Last season, Nebraska was 4-3 going into the Baylor game.

Last season, the Huskers surged and ended the season 9-4.

Marvin Sanders, speaking before about 200 people Friday morning at the Big Red Breakfast, tried to convince fans that NU could rebound from another October swoon.

“We’ve been through some ups and downs,” Sanders said. “Our young men in that program will respond. I know it. I’ve been around them all week.

“We’ve had one of our better weeks of practice.”

That’s when Sanders heard groans from his audience. Apparently, that’s the same line offensive line coach Barney Cotton uttered at the same time in the same place last week — before Nebraska lost 9-7 to Iowa State.

“Did he say that last week?” Sanders asked over the clamor. “OK, we stunk at practice. We absolutely did. We absolutely stunk at practice.”

The crowd laughed, and Sanders moved on.

He sensed the uneasiness in the crowd as NU prepares for a Halloween date at Baylor. Fortunately, he coaches defense, so the fans cut him some slack.

But the defensive backs coach addressed a number of topics:

ŸNebraska’s inability to generate turnovers, especially interceptions (five interceptions in seven games). Takeaways will come, Sanders said.

“Our style of defense, we’re more of a matching zone-type team. Everybody remembers (2003), when we had all those interceptions. We were kind of a different type of defense.

“We were kind of a zone coverage defense, dropping out in coverage, reading the quarterback. We’re not really that type of team anymore. We’re more aggressive, it’s more of an attack style.

“What matters for us is really completion percentages, average yards per catch, those type of things.’’

• Matt O’Hanlon, who received a lot of flak for his critical mistake at Virginia Tech: “In my opinion, that young man has been one of the best safeties anywhere. ... That’s a young man I rely on a lot.”

• Cornerback Alfonzo Dennard: “That young man is playing on a very, very high level. He competes. He’s only 5-foot-9, but he has a vertical jump, 41-some-odd inches. He will get after it.”

• Cornerback Prince Amukamara: “He looks the part of a cornerback. That’s what you want them to look like.”

• Nickel Eric Hagg: “Eric doesn’t get enough credit for some of the things he does. ... Here’s a guy who’s 6-2, 210 pounds. We play man-to-man with him on that slot receiver. There’s not many defensive backs who can do that.”

• Sophomore cornerback Anthony Blue, who suffered a major knee injury in 2008: “He has a lot of talent, but he has to get confidence in that knee.”

• Senior Rickey Thenarse’s chances for a medical redshirt: The Huskers are going to request that the NCAA grant Thenarse an extra year.

• Baylor’s offense: The Bears like to throw the deep ball, Sanders said.

“You can defend it right nine out of 10 times and that one time can cost you. ... It’s a challenge for us.”

• Sanders showed film of the Iowa State game, including a play in which Ndamukong Suh ran 20 yards downfield to tackle a receiver.

“You can talk about scheme all you want. If you have enough Suhs, you can go out there blind and coach.”

• Most important, an offensive matter: the starting quarterback for the Baylor game. Zac Lee or Cody Green?

“I don’t know,” Sanders said. “That’s the truth.”

Contact the writer:

679-9899, dirk.chatelain@owh.com

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