A Slow Start to Fall Practice

Is it just me, or does it just seem to be a slow, quiet start to preseason practice? Of course, after last fall's Harrison Beck saga, you'd hope it would be quieter. The heat and humidity are going to approach oppressive levels over the next few days which should help team with their conditioning. Offensive lineman Carl Nicks told the Omaha World-Herald that he would be downing about 3 to 4 GALLONS of liquids a day to stay hydrated in this weather. Wow...that's a lot of trips to the bathroom...

Alas, tight end Hunter Teafatiller was downing the wrong types of liquids last Friday night, getting pulled over for driving under the influence, which was his second arrest of the summer. At this time, no discipline had been announced. Meanwhile, Mack Brown announced that two Texas players who were charged with DWI this summer would be suspended for 3 games each, with team punishments and community service required of each. Sure makes Callahan's one-game suspension for Maurice Purify look lenient.

I noticed that Steve Pederson reorganized many of the top positions in the athletic department, with the most notable being replacing Chris Anderson with former Sprint exec Randy York. Nebraska's sports information department has had misfire after misfire in recent years trying to clean up after Steve Pederson's many gaffes. The Big XII media didn't have kind words for the department a year ago either. Bringing in outside help is a hopeful sign that Pederson recognizes his past approach wasn't helping him at all.

Steve over at BigRedNetwork has some nice thoughts on the quarterback competition, even though the final result is pretty much known. On the other hand, Joe Ganz even told the World-Herald that he "plans on being the starter." While it seems absurd to pretend that Keller won't be the starter (barring some sort of injury), it does serve a purpose to motivate Ganz, Patrick Witt, and Zac Lee to be prepared. Plus, we still don't know how Keller will dial-down his gunslinger tendency in the controlled West Coast Offense. Keller even admits that he's got to change his game:

“Some games I throw a lot of interceptions. But that’s because I play kind of fearless. That’s always how I’ve played. I’m a fearless kind of competitor. But at the same time, one of your best attributes can also be your worst — some erratic throws here and there.

“I can see those perceptions (gunslinger, gambler, etc.). However, I will tell you those aren’t true anymore. Because this offense really forces you to take what the defense gives you and almost kind of slow down. Take a check-down. Take a secondary receiver.”

Keller is certainly saying the right things now. But talk is cheap in August. Let's check back later in September and see how things are going.