Huskers hoping to get boost from Smith, Osborne

It seemed your typical Friday team meeting, complete with Bo Pelini announcing who Nebraska’s captains would be the next day.

P.J. Smith had never heard his name called on these occasions and the redshirt freshman sure didn’t expect to hear it this time.

Surprise.

“I was like, P.J. Smith? What’d I do? It was a shock.”

The shock turned to awe the next night as Smith took the field as one of four Husker captains for the program’s 300th consecutive sellout.

“I got kind of teary-eyed a little bit because I never thought in my life I’d be doing something like this,” Smith said.

His eventful night was just beginning. A staple on special teams, Smith soon found himself playing safety in the first half for the first time in his Husker career.

Rickey Thenarse injured his knee. Larry Asante hurt his ankle.

The lone veteran safety on the field was suddenly senior Matt O’Hanlon. And young reserves like Smith, redshirt freshman Courtney Osborne and sophomore Austin Cassidy had bigger roles than they had coming into the game.

“I feel I’m ready. I’m ready to play a lot,” Smith said. “Just the first three snaps, I was kind of nervous. After that I settled down and I was ready to play.”

Secondary coach Marvin Sanders said it was important that players like Smith got some valuable snaps.

After all, Pelini said Monday that Thenarse is going to be “out for a while.” And while Asante is said to be fine, it’s apparent Nebraska can use all the capable bodies it can find at the position.

“I feel good about our depth at safety,” Pelini said. “We’re a lot deeper there than we were a year ago, so I feel good about it.”

Depth might be a necessary thing as Nebraska readies for Big 12 play, beginning with its Oct. 8 trip to Missouri.

Press Box video: NU 3rd nationally in scoring defense

Sanders said the young guys asserted themselves well in the 55-0 win against Louisiana-Lafayette.

Cassidy had two tackles and a pass breakup in the fourth quarter that impressed his position coach. Osborne dipped his toes in the water and had a tackle, too. “And I saw P.J. Smith control the game, so that’s exciting,” Sanders said.

Smith said the practice intensity has picked up as the season has gone along. The competition is heavy. “It makes us that much better,” Smith said.

The results have been impressive for the Nebraska defense. The Huskers rank 23rd in the country in total defense (285.5 yards a game) and third in scoring defense (7 points). But here come the real tests. The schedule is now void of Sun Belt Conference teams.

To win in conference play, depth matters. And the 6-foot-2, 210-pound Smith (from River Ridge, La.) knows he very well might need to matter.

“I love to hit,” he said. “I feel I know the playbook pretty good. I feel like I’m making reads pretty quickly.”

Smith said he leans often on the seniors Asante, O’Hanlon and Thenarse since “this is my first rodeo.”

Confidence is no issue, but he also has an understanding he has many more rungs to climb.

“I can get better. I had a lot of help around me,” Smith said. “Nobody really can tell I made a mistake because we had 10 other people helping me out. But I can do better.”

After hearing his name called last week, he knows he best be ready for anything.

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