** Official Spring Game Thread **

Things I missed: Where were IGC and Betts? Where were Arik Gilbert’s hands?

The defensive front 7 will be better when the injured starters are back, but some of the newbies looked pretty good.

Jeff Sims gives me hope. As does Casey’s eventual return. I anticipate Chubba in the portal.

Very happy we got 1 recruit to commit this weekend, sure would like a couple more.
 
After watching the game and thinking about it, I am happy Rhule had a full contact, real game. By doing this it exposed some of the worts that had been hidden the past few years. Several of the fumbles were due to contact. The QBs had to finish plays.

It wasn’t really impressive by either sides. But because it was a real game the staff is able to see things that otherwise would not surface.
 
Things I missed: Where were IGC and Betts? Where were Arik Gilbert’s hands?

The defensive front 7 will be better when the injured starters are back, but some of the newbies looked pretty good.

Jeff Sims gives me hope. As does Casey’s eventual return. I anticipate Chubba in the portal.

Very happy we got 1 recruit to commit this weekend, sure would like a couple more.
Betts took a shot , head to the turf not sure he returned


I recorded it just haven’t rewatched it yet
 
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The turnovers and sloppy play were troubling. However, we need to remember that this was a spring game. That means everyone plays. Mixing players makes for sloppy play. Several probable starters sat out with injuries as well. More reps between the receivers and QBs will increase the completion rate. Getting the timing down and a feel for the type of ball the QB throws are important.

I was impressed with the way the RBs saw the field and ran to daylight. I am sure right now the coaches are telling the players what they need to work on. They also have a much better idea of who will be playing this fall. In the fall, they can put their lineups together and start building a team.
 
Didn't get to watch the game, but recorded it. Unfortunately, the distance of the camera made evaluation a bit hard, and things aren't going to let me to do too steep a study on anything. As time allows I'll probably try and pick up a few more things. So far I've spent most of my time on right tackle. From what I could tell Benhart didn't have a bad day.....especially on pass blocking. They did pull a TE up and that helped that situation......so did some RB blocking. Bryce did have a couple of whiffs, one which led to a TFL on a running play, and one that forced the QB to scramble. Imo Hood did not look good. Of course he was trying to handle Blaise and he was a handful to be sure. I thought I saw Gottula out there but if so he didn't have his 77 number. Regardless of whoever wore 64, he had some good plays during the short time he was in there. Nouili was all over the place and hard to keep track of, but I think I saw him on the right side a little bit.

Hopefully time will give me a little more time to look at some things I'd like to watch occasionally.
 
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Didn't notice a serious injury. Were there any?
Outside of Watt's possible concussion. Concoran's, and Hood's dings seem to be the only ones, and they appear to be minor.

Oh yeah, Jeudy was supposedly limping a bit too.

Personally, I think the ding's, providing Watts is OK, were worth the contact and game experience.
 
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A few more takes on the game:

The Fullback
. I was really impressed with Janiran Bonner's day as our fullback, both running and blocking. Personally, I think he would've gotten a lot more post-game fanfare if he would've worn A Real Fullback Number (you know, fortysomething) instead of a wimpy 12. :)

Blackshirt Babies. In addition to Princewell and Maverick, I forgot to mention Cam Lenhardt in my post-game reaction. BOOM! The play of those three guys get me pumped about the direction our Blackshirts are headed.

DEFENSE! DEFENSE! DEFENSE! I think most Husker fans are wired to go to Spring Games anxious to see breakout offensive performances. We got one nifty first quarter pass from Jeff Sims and later he had a sweet run for a TD. But beyond that, there wasn't much offense to hang your hat on. It was a scoreless game for the last two and a half quarters. So, I think the overall post-game reaction of most fans was, "eh, okay I guess."

But Spring Games are a two-way deal. If you take a look at Rhule's former college ballclubs, their rise to glory started on the defensive side of the ball. I suspect it's going to be the same way here. I was intrigued by White's new scheme and impressed by its attacking nature.

The offense played against the defense all Spring --- yet you could tell the offenses (particularly the back-up groupings) were bothered by the blitzing they got. Given that we had a number of key returning Blackshirts who didn't play this spring, Saturday's performance bodes well for this fall.
 
:thumbsup:
A few more takes on the game:

The Fullback
. I was really impressed with Janiran Bonner's day as our fullback, both running and blocking. Personally, I think he would've gotten a lot more post-game fanfare if he would've worn A Real Fullback Number (you know, fortysomething) instead of a wimpy 12. :)

Blackshirt Babies. In addition to Princewell and Maverick, I forgot to mention Cam Lenhardt in my post-game reaction. BOOM! The play of those three guys get me pumped about the direction our Blackshirts are headed.

