HUSKER FOOTBALL: Blackshirts Looking To ‘Change The Script’

LINCOLN–(NU Athletics Nov. 19)–The Nebraska football team continued preparations for Saturday’s matchup with Maryland by practicing for just over two hours Tuesday inside Memorial Stadium on the Tom Osborne Field.

Defensive Coordinator Erik Chinander addressed the media following practice and spoke on his initial thoughts on how the defense played last Saturday against Wisconsin.

“Obviously, we didn’t tackle very good in the secondary,” he said. “There were times where we played really good like you wanted to, and there were times where (we) didn’t play really good. It’s kind of the same script, which has to change.”

Chinander continued by speaking on how he felt the defensive line played with the absence of Darrion Daniels and Carlos Davis.

“I thought those young kids did some good things,” Chinander said. “There’s some things that if the other guys had been in, probably would’ve been better just because of knowledge of the game and knowledge of the scheme. Those guys maybe made a few mistakes, but those guys played physical and did a good job of getting in there.”

Chinader was also asked about what he has seen from his unit that makes him believe things are going in the right direction.

“There’s a lot of things to point to that things are moving in the right direction,” Chinander said. “The thing we have to keep emphasizing to these guys is that we are beating ourselves right now. It’s not ‘them’ or ‘me’, it’s ‘we’. We are beating ourselves. Missing those tackles, missing those few key assignments and not getting off the field on third down changes the game dramatically. If you can do those things, you may have only given up 10 points… You could have decreased every football game’s score by at least 10.”

Nebraska will travel to College Park, Md., to take on the Maryland Terrapins this Saturday. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. and will be televised on BTN.