Paul’s silence on field not likely to last very long

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By BRIAN CHRISTOPHERSON / Lincoln Journal Star

You need not wonder. Of course there was some frustration.

Junior Husker wide receiver Niles Paul had a big fall camp. Real big. He pushed and pushed and coaches praised and praised.

So, yes, he expected a grander entrance to this season than the one he made Saturday: Two catches, 13 yards, one personal foul penalty.

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Nebraska receiver Niles Paul runs drills during spring practice. (LJS file)

“It frustrates me a little bit, but my receiving corps is like family, so I was just happy for Curenski (Gilleylen) and Meno (Menelik Holt),” Paul said. “It was just like I scored when they scored.”

If Paul had a bit too much ego when he arrived to Nebraska — and he would be the first to say he did — he exhibited nothing of that characteristic this week, even after a quiet game for him personally.

“We didn’t really pass the ball as much as I thought but that was because Roy (Helu) was doing his job,” Paul said.

Antsy to get his mitts on the football? Yes. But so it is with every No. 1 receiver.

“I wouldn’t want a wide receiver that doesn’t want the ball,” wide receivers coach Ted Gilmore said. “I played the position and I wanted the ball.”

But Gilmore said there was no sulking or pouting from Paul after Saturday night’s game. Though not preferred, it’s understood that games like that come with the position.

“A lot of time he’s in the primary progression,” Husker offensive coordinator Shawn Watson said. “If they take him away, you know what, he’s not going to get the ball.”

But it seems clear coaches want to get Paul involved as much as possible. This week Watson said Paul was among the top two or three offensive players on the team.

“He’s been superb,” Watson said. “He’s a guy we definitely want to target, and we do target. He’ll get his touches.”

The 6-foot-1, 215-pound Paul feels like he’s come a long way since he arrived to Lincoln as a Parade All-American from Omaha North High School.

Just before the season, Paul talked about how he had too much ego when he got here and was uncoachable.

He caught one pass his freshman year and 23 his sophomore year.

But he vowed to work harder this year. He wanted more and was gaining more until he was suspended in the spring for suspicion of driving under the influence. He was later charged with a lesser offense.

“I felt like I was taking (football) for granted and now I’m just happy to be out here and playing ball,” Paul said before the season. “Because I know the situation could have been a whole lot worse.”

Paul came back in the fall with the same tenacity he showed in the spring.

Halfway through fall camp, coaches were saying he was leading the pack among Husker receivers.

Gilmore had always seen Paul as a player with great physical tools. But now he was a player giving more attention to the details, “to all the little things that keep me from getting grayer,” Gilmore said.

Granted, Paul maybe put a little more gray on Gilmore Saturday night when the receiver said a few words to a Florida Atlantic player after a great block that helped Rex Burkhead score a touchdown. A 15-yard penalty was the result.

No need to chirp in the guy’s ear, Gilmore reminded him.

Paul said Gilmore has helped humble him. “And I appreciate and love him for doing that.”

Saturday wasn’t Paul’s big night, but he said there was satisfaction in seeing Menelik Holt score a touchdown and Curenski Gilleylen catch four passes and add another score.

If the output from those guys surprised some, Paul wasn’t one of them.

“I said it earlier in fall camp, we have a receiving corps where you never know who is going to have a breakout game that week,” Paul said. “Curenski, Meno, me, Chris (Brooks), Antonio (Bell). We have guys that make plays everywhere. It’s all on who’s getting the ball that game.”

Reach Brian Christopherson at bchristopherson@journalstar.com or 473-7439.