For fellow Husker fans, here is what happened on game (practice) in LIncoln, Nebraska from my good friend ScottieD. You won't find any more relevant and insightful information than this. He needs to be a newspaper writer, imo.
On to the Huskers: I'll try to make sections out of it and keep the topics relevant.
QB's - Zac Lee has full command of this offense. It was very evident after the spring game why Patrick Witt left. Lee is every bit as good as Taylor,Keller, andGanz. As he gets more game experience he is going to be scary good. He has a good throwing motion and you could see him checking down to 2nd and 3rd receivers.Timing was a little off, but expected after only 14 practices that wereall spread out.But once he got his rhythm he shredded the defense. I can't wait to seehim run. The refs really had a quick whistle with the green jersey's. Washington looked WAY better than I thought he would. That boy has got some ZIP on the ball. He needs to work onhis touch passes a little. Tends to throw on a rope instead of dropping the ball in the corner of the end zone. He did throw a very nice ball to Antonio Belldown the 7 yardline. Bottom line is if Kody Spano can't make it back this fall, Ithink Washington can be a capable backup. He might even be a good push for Lee, but right now it is easy to see the separation between #1 and #2 it is not even close. Lee is the starter. CodyGreen looked exactly like you thought a 17-year-old out of HS wouldlook. Timing was off, speed of the game was faster than he was, and he doesn't know theoffense very well.Green jersey probably limited his ability some. Kid does fill out a uniform nicely though.With some work with Watson (please stay in Lincoln) he could become the next Tebow. When he started playing with the ones he was moving the team down the field so on pure athletic ability, the kid has it.
RB's - Castille did not have a good day, but then I don't thing he needed to show much.He looked like he was trying to not to get hurt. Plus he was going against Suh who pretty much dominated the first quarter. The bright spot of the RB spot wastwo other RBs who played quite a bit. One of them is Austin Jones, remember that name. Once that kid gets this offense down and how to play at this level. he looks like Ahman Green runningthe ball and has Ahman size. Quick burst, great balance, runs well between the tackles and just looks so natural going through the line. Never got stopped behind the line, ran with power and speed. Castille better look out, this kid might be #2 behind Helu. Lester Ward looks OK, but didn't really impress. Both Ward and Jones were running against the #2 red team defense which didn't look good at all (more on thatlater). Collins Okafor stole the show for the running backs with his 33 yard jaunt for a TD. He got up to the line saw the hole and was through it before any defender knew what happened. Granted it wasprobably the 3rd and 4th string defenders in that time in the 4th quarter but he easily outclassed anyone on the field at the time. It would be interesting to see what he can do against top talent. But looking ahead, the RB spot looks to be the strength of the team forthe next 4 - 5 years. We definitely go 4 deep right now with Helu, Castille, Jones, and Okafor being (in my opinion) 1, 2, 3, 4. If Ward can develop and they redshirt Burkheadwhen he comes in the fall, that is 6 very capable RB's that will be in the program a long time. I see no need to even think about playing Burkhead this year. Plus he would have to be a Reggie Bush or Adrian Peterson type running back to play ahead of Helu, Castille,and Jones. Those three are that good.
WR's - of this group Chris Brooks, Marcus Mendoza, and Antonio Bell looked the best. Antonio Bell is a freshman and if he plays during the regular season like he did in the spring game, look out. He will surpass Johnny Rogers and Nate Swift on all the charts. The kid just gets open and catches everything thrown to him. I like this kid a lot and right now is probably my favorite WR. Mendoza easily separated himself from defenders all day and once Zac Lee found him, he kept going to him. This kid is going to get better and will give the Huskers the deep threat they have been missing. Good hands and fearless over themiddle. Chris Brooks started out very hot catching everything thrown his way. The TD pass he caught from Washington was a thing of beauty. He finally looks like he is going to have his breakthrough year. But easily Bell is the best of the bunch right now. Holt was a HUGE disappointment. He better pick it up or he will find himself riding the pines this year. Will Henry was an even bigger disappointment. Neither looked very good at all. Niles Paul better keep his nose clean this fall or these other guys are goingto knock him off the two-deep. Wes Commack looked good too!
