With the help of a new visualization tactic, sophomore punter Brian Buschini has completely changed the way he approaches a punt.
For most of his college career, Buschini didn’t care where his foot connected with the ball — he’d aim for the underside of the ball and let it fly. However, this offseason, he harnessed information from NFL punters like Johnny Hekker, who aim to connect with the inflation valve of the ball every time.
The results speak for themselves — Buschini said Tuesday that NU’s fall camp is the best he’s ever had.
“I’m just focused on trying to do the same thing every time, with consistent punts that will play well for our team,” Buschini said. “A 60-yard punt is great, but if it only has four seconds of hang time they’re going to return it back and it’s not a great team punt.”
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For Buschini, the location of the punt is just as important as the hang time and distance, so he tries to remain consistent with all three of those factors. He’s also working with the team’s gunners to make sure they know where the ball is heading, with Rahmir Johnson and Alante Brown standing out to Buschini.
“I have a ton of respect for Rahmir in particular (because) I think he’s one of the hardest workers on the team. I’m really excited to have those guys out there,” Buschini said.
Wet ball drills: Tuesday provided perfect weather conditions for wet ball drills on special teams, according to special teams coordinator Bill Busch.
With overnight thunderstorms rolling through Lincoln and the moisture lingering in the air through the morning, Busch compared Tuesday’s conditions to what the team expects for next week.
“It was like being in Ireland,” Busch said. “… It was great for us to get that done.”
The rain had stopped by the time the team went outside, but the mist in the air and the wet grass gave the Huskers the opportunity to work on snaps and holds and go through punt team drills in inclement weather.
Drew’s arrival: It’s only been a week since Texas Tech transfer Devin Drew arrived on campus and started practicing with the team. For all of his college football experience, defensive coordinator Erik Chinander still anticipated it’d take some time for Drew to get up to speed.
That hasn’t been the case, and Drew’s immediate success in practices has put him in contention for playing time against Northwestern.
“It’s been pretty amazing, actually,” Chinander said of Drew’s progress. “It’s expected that there could be errors or blowouts, and there hasn’t been; right now he’s dialed in. He’s gotten up to speed right away, and realistically in Ireland we expect him to take some reps.”
Unsung heroes: Busch name-dropped several Huskers who’ve been doing the “dirty work” on special teams who otherwise might not have received some recognition for their performances.
Those guys were nickelback Chris Kolarevic, Johnson, defensive back Tommi Hill, nickel Isaac Gifford, linebacker Luke Reimer, tight end Travis Vokolek and the long snappers in general.
“That group has done an unbelievable job,” Busch said. “… We’ve got starters. We’ve got guys who are gonna split time. We’ve got guys who might be limited role players who are also doing the same thing. I like their energy.”
Gifford grows: One of the potential starting options for Nebraska at nickel, Gifford spoke about how much he's progressed in his understanding of the position. Gifford said JoJo Domann set an example with his film studies, and he's tried to emulate that this season. He also speaks with his older brother and former NU standout Luke Gifford regularly about how he can improve and handle different challenges. The result of that work is that Gifford feels like the nickel spot is his for the taking.
“I’ve always been a tweener, where I'm (either) a safety or linebacker but not sure which one, so the nickel is kind of perfect so I can do a lot of coverage and stop the run, too. It fits me pretty well," Gifford said.
Second scrimmage: NU’s second full-team scrimmage was a positive one defensively for Chinander, who identified the team’s pass rushers as the standout performers. Transitioning from different packages like nickel to dime posed a challenge in NU’s first scrimmage, but Chinander said those issues had cleared up this time around.