Nebraska football depth chart observations & UTEP game preview 🌽

welcome to we don't have a name for this yet or an official name for this yet we will figure that out soon enough um but uh but I'm Tim reges joined today by Steve Merrick you know we're going to run this throughout the course of this football season once a week just kind of talking about the upcoming game recapping the game that's already happened um just touching on some um some football things you know just kind of talking Talking Football getting in on um you know this week for example we're talking about the dep chart we're previewing the UTEP game expectations for that coming out of the UAP game we'll have some thoughts on the game specifically anything notable that caught RI how it leads into the following week which is Colorado and and so on and so forth but we're hoping to use this kind of like a a kind of a middle ground to kind of just talk ball a little bit um so so I'm excited to be here Steve how are we feeling about this whole thing good I'm feeling good about it and yes while we don't currently have an official name yet maybe you stumbled upon something with football things with Tim and Steve because it's going to be a lot of football things here so I'm excited to talk some ball with you yeah for sure same and you know kind of not recruiting focused at all not really focused on anything but solely what's happening between the lines um so I know we'll get right into it you know with with with episode one um as as we kind of prep for for game one Nebraska takes on utap on on Saturday at Memorial Stadium um kicks off the season for the first time in five years at home and so I know there's some excitement about that excitement to see what year two of the Matt Ru era looks like year one of the Dylan Rola era looks like um so we'll start there we'll start with the depth chart um no real surprises that quarterback Dylan's the starter um expectations are high they're going to let him loose going to let him throw around a little bit um you know I don't think we need to focus on that QB depth chart a whole lot I think if anything um kind of talk about you know it it definitely seems like hinr carbook is going to be featured in this offense just by being the backup quarterback and they're going to find some unique creative ways to to do it um Steve you know in your background kind of looking into Marcus outfield's background and Matt ru's background kind of what do you envision for like hinr harb's role this season well I think you know Marcus atfield and Matt rule have both been very vocal about wanting to turn their offense into a positionist offense um you know he's he's talked about that many many times before and you know harber harberg definitely I think fits that mold because he's big he's 6 foot five he's nearly 230 pounds he's one of the fastest guys on the team we know what he can do with his legs um he's an improving passer so whoever you talk to whoever gets up there and talks at the podium during these press conference settings they always say he's too good of an athlete to keep on the sideline holding a clipboard and I totally understand that and you know I think the fan base um is kind of torn on whether they want a quote unquote Hinrich harberg package or not because on on one side of the fence you have a group of fans who don't want to take the ball out of Dylan R's hands which I understand and on the other side you you see a you see some fans that are okay with maybe a harburg package here and there whether that's a short yardage type thing or a Gold Line package where you can introduce some quarterback run elements that I don't think would be present with Dylan Rola back there um you know in the in the recent past um in recent Seasons Nebraska's offense has heavily featured the quarterback run now with with a more of a pocket passer and Dylan har Dylan riola you know it's going to look a little different you know I don't think he's going to be running a lot of QB run a lot of QB power QB counter things like that but I think that's exactly what uh Hinrich harberg can introduce to an offense and make opposing defenses prepare for during the week which can which can be kind of like an added headache for opposing defensive coordinators so you know there's just a lot of options and I think that's a good thing at the end of the day yep I agree and I think my personal take at Le at least is with harber specific I think he's too good of an athlete to leave off the field I you need find a way to feature him in the offense um and more than that I think from a from a coaching standpoint with with some of these teams you're going to see on the schedule it gives defenses like a different look and something that they'll have to account for every single week is just like okay whenever 10's on the field we respond like this we have to line up like this and that also gives Nebraska an opportunity like Okay and like you know Matt rule mentioned um in in his press conference you know there's going to be some moments or at least Mark salfield mentioned in his press conference there's going to be some moments where Dylan rayola and H carbur are on the field at the same time like that is something defenses going to have to prep for something they're not going to be used to something they can't even really replicate you know um in their own practices because you know how many teams have a running weapon like Hinrich or a quarterback like Dylan you know like I I I don't think you can you can find there's there's there's no easy way to prep for that necessarily so I think it's it's a way for nebras kind of have some a bit of a competitive Advantage just in the sense of whenever he's on the field you