Freshman LB impressing Nebraska coaches; the plan for Blackshirts

Linebacker Eric Fields’ listed frame of 6-foot-1 and 195 pounds is relatively small for a Big Ten linebacker. Through two weeks of fall camp, the freshman has made up for it with an excess of physicality, impressing coaches in his first practice action at Nebraska.
“It don’t matter how much he weighs,” defensive coordinator Tony White said, “he hits like he’s 230.”
Fields, a three-star recruit from Ardmore, Oklahoma, has played rover and spent time on the field with a variety of teammates, mostly on the second and third teams.
“That guy is like, ‘Hey, Point A to Point B, I’m gone,’ and he is physical, physical as can be,” White said. "He’s growing. He’s learning what we’re doing, and when he gets a chance to just not think and just go, ‘Hey, where’s the football? I’m gone,’ you can see why he’s here right now.”
Defensive plan: Nebraska knows what it wants to do on defense. White’s emphases of “Husker speed” and “dominant contact” have been staples of post-practice conversation since fall camp began. With three weeks remaining until the season begins at Minnesota, the next step is figuring out the small details and determining what should stay in the game plan.
White and his staff watch film of practice to determine what’s working and what isn’t working, what should get scrapped and what will be ready to face a Minnesota team that has had the Huskers’ number in recent seasons. Speed and physicality are still paramount over technique.
“We’re seeing what can we do really fast and really physical?” White said. What can we add? What can we take out so the guys can just go out there and play right now?”
Blackshirts: White has a general idea of how he wants to handle assigning blackshirts. He spoke to people better acquainted with Husker football lore than him, mining for opinions and different perspectives before coming up with a rough idea of what to do.
For now, he’s keeping that idea to himself. He'll talk to Matt Rhule and solidify the plan before making anything official.