DEFENSE! DEFENSE! DEFENSE! I think most Husker fans are wired to go to Spring Games anxious to see breakout offensive performances. We got one nifty first quarter pass from Jeff Sims and later he had a sweet run for a TD. But beyond that, there wasn't much offense to hang your hat on. It was a scoreless game for the last two and a half quarters. So, I think the overall post-game reaction of most fans was, "eh, okay I guess."

But Spring Games are a two-way deal. If you take a look at Rhule's former college ballclubs, their rise to glory started on the defensive side of the ball. I suspect it's going to be the same way here. I was intrigued by White's new scheme and impressed by its attacking nature.

The offense played against the defense all Spring --- yet you could tell the offenses (particularly the back-up groupings) were bothered by the blitzing they got. Given that we had a number of key returning Blackshirts who didn't play this spring, Saturday's performance bodes well for this fall.
:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
 
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I'm still pumped about what is going on in Huskerland and really anxious for the regular season to arrive. I don't expect a MNC this season, just good solid improvement.
 
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A few more takes on the game:

The Fullback
. I was really impressed with Janiran Bonner's day as our fullback, both running and blocking. Personally, I think he would've gotten a lot more post-game fanfare if he would've worn A Real Fullback Number (you know, fortysomething) instead of a wimpy 12. :)

Blackshirt Babies. In addition to Princewell and Maverick, I forgot to mention Cam Lenhardt in my post-game reaction. BOOM! The play of those three guys get me pumped about the direction our Blackshirts are headed.

DEFENSE! DEFENSE! DEFENSE! I think most Husker fans are wired to go to Spring Games anxious to see breakout offensive performances. We got one nifty first quarter pass from Jeff Sims and later he had a sweet run for a TD. But beyond that, there wasn't much offense to hang your hat on. It was a scoreless game for the last two and a half quarters. So, I think the overall post-game reaction of most fans was, "eh, okay I guess."

But Spring Games are a two-way deal. If you take a look at Rhule's former college ballclubs, their rise to glory started on the defensive side of the ball. I suspect it's going to be the same way here. I was intrigued by White's new scheme and impressed by its attacking nature.

The offense played against the defense all Spring --- yet you could tell the offenses (particularly the back-up groupings) were bothered by the blitzing they got. Given that we had a number of key returning Blackshirts who didn't play this spring, Saturday's performance bodes well for this fall.
I like that they did not hold out anything. Often in the spring game you see a vanilla defense with no blitzing or stunting. This was as close to a real game scheme as I have seen in a long time.
 
I like that they did not hold out anything. Often in the spring game you see a vanilla defense with no blitzing or stunting. This was as close to a real game scheme as I have seen in a long time.
There's usually a concern about giving your first opponent --- in our case, Minny --- an early peek at what you're going to run. Last week Rhule essentially said screw that. He said he's more concerned about giving the players good reps than worrying about Minnesota.

One quick aside: I watch the game with headphones so I can hear Greg's play-by-play. When the Red team tried the fake punts, Greg and Damon opined Rhule was being clever and wanted to give Flecks something to think about. When asked about the fake later on, Coach Rhule sheeply said he was just looking to do something to try and even out the reps between the White and Red teams. :)
 
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@redfred and others, I wanted to say something positive about #54 Benhart: I did notice overall he does look slimmer, he appears to be quicker, and while I did see a couple whiffs, overall it looked like he did play with more effort in the Spring Game than I have seen in the recent past. He also looked quicker off the ball and appeared to hold his blocks longer than the 0 to .25 seconds he did in the past.

I still have my doubts about Benhart, but he showed improvement and much better hustle and effort on Saturday. I hope he keeps it up or improves further.
 
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A few more takes on the game:

Blackshirt Babies. In addition to Princewell and Maverick, I forgot to mention Cam Lenhardt in my post-game reaction. BOOM! The play of those three guys get me pumped about the direction our Blackshirts are headed.

I guess I need to go and rewatch the game. Definitely saw Princewell and Noonan but somehow I missed Lenhardt but have been lots of good things about his performance today. Now MJ Sherman looked like a man among boys out there. He and Princewell were two that really impressed me!!
 
@redfred and others, I wanted to say something positive about #54 Benhart: I did notice overall he does look slimmer, he appears to be quicker, and while I did see a couple whiffs, overall it looked like he did play with more effort in the Spring Game than I have seen in the recent past. He also looked quicker off the ball and appeared to hold his blocks longer than the 0 to .25 seconds he did in the past.

I still have my doubts about Benhart, but he showed improvement and much better hustle and effort on Saturday. I hope he keeps it up or improves further.
Me too. The thing that bothers me most is that he still has that hesitation before acting. He needs to read situations quicker imo.
 
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