kind of have to expect a completely different thing than when it's solely just dealing out there yeah and one last thing before I move on here I I totally agree with you I love the idea of giving an opposing defensive coordinator something else to teach his guys during the week that's just something else and you know with a quarterback run game that's you know introducing another Gap that defenses have to account for in that run game sometimes defenses are good at that in adjusting sometimes defenses aren't good at that and you know it doesn't always have to be with Hinrich in the backfield to like taking direct snaps we saw in last season's season opener at Minnesota Hinrich was an offline tight end and he ran a little uh sneak route out to the flat he caught a first down from Jeff Sims so this is not going to be a completely foreign concept for hinr harberg he's the guy who's um been a quarterback most of his life but um in college last last season he was rep getting some reps as kind of an offline HB tight end so um yeah we we can move on but um it it's going to be really fun fun and interesting to see how Marcus safield and Matt rule tackle this hinr harberg situation yeah we'll get I think our first look at it on Saturday I don't expect um you know we can we'll dive into the utub game later but uh I don't expect a whole lot of um you know that they say they're not going to ease Dylan into it but I think that's more so just they're going to run their playbook but I don't think they're going to show a whole lot of these creative unique plays because they're saving that for Colorado and then down the line into Big 10 play you know when when uh you've got opponents like USC and Ohio State and um you know those type of teams Wisconsin on the on the roster down the line so I don't think you want to you know throw everything put everything on film against UTEP I think you just want to show a little bit and I think you're going to see some Hinrich usage for sure but but what that looks like I think I'm we're both curious to see um looking at the running backs wide receivers just on this initial depth chart um you and I had this conversation off camera um and something we've kind of been saying all offseason um because I understand this like this this this feeling or just this like comfort in knowing who the starter is you know and like people still are like okay who's the starter but like with this team with this current staff it doesn't matter it's never it never matters like everyone's going to play you know currently on the depth chart you know we we just talked about this but like Jaylen Lloyd's listed as an outside receiver but we're going to see him in the slot you know just because he's not listed in the slot doesn't mean he's not going to line up there um same way you know janen Bonner listed as a starter in the slot you know he's going to rotate with Carter Nelson he's going to rotate with the igc um and I think you're even going to see some like some banks and neor in the slot you're going to see some fedoni in the slot like you're going to see guys line up all over the place I don't think necessarily the order matters but I think the people featured both in that running back room and featured in that wide receiver room are important kind of looking at that at at both depth charts kind of what's stuck out to you um so yeah for the for the receivers really not much I mean obviously the slot receiver with J with janir and boner um that might that might have surprised some people just because I think the the notion that a lot of fans probably had was oh Jaylen L he's smaller receiver just put him in the slot and like you said Tim he's going to be playing the slot plenty this season but um I think with janiran Boner it's it's really intriguing I know the staff last year played around with how they used him and kind of that um hybrid fullback role um but this year he's more of a receiver he's going to be operating out of the slot um and what I like most about him and what the staff obviously likes about him is what why they're doing it is because he's 6 fo2 he's around 220 pounds he can he he knows how to run routes he's a wide receiver at heart but he's just in a bigger body but what that allows off an offense to do is um you know if he's out there let's just say it's 11 personnel and Thomas fedon is the one is the one tight end and there's three receivers out there and janir boner is one of them it can can look like to a defense that matches its Personnel based off what Nebraska shows as 11 personnel on one play on the next play let's say janiran boner um shifts into the back field and is acting almost like a fullback or HB back and all of a sudden it turns into like 21 Personnel that's when you start getting mismatches that's when you all of a sudden have a pass look with 11 personnel on one play and then the next play it's TW it looks like 21 and they're running downhill at you with jiron Bonner as as kind of a lead blocker I think that's where the benefit of having somebody like jiron Bonner comes into play and you know I'm excited to see if it works out like that I think that's the plan with them um but uh yeah outside of that um Isaiah Garcia cin igc um right behind boner in the in the death dep chart at slot you know that's interesting too we know about his offseason gains in the weight room he's up to 200 lb right now um he's kept that speed at least he says he has so and and maybe maybe it's kind of like the same version with janiran Boner where um you know he can do a little receiving and a little blocking from the slot too put him closer to the line of to the core of the offensive line and have him do some blocking too maybe that's in his um um future