The RED team left the stadium with a strong 49-9 showing, somewhat imposing their will on the WHITE team by racking up 508 total yards. As expected, Coach Frost and his staff did not give away much in this game, leaving us with a fairly pedestrian game, but there were still some good story-lines to watch, especially with so many new faces out on the field. We'll start with the big one, WHO WILL BE OUR QB?????? Truth is I have no idea, and I don't want to know for a while. The three candidates are Sophomore Andrew Bunch, Redshirt Freshman Tristan Gebbia and true Freshman Adrian Martinez. There's obviously a lot of hype around Martinez as he graduated high school early to enroll in classes at UNL and take part in Spring practice. Gebbia performed well in last year's spring game, and many believe he has the upper hand in the QB battle this summer. All of the QBs showed great athleticism with their dual-threat abilities, and I'll give the nod to Martinez on this one. He's definitely the most natural runner out of the three, racking up 60 yards and 3 TDs on the ground. Bunch is next in line for me because of what I've seen him do in practice with the read options. He really knows how to use his fakes well and can get the defense to bite more often than they should. Plus, there was a play late in the second quarter with the White team driving into the Red's 30, and Bunch avoided what would've been a 7 yard sack to extend the play and find his receiver downfield for a 8 yard gain. Doesn't seem like much, but his ability to avoid pressure in the pocket is very smooth and definitely something Nebraska was missing last year. While Gebbia didn't necessarily wow anyone with his legs, he let his arm do the talking yet again. Gebbia finished 12-17 (70.6%) with 125 yards and 2 TDs. His passes were very accurate throughout the game and he looked very comfortable in the pocket going through his reads. Martinez finished 10-13 (76.9%) with 114 yards and 1 TD. Now I would like to point out that both Gebbia and Martinez were on Red, and therefore going up against the 2s and 3s on defense. However, both looked very comfortable in the pocket, and put the ball in a good place for their receivers to get it for the most part. Bunch had a bit more of a struggle, finishing 8-14 (57.1%) with 89 yards and a TD. Again, he was going against the 1s and 2s on defense, and was working with the 2s and 3s at receiver. From watching him though, he has a very nice touch on the ball. There were a couple deep throws that ended up being incomplete, but the ball was in the perfect spot for the receiver, and only the receiver, to catch it. I'm excited for the QB battle to continue this summer.
Moving onto running backs, JUCO transfer Greg Bell is definitely the top back in my opinion. He racked up 54 yards and ran very strong between the tackles. Ozigbo looked strong, but I fear he could get lost in this offense. I'm sure Frost and his staff will utilize him well, but I'm not convinced on how much. He did have 23 yards receiving on 2 catches out of the backfield though. Jaylin Bradley finishes off our primary four backs, finishing with just 18 yards on 7 carries, but again was without an experienced line. His speed and quickness will fit in very well with Frost's system. Looking at receivers, we got to see a lot of the younger talent featured due to injuries, but I found it refreshing. We know what Stanley and JD Spielman are capable of, so seeing Tyjon Lindsey in full action along with Javeon McQuitty back was very exciting. Lindsey and McQuitty were easily the two most impressive in my opinion. Both were very explosive and used their quickness to create separation from their defenders. JUCO transfer Mike Williams will be another new face to watch this year too. He had some nice catches, but his blocking on the perimeter was much more impressive. The swing passes actually moved for positive yards because of his blocking on the edge. I also really enjoyed how much the Tight Ends were used during the game. Jack Stoll, Austin Allen and Kurt Rafdal should all get some playing time this fall.
Finally, we look to the defensive side of the ball. As I expected, they seemed much more in tune with the system than the offense did. The offense has a steeper learning curve in my opinion, but the defense looked strong nonetheless. There was finally some pass rush!! Daishon Neal had some very nice swim moves to rip through the O-line and containment on the edge was much better compared to last season. The secondary is young, so it could be a long season for them, but there's talent back there for sure. The Linebackers took most of my focus for the game though, because they showed up!! I don't think Nebraska has had truly solid linebacker play since Lavonte David left in 2011, so this was fun to see. Mo Barry and Will Honas were two of the best on Saturday, finishing with 8 and 6 tackles respectively. They both read their keys well and wrapped hard on the tackle. Two Linebackers who really stood out to me though were Alex Davis and my very good friend Jake Weinmaster. Jake lead the entire team in tackles for the second spring game in a row with 13, and will definitely be in the mix for significant playing time come this fall. Davis has moved back to outside linebacker after originally being recruited as a DE, but he's adjusting quite well. He finished with 4 tackles, 3 sacks and even a pick six! His length on the edge is something the Blackshirts desperately needed, so I'm excited to watch him this year.
Overall I thought the game was a great way for everyone to get a lot of reps since there are so many jobs open for this fall. Still a long way to go, and with one of the toughest schedules in the nation, it won't be an easy season by any means. But I think we can all agree that this spring game showed we are headed in the right direction and are getting better everyday. One thing I can say for certain though is that we need to protect Caleb Lightbourn and Barrett Pickering at all costs! Our backup specialists need a little more practice before we send them out for any gametime kicks. I hope you all enjoyed the game and are ready for some nice weather! Be on the look out for some 2018 season preview posts this summer, and if you have any college football related topics you'd like me to cover, please comment below! Here's a link to the latest episode of The 2nd String and all of our Spring game coverage as well, GO BIG RED!!
#CollegeFootballKnowItAll
Alex Fernando
