Huskers trying to cut penalties, keep attitude
Print
digg it!
Facebook
del.icio.us
Seed Newsvine
Fark It
Reddit
By the Lincoln Journal Star
Nebraska has cleaned up its play some since early in the season, when the Huskers had more than 100 yards in penalties in two of the first five games.
But the Huskers are still getting enough flags to rank near the bottom nationally in penalty yardage. In Saturday’s 32-20 win against Baylor, NU picked up six penalties for 70 yards — 30 of those coming on two flags against linebacker Cody Glenn. There was also a 15-yard penalty on Will Henry for roughing the punter.
Glenn was called for a horse-collar tackle on Baylor’s Robert Griffin, and later for grabbing the quarterback’s facemask on a sack.
The Husker senior linebacker wasn’t about to apologize Monday for the way he played.
“The way I play is just relentless, all-out, just with passion, 100 mph every play, just playing football,” Glenn said. “If I thought about that before I did that, like I might need to pull back or something like that while I’m running, then I’m not going to play to my potential. So none of that is going through my head. I’m just playing football.”
Pelini was not happy with some of the calls, often in the officials’ faces in the first half, but said Sunday: “You have to be able to overcome that."
“I want them to play smart,” Pelini said of the Huskers. “I want them to play fast and aggressive."
Pelini took the brunt of the blame for the roughing-the-kicker penalty on Henry in the fourth quarter that allowed Baylor to keep possession with NU hanging onto just a 24-20 lead. “His intentions are good and that’s our fault for letting him get too close,” Pelini said. “He’s a good kid. He just made a mistake. We’ll get it fixed. I think that’s more on us than it is on the kid.”
Nebraska is ranked 104th in the country in penalty yardage per game — averaging eight penalties for 68 yards.
As for the emotion Pelini has shown in debating some calls?
“We like it because we know we don’t have to say anything to the ref because we know Coach Pelini has got our back,” Glenn said. “And if he feels like something didn’t go our way that should have, he’s going to let them know. He’s going to get on their tail and let them know that, ‘Hey, you need to call it right on both sides of the ball.’”
FOOTBALL FRIENDS: This past summer, Pelini and OU coach Bob Stoops were at a fundraiser at their alma mater, Cardinal Mooney High School in Youngstown, Ohio, when the subject of the Nebraska-Oklahoma game arose.
Recalled Stoops: “Bo and I were just hanging out with everybody and I said, ‘Isn't it ironic that two young guys from the south side of Youngstown end up coaching Oklahoma-Nebraska, with the rivalry being what it is?
"It's just unusual."
However, "This game's about a lot more than Bo and I," Stoops said. "It's been going on for a long time and it'll be going on for a long time after us."
THIS AND THAT: Pelini said Monday that Phillip Dillard (ankle) and Menelik Holt (knee) are "day-to-day." Neither practiced Monday. ... How was Monday’s practice? "They competed well," Pelini said. "It was a good day." ... Pelini expressed confidence in running back Quentin Castille despite the sophomore running back’s fourth-quarter fumble at the goal line against Baylor. “Well, he kind of lunged, he was kind of between, ‘Should I jump? Should I dive?’ He was kind of in between,” Pelini said of the play. “He just got off-balance and (they) took his legs out and he hit the guy’s helmet. We put him back in there. We have confidence in Q. He won’t put it on the ground again.”
Scouting Report: Redshirt freshman receiver Curenski Gilleylen turned some heads in the spring but hasn’t been much of a factor in the fall. He has one catch for 5 yards and dropped a couple passes against Baylor.
Pelini said he still has a lot of confidence in what Gilleylen can do.
"He's been doing well in practice, he just drops a couple in the game,” Pelini said. “I said, 'Don't worry. You gotta go to the next one. You can't let it linger. You just got to go fix it. Go play ball and let your talent take over.' He's a strong kid. He'll be fine."
Just asking: If Dillard isn’t able to play Saturday because of the ankle injury, what does NU do at the MIKE linebacker position?
“We’re working through that. We’re rotating some guys around,” Pelini said. “We’re going to have a number of different options and Colton (Koehler) is one of them, (Tyler) Wortman is one of them. Latravis (Washington) is healthy now so you’ll probably see a little of him. It depends what personnel groupings they’re in.”
— Brian Christopherson
Most Commented Football