Nebraska senior safety Deontai Williams, who’s missed the past two games with a knee injury, is practicing this week and may play Saturday.
“Hopefully, he’s ready to go. We’ll see,” Husker defensive coordinator Erik Chinander said. “He’s got a lot to do with that. How does he feel? He can be cleared as long as he feels good.”
The 6-foot-1, 205-pound Williams leads the Big Ten with four interceptions.
“I’m looking forward to him playing in the football game (Saturday), whether it’s a limited amount of snaps or the whole game,” Chinander said. “We’ll kind of see as the week goes on with him.”
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“I think the guys want him to play,” Chinander added. “I think it allows us to rotate some more guys through, which at this time of the season becomes a big-time asset, especially when you’re playing in a physical football game like this. I think it’s a good morale boost to the defense and a physical attribute as well.”
In Williams' place, redshirt freshman Myles Farmer has started the past two games and played well overall. Before Williams' injury, Farmer was playing in rotation with Williams and sixth-year senior Marquel Dismuke.
Chinander recognized: Chinander received some pleasant texts Monday night as he was watching film in preparation for Wisconsin.
The texts were regarding Chinander being among 58 nominees for the Broyles Award, which annually is given to the nation’s top assistant coach.
Chinander, Nebraska’s fourth-year defensive coordinator, doesn’t take the news for granted.
“Obviously, I feel very honored to be mentioned with the other group of coaches, and to be considered by the Broyles Foundation and Broyles family,” he said. “But, with that being said, usually if things happen in a bad way on defense, that falls directly on me. These types of good things that happen — awards and those types of things — that’s a direct reflection of the assistant coaches and players that we have. I know that, and I know I wouldn’t be under consideration if we didn’t have the type of kids we have and the type of men we have coaching those positions.
“I’m thankful for them as well.”
Toure’s time winding down: Samori Toure’s year at Nebraska is winding down quickly.
The Montana graduate transfer has two games left in his Husker career and now will play them without most of the offensive staff that recruited him to Lincoln.
“It’s crazy. It feels like I just got here. The season’s went by pretty fast. My time here went by fast. But I’m just looking to finish this out strong and hopefully set a foundation for the team next year.”
Toure is seventh in the Big Ten with 718 receiving yards and leads the league in yards per catch (21.8). He needs 269 yards in the final two games to break Stanley Morgan Jr.’s single-season record of 986 yards and 282 to post the first 1,000-yard receiving season in school history. Toure will crack the top 10 single-season receiving marks with 71 yards over the final two games.
“I would say it’s definitely worked out. I’m always wanting to accomplish more,” Toure said of coming to Nebraska. “I wish I could have done more through that middle stretch of the season for sure, but I came here to do my best and help the team as much as I can and I feel like I’ve been able to help the team.”
Shrine Bowl invite: Toure has been invited to play in the Shrine Bowl, which is one of the most prestigious postseason all-star games for college players.
It's a chance to play against quality competition — not that it's been in short supply for Toure this year in the Big Ten, especially with top defenses in Wisconsin and Iowa still on the schedule — and to get in front of a ton of NFL personnel at the same time.
The Shrine Bowl is on Feb. 3 in Las Vegas.
The turning point in every Nebraska football game in 2021
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙪𝙡
Aug. 28 | Illinois 30, Nebraska 22
Parker Gabriel's turning point: This one is clear as day. The double personal foul on Caleb Tannor that turned a Cam Taylor-Britt interception into 30 yards and a first down in the red zone for Illinois breathed new life into the Illini. They reeled off 28 straight points from there — 14 to close the first half and the first two scores of the third quarter — and took control of the game.
𝙏𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙗𝙮 𝘿𝙞𝙨𝙢𝙪𝙠𝙚
Sept. 4 | Nebraska 52, Fordham 7
Turning point: Fordham had a chance to tie the game at 10 early in the second quarter, but senior safety Marquel Dismuke blocked a field goal and set Nebraska up with good field position. The defense and offense both had shaky moments early on, but Nebraska settled in nicely from there and asserted its dominance.
𝘾𝙪𝙡𝙥'𝙨 𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙨 𝙛𝙡𝙞𝙥𝙨 𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙚
Sept. 18 | Oklahoma 23, Nebraska 16
Turning point: Nebraska got the ball to start the second half and drove it right down the field, threatening to turn a 7-3 deficit into its first lead of the day. Instead, the Huskers stalled out and senior kicker Connor Culp missed a 35-yard field goal. Ten plays and 58 yards for naught. Then, Oklahoma went 80 in 10 plays the other way. Instead of maybe being 10-7 NU or at least 7-6, the Sooners extended their lead to 14-3.
