NEBRASKA CITY – A Sports Illustrated article this week highlighted Nebraska football coordinators Tony White and Marcus Satterfield talking about doing a better job a play calling following Saturday’s 20 to 17 loss to Michigan State, but Huskers Radio Network Analyst Damon Benning  told the Big Red Buzz audience at Valentino’s Restaurant in Nebraska City Thursday that the he suspects the coaches are calling plays they believe the players are capable of succeeding at.

Bennning said from his vantage point in the press box Nebraska had at least one open receiver on most of quarterback Heinrich Haarberg’s 28 pass attempts and said there were receivers coming open on even more plays.

He said Coach Satterfield has the same vantage point and seeing open receivers might have made him wonder, “can we just play catch?”

Benning compared a coach not calling pass plays when the chances of an open receiver are high to a teacher giving up on a pupil.

Haarberg completed 12 passes and threw two interceptions, while being sacked seven times Saturday. He has completed 50 percent of his passes after nine games.

Benning: "The whole outfit. The whole thing was bad on Saturday."

Defensive Coordinator Tony White also addressed the loss to Michigan State suggesting that he could have been more aggressive with his play calling.

Benning said Nebraska has trained a lot of players in different positions and has developed a multitude of options on how to use players.

He said none are more key against Maryland this week than pass rushers, including linebackers Jamari Butler, Mikai Gbayor and linemen James Williams, Blaise Gunnerson, Princewill Umanmeilen and Cameron Lenhardt. Butler leads the team with 4.5 sacks.

When asked if Nebraska would be hiring a quarterback coach, Benning noted that there is an unfilled coaching position on the staff.

23-21 GBR