Tag: Mark Whipple

Social Media reacts to Nebraska’s victory over Indiana

Nebraska moves to 1-1 in Big Ten Conference play!

It wasn’t the prettiest game at times, nor the most disciplined, but the Nebraska Cornhuskers recorded their second victory of the season and their first in the Big Ten on Saturday night when they defeated the Indiana Hoosiers 35-21. Mickey Joseph notched his first win as the interim head coach of the Huskers, who now hold a 1-1 record in conference play.

For the first time in quite a while, the Nebraska special-teams unit made an impact play with a punt block for a touchdown being recovered by Malcolm Hartzog. The Blackshirts, under the new leadership of Bill Bush, surrendered only 290 yards to one of the fastest-paced offenses in all of Division 1 college football.
Trey Palmer continues his record-setting season at wide receiver. The LSU transfer caught eight passes for 157 yards and one touchdown. Anthony Grant also continued to run the football effectively. The transfer running back showed his value in the second half, in particular late in the fourth quarter when he was repeatedly called on by the offensive coordinator Mark Whipple to move the sticks and run time off the clock. Grant finished with 32 rushes for 136 yards. In addition, Casey Thompson showed flashes of brilliance at times. Still, an inconsistent game consisting of multiple intentional groundings, bad sacks, and a turnover put the Husker offense in several tight spots over the night.
Nebraska now prepares for a trip to Piscataway, NJ, to take on Rutgers on Friday night. Below is the social media reaction to the Cornhusker’s big win against Indiana on Saturday.

Nebraska’s ground game sparks first victory of the season

Nebraska records its first win of the 2022 season!

Nebraska notched the first win of the 2022 season as the Cornhuskers defeated their guests, the North Dakota Fightin’ Hawks, 38 to 17 on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Stadium. Anthony Grant led the way for the offense with 189 yards on 23 carries for two TDs and a long of 46 yards. Ajay Allen helped in the running attack by carrying the ball 11 times for 58 yards and one touchdown with a long of 14. No other Husker was in positive rushing yards. Casey Thompson was 14 of 21 passing for the afternoon with 193 yards, two TDs, and one INT. The most telling quote after the game was from head coach Scott Frost who said, “this team can be a great team. It’s not right now. That was my message to them.” If anyone thought that the coaching staff would allow the team to relax after their first win of the season, it’s clear Frost sent a muted message that there’s still work to do. And now the grind for Week 3’s preparation begins.

Coordinators talk to media in preparation for North Dakota

Some encouraging comments from members of Nebraska’s coaching staff!

Nebraska’s offensive and defensive coordinators met with the media today ahead of Saturday’s home opener against North Dakota. If you remember, position coaches will not meet with the media this season. This is the first time these restrictions have been implemented with the Cornhusker coaching staff. However, all three coordinators will be able to talk with reporters in 2022. Things started with offensive coordinator Mark Whipple speaking, and he began by saying he likes what he sees from his team after returning to Lincoln from Ireland.

“We had a really good meeting on Sunday night, then practiced light on Monday, but they were flying around. Today we did some good things, put in some new stuff and checked on some stuff. We will get it cleaned up, but they have been really good.”

More from Nebraska’s coaching can be found below. Scroll and let us know what you think. Kickoff is right around the corner.

 

Husker Offensive Coordinator talks about the Quarterbacks following Thursday’s practice

The new Nebraska playcalling is still getting his unit ready for kickoff in Dublin.

Following Thursday’s practice, Nebraska offensive coordinator Mark Whipple spoke with the media. He started his session talking about the quarterback room’s improvement throughout fall camp, the team’s ball security and work ethic, and the attitude of Casey Thompson and the rest of the QB room.

Whipple is spending his first season in Lincoln have spent the last three seasons at Pittsburgh. His 2021 season was the best of his tenure with the Panthers, which finished eighth in total offense at 487.9 YPG and third in scoring offense at 41.4 PPG. Quarterback Kenny Pickett was the ACC Player of the Year, First-team All-American, and placed third for the Heisman Trophy. He also set the school records for passing yards and touchdowns in a season by throwing for 4,319 yards and 42 touchdowns. Pickett would be taken in the 1st round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Wide Receiver Jordan Addison was a Consensus All-American and the Fred Biletnikoff Award as the best receiver in college football. In 2021 he caught 100 passes for 1,593 yards and 17 touchdowns. Addison has since transferred and will spend this season at Southern California.

