Observations from the Spring Game
14 comments so far
April 14, 2007 by
I am entering this post from Barry's Bar, immediately following the Spring Game. God bless wireless Internet. I'm joined by Jason, Tony and our friend Sam Adams in developing some talking points from an afternoon in Lincoln.
In a game that had all of the mystery and intrigue of Christians vs. Lions, the Red led 38-0 at half, and ... the entire second half. I took the Reds to cover the 25-point spread, but got screwed by taking the 45-point "overs" bet. Kidding... Seriously, until this game goes back to 1s against 1s, there won't be a lot of competition to see in the spring game.
Today's attendance was 53,000 and change. Thanks to cooperative weather, about the same amount turned out this year as last. For comparison, USC drew 15,000 to their scrimmage. Maybe So Cal residents have a few more ways to spend a Saturday afternoon.
As if on cue, Lydon Murtha gets hurt on the first series of the game. Jeez... And, worse, Marlon Lucky went down in a heap during the 4th quarter. Both looked like knee injuries, the severity still unknown. And, since there isn't a member of the training staff in the bar, we're waiting to see.
Players of the game - On offense, DJ Jones had to pull double duty at tackle after Murtha went down. Playing for both the Reds and Whites, he earned his scholarship today. I also thought Cody Glenn ran very hard for a guy that was not 100%. He's a bull. On defense, Suh was unblockable for the Red team. He looked like he actually held up on some plays just to let the QBs get a throw in. For the White squad, Ricky Thenarse looked tough as nails. He flies around and loves to hit. He had nice kick returns too.
I think Keller will win the starting job at QB. It's not that Ganz played poorly, but there were a few series where Ganz threw balls that could have been interceptions against the 1st team D...or USC...or Texas. Keller will still have to learn. But, he has the physical tools. At one point, Keller was 9-11 for 185 yards and a TD. The two incompletions were throw aways. Hard to argue with that. I was impressed by Patrick Witt, too. He's better than Beau Davis right now.
Alex Henry looks like he could win the kicking job. He hit a 36-yard field goal. And, his kick off effort went deeper than Welch's. Henry put a ball down to the 3 yard line. Welch's landed on the 10.
Some suprises at wide reciever - Chris Brooks showed up pretty well for the White squad. And...who in the hell is Xavier Rucker? The 5'6'' mighty mite played a lot of downs with the Red squad. He didn't do anything. But, he played a lot.
The D played some 3-man line sets, with Octavien walking up to the line of scrimmage as a linebacker. I think you can expect more of this unless NU's defensive ends step up.
The safety spots for the Red were manned by Asante and Wilson for 95% of the day. I only saw Green on the first series. I don't know if Green was hurt or what.
We won't know a lot about our total offensive line until players get healthy. Christensen, Huff, Hickman, Murtha and others were unaccounted for today.
Tony likes Lawson at fullback, Dan Erickson (DX!) at wide receiever and thinks NU doesn't have anything at tight end.
Jason reports that Teafatiller has a great mohawk.
Scene setters for you - Fairbury hotdogs are underrated. Runzas...overrated? Blasphemy? Husker Authentic gear is pretty cheesy. Barry's is great.
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Scott D Apr 14 07
Mr. Carlson,
Where did you get the red nebraska shirt in the picture????
Gregory Apr 14 07
I always thought Runzas were overrated, growing up, too. Haven't had one in a while. Sourcraut and hamburger still, right? I'll take a decent Calzone anytime. (Nothing against Bohemians). My baby sitter was Bohemian.
I can't wait to hear Callahan gush tonight, about Ganz and Keller. I'm thinking he'll take a more serious tone about Keller (his mind wandering off, thinking about the possibilities).
Darren Apr 14 07
Scott D,
A t-shirt like the one I am wearing in that picture can be purchased in the Big Red Network store, of course!
http://bigrednetwork.com/store/
Jon Johnston Apr 14 07
I just wanted to say that i love you guys.
that's it. that's all.
it's the off-season now. things are real dark.....
'sa blang thang Apr 15 07
Pretty cool job, I guess, going to friggin' Big Red games all the time, chillin' in a hip sports bar afterwards with your wireless laptop giving updates while buzzy on Killian's RED! I could handle that gig!
Cool shirt, I think I might have to get one o' those thru your store....do you take plastic?
Jason Apr 15 07
We wish this was our job! It was a fun afternoon though.
Maybe if you fine folks keep buyin our t-shirts and tell 5 or 10 of your friends about us we can go full time on BRN. Wouldn't that be fun!
Oh, and yes, we take plastic. :)
'sa blang thang Apr 15 07
Jason,
....but I don't got plastic! Ha, ha, fooled ya!
Anyway, I'll order a few of those shirts via snail mail one of these days--nice design, not stellar, (I am a fashionista!)
