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Wednesday notebook: Balance is key for NU offense
***Offensive coordinator Danny Langsdorf talked quite a bit about wanting more balance offensively going forward. Nebraska ran the ball on about 80 percent of its plays vs Fresno State, and he said ideally they want to be around 60 percent run/40 percent pass.
***Langsdorf said a lot of the reason they ran it so much on Saturday was because of al the "misfiring" that was going on between Tommy Armstrong and the receivers. He said it was a "combination of a lot of things" that led to only 13 passes, but stressed they had to be better throwing the ball to compete in the Big Ten.
***Langsdorf was asked if he's heard from fans how much people love running the ball in Nebraska. "Yes they do," he said. "It's a huge thing ... and it's important to us." Langsdorf said he didn't "want to sound negative about running the ball well," but stressed that the offense need to have better balance.
***Wide receiver Brandon Reilly said he was obviously very excited about making his season debut this week after sitting out Saturday due to suspension. He joked that he actually picked a pretty good game to have to miss, all things considered.
***With Reilly back in the fold, Langsdorf said it would give the passing game one of its top weapons and also take some of the load off guys like Alonzo Moore and Stanley Morgan. With Reilly out, Moore and Morgan had to prepare to play two different receiver positions vs. Fresno State.
***Langsdorf said it’s still a learning process with De’Mornay Pierson-El as far as getting back to becoming a focal point in the offense. He said the depth at receiver already makes it tough for anyone to get snaps, but added that Pierson-El was still getting back into the rhythm of the offense and game plan.
***Jordan Westerkamp said he knew all last week that he would be the primary punt returner, but he’s not sure what the plan will be this week. Because Fresno State’s punter was so bad, he said it was almost even more difficult to return punts than it would normally be against a traditional punter.
***Westerkamp said he had no idea about keeping his 27-game catch streak alive until after his caught his lone pass late in the fourth quarter. However, Reilly said everyone else was well aware of it, and the play call to get him that catch was by design.
***Wide receivers coach Keith Williams declined interviews after Wednesday’s practice.
***Offensive tackle Nick Gates said the biggest strength for the offensive line on Saturday was how good the communication was within the unit on the field. He said you never would have known that there were three new starters up front.
***Freshman running back Tre Bryant admitted he was pretty nervous going into his first game as a Husker, but once he fielded his first kickoff return his nerves calmed down and he settled right in. Bryant said everything is going right according to plan as far as how he pictured is freshman season playing out.
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