LINCOLN — Nebraska players heaped praise Saturday on teammates for their work this summer and the strides made as preseason practice opened.
But no words figure to grab the attention of Husker fans more quickly than those muttered by tight end Mike McNeill.
McNeill said he was most impressed during summer workouts with freshman running back Rex Burkhead and fellow newcomer Brandon Kinnie, a junior-college transfer wide receiver.
The 5-foot-11, 200-pound Burkhead comes to NU with plenty of hype. The highly touted recruit was a YouTube sensation and a local celebrity in Texas.
And apparently he's living up to it.
“Rex Burkhead did a good job,” McNeill said. “He came in, and they bumped him up to play with the older guys in seven-on-seven.”
McNeill also mentioned Kinnie, a 6-3, 215-pound sophomore out of Kansas City, Mo., and Fort Scott juco.
“Brandon Kinnie already looks like he's been here for three years,” McNeill said. “He's done a really good job. Just good size, speed and hands, so he's a good combination out there at wideout.”
Cornerback Lazarri Middleton, another fresh face, was singled out by fellow corner Alfonzo Dennard for his work this summer. Dennard said the 6-1, 175-pound Middleton, a freshman out of Long Beach, Calif., has turned a few heads.
“He showed good movement,” Dennard said. “I think he'll show some people. He knows a lot of the plays already.”
Other players who had strong summers, according to teammates, included receivers Niles Paul and Curenski Gilleylen. Safety Larry Asante said he was impressed with “how much physically they got better.”
“They looked real good out there,” Asante said.
Ex-Husker Pensick proud of son
Dan Pensick lettered as a defensive tackle at Nebraska from 1977 to '79. He had not attended Fan Day at Memorial Stadium for 30 years until Saturday, with good reason to return.
His son, Cole, a true freshman out of Lincoln Northeast, sat with the defensive linemen in the south end zone, signing autographs for fans and posing for photos. He was overshadowed by star nose tackle Ndamukong Suh, sitting nearby, but that was fine with dad.
“It's exciting,” Dan Pensick said. “I'm proud of him. I just know that today's the start of an adventure.”
Cole Pensick is one of two scholarship freshmen from Nebraska to enter the program this season along with fullback C.J. Zimmerer of Omaha Gross.
The elder Pensick bears a striking resemblance to NU offensive line coach Barney Cotton. Three fans, in fact, approached Pensick at Memorial Stadium, thinking that he was Cotton.
Interestingly, their careers intersected at NU. Pensick and Cotton even lived together. As he stood behind the Husker coaches talking to his old buddy, Pensick could have easily been mistaken for Cotton's twin brother.
“Everybody thinks we're twins as we've gotten to be 50 years old,” said Pensick, originally from Columbus, Neb. “I don't know. We didn't look like each other when we were 20.”
Safety Asante spends time with Minter
For five days this summer, Asante learned from one of the best.
He spent time during the offseason with ex-Husker safety Mike Minter, a former All-Pro who spent 10 seasons with the Carolina Panthers in the NFL.
“He's a great teacher,” Asante said. “He's a great safety. I thank God that he came back to help me.”
Asante said he was introduced to Minter by NU Director of Outreach Doak Ostergard. Minter and Asante spent time in the film room and on the field, going through some of the advanced intricacies of the position.
“He showed me pretty much how to watch film the right way, how to study our opponents, and then we took that and brought it onto the field,” Asante said. “He was a student of the game. He knew what the offense was going to do before it happened. That's what he showed me.”
The best message Minter had for NU's two-year starter was to keep a level head.
“His biggest advice to me was just to be patient and to see it first before I react to it,” Asante said. “He said being the safety, you have to be the most patient person on the field, because if anything gets behind you, that's it. His biggest key was patience and just going up and making plays on the ball.”
Known as a big hitter when he came to Nebraska, Asante said he's learning to play more of an all-around role in the secondary.
“My mentality in the past was going up for the big hits,” he said. “But now I don't really care about that anymore. I just want the picks. I want turnovers. I believe I do have the confidence now and I know where I can take chances at. I can go out there and actually just play football and not think about anything.”
No partner yet for Henery
Nebraska has not yet settled on one long snapper or one holder to work with junior kicker Alex Henery.
Henery said freshman walk-on P.J. Mangieri and redshirt freshman Sam Meginnis spent the summer snapping to senior receiver Wes Cammack, sophomore punter Jon Damkroger and redshirt punter Brett Maher.
The exchanges weren't perfect either — especially in the eyes of a guy like Henery, who likes the ball placed on the turf a certain way before he makes contact with his foot.
“The way the ball's put on the ground, it makes a big difference really,” Henery said. “We started off this summer pretty rough. I couldn't get a hold of a lot it because the ball was either leaning too much or too upright. But now we've got a lot better.”
The entire process has to happen in a matter of seconds, too. Henery said they're close to matching the times of last year, when he, T.J. O'Leary and Jake Wesch formed a three-man specialist tandem.
Unity Council back in session
The Unity Council, Nebraska's internal policing body made up of about 15 players, has officially been set, according to Asante.
Asante's on the council. Here some of the players that he mentioned were too: Barry Turner, Chris Brooks, Colton Koehler, Jacob Hickman, Matt O'Hanlon, Menelik Holt, Mike McNeill, Ndamukong Suh, Pierre Allen, Roy Helu, Rickey Thenarse and Zac Lee.
The Unity Council began at Nebraska during the early ‘90s. The team picked the selective group each year, and those players governed their peers.
The council was disbanded during Bill Callahan's tenure, but restored when coach Bo Pelini was hired last year.
— Nick Rubek, Jon Nyatawa and Mitch Sherman
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