Assistant coaches Greg Austin and Mike Dawson swung through Fremont as part of Wednesday’s Big Red Blitz tour across the state. After running through each position group on their respective sides of the ball, Austin and Dawson went a bit more in-depth on the key players in their own rooms.
Austin affectionately refers to his guys in the trenches as ”fat boys,” and he said this particular group has a level of cohesiveness he hasn’t seen since arriving in Lincoln. He believes a lot of them can help the team this year and named 12 of them on Wednesday.
Here’s a rundown of everything Austin said about the guys he’s counting on to make up Nebraska’s rotation on the offensive line this season.
>> Turner Corcoran: “His first start was at Rutgers. He’s continuing to get better, continuing to work his tail off. A very mature kid, well beyond his years in maturity.He’s probably in my office every single day just hanging out, finding out what else he can watch on film — whether he watches NFL film, college, whatever. He’s a junkie, and he’s going to be a very good player for us.”
>> Ethan Piper: “He’s a good player as well, an explosive kid. Certainly he’s going to help us out this year He has the ability to help us out at a couple positions. He’s done a nice job as well really learning. He’s a guy that played a lot of snaps as a young guy, a redshirt freshman last year, so naturally there’s going to be some freshman mistakes that he made, especially as a young guy playing in the Big Ten … Ethan’s done a good job of really maturing and I’m looking forward to seeing what he can do for us this upcoming year.”
>> Cameron Jurgens: “Cam Jurgens is a good player, a really good athlete. The biggest thing with Cam is being consistent and efficient. First things first, making sure that those snaps are coming back and hitting the quarterback, a lot of confidence that he’s going to get that snap in what we call the strike zone. He’s been doing a really good job of that. He’s working on that on a daily basis. We’re still working on that, and when I say we’re still working on that it’s like a golf game — you have to continue to work on it in order to kept at a high level. I’m excited about Cam.”
>> Matt Sichterman: “Matt Sichterman is a guy that’s been in the program for a few years and done a really good job of being as consistent as they come. He’s as consistent as McDonald’s is with their Big Mac — you go to Fremont versus when you go to Norfolk, you’re going to get the same Big Mac, right? Sichterman’s done a good job of of being consistent. He’s a guy that’s had to work his tail off for everything that he’s achieved and he’s done a really good job for us.”
>> Bryce Benhart: “Bryce is another guy that’s a young guy that’s continuing to get better finding his feet on the ground. When Bryce first got here he kind of moved like Bambi when Bambi was born — you know, when deer come out they look little awkward. But that’s all right. When he first got here, he was a little baby deer. But now you can see that he is playing with a heck of a lot better leverage. He is a 6-9 guy so naturally that’s going to have to be something that he continues to work on, just that bend.”
>> Brant Banks: “Very tall guy, athletic, a multiple position player. Brant steps in there at guard and tackle — has the length to play tackle, has the athleticism and bend and twitch to play guard. Really excited about him.”
>> Broc Bando: “Another guy that’s been in the program for a few years. A mature guy, already has his degree, a solid player. A guy that’s grinded and worked his tail off, stayed true to the loyalty of the program.”
>> Trent Hixson: “Can’t say enough about him and the position switches that he has undergone since he’s been here. He’s another guy that’s going to help us out. He’s really come along as a center and he’s certainly an option at guard and center as well.”
>> Nouredin Nouili: “Nouri is a guy that played at Norris High School and initially played at Colorado State. We were fortunate to get him; he wanted to come back to Nebraska. He’s a kid that’s originally from Germany. Excited to have him in the room. He came in initially as a guard and he’s an all-three-positions player. He can play center, he can play guard and he’s shown the ability to step out there and play tackle as well. He does a good job of keeping his hips up underneath him.”
>> Ezra Miller: “Ezra Miller is another transfer from Iowa who’s doing a pretty good job for us.”
>> Freshmen: “A couple of these kids that are young pups, Teddy Prochazka from Elkhorn South and then Henry Lutovsky, a kid out of Iowa. Both of those guys came in at mid-year and those guys are well ahead of schedule.”
Check back later to learn what Dawson had to say about the outside linebackers.
