Wednesday notebook: At 0-6, coaches selling future in recruiting

While Nebraska’s players and coaches are doing all they can to dig themselves out of its massing 0-6 hole, the impact of the frustrating start might not be as significant on the recruiting front as some would think.

With 17 verbal commitments and the nation’s No. 23 recruiting class for 2019, the Huskers have made the most out of their situation in terms of building for the future.

Offensive coordinator Troy Walters said the staff’s message to prospects, both committed and not, is that while things may be off to a rough start, now is the time to invest in Nebraska football.

“I ask them if they understand the stock market,” Walters said. “When do you want to buy stock? You want to buy stock when it’s down. Right now, we’re down, so to speak. But in a year, two years, we’re going to be alright. We’re going to be at the top, and now’s the time to jump in. Now’s the time to get on board and be part of the reason why Nebraska gets to the top.

“So it’s a challenge. Young men that want the opportunity to leave a legacy, to be part of something – ‘Man, I was part of a group that helped get Nebraska back to the top.’ To me, that’s special. So we’re selling the future, we’re selling what we did at UCF. We get the right guys in this offense and this defense and this program, and we change the culture, we’re going to be fine. It just takes some time.”

It’s not just a matter of winning over new recruiting targets, but also retaining the current group of verbal commits and continuing to sell them on the long-term vision of the program.

Offensive line coach Greg Austin said all of the response he’d seen on the recruiting trail had been nothing but positive, especially with o-line pledges Desmond Bland, Matthew Anderson, and Michael Lynn.

“Those guys are locked in,” Austin said. “They are excited about what we’re building. You know they turn on the TV, and they can see the progress. They can see, for that matter, the numbers that the offensive line is putting up. So they’re encouraged by what they see, and they know, generally speaking, why.

“We’re doing a good job as coaches communicating to them why we’re in the situation we’re in and what it’s going to take to get out of it and moving forward for them, as it relates to them coming into the program, what our expectation for them is coming into our program. You know, we can’t keep killing ourselves, can’t keep shooting ourselves in the foot. We’ve got to have a belief, a winner’s mindset, all of those things that our recruits are.”

- Robin Washut

Nebraska got some good news on Friday when they learned from the NCAA that UCF transfer quarterback Noah Vedral would be ruled immediately eligible for the 2018 season after he was granted a waiver.

This has been the first week all season Vedral has been able to rep with NU’s No. 2 and No. 3 offensive units, so it remains unknown what his role will be going forward.

“He’s exchanging reps with Andrew (Bunch),” quarterbacks coach Mario Verduzco said. “So that’s going real well and as you know he’s been taking his game tests and that sort of stuff so it’s not like he’s behind from a cognitive standpoint so he’s doing good.”

So, if a situation happened on Saturday against Minnesota would Vedral be the next man in for the Huskers? He was UCF’s No. 2 quarterback a year ago, but Verduzco said it’s much more complexed than that.

“If it was Saturday, that would be Coach (Scott) Frost’s decision, but just based on the amount of reps they’ve had and so on I would anticipate it would be Andrew,” Verduzco said. “I’ll go back, for example, to what happened in spring, (Vedral) didn’t get very many reps in spring, then we put him in the spring game. That’s a bit unfair.

“He didn’t get very many reps, he got out there and he was a little dry, so to speak, so that was still tough on him. I wouldn’t anticipate doing something like that to him again.”

However, what Verduzco would say is Vedral has made a lot of gains from where he was at a year ago in Orlando.

“His ball is a lot stronger, a lot crisper, he’s gained more weight, the drills that we did in the off-season, get that piece of the puzzle cranked up, it really paid great dividends,” Verduzco said. “He’s really ripping the ball. That’s one thing I’ve noticed a lot besides him gaining more weight.”

- Sean Callahan

Austin says he has seen the performance of his group take steps in the right direction over the last couple of weeks compared to where they were at the beginning of the season.

The Huskers’ young sophomore offensive tackles Brenden Jaimes and Matt Farniok, in particular, have raised the level of their play lately according to Austin. The turning point for Jaimes came after the Michigan game.

“Those guys are just more comfortable,” Austin said. “Jaimes, even before the season, he was excited about going to left (tackle). He kind of felt like a fish out of water a little bit on the right side last year. He’s improving his technique, improving just those minor details, hip leverage, hand leverage, eyes, all those things. To be honest with you, with Jaimes and speaking specifically on him, he was not very happy with the way he performed in the Michigan game. Quite honestly, since then he’s kind of turned it up and been a damn good tackle for us.”

Austin has seen Farniok improve on his technique as the season has progressed and is very encouraged by what the future holds for his young tackles.

“Matt is continually working on his technique and he’s done an awesome job, even the last couple of weeks, with some of the minor details,” Austin said. “Set lines, you know, he kind of over-set a couple of guys in the Wisconsin game, gets his hands in bad places from time to time. But generally speaking, those guys have done a pretty good job on the edge in protection.

“We continue to work on just the minor details, all those things that make the difference between a hold versus you being in front of the guy and it not being a hold, passing off games and stunts and all that stuff that those guys have to do. Those guys have done an awesome job and I’m really excited about where those are and where they’re futures are.”

- Nate Clouse

As Nebraska was driving the field and getting ready to score in the third quarter at Northwestern, quarterback Adrian Martinez made an ill-advised throw that was picked off by a safety in the end zone.

That was a big moment in the game, as the Huskers scored touchdowns on their previous two possessions and were about to possibly put away the Wildcats with another knockout punch. They scored TD’s on three of four possessions, with Martinez’s interception being the only possession they couldn’t capitalize on during that third-quarter run.

“I would have preferred he either burn it or run it. And I’ll take the bullet for it, I should have forced him to have his eyeballs on the field safety and I didn’t, and that’s unfortunate,” Verduzco said of Martinez’s third-quarter interception. “I should have made certain, beyond all certainty, that he had his eyeballs on that guy because we felt like we could control where the safety was that was coming from the post side. That was not a problem, it was just the field side guy.

“It should’ve been [a touchdown], it is what it is. We thought the field safety might bite a little bit on the action and the protection to the field side and it didn’t happen. I’ll take the bullet on that one.”

- Sean Callahan

***Walters said “guys are mad” this week because they know how close they are to getting going but are still 0-6. He said the players showed on Monday wanting “this to be the week” they get their first win, and they’ve followed up with three straight really good practices.

***Walters said Stanley Morgan Jr. has “been awesome” despite not putting up nearly the numbers he probably had hoped coming into the year. Walters said Morgan has been “a true pro” all year and was one of the guys who really set the tone this week in practice.

***Walters said he expects to take 3-4 or as many as five wide receivers in the 2019 class.

***Walters said Minnesota’s defensive front seven was just like every other Big Ten defense in that they were stout, physical, and made you earn everything on offense. He said the Gophers were a very disciplined team who “will make us beat them” with clean play and good execution.