Brown: Just say no to fair catches

LINCOLN �” While Nebraska coaches try to sort out exactly who will field punts this year, one thing seems apparent: Fair catches are not going to be a big part of the equation.

Husker assistant Ron Brown said as much Monday. The tight ends coach is also in charge of the punt returners.

“A punt return ought to be a stinkin’ play in the game where everybody (in the stands) gets on their feet,” said Brown, bringing up Husker returners of the past such as DeJuan Groce, Rod Smith and Tyrone Hughes.

“We want to move the football. It’s got to be an offensive weapon. We want courageous people back there. You know, DeJuan Groce was a courageous guy back there. He was not a big fair-catch guy,” Brown said. “There are obviously times when we need to fair catch. But we don’t start there. We’re going to run, and we’re going to catch every ball on the move, and we’re going to make something happen.”

Groce in 2002 ranked fourth nationally with an average of 17.02 yards on 43 returns. He scored four touchdowns. All told, Nebraska returned 51 punts for 830 yards and six TDs that season.

But Nebraska ranked 70th nationally last season with an average of 8.18 yards on 17 returns. Seniors Cortney Grixby (eight returns for 50 yards) and Andre Jones (6-83) handled the bulk of the duty. Nate Swift returned two punts for 6 yards.

Swift, Niles Paul and freshmen Tim Marlowe, Alfonzo Dennard and Khiry Cooper are among those catching punts in practice right now �” with the job still to be won.

On Monday, Brown recalled a return man like Smith, who went deep for the Huskers in 1986 and led the country in return yards.

“I told Nate the other day, ‘Rod wasn’t the fastest guy in the world.’ I mean, Rod had good speed. But he was not what people normally think of as a great punt-return specialist. But we led the nation. We had great blocking up front. (Smith) was a courageous kid,” Brown said.

The Huskers were very sporadic in the return game the last four years. In 2005, NU ranked 17th in the country in punt returns thanks largely to Terrence Nunn, who was third nationally with an average of 18.31 yards per return.

But in 2006, the Huskers ranked 69th with Nunn still around, and in 2004 the Big Red was 107th. Santino Panico averaged just 3.09 yards a return that year.

Brown said he believes players will feed off the mentality of wanting to make the big return and not settling for a fair catch.

“I think if you have any competitive sauce in you at all, you want to hear your coach saying, ‘We ain’t about fair catches,’” Brown said. “We want to return balls. We want to have enough confidence in our front. We want to be roamers. We want to go get the football.”

This and That: You don’t often see a running back in a “hands-off” green practice jersey. But running back Roy Helu Jr. had one on during Monday’s morning practice on the grass fields. He’d missed the last few practices with a minor injury, according to Bo Pelini. ... Monday was the first of three two-a-day practices this week for NU. The Huskers will also practice twice on Wednesday and Friday. ... Sophomore offensive lineman Jaivorio Burkes worked out for his second straight practice after missing the previous ones in fall camp because of high blood pressure.

Scouting Report: Senior defensive tackle Shukree Barfield is one of many Huskers who have trimmed down. He’s currently at 280 pounds. He weighed 297 last fall.

“All that weight, I wasn’t used to carrying it,” Barfield said. “It seemed like it was slowing me up. Now I feel faster and more mobile.”

A reserve player last season, Barfield is one of the players the Huskers are counting on to step up after the dismissal of Kevin Dixon. Barfield said he’s been working with both the first and second units.

The defensive line took plenty of ridicule last year, but Barfield senses a comeback is in place.

“We had our doubters last year. But with the guys coming back this year, we’re going to have to be reckoned with in the conference,” he said. “We’re playing with good technique. I feel like that’s going to be the biggest improvement from last year to this year.”

Opponent watch: Coaches have decided sophomore Demetrius Sumler is their likely starter at tailback when the Buffs open up their season Aug. 31 against Colorado State, according to the Boulder Daily Camera.

It’s worth noting, considering Colorado also has one of the most hyped running back recruits in the nation in freshman Darrell Scott.

Running backs coach Darian Hagan told the Daily Camera that Sumler knows the playbook best and has been the better pass-blocker. But Hagan said Scott is one of three true freshman running backs who will play for CU this fall. Scott has stood out on short-yardage and goal-line situations.

“I feel good about us,” Hagan told the newspaper. "I think we're coming along as a group, but we're not there yet where all the backs are running with confidence and know what they're doing out there.”

Just asking: The Husker offensive coaches have been compiling video clips of great-effort plays in practice. Which players are showing up a lot in those clips?

Apparently Nebraska senior right guard Matt Slauson got plenty of love for lighting up some defenders last week.

"(Friday) was a Slauson highlight reel," said Husker center Jacob Hickman. "He had like eight of them. Matt's coming out as a leader for the whole team, setting a good example."

And the emergence of junior Ricky Henry, the newcomer from the JUCO ranks, continues to be a storyline of the fall camp.

“I’ll tell you, Ricky Henry is on (the highlight reel) all of the time,” Hickman said. “He’s got a heck of a motor, the likes of which I’ve never seen. He goes 110 percent. He just flies around. Sometimes he’s not going in the right direction, but he’s always going.”