at Nebraska in in uh this this season too I know he came to the program as kind of the deep threat with with his speed being being the the top um top trait he has but maybe he's evolved since then and maybe the coaches have a different plan for him now yeah I mean he looks like a just completely different player than he does the one that came on campus so I'm I'm very curious to see what that looks like you know having missed a whole season um kind of featuring in this offense and and and where he kind of factors in compared to again like where boner stands where Carter Nelson stands because I think you and I both expect Nelson snaps to increase you know as the season goes on as the season goes on once he gets more comfortable with this whole college football thing so that's that's you know like I'm I'm very curious to see kind of how that all shakes out but again I if I was a fan I wouldn't get too worked up on where people are currently in the depth chart or or what that dep chart kind of currently looks like it's going to shift constantly like Malachi Coleman's a third string that doesn't mean they going to see plenty of Malachi Coleman this year I think and I I wouldn't get too worked up on where people stand specifically at the skill positions where they stand in the dep chart um looking at the o line I think this is this is a position that has a lot of questions specifically in the outside um I think the interior of the line is one of the strengths of the team not just the offense I think it's one of the best units they have um specifically looking at the Ben Scott and Micah mizuka like that combination I think you're going to see a lot of runs behind those two guys whether that's QB runs whether that's you know Dante da or uh you know Gabe Irvin downhill just behind those two um I think you see those two um kind of team up for a a lot this season I think I think I think the running game kind of runs behind those two I just close my eyes and I can just picture Ben Scott and Micah mooka double teaming like uh a two ey or something and then he climbs to the second level and gets a linebacker one of them does I just that just like speaks to me I I just I'm very excited to see all that um I'm with you Tim I love the interior of this line and the depth there I think Justin Evans is is really important because of what he could provide as a backup center if anything ever happens to Ben Scott um and I think Justin Evans is hard to get under for defensive lineman so I think he's a good guard a good um run blocking guard um that that does good things and provides versatility in case anything happens to your Your Leader up front and Ben Scott Micah mizuka he's an NFL player man that guy is a dog I I I'm really excited to see you know if everything works out with him if his head is on straight if he continues to do what he he has shown to do meet the standards of rules program I think the sky limit for this guy I think he's um has a potential to be one of the offensive linemen to be drafted and I think there's multiple guys that could be drafted um on Nebraska's offensive line um in in this upcoming draft which is crazy to think about considering what this unit was looking like two years ago um but yeah Tim we got to talk about the edges left tackle right tackle um look I I think everybody is on board with Bryce benart uh he showed a lot of good things last year um but you know left tackle Turner Corker and you know the fan base is kind of iffy on him and rightly so because of his production we we've all seen it um you know he's had his ups and downs at Nebraska a lot of downs lately um but he's coming off injury but then behind him behind those two spots left left tackle and right tackle you know there's not a lot of experience and that's kind of a huge question mark in my mind with Grant seagen showing up um behind Turner Corker and a left tackle Grant seagen is a 66 305b red shirt freshman who has not played a down of college football yet um he's from smalltown Nebraska Oakland Craig um high school and then at right tackle gunary Gula who was nursing a uh ankle injury according to Matt rule um and you know his status for Saturday's UTEP game is actually up in the air right now so there's a lot of questions behind the tackle spots right now yeah and I think that's that's again like as as confident as him in the interior of the line I think one of the biggest questions on the team as we you know days out from game day is those tackle spots you know I think I think um you feel good about specifically that right side with with Benard if you can kind of pick up where he left off last year and even if he does go down I think there's some faith in what Gunner Gula can be long term for this team you know early on obviously won't be you know uh just young getting his feet under him you know there may be some some some learning moments some some Growing Pains but you feel good about his his long-term potential uh but yeah you know I think that left tackle spots a big question mark you know losing Teddy right before The Season's real tough um you know you really hope you could have had him at least just as a depth piece even if he's not starting um have him as a dep piece um here's something I guess looking at this again and um you know kind of factoring in where he kind of sits right now um when he's back because he's also working through something right now when he's back you know with Henry lutovsky do you see him kind of potentially challenging Justin Evans for that left guard's part or even potentially you know like at his size at 66 you know can he move outside I actually don't think that he's going to challenge Justin Evans for the left guard spot um nothing against Henry