ben Stille would play defensive end this week vs. Northwestern. Bray said Stille has been alternating between defensive end and linebacker depending on the matchup and where they need him the most.

***Cornerback Lamar Jackson led NU with eight tackles vs. Purdue, and while he got some praise for his performance, cornerbacks coach Donte Williams said that’s what Jackson was supposed to do every game. Williams noted that Jackson was still very inexperienced at corner, as he only played a total of 49 snaps at the position in college entering this season.

***Williams said when NU’s secondary was fully healthy they look like “a bunch of super-humans”. Unfortunately, the starting group they thought they would have all year has only played about one total quarter together. Williams praised a guy like Marquel Dismuke, a third-string safety who had to step up and play 48 snaps vs. Purdue.

***Right guard Matt Farniok said he’s never really labeled himself a guard or a tackle, as he just wants to play his best wherever he lines up. He said he missed some protections against Purdue that he has to fix, but overall said the offensive line was “a freckle away” from really getting going.