Tight Ends - I can't remember a time in Nebraska football where we have had somany pass catching TE's. McNeil picked up where he left off. They guy just gets open and catches everything. But Ben Cotton looked great. He dropped a sure TD pass when he was WIDE OPEN and you could tell he knew it and was disappointed. But the next play, Lee went right back to him and he didn't drop that one. Dreu Young threw himself into the mix, but easily the best play of the day was Kyler Reed taking a dump off pass from Washington (nice check down from Washington too bythe way)and Reed running 71 yards for the TD. He flat out RAN AWAY from Philip Dillard(who might as well quit the team now) and the rest of the defense. Reminded me of Matt Herian. We are easily 4 deep with McNeil, Cotton, Young, and Reed.
Oline - still needs work. Could NOT run the ball when Suh was in the game. When the backups on the white team went against the reds, the reds started moving the ball. White team moved the ball all game long, but inexperience on offense hurt them at times. Bottom line was the Oline needs more work, still the weakest spot on the offensive side of the ball and will be the reason why we don't win at VaTech early. Could cost us games at Kansas and Baylor is scoring points is a problem.
Dline - what more can you say except Suh. This guy is already at another level IN THE SPRING!!! What is going to happen in the fall? They had to take him out after the first quarter because the red team couldn't do anything when he was in. I think after the first quarter the red team had 6 yards rushing and 9 yards passing.Suh was in the backfield that whole first quarter. Lee couldn't do anything against him and the offensive line couldn't block him. Suh was everywhere. He had two tackles for loss and sack and only played in the FIRST QUARTER!!!!!!!Which shows in the stats that the red team had ZERO points in the first quarter. They sat him in the 2nd quarter and that is when Zac Lee found his rhythm and the read team scored 14 points. What that shows though the most is that the defensive linedepth that bothPelini's were bragging about isn't there. Jared Crick was almost absent from anything that happened inside. But Baker Steinkuhler showed some good things. He looked good out there standing head and shoulders above everyone else. When that kid gets better you can see that he can be as good as Suh. Pierre Allen was good against the run and the pass but other than Suh and Allen, nobody really looked good on the Dline. Definitely a very big step back from last year. If Suh comes off the field we are in trouble.
Linebackers - Dillard should just do everyone a favor and leave the team now. He is either dogging this spring, or just doesn't care anymore, he is fat and slow and looked out of position every play. Very obvious that he is on the 4th string. Colton Koehler looked good as did Matt May. Will Compton made some nice plays as well. But overall this is the group that has to improve the most since really there are no returning starters and no seniors here (except Dillard...yawn).
DB's - you have got be kidding me, after all the talk about how good the corners were, they got lit up. There were guys STANDING in the secondary that were open. Didn't see a corner or safety make a play all game. For all the hype about increased interceptions in practice and athleticism in the secondary? I didn't see it. No interceptions and no fumbles. That has got to be eating at Pelini today. Safeties were even worse. Same old story seeing Asante getting burned across the middle. By BEN COTTON no less! Can Marvin Sanders see that Asante hasn't learned to cover thedeep middle yetor not?
Special teams - awesome! Look for Antonio Bell and Tim Marlowe to berunningback KO and punts this year. Both guys catch the ball and start running north and south immediately. They are fast, elusive, and have great vision. Marlowe looked like Johnny Rogers returning punts it was beautiful. Or else weare still so bad covering kicks and punts that those two guys looked like superstars.Look for Henery to be doing everything this fall. He missed a 50 yarder wide right but had the distance but then kicked a 40 yarder straight down the middle. His kick offs hit the end zone every time and there wasn't much wind. Kunalic's kickoffs hit the 10. Henery's first punt went 55 yards and the crowd oood and awed. The kid can just flat out kick the ball!