lutovsky he's a he's been a really really good guy to have around because of his just he he's had some spot starts in his career but it seems like a lot of times when i' when I've watched him him specifically on games you know there's a lot there's a lot of mised assignments um there's a lot of um just I think he's got some better football in him and he hasn't showed it yet so I don't think that Henry lovsky is going to challenge for a guard spot and and mostly I've only seen him on the right side and then he shows up in the two deep on the left side right behind Justin Evans so you know and you know the way Donovan R the offensive line coach coaches his guys everybody's playing everybody like everybody's playing everywhere you know they they flip-flop all the time just so in case you know something happens during the game and and you need um you know M mizuka goes down you know maybe Justin Evans can or hry lovsky is backing up Justin Evans on the left side he can quick do a spot stter or take some reps on the right side at Right Guard too um you know so you know and we saw that kind of same thing with some of the young tackles too gunar Gula and Grant sein they were battling for the for the left tackle spot it was really only left tackle mentioned with those two that all of a sudden gunar Gula shows up behind Bryce benhard on the right side you know that might surprise some people but not if you listen to Donovan Rao because he loves to flipflop those guys that practice and make sure everybody kind of understands and and is comfortable playing on the opposite side of it and the players talk about that too um so that's something that I like about Donovan as a o line coach but um Henry lovsky he's definitely a really good guy to have around um just because of you know in case somebody goes down um at guard he he's probably the top option right now but challenging Justin Evans or michah mizuka I don't see it yeah I I um yeah I mean if anything like like you said I don't think challenging necessarily for starting spot but like more of in the in the in the vein of just like when they rotate I think he's one of the first off the bench I think Gula is one of the first off the bench um and they they they'll find ways to to get those guys from snaps um flipping over and also also we should sorry Tyler kanok too the former transfer from Utah I think the staff likes him he came in as a tackle now he's working at guard primarily like you just mentioned I think he's a guy that can go outside and in or and out regardless like he's I think more veral guys on the line just what we were talking about that diversity um of these guys and just the flexibility Tyler kanak is another guy who's played some tackle um now he's getting some guard action so he's another one um that is going to be useful to have and you know while he hasn't played a lot in in college football yet um starts wise I think he's going to be pretty valuable in the future at Nebraska I think they really like him for sure um you know again flipping over to the other side of the ball no real surprises I think on the dline um you've got your leaders Ty Robinson Nash hutmacher Jamari Butler starters um I guess behind them some of the names Riley van poo Kai Wallen Elijah Judy Vincent Jackson cam Leonard Jam Williams any surprises in that um anyone your surprised isn't listed there anyone your surprised is listed there so you know Ty Robinson obviously no Riley Van Poppel no not surprised Kai Wallen no not surprised I think they like him he just needed a red shirt year and I think he's a piece for the future Nash Huck moer obviously is all big 10 caliber um Elijah Judy no I mean not surprising he was um kind of a key piece to that their pass rushing packages last season in his first season in a Husker uniform um Jamari Butler no huge team leader Cameron lenhardt got a black shirt not surprising James Williams we all know about him not surprising if I had to pick anybody maybe Vincent Jackson instead of su lefotu at nose tackle um you know Vincent Jackson has all the talent in the world I think he's just like very very raw and just needs game snaps um but seeing him instead of su lefotu another red shirt freshman um from from California that maybe qualifies as a as a surprise but it's not a big deal to me I think both guys are just young guys and um you know working working to get better and and I think they're going to be good pieces for the future with both Vincent Jackson and Su lotu and again like we've all mentioned for every position so far a guy not listed doesn't mean much on whether or not you're going to see him I'm sure we're going to see sua Kona Davis isn't listed here I think that's a bit of a surprise but also like you're going to see Kona Davis um line up somewhere on the D line um you know something interesting with Vincent Jackson I think I I mentioned it in one of our open practice observations I might not have because I think you and I talked about it on the sideline watching the D line go through drills and I remember there was specifically a rep where um it was Kiona Davis and David hofkin the from guys yeah they're going on they're on the bags and um they they did the rep and uh you know the the coach wh for the next rep and then Vincent steps out of line is like no go back do that again like as a red sh freshman a seconde freshman he's the one that's stepping out and telling the Freshman hey this is how you do it is how you do it I think it says a lot about the coach's faith in him to like just one like that he has a confidence to step out and say that sounds seems like that's something that has been going on behind the scenes in practice and and says a lot about his maturity where he is at and