New Nebraska OC Dana Holgorsen on learning the offense and tough love for wide receivers

LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) – In the two weeks since arriving on campus, Dana Holgorsen has spent most of her waking hours at the Huskers facility and in the film room.

Nebraska’s new offensive coordinator said he’s still learning the offense and the players’ names, in addition to preparing for Wisconsin. Why would he want to take on such a monumental task in the middle of the season?

“I’m bored,” he said laughingly in his first speech to reporters. “I was scheduled to return to Fort Worth Sunday night and (Matt) Rhule called and said I needed his help.”

While Holgorsen’s appointment officially continues through the end of the regular season, Rhule expressed hope that the former Houston and West Virginia head coach remains in Lincoln. For now, Holgorsen is just focused on getting faster.

“I don’t know what December is going to look like, I don’t know what January is going to look like. “I don’t care,” he said. “100 percent of my focus is trying to get our offense to the point where we can win against Wisconsin on Saturday.”

Holgorsen didn’t have to stay long to realize that perimeter blocking had to work.

“There are some pretty big kids out there,” he said, describing Janiran Bonner, Isaiah Neyor, Jahmal Banks and Carter Nelson simply by numbers. “These guys are plus size. ‘Why don’t you even stop some nonsense around?’ I said. Shameful. The first thing I tell them is if you don’t start blocking there, you’re not going to get the ball thrown to you. “Last week was our best outside blocking of the season.”

Wisconsin has won 10 straight meetings with Nebraska; Four of these happened in a row in Lincoln. The end of these streaks would finally earn Nebraska the No. 6 seed and be bowl eligible for the first time since 2016.

“It’s shocking to me that a program like this hasn’t been to a bowl game in a long time,” he said. “It doesn’t make any sense to me. But this is where we stand. We tried everything we could to win that game last week and we still had a chance. “We will do our best this week and have a chance.”

After Wisconsin fired OC Phil Longo over the weekend, Holgorsen will now be the senior offensive coordinator Saturday against the Badgers.

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