Nebraska Tight End Luke Lindenmeyer Knows Huskers Better Tighten Up on Offense

Nebraska’s leaky pass protection has been the talk around Lincoln since Minnesota sacked and roughed up Dylan Raiola nine times and defeated the Huskers, 24-6, last Friday night.

It’s safe to say the Huskers were shocked by their performance. No one expected that, least of all the Huskers themselves.

“It’s on all of us what we do as an offense,” junior tight end Luke Lindenmeyer said at a news conference Tuesday.

“All I can do is improve the tight end room and see how we can help the offense, see how we can improve our blocks, how we can help Dylan and do our job at a high level. And I need to look at what I need to do better.”

Nebraska’s offensive line might be bolstered by the return of senior right guard Rocco Spindler. The transfer from Notre Dame, who has started all seven games this season, was injured in the first quarter against Minnesota and taken to a hospital.

“Rocco had surgery on Sunday, and it just comes down to pain tolerance,” Huskers coach Matt Rhule said at a Monday news conference. “He’s cleared to play this week, so we’ll see if he’s able.”

Lindenmeyer said Spindler practiced Tuesday.

“It’s awesome [that Spindler returned],” Lindenmeyer said. “His bone was sticking out of his finger [at Minnesota] and then he’s out practicing three days later.

“It makes me want to play hard for guys like him who want to be on the field helping us win.”

Huskers hitting at practice

Lindenmeyer said the Huskers went hard at Tuesday’s practice as they prepare for visiting and dangerous Northwestern on Saturday.

“It’s physical Tuesday,” said Lindenmeyer, who has 23 catches for 248 yards and two touchdowns this season. “Doing stuff like nine-on-seven. Pad under pad, driving people, hitting each other, running at each other. It’s the best way to do it.”

Northwestern comes into Memorial Stadium on a four-game winning streak with a 5-2 overall record and 3-1 Big Ten record. Last Saturday, the Wildcats shut out Purdue, 19-0.

“They’re physical,” Lindenmeyer said. “They play hard and I think it’s a perfect time to play a team like that. Good test for us, and ready for a physical game.

“It’s again a big test for us. They’re a great team and I think we have something to prove as an offense after that last game. We know what we’re capable of and this is a perfect game to do that.”

Breakfast with the Huskers

Kickoff Saturday is 11 a.m. CT, Nebraska’s second morning start this season.

“We’ve been doing a good job, other than the last game, of starting fast,” Lindenmeyer said. “So, getting back to our roots of coming out and scoring on that first drive. We had a game earlier this season at 11 a.m., so we know what it’s like. So, I think that’s going to help for this one.”

Rhule criticizes his team

Rhule pointedly called out his team at Monday’s news conference.

“Every team is going to be ready to play us,” Rhule said. “I’m just tired of that entitlement of, ‘Oh this will be easy.’ Who are we?”

Lindenmeyer was asked Tuesday about Rhule’s comments.

“We need to go in every week ready for a fight and I think that’s what he was talking about,” Lindenmeyer said. “We were going in maybe wanting to put on a show rather than be ready for a 60-minute fight.

“And once you start winning and you come back in the fourth quarter and have great drives and you’re feeling good then you kinda lose sight of what you’re built on ...

“And it sucks that we had to have a loss to have motivation to get back to that but I mean that’s what it took. So this way we’re getting back to who we are.”

Lindenmeyer said the 5-2 Huskers (2-2 in the Big Ten) are getting ready for a bounce-back performance Saturday. They were reeling after losing to Minnesota.

“We just got to fight,” Lindenmeyer said. “We just got to do our job.

“We just got to not get into our feelings and go with the highs and lows of the game, but just stick to our standard and stay here and not go up and down but stay at our high level of playing.”

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