um you know kind of his understanding of the game I think I think this is a guy that just from that interaction just the way he composes himself the way the coaching staff talks about him this is a future coach in the m making you know depending on how football works out his own foot playing career works out for him I think this is a guy that that that has some coaching potentially in his future and I think Vincent Jackson was kind of a late bloomer in high school too I don't think he played all four years uh you know of his high school career oh yeah I mean his late I mean again like he was he was headed for Syracuse to play with Tony white until you know Nebraska came and got Tony white and then also went and got him um this is a guy that was just going to stick in the Northeast and kind of play it play it played a a lower level type program you know what I mean now he's up here at the Big 10 working in the the I guess the three deep in uh in year two um yeah looking at the linebacker room again I don't think a whole lot of surprises here is there anything here that like really surprises you was just like these are the Vets these are the guys we expected out here all four of them it's who we expected especially for the inside guys and and the Jack linebackers too John Bullock not a surprise Vincent Shavers we've heard His Name all spring and all fall not a surprise maai bear um again not a surprise he had a breakout season in last last year Stefan Thompson again I don't think he had the smoothest of transitions coming from Syracuse um but not many guys do um when you kind of first get get a first taste of Matt rues programs and the standards that you have to meet um it's a probably a shock to a lot of guys um when they first encounter it but again not a surprise he knows Tony White's defense like the back of his hand um he's he's played in it he's he's been an inside linebacker he's been a jack linebacker in Tony White's system so again not a surprise Jack linebacker if you want to make something of there not being an or um NE on there I mean I'm not personally but maybe some people are um because they maybe think princewell uman mean should be starting over MJ Sherman again it's nothing to make a big deal about because both those guys are going to play they should be co-starters um and and you know I I just think that MJ Sherman and principal uman me Allen they're they're two solid Jack linebackers for what Tony white needs out of that position so they'll both play an even amount of reps yep I agree with with with the Jack position specifically what I'm kind of fascinated by is I think and you go back and watch MJ Sherman's High School tape and you go back and watch kind of what he did at Georgia and you watch what happened last year I think there's a lot of good football left in that body sure good football left in that frame that we haven't seen in a couple years like you go back and watch like cuz he was always like this isn't something new that he's like all of a sudden somewh of undersized Edge like he was an undersized Edge coming out but he made his name off of his ability both in the Run game and as a pass rusher he's got some pass rush moves and I think you look at specifically what he did last year it felt like times he was just trying to get his feet wet and get comfortable in the defense I think you want to see him when he has that opportunity to kind of pin his ears back when he's moving faster when he seems more comfortable on and off the field I mean we we saw him in the press conference like over the years he's getting more and more comfortable up he's way more comfortable talking to us and that's cool to see because he says some good stuff yeah and that's like and I think this is just a personal belief but like I do think like your confidence in front of the camera on in press conferences has some type of relationship with the confidence you're playing with on the field as well absolutely and you see guys that like as they get more comfortable on the field they become better in front of the media or they become better just kind of talking about their own game and talking about where they stand in the dep chart and talking about their teammates I think you're going to see that from MJ this year and I think again I would recommend people go back and watch that High School tape and see kind of the things he's doing to get around defender or getting getting around offensive lineman um and getting into the back field and then um kind of watch to see what he did last year and what this could look like cuz Jack is such an interesting spot for this team because MJ is a very different player than Prince like Prince is your traditional Edge like a long lengthy Edge that you can put and you know you can have him standing up you can have him with his hand in the dirt MJ for because of kind of his frame and kind some of the limitations he does have that's a guy kind of standing up off the edge you know he's got the power and the the size The Leverage to to kind of get his hand underneath to you put his hand in the dirt and kind of win around the edge with that leverage but he he lacks that length he lacks that length that Prince has that gives Prince a little more versatility you know I think there's going to be certain packages where you see okay it's going to be Nash and Tire in the interior and then the two edges are you know him and Jamari or you know like Prince Will and MJ or Prince Will Jamari like you know what I mean I think they find ways to get some of the these best these best pastor packages out there because I think what MJ gives you as a run Defender is better than what Prince Will currently does and that'll come with Time Prince will just being