Whipple will be tasked with working his magic with two new quarterbacks to the Husker roster. Texas transfer Casey Thompson and Florida State transfer Chubba Purdy are the center of the quarterback rooms focus this season. In 12 games at Texas the previous year, Thompson threw for 2,113 yards, 24 TDs, and 9 INTs on 63.2% completion. Purdy appeared in only four games over the last two seasons at FSU.

Below is a look at Whipple’s post-practice comments. Nebraska will kick off the 2022 season on August 27th against the Northwestern Wildcats in Dublin, Ireland.

Reaction from Nebraska’s Wednesday morning practice

The season-opening kickoff is getting closer and closer.

Nebraska’s football practice on Wednesday morning was open to the local media, and social media reactions are pouring in. One of the most significant pieces of news today was former Texas Tech transfer Devin Drew officially being cleared by the Nebraska football staff for full participation in fall camp. The 6-2, 280-pound Defensive Lineman played in 20 games over the last two years and logged 55 total tackles and .5 sacks during his tenure as a Red Raider.

Reporters also saw head coach Scott Frost and offensive coordinator Mark Whipple working with the first team offense on read-option drills, which could be further proof that the Huskers will still be running the quarterback in 2022. There was also a Thomas Fidone sighting at the practice. The tight end was the top recruit at his position in 2020 and was the highest-rated recruit to sign with NU since 2008. The Iowa native suffered a knee injury before the 2021 season and is still rehabbing with medical staff. Scroll below to see social media reactions to Wednesday morning’s workout.

We are officially 17 days from the season-opening kickoff, in which Nebraska will face Northwestern in Dublin, Ireland. Stay tuned to Cornhuskers Wire for all the latest news!

Frost comments on another week of practice

Nebraska continues to prepare for its first team scrimmage!

Another week of practice is in the books for the Nebraska Cornhuskers. After Friday’s workout, Head Football Coach Scott Frost talked with the media on various subjects, including Saturday’s upcoming scrimmage, the development of the offense, and the current state of the team’s leadership.

The team continues to practice on a schedule of three days on the field and one day off the field and will continue on that rotation till it’s time to head across the Atlantic Ocean. It’s always good to hear from the Head Coach throughout the entire run of training camp, and we’ll hear more after Saturday’s scrimmage but don’t put too much stock into his comments. Coaches are almost always going to be overwhelmingly positive about the state of their squad, especially before any games have been played. Nonetheless, it is still good to hear from the man in charge.

Nebraska continues to prepare for the season opener in Week 0 of the college football season. On August 27th, they’ll take on the Northwestern Wildcats in Dublin, Ireland. Kickoff is scheduled for 11:30 am CST only on FOX.

Another week of practice underway for the Cornhuskers

Get a recap of the early August practice grind here!

Another week of practice is underway for the Nebraska Cornhuskers as they continue to prepare for the August 27th opener against the Northwestern Wildcats in Dubin, Ireland. Still, in the early days of the season, both offensive and defensive units are still installing the schemes and finalizing their depth charts.

The coaching staff, led by head coach Scott Frost, continues to say positive things about the team early in the campaign. On offense, Coordinator Mark Whipple discussed the progress of the quarterbacks on Monday, saying…

“We threw a lot at them… I probably made a mistake last week during camp… we had so much time, we were excited… I really wore them out. So I’m backing off a little. 

We had a really good summer. Really good summer of just going over the things they can see themselves both in the throw game and the run game… I’ve seen the offense take a step forward.

You can see the difference now… they know when they’ve made a mistake. That’s when you see you’re making progress… we’ve limited mistakes and made some progress.” 

You expect to hear good things about this team early in camp. However, the questions about the 2022 Cornhuskers will only be answered once we start the games on August 27th. So stay tuned to Cornhusker Wire as we’ll begin publishing our player profiles and position group breakdowns as the season-opening kickoff approaches.

 

Former Husker Coordinator becomes analyst for Big 12 team

A former Nebraska coach has a new job!

A former Cornhusker Offensive Coordinator has accepted a job as a senior analyst for a Big 12 team. Former coach Matt Lubick has taken an analyst position for Head Coach Lance Leipold and the Kansas Jayhawks. Lubick was only a wide receiver coach and offensive coordinator with the Huskers for the 2020 and 2021 seasons before being dismissed. Prior to arriving in Lincoln, he had spent two seasons at Washington and the four seasons before that at Oregon, where he coached with Scott Frost.

