After second major scrimmage, Matt Rhule says defense won the day and that Nebraska is further ahead overall than he anticipated

Matt Rhule liked Nebraska’s energy Saturday in its second major scrimmage of spring drills. He really likes the fact that overall, his team is further ahead toward being game ready than he expected during his first spring in charge.

“It was significantly improved by the defense,” Rhule told reporters immediately after the scrimmage at Memorial Stadium.

Ah, but there was one issue that sticks in his craw.

“I’m disappointed we put the ball on the ground too much offensively and special-teams wise,” the coach said.

Interceptions are part of the game, he said, but “fumbles are controllable.”

Once again, Rhule made his quarterbacks “live,” meaning they were tackled to the ground like everyone else.

Nebraska’s first spring game under Rhule will be next Saturday at Memorial Stadium. He hopes to make it as game-like as possible, he said, noting he hasn’t made a final decision on format.

Nebraska has installed new systems and plays across the board this spring. Sometimes, Rhule said, players focus too hard on learning those new elements and lose focus on details and fundamentals. It’s his job to keep players’ focus in the right areas, he said.

He was pleased that Nebraska was able to practice in cooler temperature. It was in the 30s as the Huskers’ scrimmage transpired in Memorial Stadium.

He told the players on offense to think like they’re playing in November at Michigan State. He told defenders to think like they’re playing Iowa in Lincoln to close the regular season.

He likes to cast a vision for his players to follow.

“I was really happy with their demeanor, the way they attacked it,” Rhule said. “I just didn’t love the fact the offense put the ball on the ground too many times — a couple times the quarterbacks, a couple times the running backs.

“I’m happy that the defense knocked the ball out, though.”

He did note that the offense, as was the case in the April 1st scrimmage, produced some explosive plays and some good plays in the red zone.

“But overall, I thought the defense was better today than the offense,” Rhule said.

Nebraska, coming off a 4-8 season, “definitely is further ahead” in its overall progress than Rhule anticipated, he said.

However, “We won’t win at the level we want to win if we turn the ball over,” the coach said. “We will win if we don’t turn the ball over.”

As was the case in the first major scrimmage, Nebraska’s quarterbacks made some nice runs, Rhule said.

“Jeff Sims had a really long zone read-type play,” the coach said. “Marcus Washington hit a big touchdown catch. We had some explosive plays, not enough. Our running backs had previously (made explosive plays), but we’re really doing a much better job tackling and vicing the ball and keeping the ball in. The defense, you can really see it taking a step in terms of how fast it’s playing.”

Rhule said it appeared no player incurred a major injury in the scrimmage.

The post After second major scrimmage, Matt Rhule says defense won the day and that Nebraska is further ahead overall than he anticipated appeared first on On3.