young is is that come yes exactly you know he's a pup he's a like truly like just a just a pup out there so so you know I'm I'm very excited to see Prince Will this year you know I'm I was a huge fan of his coming out of high school you know before I was on this beat you know he was one those guys that I was like banging the table I was like why is no one offering him why is he like still available it's Midway senior year and you're saying this like twitched up 64 Edge rusher just flying down you know what I mean it's like what why like his older brother's like a a notable High college football player like you would think people would be intrigued by the bloodline but uh you know Nebraska for Nebraska's benefit you know were're able to swoop in and get him late when when when Matt Ru showed up yeah I can't I can't shot this from the rooftop loud enough you know when you look at MJ Sherman um career uh three years I think at um Georgia and mostly a special teams player you didn't play a lot of Defense only in blowouts um so he comes he gets his um opportunity in the Big 10 at Nebraska and last year is his first year and he doesn't really meet a lot of the expectations in the fan base because of the the low sack num sack numbers and tackle for loss numbers but if you think about it that was really his first season of True time playing defense on on there so you know with it being his second defense now or his second season now I I just think like you said Tim he he looks so much more comfortable talking in front of the media and you know he's he's very comfortable he's faster in practice I mean even the observations we've seen he's moving around like you he's moving around like a guy that knows what he's doing now like moving around like he's comfortable within the system um you know we we're not going to take up too too much too much longer did want to touch on the DBS um before we we dive into a quick UTEP preview um I think the notable things here the starters are who we expected Buford at the quarterback spot opposite Tommy Hill Isaac gford Malcolm hardzog Desa Singleton are the starting safeties the backups are fascinating just because of specifically it safety I think if you look at the corner spots Amari Sanders he's earned praise all off season or all fall Camp you know K's done season come in um he's the backup at the quarterback spot sier R BL hill behind Marcus Beford on the other side I think you see that spot get a lot more rotation than I think Tom Hill is going to be like a you know he's going to be on the field as much as they can they can get he anchor he's that anchor yep and so on the other side though I think you see some rotations between Buford right Hill I think you fit in Sanders somewhere in there I think you fit in uh Jeremiah Charles in there somewhere um because that was a guy that's gotten praise all offseason but didn't show up on the two deep um the safety backup spots I do want to ask you about this Kobe bretts Derek Branch we don't know a whole lot about Derrick Branch we do know something about Kobe bretts um kind of what does it say about bretts is just time here that he is here I think he's just been moving around and last last season he was backup Rover I mean he saw some game snaps uh against Michigan um and you know I think he's just been he's a junior right now I think he's entering his fourth year if I'm not mistaken but uh he's just been move moved around um from from safety and you know he he lost some weight he's not like 210 or 215 pounds now he's he's 62 205 Tony white has mentioned that he's been flying around he's he he feels more comfortable sometimes it just take some time for kids to to find their own Groove their own pace at this whole college football thing and so um yeah maybe he's finding that right now and he's going to be backing up to Sea Singleton probably in that boundary safety um role um where where you know you you you need to be a downhill run stopper in that in that position and I think that kind of fits what Kobe Bretz does um and Derek Branch again we don't know about him just to walk on but he's been here for a long time and I think he's um he he just hasn't been mentioned at all and and all of a sudden he shows up behind Malcolm hartog and uh in that depth chart but like we said you know there's always Marcus bu Maris Buford there he's going to be rotating between corner and safety probably so that's he's he's your wild card of the def of the DBS back there you can do a little bit of everything um and and you know I'm I'm really kind of interested in that Rover spot ramire Stewart showing up out of the blue um Matt rule said Matt rule said that ramir Stewart red shirt freshman Out of Philly um was not part of the initial 120 man roster once fall Camp started so um now he's all of a sudden here and you know rule said when he's at his correct weight he is an excellent safety and that correct weight according to Matt rule is 205 pounds and we saw um ramir Stewart physical guy downhill safety I mean he he will come up and hit you maybe hit you too much if you're Thomas fedon running for a touchdown in the spring game um I really didn't appreciate that from uh ramir Stewart and I don't think the coaches did either um taking your starting tight end Mackie award list watch list guy but uh yeah so you know ramir Stewart showing up behind Isaac gford that really intrigues me just because I don't think his name has been dropped once um maybe in Spring Spring ball or um definitely not in Fall Camp until he show showed up at the depth chart so really interesting defensive back field not a lot of not a lot of surprises but that depth um is is going to be one to watch those that second team um DB unit you know