Tuesday nuggets: Williams on track to return for Blackshirts

Here are some quick notes to pass along following Nebraska's practice on Tuesday morning...

***Defensive coordinator Erik Chinander said safety Deontai Williams practiced Tuesday and remained on track to return to action at Wisconsin.

Chinander said it would all depend on how Williams felt on Saturday. If he felt good enough to play, he would be out there at least in some capacity.

***Chinander said having Williams back would be a lift for the defense with his talent and experience, but "the guys want him out there," and it would give the Blackshirts a boost in morale.

***Chinander said he had been handling coaching JoJo Domann's hybrid outside linebacker position this season, and he didn't expect the loss of Domann to change what NU does defensively "too much."

But while Chinander was confident in new No. 1 Isaac Gifford - and backups like Phalen Sanford and John Bullock - he also expected the defense to use some different personnel groupings to match Wisconsin's offense, which might limit that position's snaps.

***Chinander said it would be challenging to replace Domann's leadership, but it would help that Domann would still be around the team and travel to Wisconsin. Chinander also expected the defense's other veteran leaders to step up and fill that void on the field.

***Chinander said the plan with defensive recruiting right now was "the million-dollar question" right now because of the unknowns about which players would and wouldn't return for their additional COVID-year seasons.

He said they still had some high school prospects they were looking at on defense, but a lot of it would end up being a numbers game after the season once some of those current players made their decisions.

***Chinander said head coach Scott Frost had done a good of keeping the team in good spirits and preparing the right way for Wisconsin during a difficult past two weeks.

Chinander said Frost had been "kind of frantic" trying to manage all of those responsibilities, but he'd handled it all well so far.

***On being nominated for the Broyles Award, given to the top assistant coach in college football, Chinander said it was an honor. But he said his job was one where it was directly his fault when things went wrong on defense. When things went well, it was only because of the work done by his defensive staff and players.

***Gifford said he was ready for the opportunity to take on Domann's spots and that Domann had been a big help for him in preparing for the job.

***Gifford said he was also well aware that Wisconsin's style of offense would likely limit the number of snaps at that position he would get on Saturday.

***Even though the season hadn't gone the way he wanted, receiver Samori Toure said coming to Nebraska was still a "great experience" for him as a player and a person.

***Toure said it was tough to see the four assistant coaches get let go, but he was also excited for the four other coaches promoted into full-time roles to get their chances.

***Toure said getting his first postseason all-star game invite to the East-West game was a great first step in a critical offseason for his football career.

***Toure said he expected Wisconsin's defensive backs to be very "handsy" in coverage and would be physical with Nebraska's receivers all game.

***Inside linebackers coach Barrett Ruud said having two big games like Wisconsin and Iowa to finish the season helped refocus the players after all but one of the offensive coaches getting fired.

***Ruud said Wisconsin freshman running back Braelon Allen reminded him of a traditional Wisconsin running back. He said Allen is bigger than Jonathan Taylor, who is now with the Indianapolis Colts, but not as explosive.

***Nick Henrich and Luke Reimer are coming up on breaking Ruud's single-season tackle record (149 tackles). Reimer has 96 tackles and Henrich has 87 tackles.

"If someone breaks a bunch of records of mine, I hope it's someone I coach," Ruud said.

***Ruud said Henrich and Reimer did a good job not making the same mistake twice and understanding their assignments. But the inside linebackers as a whole could improve on breaking blocks, tackling in the open field, and pass-rushing.

***Ruud said Gifford was very consistent, unlike most other young players. Ruud said he knew how to work and had an excellent example in his older brother, Luke Gifford.

***On Chinander's nomination for the Broyles Award, Ruud said that consistency determined the best coaches just like players.

"Our defense has been really consistent this year, and he has been a huge, huge part of that," Ruud said.

***Ruud is the recruiter for Nebraska and said he's had "open communication" with the high school recruits a lot this week with the coaching changes.

He wanted to make sure Nebraska's vision for the future was clear and said that those recruits were a critical piece of that.