The Weekly Rundown: Nebraska takes on another critical week of Fall Camp

The Nebraska football team will take on another critical week of Fall Camp starting today.

We hit on that and more as we start your Monday with The Weekly Rundown column.

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Sure bets

You have to feel good about these things right now:

Emmett Johnson and Rahmir Johnson are leading the RB discussion: One of the more significant questions heading into Fall Camp was what the running back room would look like. Through 10 practices, we are starting to get a clearer picture.

Emmett Johnson and Rahmir Johnson have appeared to pull towards the front of the pack, and Gabe Ervin Jr. is also in the conversation. Running backs coach EJ Barthel said Rahmir Johnson is playing the best football he’s seen since he’s been at Nebraska.

He also didn’t rule out Dante Dowdell from getting into that mix, but Johnson and Johnson seem like a safe duo to place your bet on early on.

John Butler’s addition: After hearing new secondary coach John Butler for the first time this week and seeing him in action, this appears to be a home run hire.

Another thing that jumps out to me is the respect he’s already earned from the team. Usually, when a well-liked coach like Evan Cooper leaves, the transition can be tough. That does not appear to be the case with Butler.

FLIK Hospitality Group: Nebraska’s new training table headed up by FLIK Hospitality Group is now two weeks old. We got our first real look at it on Sunday’s Fall Camp edition of Chasing 3.

On the surface, this appears to be a massive upgrade in what they are offering student-athletes. NU is FLIK’s first college program they are working with, and I’m sure they are all in to show others around the country what they can provide. They are already well-known in the professional sports space.

Another grinding week: NU will have another full week of six Fall Camp practices, capped off by a Saturday scrimmage.

This will be the most taxing week of Fall Camp, as generally, you start to get into game preparation by the fourth week of camp. The team also turned a big page in camp on Saturday, as the players moved out of the dorms after 11 nights at Selleck Quadrangle.

Selleck is the oldest dorm building on NU’s campus, and for the 2023-24 school year, it didn’t even have residents. In today’s world, it’s as close as you will get to “roughing it.”

Surprises

These were my surprises of the week:

The level of lockdown on Saturday’s Husker scrimmage: After being at Nebraska for one full year, head coach Matt Rhule is smart. He learned that if you open August scrimmages to high school coaches, former players, and family members, you will get 500 people to show up.

I’m not sure when that happened, but sometime during the Bo Pelini era, we started seeing more people attend spring and fall camp scrimmages. In a place like Nebraska, the information you gain from those scrimmages is power. Everyone wants to know what’s going on with the team.

Rhule’s way around that: shut it down. Neither of NU’s two major fall camp scrimmages will be open to high school coaches, former players, or parents of players. Rhule wants his team to focus, and my guess is he wants to keep some of the narratives that get out after 500 sets of eyes see a scrimmage in check. I’d also be curious if other schools in the country draw that many guests to a normal August practice.

Hearing Rick Allen’s voice on Chasing 3: When I watched the latest episode of Chasing 3 on Sunday, I was pleasantly surprised to hear Rick Allen’s (Schweiger) voice as the narrator.

Allen was the OG voice of Husker Vision back in the 90s and made such a name for himself between that and announcing at Eagle Raceway that he got the call-up to NBC to announce NASCAR.

I’m not sure how NU got Allen back involved, but my guess is that Senior Associate AD Brandon Meier played a factor, as the two once worked together at Husker Vision. Having a professional narrator adds a lot to the Chasing 3 production instead of simply relying on the quotes to carry it. It gives it more of a Hard Knocks feel on HBO.

OL Grant Seagren: My guess is that 99 percent of Nebraska fans are not familiar with redshirt freshman walk-on offensive tackle Grant Seagren or that he’s been taking reps with the top offensive units the last two weeks at left tackle.

It shows how limited NU’s options appear with ready-to-go tackle bodies on the roster after Teddy Prochazka’s injury.

The jury is still out

Questions still surround these things:

How effective will Turner Corcoran be at left tackle? : I mentioned Seagren and Nebraska’s approach with Turner Corcoran , which is a big reason why he and Gunnar Gottula continue to see top unit reps at left tackle .

They are keeping the 30-game starter on a pitch count this August as he recovers from a season-ending injury from a year ago. Also, let’s face it: Cocoran’s value at this point is as high as any player heading into the season. They need him back and ready to play.

OL Henry Lutovsky’s timeline: Another key cog NU is waiting to return is junior guard Henry Lutovsky . He’ll be out for at least another full week if not two, as he recovers from a calf injury. Getting him back into the fold will give Rhule more options.

The readiness of kicker Tristan Alvano: It was a good sign to see sophomore kicker Tristan Alvano back on the 120, even if he was wearing a yellow jersey.

It almost appears that they are preparing him to handle field goals, and newcomer John Hohl from Iowa Western C.C. is a candidate to take on kickoff specialist duties.

This has my attention

Moving forward, this has my attention :

AD Troy Dannen’s message to the football team: It was interesting to see AD Troy Dannen address Nebraska’s team before they opened Fall Camp on July 31. Dannen said his job is to ensure he puts all of NU’s student-athletes in lane four, giving them the best opportunity to succeed. They may get beat by someone in lane three, but his job is always to give them the best chance to win.

Dannen took in Saturday’s Fall Camp scrimmage with former AD and head coach Tom Osborne.

AJ Rollins moving back to tight end: We’ve seen a few interesting position moves. Ismael Smith-Flores has gone from tight end to linebacker, and now AJ Rollins went back to tight end after trying out edge rusher a year ago. These are probably the most notable fall camp position changes that have taken place.

DB Jeremiah Charles’s shoulder: Rhule said cornerback Jeremiah Charles suffered a shoulder injury after Saturday’s scrimmage. He had been seeing times with the top units. What’s his status moving forward?

Also, what’s the status of defensive back Brice Turner , who also went down with an injury last week?

HuskerOnline at Zipline Thursday night: You are all invited to join the HuskerOnline team at Zipline Beer Hall on 56th & Pine Lake Road on Thursday night. The HOL crew will do a live preseason special on-site at 6:30 p.m. that will also be streamed on our YouTube channel.

$3 pints of Zipeline will begin at 5 p.m., and food will be available for purchase. There will also be prize giveaways. We hope to see you all there!

Sean Callahan can be reached at sean@huskeronline.com and is heard daily at 6:45 am and 5:05 pm on Big Red Radio 1110 KFAB in Omaha during the football season. He can also be seen on KETV Channel 7 in Omaha during the fall, and each week, he appears on Nebraska Public Media’s Big Red Wrap-Up Tuesdays at 7 pm .

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