Yeah, I'll continue to work my a$$ off--fingys to the bone, as it were-- as a union carpenter so I can buy up all the stuff in your 'store' such that ya'll can be liberated from your hideous day jobs and start 'livin' the life' as a full time/big time sports journalist! The world certainly needs more full time sports writers, I'm damn sure of that(just foolin' around, bro)!
But hey, how do expect to get more advertising $$$ when you only have a few personistas blogging her at any one time? I think you HAVE to get the real time thing going!!! Put more a$$es in da seat, if ya know what I mean(you know it, I know). Plus, your site graphics are kinda lame, cheap looking, though the photos and photo 'choreography' looks pretty good! Suppose that stuff costs alot more dinero. Hey I'm pullin' for ya!
I know I'd be here more often if you had that(high speed real time posting), plus this would become MY site if you encourage creative, off the wall and Jim Rome type commentary and aren't just a bunch of semi-humorless, conservative, non artistic, redundant/pedantic stick in da muds like on other sites. I love the 'supply a caption' stuff, or other Fun and Game type threads--satire. I can be deadly serious as well, but like to keep in light and, hopefully, interesting/entertaining. But I'm occassionally hounded by boring bloggers that just can't think outta the box even a little bit! Get's old. Check out the(official) ChicagoBears.com website. It's the best I've seen, big time, got it all goin' on.
O.k. Mr. Jason, that's my schpeeel...and I'm stickin' to it...
LATE!
'sa blang thang Apr 15 07
That last post is under the category of 'feedback'. Would have sent it to the feedback address, but was too lazy....
James Moore Apr 17 07
OK, Ricky Thenarse and Suh jumped out immediately in the game. Both have the potential to be special. Now I understand all the buzz surrounding Thenarse during the Cotton Bowl practices. He looked great. Suh reminds me of a Cornelius Griffin-like clone. Both the QB's looked solid and frankly I thought that things went well on Saturday night. I think that this team will surprise us and do a little better than anyone expected. If we stay healthy we can be a serious force on the national scene by early November. I liked what I saw though.
Scott Apr 18 07
I do have to say that I came away impressed from this spring game. Ganz was a pleasant surprise, and Keller did just as good if not better than I expected. It was nice to see some throw aways rather than try to force the issue.
I know it was only 1's vs. 2's but there were still some good things that were done on both sides of the ball. The only thing that would have made the 'D' better would have been seeing Bowman out there. I agree with Darren on the Thenarse observation. All I kept thinking was that we have this guy for 3 more years.
In closing, Patrick Witt is going to be a stud.
AustinHusker Apr 18 07
A little late with the post but oh well. I got to watch the game thanks to the NFL network. Being in Austin makes it hard at time to get enough Huskers but this was nice. Even if my wife thought I was crazy for breaking into the husker routine in Apr.
One guy stood out above the others to me and that was Ricky Thenarse. The guy was every where making plays. I would have like to have seen what he would have done playing with the 1s. I also agree Keller will win the top spot but Joe didn't look to bad and you always need a good back up.
Great feeling for April lets hope it carries us over to Sept.
Later
steve benfield Apr 18 07
I just discovered your site and wanted to pass on a "thank you" for the class way the Nebraska fans were in LA last year. I especially want to thank the sideline Nebraska football medical staff for their quick reaction to the injury to our fullback, Ryan Powdrell. If you saw the game, Ryan's ankle was broken and in a 90 degree angle of where it should be. Without waiting for SC trainers, your people immediately sprinted out to Powdrell to assist and comfort him. That was TOTALLY FIRST CLASS. Thanks. On another note, I hope Keller does well for you, but I wasn't impressed with him at ASU. Two years ago we destroyed him. I think we intercepted him four times. He seems to make consistently bad decisions. Just like the quarterback you had several years ago (can't remember his name) who transfered to Carolina and last year threw the same kind of ill advised passes he had done at Nebraska. Once again thanks for the way the Husker staff reacted to Ryans injury and the class act most Big Red supports are. Most Trojans I know think well of Nebraska and your great traditon. I look forward to the game in September!I will be pulling for you in every game, except the one Sept 14th. I especially want you to beat Texas. Prior to 2005 I had no experience with Texas fans. Now I know why everyone hates them. Please beat them this year. You almost had them last year.
Fight On!
Steve Benfield
Scott Apr 19 07
Classy words Steve. Thank you!!
Condolences to the USC football team and fans regarding the loss of your kicker.
Katie Apr 19 07
Thanks Steve! It is nice to hear kind words from people outside the program.
However, Joe Dailey does not equal Sam Keller.
http://collegefootball.rivals.com/cviewplayer.asp?Player=7140#bio
http://collegefootball.rivals.com/cviewplayer.asp?Player=61603#bio
Good Luck in your upcoming season!
Go Big Red!