Thursday Notebook: Armstrong improving efficiency

In just over a week, senior quarterback Tommy Armstrong will take the Memorial Stadium field for his final Red-White Spring Game.

One of the biggest goals for the game the three-year starter has set for himself is to show everyone in attendance - including his coaches - just how far he’s come in his decision making with the football.

With turnovers and poor choices with his passes the biggest knocks on him the past three seasons, Armstrong made it his mission following Nebraska’s Foster Farms Bowl win to be a more consistent, efficient, and overall smart quarterback in 2016.

So far, he feels he’s made solid progress in accomplishing that feat through 11 spring practices.

“I’ve been doing pretty good,” Armstrong said. “I’m taking care of the ball. There’s been a few times where me and the receivers haven’t been on the same page, but it’s a lot different than it was last year in the spring… There’s been some (turnovers) here and there, but not as much as there was in the spring last year.

“Like I said, I'm just understand everything a lot more than I did last year. I think Coach (Danny Langsdorf) has helped us out as a quarterback group as a whole of just knowing where to go with the ball, understanding coverages … and finding your check down. I think that’s something I’ve done more this spring. If it’s not there, I’ll try to make a play with my legs and be smart with the ball.”

The offense as a whole has been fairly vanilla this spring, with the Huskers not doing much of any live contact work and keeping the schemes on both sides of the ball basic while putting more focus on fundamentals and detail work.

That’s why Armstrong is holding off on saying for sure how the offensive game plan could change this season and how it might potentially cater better to his skill sets.

“We just want to get the ball into the guys’ hands who are playmakers,” Armstrong said. “Coach Langs is drawing up plays and making sure we run plays the right way... That’s the key to our offense, just making sure we all doing our jobs the right way and making sure we take care of the ball.”

De'Mornay Pierson-El remains out of spring practice after suffering a gruesome leg injury against Purdue last fall, but but receivers coach Keith Williams is encouraged by the junior's progress and said he doesn't expect there to be any long-term effects.

Williams said Pierson-El is "where he should be at this point," and while he doesn't have an exact date on when he expects his receiver to return, he said "it won't be like August."

The team has worked to keep Pierson-El's spirits up during the time off. Williams said Pierson-El does everything the other receivers do except practice. He's in every meeting, every film session, and he has the same expectations placed on him that the rest of the room does.

“It’s how hard you would think it would be," Williams said. "It’s tough, but you just keep on working. He’s not going to feel good about it. He understands that it’s a process.

"In a situation like that, you get small victories and happiness about feeling a little better each day.”

- Dan Hoppen

Senior wide receiver Jordan Westerkamp will miss the remainder of the spring after undergoing sports hernia surgery last week in Germany.

The good news though is, according to Williams, Westkerkamp should be back at full speed within three weeks. Westkerkamp had the surgery with Dr. Ulrike Muschawek, the chief surgeon and founder of the Hernia Center in Munich. It’s the largest European facility that specializes in hernias of the abdominal wall and groin area.

Multiple Husker athletes have gone over to Germany to have the surgery before, and the results have all been positive. Wisconsin running back Corey Clement had surgery with Muschawek during the regular season and was able to return for the last few games in 2015.

Williams has no doubt Westerkamp will be back and ready to go by the start of summer conditioning in June.

“I think it’s like three weeks,” Williams said when asked when he expects Westerkamp to be 100 percent. “I know it’s not long term. I think he’s jogging and stuff now. I know it’s not long term. He’ll be good.”

-Sean Callahan

Harrison Jordan gained mini-fame last season when it was revealed that he and Andy Janovich would head butt each other sans helmets to get juiced up for games.

With Janovich graduated and potentially moving on to the NFL, Jordan has lost his head butt partner - fellow fullback Luke McNitt emphatically said he wouldn't be taking that role - but that same hardcore mindset remains ingrained in Jordan.

“I’ll smack anyone. I’ll hit anyone," Jordan said. "I don’t care who they are. I might be short and I might be a little unathletic compared to some of the other athletes. But I’m going to smack them and they’re going to feel me, I promise you that.”

A walk-on from Omaha Westside, Jordan is competing with McNitt and Graham Nabity for the fullback job, something he never expected when arriving in 2013. Jordan always figured he would do most, if not all, of his damage on special teams, and the former staff didn't use the fullback much anyway.

But Janovich's success last fall changed things, and the coaches have said the fullback will remain a staple of the offense even with his departure. The job is far from being decided, but there is little doubting what Jordan brings to the table.

“My mentality is just to destroy the defender," Jordan said. "I just needed to better my technique and use my hands. Once I get that down, I think I can do a really good job.”

- Dan Hoppen

As Nebraska closed the 2015 season, we got a taste of what the tight end position could potentially be.

As the Huskers make their way through spring practice, the continue evolution of the tight end position has become a big priority.

Senior Sam Cotton said he’s leaving all on the field as he prepares for his senior season.

“My expectations are hopefully to see our role grow even more,” Cotton said. “As someone who wants to get more involved personally in the passing game, I’m chasing Cethan (Carter) and his route running ability.

“Hopefully I can see some production out of myself this year, but as a whole we want to keep expanding our role. If we get a run to the outside, we have to have me or Cethan or Trey (Foster) on the edge. Really in every aspect we want the tight ends to get more respect.”

-Sean Callahan

***Langsdorf and offensive line coach Mike Cavanaugh both praised the progress of the offensive line this offseason. Langsdorf said the group have been very physical up front, though he added they needed to be better against pressures from the defense.

Cavanugh said the group has looked way more athletic than it did last year, and that could be a very big help in improving aspects of the offense like the screen pass game.

***Langsdorf said Dylan Utter is still working at both center and guard, but primarily at center. He said they’re still not sure where Utter will play once the season starts, as there are too many unknowns regarding where Paul Thurston will be in the fall. Thurston has been limited mostly to just Saturday practices.

***Whichever center wins the job, Cavanaugh said they’ve been working on a different grip on the football to improve the consistency of their snaps. Cavanaugh said they weren’t nearly good enough snapping the ball last season.

***Langsdorf complimented Tanner Farmer quite a bit, saying he was one lineman who has been playing pretty well, especially with his physicality being a “strong, strong guy”.

***Langsdorf said the gap between the play of the first-team offensive line and the second-team was much smaller than last year. There is still noticeable separation mentally, but physically they were much closer.

***Langsdorf again noted Tyler Hoppes as a tight end who has impressed, particularly in the passing game as a receiver. Langsdorf said Hoppes has stood out with his pass catching and route running for two weeks now.

***Another player who has caught Langsdorf’s eye has been McNitt, who moved from tight end to fullback this spring. Langsdorf said McNitt was a “smart, smart player” who was a natural as a receiver out of the backfield, and he sees McNitt being a potential factor in NU’s play-action passing game.

***Williams said freshman wide receiver Derrion Grim has hit a bit of a wall mentally, but added that was normal for a kid who should “still be be taking Home-Ec making cookies.”

***Tight end Sam Cotton said Thursday’s practice got a little “chippy”, with two or three scuffles breaking out. Cotton said the whole team can sense that tensions are heating up as the grind of the spring wears on, and that the coaches feel like they have the players on “leashes” and looking forward to finally letting them off.