𝙊𝙣𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙨 𝙥𝙪𝙣𝙩
Sept. 25 | Michigan State 23, Nebraska 20, OT
Turning point: Easy. Jayden Reed hauled in a wayward Daniel Cerni punt with nobody around him late in the fourth quarter and he raced 62 yards for a game-tying touchdown with 3:47 to go.
Nebraska dominated the second half defensively and offensively. Both sides will say they could have done more — the defense wanted a takeaway, even though 14 yards on 15 snaps is more than good enough, and the offense wanted to avoid going three-and-out before the punt — but simply put, that play changed the outcome of the game.
𝘿𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙣, 𝙏𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙖𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙗𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧
Oct. 2 | Nebraska 56, Northwestern 7
Turning point: A shoutout to the defense. The Blackshirts had given up a touchdown drive and Northwestern had the ball at the 1-yard line with a chance to get within 28-14 in the second quarter when JoJo Domann and Deontre Thomas ripped through the line and hit Evan Hull. Domann forced a fumble and Thomas recovered it. Northwestern didn’t sniff the end zone the rest of the night.
𝙈𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙯'𝙨 𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙛𝙪𝙢𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙡𝙨 𝙪𝙥𝙨𝙚𝙩 𝙗𝙞𝙙
Oct. 9 | Michigan 32, Nebraska 29
Turning point: Martinez's fumble with 1 minute, 45 seconds remaining put the Wolverines in position to take the lead in the waning moments. The Huskers had the ball with three minutes left in a tie game and a chance to win, but the fumble set Michigan up in field-goal range. Jake Moody calmly put a 39-yard field goal through the uprights 21 seconds later on the game clock.
𝘼𝙣 𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙢𝙗𝙡𝙚
Oct. 16 | Minnesota 30, Nebraska 23
Turning point: On third-and-goal, junior quarterback Adrian Martinez was ruled down inches short of the goal line. The initial ruling withstood review. Then, freshman running back Jaquez Yant took a fourth-and-inches handoff, tripped on his own and barrel-rolled down short of the goal line. There would have been a collision had he kept his feet, but you would have liked the 232-pounder’s chances with a head of steam.
𝙅𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙖 𝙗𝙞𝙩 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝
Oct. 30 | Purdue 28, Nebraska 23
Turning point: Nebraska caught a break late in the second half and not only kicked a field goal to go up 17-14 with 1:20 to go, but then got the ball back in great field position with 20 seconds on the clock. Coach Scott Frost and offensive coordinator Matt Lubick dialed up a great play call and Samori Toure ran free on a deep post, but Adrian Martinez’s pass grazed off of Toure’s fingertips. It would have been a walk-in touchdown and a 24-14 halftime lead. Instead, NU led by three and then opened the half with four punts and three interceptions on its first seven possessions.
𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙩'𝙨 𝙛𝙞𝙚𝙡𝙙 𝙜𝙤𝙖𝙡 𝙜𝙖𝙢𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙥𝙖𝙮
Nov. 6 | Ohio State 26, Nebraska 17
Turning point: Nebraska head coach Scott Frost decided to attempt a field goal rather than go for it on fourth-and-4 from the OSU 13 with just under 10 minutes left in the regulation. The Huskers trailed by six at that moment, but instead of halving the lead to three, Chase Contreraz missed and the Buckeyes took over. The Huskers had marched 73 yards in 11 plays with eyes on taking the lead. Instead, OSU took over and went to work on the clock and on field position. NU got it back at the same score, but with 90 yards to go. The Huskers couldn’t mount another scoring threat.
𝘿𝙞𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙣𝙜 ...
Nov. 20 | Wisconsin 35, Nebraska 28
Turning point: There wasn’t really a turning point. The game was within one score for the full 60 minutes. If anything, UW’s game-opening, 91-yard kick return touchdown was the big blow that put Nebraska behind from the start. Nebraska never led but evened the game four times. Wisconsin scored first (the return) and last (a 53-yard Braelon Allen touchdown), and that was the difference.
𝙎𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙩𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙠𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚
Nov. 26 | Iowa 28, Nebraska 21
Turning point: Very few have been as obvious as this one this year. Leading by 12 points in the first minute of the fourth quarter, Nebraska had a punt blocked and returned for a touchdown. It’s just the kind of backbreaking error the Huskers have made at critical junctures in close games this year and just the kind of play Iowa makes regularly. The Huskers still led 21-16, but Frost said, “That was the game.”
