7:59 a.m.: Niles Paul doesn't seem to be worried if defenses suddenly start shading his way to limit his playmaking ability this fall. That would just open up chances for his talented partner on the opposite side.
Paul says junior receiver Brandon Kinnie is the real deal.
Listed at 6-foot-3, 220 pounds, Kinnie has the size it takes to be a playmaker on the outside. And apparently, Kinnie has the burst and explosiveness, too.
During offseason conditioning, Paul said Kinnie ran the 10-meter dash in 1.46 seconds, breaking the school record of 1.47. (Paul ran it in 1.40).
“He's a monster,” Paul said Monday in Dallas. I'm very happy with where he's at.”
Kinnie caught 15 passes last year, but he didn't emerge as the obvious No. 2 target (behind Paul) until late in the season. He still holds that spot on the depth chart heading into fall camp.
Here are a few other leftover notebook items from Nebraska's final appearance at Big 12 media days:
> A reporter asked coach Bo Pelini to talk about the reaction he's received from Texas high school coaches since Nebraska announced it would be joining the Big Ten. Pelini hasn't heard much.
“It's been business as usual,” he said. “It really hasn't had any impact on us.”
> Senior defensive end Pierre Allen talked about the early stages of players' relationship with Pelini and his staff. Everybody was hesitant at first, Allen said, but it didn't take long for them to buy in.
“You don't know who you can trust,” he said. “It was hard a little bit for us to trust Coach Bo and his staff. That's just with anybody. You don't trust anybody when you first meet them. … We figured out that they had our back and they're there for us.”
> Remember that bizarre fumble by Paul against Iowa State last year? Paul certainly does.
He caught a deep ball and had a clear path to the end zone, but for whatever reason, the football popped out and the Cyclones recovered it. No touchdown. ISU ball. Touchback.
Paul's still not sure what happened.
“Me and coach (Ted) Gilmore watched it one day and he said my leg hit it,” Paul said. “He told me to make sure that I tuck the ball closer. Since I've run track all my life I hold the ball with a track form. So he told me to make sure that I keep it high and tight.”
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