Big Red Roundtable: Post-Spring Game Reflections

Well, the gang is reassembling after the Spring Game with some thoughts on where things stand after spring practice with Husker football:

Keller or Ganz. Pick one, then give three reasons.
Sam Keller. Why?

• While it was against the scrubs, Keller threw for a higher completion percentage than Ganz.
  
• In the highlights I saw, Keller looked more comfortable in the pocket than Ganz, though Ganz showed better mobility.
• Keller has started 8 division 1 games, including once against USC.
• Keller has only been learning this offense for 6 months; Ganz has been learning it for nearly 3 years. Keller has more room for growth and to increase his comfort level.

The most impressive guy at the Spring Game?
Hmmm. Ndamukong Suh tormented the scrubs all day. Nate Swift made several catches. But my vote goes to Patrick Witt, who completed 5 of 11 passes against the Blackshirts despite the fact that he really should still be in high school. I like this kid's maturity, and it looks he's a player too.

If you were the Athletic Director, what would you do with the proceeds.
Is this really a question? Making some assumptions as to how much money has been raised since he last reported, as well as ticket sales and donations from the new seats, there's probably a balance of $20 million still owed on the North Stadium complex. That's target #1. I've heard that Nebraska paid the NFL Network $15,000 to carry the Spring Game; if that's the case, from what I've heard, it was money well spent as fans love the broadcast, convincing the NFL to rebroadcast it over and over again. My cable company doesn't carry the NFL Network, so I'll have to take their word for it. Bill Callahan in the booth explaining how plays work would have definitely worth the time for any football fan, let alone a Husker fan.

Do 54,000 people show up at Nebraska's Spring Game because there is really nothing else to do in Nebraska or because we're more in love with our Huskers than anyone else is with their team?
Well, that presumption was shot down when Alabama closed the gates after 92,128 showed up for Nick Saban's first spring game. Yes, we love our Huskers...but so do fans in Ohio where 75,301 Buckeye fans showed up. As for "nothing else to do"...I guess it all depends on your perspective.

When you heard Marlon Lucky was injured, your first thought was...
...why the #(&$ was he still in there at that point? If you are trying to acclimate players to playing a full game, you don't let the clock run without stops in the second half of a spring game. If three of your top four running backs are hurting, forcing you to move a safety to I-back, you don't risk your lone healthy back in a scrimmage. If you are trying to decide between two quarterbacks competing for the spring game, you don't evaluate them on how they hand the ball off. In other words, I don't know what the coaching staff was trying to do at that point in the spring game. Thank goodness Lucky's injury wasn't major.

Were you at all concerned by the fairly modest rushing performance overall by the Red team or is that a sign there's some depth on the defensive front seven?
Not really. Lucky did average 5.9 yards a rush, which is a pretty good number. Cody Glenn is nursing his injured foot, and the big question of the spring was the quarterback situation.

Callahan called the receiving corps the strength of the team. Would you tend to agree with that or would you choose another aspect (e.g. linebackers)?
I'd definitely take linebackers. In terms of quantity, the Huskers have been playing a lot of wide receivers, but in the games at the end of the season, they came up MIA. Zac Taylor spent a lot of time looking for them, and ended up taking sacks or throwing the ball away. Menelik Holt and Chris Brooks may add to the depth, but Nebraska needs to raise the performance overall of this group.

I'll definitely take linebacker at this point. Corey McKeon is solid at middle linebacker, and some think that Bo Ruud is the best linebacker in the Big XII. And some Husker fans think that Steve Octavien is the best of the bunch.

So what does the rest of the Roundtable think? This time, CornNation and Jason at Big Red Network were the hosts. MidwestCoastBias will contribute, and watch for contributions from DoubleExtraPoint and new invitees High Plains Drifter, Husker Faithful, and Husker Guy. AJ the HuskerH8er got an invite too; we'll see if he participates.