Matt Rhule never saw a practice during Nebraska’s training camp that disappointed him, he said Friday. There was never a moment when the Husker football coach thought to himself, “We just can’t get it right.”
And a practice in the fourth week of camp – normally one of the quieter weeks – underscored for Rhule just how impressive his team could be.
To support his point, he pointed to a “9-on-7 drill” – typically top-rush offense versus top-rush defense.
“I haven’t seen us play like that in a long time,” Rhule said of the aggressiveness and physicality of the performance. He noted that center Ben Scott and right guard Micah Mazzccua were harassing a defender who knocked Nash Hutmacher over like a domino. Hutmacher got up, Rhule said, turned around and prepared for a tackle.
“That’s just the way we want to play football,” Rhule said. “When we play next Saturday — I want to win the game, don’t get me wrong, I want to be happy in the locker room — but satisfaction will come through film and the way we play. It’s not going to come through the scoreboard.”
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NU is both a very old team with veterans and a very young team with more than 50 redshirt or true freshmen. Sometimes, Rhule said, it’s like talking to two different teams. But the young players can learn from the older ones, Rhule said, and create a strong team.
“There was just never a break (in practice),” Rhule said. “And then there were very few distractions. We had very few problems.”
