With Nebraska’s first scrimmage of the spring under its belt, offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf is hoping to see more from his group during the next round. The Huskers are expected to scrimmage again this coming Saturday and Langsdorf knows what he’ll be looking for.
“Just consistency and execution,” Langsdorf said. “We’d hit a play and then we’d have a bad one and then we’d hit one, so we were up and down.”
Langsdorf called the inconsistencies last Saturday “growing pains” and credited them to the various groupings and inexperience the Huskers put on the field. The coaches have been using both the scrimmages and regular practice drills to evaluate, which Langsdorf sees as crucial to improving the offense at this point.
“It’s a constant evaluation of a bunch of people at a bunch of positions,” Langsdorf said. “There are some people in pretty good shape at their spot but we’re always looking for improvement from those guys. There’s a lot of battles at a lot of spots throughout the offense and I think the constant evaluation and competition is really important for us.”
One of those positions is the quarterback. For Patrick O’Brien, he’s ready for another opportunity to scrimmage after the defense got a majority of the love and attention following the first. As for the competition itself, both Tanner Lee and O’Brien have been happy with their grade reports but they’re staying focused on the spring first and foremost.
“I think it’s just personally trying to put a bunch of good days together and have a good spring and just have a good practice after a good practice and control what I can control for myself,” Lee said. “That’s really what I’m focused on.”
On to other news and notes from Thursday’s practice:
>> Some bad news on the injury front for JoJo Domann, AJ Natter and Bryan Reimers. Coach Mike Riley updated the status on all three after practice.
>> Langsdorf would like to see the veterans on the offensive line step up and “play better for longer periods of time.” He wasn’t entirely pleased with the offensive line’s performance on Saturday, going back to consistency being a primary issue.
“We did some good things at times,” Langsdorf said. “We’d hit a run and then we’d lose yards on a run and then we’d hit a run.”
>> Speaking of the offensive line, Cole Conrad is also getting a look at the center position. He joins Michael Decker and John Raridon in the battle. Langsdorf called it “close” at this time.
Raridon said he appreciates the work from both Conrad and Decker and feels he’s learned a lot from both. He’s also put on a good amount of weight, increasing from 260 pounds to 285 over his redshirt freshman season.
>> Langsdorf said the Huskers are a “little thin at receiver,” which has prompted the tight ends to get more involved. Jack Stoll has been particularly impressive, but Langsdorf said he wants to continue taking a good look at that group through the rest of spring.
“That’s an important position for us to evaluate and continue to grow with,” Langsdorf said.
>> Lee said he spent his spring break in San Diego with his family. He called it part vacation and part work, as he worked out with George Whitfield. It’s something he’s been doing twice a year since his freshman year of college.
Lee also plans to attend Archie Manning Camp again.
“I’ve been a few times and it’s one of my favorite weeks of the year,” Lee said.
>> Lee wasn’t the only quarterback using his spring break to improve. O’Brien was also in California, but he was in Los Angeles to work with Steve Calhoun.
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.
