The Nebraska Cornhuskers played their annual Red and White Spring Game on Saturday and Cornhuskerwire has all the reactions.
1st QUARTER
The teams are taking the field, Casey Thompson is getting the start at quarterback, and the first play from scrimmage is a ten-yard completion. Thompson did an excellent job splitting the defensive backs, and I mention this because the next play of the drive was a penalty. As much as things change, they stay the same. Garret Nelson gets a sack for the Blackshirts, and the first drive is over. He could be very disruptive this year for Erik Chinander. Brian Buschini gets a chance to show everyone why he was the FCS Punter of the Year in 2021, and he doesn’t disappoint as he hits a 63-yard bomb. That was a position in need of an upgrade headed in 2022, and early on, it looks like the Huskers may have their man.
Logan Smothers gets his turn at quarterback on the second possession and can’t do much with the ball as the possession ends in a sack. And my offseason fears about the offensive line are already starting to give me heartburn.
Chubba Perdy now gets on the field. Due to injuries, it’s been a limited spring for him, so I’m curious how much of the playbook is available. A quick three and out for Perdy and the offense. The transfer signal-caller may need a few reps before he’s ready for live ball.
Anthony Grant rips off a 60-yard touchdown run to start the drive. The Huskers haven’t had a 1,000-yard rusher since Devine Ozigbo in 2018. Will that change this year? As former Husker All-American Dom Rioala said during a sideline interview, “run the d*mn ball,” he would know better than most about the importance of an explosive run game. Receiver AJ Rollins with a nice catch near the end of the 1st quarter. He might be a target in Mark Whipple’s vertical passing scheme.
2nd QUARTER
The defense is playing well in the first half so far. They’ve had multiple sacks, and their aggressive coverage in the secondary may be a sign of things to come this season. Purdy hits a pass downfield and in the middle of the defense. Huskers haven’t hit a pass like that in four years, so maybe the FSU transfer can show more than we thought at the start of the game. Kicker Chase Contreraz splits the uprights from 26 yards out. Good sign for a kicker who went 2 for 4 in field goals in 2021. The unit was 8 of 16 in field goals in total last season.
Not much hitting in the game this afternoon, and Head Coach Scott Frost confirmed during an in-game interview that the team is playing under limited contact rules. It makes sense this early in the year for some restrictions to be in place, especially for a team with some injury and depth chart issues. A 42-yard field goal from Chase Contreraz sails wide left, and I’m having flashbacks to every Nebraksa kicker since Drew Brown’s career ended five years ago.
3rd QUARTER
The third quarter begins, and Scott Frost announces that they will remove the hitting restrictions and allow the younger players to get some live reps. Multiple drives in the 3rd period see the offense make a mistake and set the possession behind the sticks, and both times the offense was attempting to use tempo. They recovered from the miscues, and Heinrich Haarberg finds Kamonte Grimes 34 yards down the field for a touchdown. The kicking woes continue as Gabe Heins misses the extra point. It’s evident that Nebraska is playing the most vanilla version of their offense this afternoon. During camp, Coach Frost said they wanted Northwestern to have as little tape of the new offense as possible for the opener in Dublin, and the play calls and roster rotations are backing those statements up.
4th QUARTER
Redshirt Freshman Quarterback Jarrett Syneck opens the final period with a 16 yard run for a touchdown. The Hastings, Nebraska native did an excellent job breaking a couple of tackles. I like the depth from the QB room in the spring game, and it could be helpful come fall. And now a fumble kills a Husker drive was that driving deep into the defense’s territory. Late in the quarter, the offense connects on a 42-yard strike from Jarrett Synek and Ty Hahn.
The game goes final from Memorial Stadium and the White Team (defense) defeats the Red Team (offense) by a score of 43-39.
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