Huskers fall back on teamwork strategy

Niles Paul couldn’t wait to get his hands on the football.

Paul wanted the ball so badly he fielded a punt in the middle of the coverage and left the ground to get it.

He caught the ball and was nailed in mid-air.

That was Paul’s biggest play of the game, a punt return of zero yards that forced a 15-yard interference call.

“I wanted to get the ball,” Paul said. “I knew if I got the ball in my hands, I could do something with it. It didn’t work out as I thought it would.”

Instead, Paul was chewed out for being “too fearless” by NU assistant coach Ron Brown.

“Coach Brown doesn’t want me to get hurt catching the ball,” Paul said.

The wide receiver for Nebraska was a relative nonfactor for the Cornhuskers in a 49-3 win over Florida Atlantic, finishing with two catches for 13 yards.

The wide receiver dubbed “The Man” by offensive coordinator Shawn Watson wasn’t too upset by the lack of passes coming his way.

“It can be frustrating at times,” Paul said. “I’ve grown to the point that even when I know I’m not going to get the ball, I know I’m going to do something like get a big block or something to help the team.”

Paul wants people to know the Nebraska receiving corps isn’t a “one-trick pony”.

“A lot of people were real worried about the receiving corps,” Paul said. “We have four receivers, big play receivers, that can make something happen.”

Even though the Florida Atlantic defense stymied Paul, it allowed other Husker receivers to step up.

Paul said FAU was in a Cover 2 defense all night, which provided safety relief for the outside cornerbacks.

“If the game was going to open up, it’d be for a slot guy like Curenski (Gilleylen),” Paul said.

The inside was definitely open.

Gilleylen said he tried not to anticipate anything on Saturday.

“I just run my route, and everything will be there,” Gilleylen said.

Playing in the slot, Gilleylen caught four passes for 92 yards. One of his catches went for a 51-yard touchdown, after the receiver slipped past a safety and was all alone in the middle of the field.

“It was just a good read by Zac (Lee),” Gilleylen said. “I just ran the route.”

Gilleylen was more excited about a block he threw earlier in the game than his touchdown catch.

In the first quarter, he sprung fellow wide receiver Menelik Holt for a score by leveling an FAU defender.

“I got an RBI,” Gilleylen said. “I got Menelik in the end zone.”

The Leander, Texas, product started using the baseball term RBI (run batted in) for blocks that scored teammates in high school.

“I’m trying to get an RBI every game,” Gilleylen said. “Whether it be for a receiver, running back, quarterback or whoever, I’m trying to make a key block.”

Blocking downfield is a big part of being a receiver for the Huskers.

“We are definitely trying to make the blocks down field because we know that’s where the explosive plays come,” Gilleylen said.

As important as Gilleylen’s block was, it never would have happened if Holt hadn’t made a move to break free of the defense.

“Menelik makes a great move, great cutback move,” Paul said. “He’s been doing it all fall camp. We’ve been giving him crap about it, and it finally worked.”

Holt defended his cutback.

“It worked in practice the first three or four times, but now they don’t fall for it in practice,” Holt said. “It’s just natural for me now.”

He doesn’t plan to shelve his patented juke move, though.

“It worked,” Holt said while laughing. “So as long as it works for me, I’ll keep using it.”
Paul will have to wait until Saturday’s game to try and show up more prominently on the stat sheet, but for now, he’ll just revel in his teammate’s glory.

“It frustrates me a little bit, but my receiving corps is like family, so I was just happy for Curenski and Meno,” Paul said. “It was just like I scored when they scored.”

michaelschaefer@dailynebraskan.com