Things I'll Be Watching in the Husker Spring Game

CornBlight is going to watch the offensive and defensive lines. Darren Carlson over at BigRedNetwork.com is going to be watching Patrick Witt and Zach Lee. I'm not quite sure, but here's what I want to focus on:

• Young wide receivers. The names are known more for their storylines in January and February than during the actual football season. I'm looking to see who will emerge to replace Maurice Purify and Terrence Nunn. Niles Paul? Curenski Gilleylen? Menelik Holt? Will Henry? Chris Brooks? Perhaps Jim Rose's joke, Xavier Rucker perhaps?
• Roy Helu, Jr. People who've been watching practice rave about this back.
• Patrick Witt/Zach Lee. Unlike Darren, I'm not automatically handing the job to Joe Ganz just yet. I want to see these two quarterbacks in action.
• Cody Glenn. I loved Cody Glenn as an I-back. We're shorthanded at linebacker. Is this move just for everybody's convenience, or is this really going to help this squad?
• Defensive Line. Except for Zach Potter at times, these guys were pushed out of position most of last season. Can a little weight loss and a little more quickness, courtesy of James Dobson, make a difference?
• Swarm to the Ball. Expecting everybody to make every play might be a noble, but unrealistic goal. If someone makes a mistake on defense, is it going to mean another 45 yard gain?
• Playmaking. Like always, I'm looking for players making plays, not mistakes. A long pass play can be a good play both the offense and defense if the quarterback makes a perfect catch that only the receiver can catch. Likewise, a poorly thrown ball could get picked off by a defensive back who got beat by his receiver.
• Names I haven't heard of. Again, that's half the fun of the spring game is looking for players who stand out. And with this format of somewhat evenly matched teams, players that stand out might be guys to keep an eye on in the future.
• Crowd. What will 85,000 fans at a spring game look like?
• My daughter and nephew. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to go down onto the field to play a little "fuh baw" (as she calls it) at halftime.
  

What are you looking for?