Lubick was let go on November 8th after the Huskers finished with a 3-9 record. He was one of several assistants who were let go following the disappointing 2021 campaign in an effort to overhaul the offense. Scroll below to look at all the offensive coaching changes for Nebraska heading into 2022.

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Pitt Head Coach takes shot at Nebraska’s Offensive Coordinator

The Pitt coach wasn’t afraid to hold back in his critique of Nebraska Offensive Coordinator Mark Whipple.

It turns out not everyone is a fan of new Nebraska offensive coordinator Mark Whipple. On the most recent episode of “Bazzy’s Black & Gold Banter,” Pitt Panthers Head Coach Pat Narduzzi made several comments criticizing his ex-offensive coordinator, Mark Whipple. Narduzzi believed that Whipple was too stubborn to run the football and only wanted to throw, regardless of the situation.

“Our old offensive coordinator had no desire to run the ball. Everybody knew it. He was stubborn. Wake Forest was 118th in run defense and we threw the ball every down. When we ran it, we ran it for 10 yards but that wasn’t good enough.”
The Wake Forest game he mentions was the ACC championship game, a game that Pittsburgh won 45-21. When you take a closer look at the stats, you also realize that Pat Narduzzi either has a terrible memory or an ax to grind with his former OC. Pitt did not throw the ball every down and actually ran more than they threw, with the Panther offense finishing with 38 rushing attempts to 34 passing attempts. You’ll also notice that Pitt did not average ten yards a rush but 2.9 yards a carry. So he was only off by seven yards a carry.
These comments are a far cry from the statement Narduzzi made when Whipple left.
“During his three seasons at Pitt, Mark Whipple was a great asset for our entire football program. He did a tremendous job transitioning us from a heavy run attack to one of the best passing games in the entire country.”
He doesn’t seem too upset about the playcalling in that statement, so what changed? Who knows, but the fact that Pat Narduzzi has been at Pitt since 2015 and is on his fifth offensive coordinator tells that maybe he has complicated relationships with his offensive coaches, considering he has trouble keeping any around.
The fact remains that Pitt’s offense ranked 8th nationally in total offense with 486.6 yards a game and averaged approximately 6.37 yards per play. The team went 11-3 and won the ACC, its first title under Narduzzi; so there’s no need for shots to taken at someone this many months away from his departure. If he was that unhappy with Whipple, it doesn’t matter. He’s not there anymore. There’s no reason to attack someone’s ability to perform their job properly, especially when you don’t remember any facts correctly.
Pat Narduzzi may not have been happy with Mark Whipple, but if the OC can reproduce those results in Lincoln, his current head coach will be very happy.

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Nebraska’s offensive coordinator gives his thoughts on the quarterbacks

New offensive coordinator Mark Whipple gave his thoughts on this year’s crop of quarterbacks.

New Nebraska offensive coordinator and quarterback coach Mark Whipple made an appearance on the Husker Radio Network last night to answer various questions about the new scheme, preparations for the opener in Dublin, and the progress of the quarterback room. It was back in December when Scott Frost relinquished play-calling responsibility to hire Whipple, who had spent the last three years as the coordinator for the Pitt Panthers. Last season, he helped Pitt win the 2021 ACC title and led the team to a top ten ranking nationally in scoring offense, passing offense, and total offense. As the quarterback coach, he led Kenny Pickett to the 2021 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award and a first-team All-American selection.

Whipple has 40+ years of head and assistant coaching experience in both the college and professional ranks. The New York native has been a head coach at three different schools (New Haven 1988-93, Brown 1994-97, UMass 1998-2003, 2014-2018), amassing a 137-103 record and winning the 1993 Division 1-AA Championship (now the FCS division). Nebraska is the fifth offensive coordinator stop for Whipple as he has previously called plays at Union (1981-82), New Hampshire (1986-87), Miami (2009-2010), and Pittsburgh (2019-2021). He also won a Super Bowl as a quarterback coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Whipple is a pass-first play-caller known for building around his quarterback and adjusting his offense to best utilize the talent on the field instead of forcing players to fit into a specific scheme. He was one of two finalists for the position in Lincoln when Frost announced he would no longer call plays. Whipple beat out former Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell who had just been released at USC. After missing out on the Husker job, Harrell ended up in West Virginia as the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach for the Mountaineers.

During last night’s radio appearance, Whipple discussed the quarterback room headed into this season and gave a detailed analysis of each scholarship signal-caller. Scroll below to see his comments.