The Nebraska football team scrimmaged on Sunday, the first for the Huskers of fall camp. By Tuesday, defensive coordinator Erik Chinander had a few takeaways from the day and how his group handled the offense.
“The overall theme for the defense was when we had busts, a couple of busts out there, assignment errors, communication errors, the offense was very productive,” Chinander said. "When we were all on the same page and all 11 guys playing one defense, we were pretty salty.”
Chinander noted communication being key for the defense going forward. The offense’s tempo was strong to start Sunday’s scrimmage, and “us being able to adjust to that tempo is going to be the tale of the story here,” he said.
The coach also liked his top group, saying they tackled well in the scrimmage. The second and third groups will need to keep improving, but he liked the overall physicality from the defense. He also liked that his group still has plenty of room for improvement, and Sunday’s scrimmage was a step in the right direction.
“We saw a lot of guys do a lot of good things,” Chinander said.
Other news and notes:
>> Junior college transfer defensive lineman Jahkeem Green did not practice but was in meetings. Chinander said he brings depth to the defensive line and could quickly challenge for a starting role.
>> A couple of injury notes: junior outside linebacker JoJo Domann was in pads today, while senior outside linebacker Alex Davis had the day off for precautionary reasons after bumping knees in the scrimmage.
>> How did the scrimmage go from senior defensive lineman Darrion Daniels perspective?
“It went pretty well,” he said on Tuesday. “Offense came out faster than they ever have and showed a lot of confidence in that scrimmage. They had us on the ropes for a minute, so it was good seeing them get out there and compete. It was a nice back-and-forth between both of us and everybody got out there and got after it.”
>> Freshman running back Ronald Thompkins started fall camp off the 110-man roster. He was seen after practice on Tuesday with a green non-contact jersey, so he has been moved to the 110.
Erin is the Deputy Editor and Digital Marketing Strategist for Hail Varsity. She has covered Nebraska athletics since 2012, which has included stops at Bleacher Report, Cox Media Group’s Land of 10, and even Hail Varsity (previously from 2012-2017). She has also been featured on the Big Ten Network, NET’s Big Red Wrap-Up, and a varsity of radio shows nationwide. When not covering the Huskers, Erin is probably at Chipotle.