is is probably going to play a factor against UT because of how how fast those guys want to go um Scotty Walden's crew so Tim any more thoughts on those guys man not really you know I'm just I'm just kind of interested to see you know kind of before we get out of here kind of want to touch on UTEP but I am curious to see how many DBS we see this week and then two weeks from now against nor IA just how many of those guys rotate in there and you know those PFF snap counts after the game are going to be fun to look at cuz because that's always a a treat for me with with this team um yeah you know before we get out of here just wanted to quickly you know we haven't seen a whole lot on the fields I don't think there's a whole lot to really dive into uh UTEP is just such an unknown right now first year head coach a ton of transfers you know Nebraska's kind of talked about their prep for this is having to watch multiple games and unfort that's just like not even unfortunately but that's kind of just where we are at with college football right now is you know Nebraska's watching Austin PA film they're watching UTEP film they're watching you know two three other schools you know because because just this this program got transfers from everywhere um you know they've got a whole lot of new there's some guys that are probably going to play a good bit on Saturday for UTEP that have just never seen college football before there's no film out there on them um so there's a lot of Nebraska kind of going in flying a little blind um they will be but they have to get used to that same thing with Colorado Colorado has completely redone that roster so you're Flying Blind again you're going to have to watch a bunch of different film there as well Northern Iowa is going to be the exact same way like that's just unfortunately like where we're at with the sport I don't mean unfortunately unfortunately but just where we're at with a sport is you have to do things like that um you know just just quickly you know I I I think for you what are you looking for on Saturday what are like the the I guess top three things you want to see either answered or just your curious to see on Saturday well the the good thing um about Nebraska's tackle situation is they're going to get a good test I think Maurice Mor West Maurice M West Morland he he plays a bandit position which is the utep's edge um position he's 6'2 250 pounds and I asked Matt Matt rule about Maurice West Morland and and Ru said that he's an NFL guy and I totally see it um he he led the team in Sachs last or I think he was second on the team in Sachs last season uh he was first in tfls um 62 250 guy 250 pounds he is fast he is Twitchy um he he can he can beat you outside and he has a really good inside move too which rule said you sometimes you don't see a lot with with some of those Edge guys like beating beating good tackles inside so I'm really interested in in seeing how EP tries to get tries to manufacture one-on-one opportunities with their top Edge guy Maurice West Morland against Nebraska's tackles um whether that's Bryce benhardt or Turner Corker and so with maybe with Turner with Turner's um past performances against Big 10 Edge rushers maybe UTEP tries to match up Maurice Maurice West Morland on um Turner Corker in so um that's something that I'm going to be definitely watching on Saturday and and I think it's going to be a good test for uh Turner and Bryce benhardt yep completely agree and you know I'm just curious to see kind of what what we see offensively um what what we kind of see from Dylan kind of kind of what they show what they put on film and um as a group I think um both sides of the ball just like what what progress do we see um I I I I want to see you know this defense wants to be the best defense in the country what does that look like how do you build upon what you did last year and um yeah I I just think there's there's a lot of questions a lot um I think that that is unknown with this team we'll have plenty more to talk about next week we spend a whole lot of most of this time on the depth chart but um bed on what we've seen in practice but I'm just excited to see this team hit other people and uh make some observations based on that and again next week's Colorado week so we'll have we'll have a lot to get into um before we get out of here um any any final thoughts anything you are anything else to look for on Saturday yeah just you know offensively with Nebraska they're going to want to establish the run a traditional handoff run game and once they have that going if they have that going that's when Dylan riola and that play action pass and that big right arm of his could make an appearance and then on the flip side with Tony White's defense look Scotty Walden he's going to be calling the plays for utep's offense um they're going to want to go fast they're going to want to snap the ball with around 35 30 34 seconds on this on the play clock um and they're just going to try to you know out condition Nebraska's defense and and potentially make it a game that is won and lost on the edges with a lot of receivers scre and kind of quick game things that's what Scotty Walden did a lot at you Austin um or Austin PA and I think that's what he's going to do especially with a brand new team with so many new faces and and first game of the Scotty Walden era in El Paso I think they're going to try to go as fast as they can and and hopefully catch Nebraska at a position defensively and see if their see if their receivers can beat Nebraska's uh DBS in 101 situations I think we're going to see that a lot on Saturday for sure that'll do it for us us uh we will see you all next week and uh yeah we definitely see you on Saturday