RBs get chance to shine at Spring Game
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By BRIAN ROSENTHAL / Lincoln Journal Star
Make no mistake, junior running back Roy Helu had been looking mighty impressive in Nebraska’s spring football practices.
“He looked really good,” running backs coach Tim Beck said, noting Helu’s winter weight gain only enhanced his explosiveness and elusiveness.
“Arm tackles and things like that, not only can he elude people with his change of direction and cutting ability, but now he’s able to run through them and run over them.”
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A look at the the Husker I-backs heading into Saturday’s Spring Game:
Roy Helu Jr.
6-0 215 Jr.
Has 170 career
carries for 1,012 yards (6 per carry) and 7 TDs; will likely miss Spring Game with a hamstring injury.
Quentin Castille
6-1 235 Jr.
Has 182 career
carries for 810 yards (4.4 per carry) and 10 TDs.
Austin Jones
5-10 210 So.
Has not carried the ball in a varsity game.
Lester Ward
6-3 215 Fr.
Redshirted in 2008.
Collins Okafor
6-1 225 Fr.
Redshirted in 2008.
Or, at least he’ll be able to this fall.
Helu has missed the last week with an injured hamstring and isn’t expected to play in Saturday’s Spring Game at Memorial Stadium.
Beck is disappointed for Helu but happy that young running backs like Austin Jones, Collins Okafor and Lester Ward will have more gamelike snaps.
“We really needed that,” Beck said.
Of course, there’s still junior Quentin Castille, the headliner of Saturday’s running backs. He’s coming off a career game in the Huskers’ 26-21 Gator Bowl victory over Clemson.
“‘Q’ right now, he had a good practice today,” Beck said Monday. “As long as he continues to stay focused and works to improve, he’s proven he can do what we need him to do, for sure.”
Beck isn’t yet certain how the running backs will be divided in Saturday’s scrimmage but suspects Ward will play on the team opposite Castille. That’s because Ward plays a “rocket back” role, or the bigger back in Nebraska’s two-back sets.
Ward, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound redshirted freshman from Brenham, Texas, was among the final additions to Nebraska’s 2008 recruiting class.
“He’s a tall runner,” Castille said. “Coaches want him to get his pads down a little bit. Other than that, when he goes through holes and things like that, he’s like a little wiggler. He gets through anything. You don’t think he can get through it, but he’ll get through it.”
Beck said Jones, a 5-foot-10, 210-pound sophomore from Aurora, Colo., has “really turned it on the last couple of practices.” Jones, the half-brother of wide receiver Menelik Holt, made the team through a walk-on tryout in 2007.
“He runs hard, and he’s very coachable,” Beck said. “He’s really improved his game in everything he’s done. He’s quick, and he runs hard.”
Castille said Jones not only runs hard but also pays attention to details.
“I think he’s one of the guys who’s going to step up during summer conditioning and things like that,” Castille said. “Roy’s kind of helping him out a lot. Roy’s a little closer to him than I am, but anything I can say to help him out, I always do.”
With the experience of Helu and Castille, the goal this spring, Beck said, was to groom a third running back, making sure he knew the system well enough to gain more experience.
“I think we’ve made strides in doing that,” Beck said. “I don’t know if (the younger backs) have arrived, but they’re certainly a lot closer than they were at the beginning.”
Reach Brian Rosenthal at 473-7436 or brosenthal@journalstar.com.
