HUSKER FOOTBALL: Whipple Highlights Offensive Philosophy Ahead of Michigan

LINCOLN–(NU Athletics Nov. 9)–Nebraska Offensive Coordinator Mark Whipple met with members of the media following Wednesday’s practice. He started by providing an update on the quarterback situation.

“Casey (Thompson) has gotten better, a lot better,” Whipple said. ” Logan (Smothers) and Chubba (Purdy), I’ve seen a little more confidence in those guys compared to last week, just handling things better. See where everybody is at tomorrow afternoon. Casey has played enough that you can get him ready quicker. He’s mentally there, been in the meetings. The two other guys got some game action, so I feel better about it.”

He explained what his message has been to the quarterbacks this week and touched on Michigan.

“Sometimes you gotta get a message across. They’ve been really good. We have a good room, those guys have been a lot of fun to be around,” he said. “I’ve seen them learn, seen them grow and take steps forward. This is the biggest step of their career. Going into Michigan is no easy task. This kind of game, you hope you don’t have to motivate somebody as much. You look at (Michigan’s) numbers, how they play. They’re fast, physical and have a solid scheme they believe in and play with a lot of confidence. We’ve got to, far and away, put our best game together on offense. If we execute, operate at a good level then we will have a good chance to see where this goes.”

He expanded on his overall offensive philosophy and how he calls each game.

“It still comes down to you got to score more points. I would’ve been satisfied if we won 21-20. I don’t care if we win 3-2. You gotta look at the scoreboard and play it off the way it was that way. We weren’t as aggressive in the end of the half last week. Up 10-0, said hey we want to get out of here. Against Purdue, we went thirty seconds down the field. That comes down to your personnel and where you’re at by looking at the scoreboard. If you’re down 20-10, you may look to go for some things. Same with score with third down calls and if you are going to have two plays. Each game is its own story, that’s the beauty of football.”

Nebraska visits the big house when they take on 3rd ranked Michigan on Saturday, November 12. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. (CT) and will be televised nationally on ABC.