Spring Game Reports

[Alex 4.0]

Henery's kick was pretty far right... looked like it had the distance, but I watched the snap and hold in the replay because he missed it so bad. It looked like the snap was low and the holder had to pick it up off the ground and set the ball... so that may have played into it.

[Alex 4.0]

My Take on the Offense

 

Quarterbacks

Zac Lee looks pretty decent. He seems to know where to throw the ball for the most part, has the timing for our methodical offense down. BUT he did throw some footballs in places that should have ended up as an INT. he was sneaking them over some of our more "inadequate" defensive players, pretty risky. All in all though, not too bad. Ganz will be missed a little bit.

 

Latravis Washington looked brilliant on a few plays and blew it on a few others (as to be expected from a LB convert QB) But there is reason to be excited about this guy. I think if he could run the ball you would have seen him with 75yds rushing on his scrambles alone. Passing the ball it is ALWAYS full power, very little touch. He missed a few receivers, and had a tendency to throw the ball nose down into the dirt. He stared down a lot of receivers, but also moved around a little bit and found some checkdowns at times. His arm strength is nuts.

 

Cody Green is a 17 year old guy that hasn't adjusted to the speed of college ball. Unless it magically clicks for him in fall, he really should redshirt. He threw the ball downfield several times, and every time the ball was underthrown. If anything they need to be out of reach for everyone. He was behind several receivers on routine throws for our offense. The ball looks nice though. I think he is going to be really good, just not this year unless he makes some major strides. He had some decent wheels from the few times he took off with it, didn't look to be hobbled at all.

 

Running Backs

Castille looked faster this year than last year. When Suh was playing, he disrupted the run game big time plugging up the middle, but as the game went on (and Suh came out) Castille started to look much better. For the second year in a row Thenarse got rocked by Castille (thenarse tackling with his head down). One play that surprised me was a sweep around the outside, I didn't think castille would make it to the corner but he really exploded and was able to cut it up field.

Lester Ward was impressive between the tackles. For his size it was really fun to watch him find a seam and squeak out 4 or 5 yards. He had a fumble (stripped). Wasn't really fast by any means, but was a very "natural" and smooth runner.

 

Austin Jones was pretty shifty back there. He complimented our style of play very well, looked good taking a draw and making a couple of cuts. He is a very serviceable backup. No complaints about him.

Collins Okafor really stepped up in this game and showed a couple of nice runs. Although he was playing later when the younger guys were out there, he hit the hole full speed. A lot of times guys are too tentative running the football when they could be breaking runs open, not Collins. I think this game helped his stock and I wouldn't be surprised to see him get some snaps early this year just to see what he can do in a game situation.

 

Receivers

Meno Holt... ??? didn't even seem like he was out there playing. He didn't play the whole game, but he didn't stick out while he was in there. Seemed a lot like last year I guess, I was just hoping he would shine more. A lot of the more "important" players were saved in this game, I hope that is the case with meno.

Will Henry, again... I really expected to see a couple lobs to him in the endzone on a fade, but not the case. He dropped a ball or two, and didn't have a whole lot thrown his way. He also was wide open in the endzone and the ball was overthrown to him. I'm not sure what it is about this guy, but I always just think he is going to be a big threat but never is.

Chris Brooks. This guy had his stock rise up a bunch in this game. He was catching latravis lasers all over the field in the first half, and many of the passes were off the mark. He seemed to be giving full effort out there and really impressed.

 

Mendoza looked quick out there, made some nice catches too. The more he gets the WR position the better, because he has some serious speed and his hands looked decent.

Antonio Bell didn't disappoint. This guy looked like a gamer out there. He made some nice plays. He stretched the field a couple of times for us, and returned a lot of kickoffs. He got the ball out past the 20 pretty much every time and showed some flash as well. I think as he adjusts more to the game and gets more comfortable with the offense he will look even faster, which is great. FINALLY someone that is a legitimate threat down the sideline.

Tim Marlowe is a stud punt returner... watch out for him. He was quick with the ball in his hands, had pretty good vision. I am happy that we have this guy for 4 years, he will end up making some big plays for us before all is said and done. Some people said that Ty Kildow is faster, quicker, and has more moves than Marlowe, we are going to have a great return game if this is true.

 

 

 

TE's all looked great. Getting open, we passed it to them quite a bit too. Ben Cotton impressed with his combination of size and speed. Not a burner (not Kyler Reed!) but pretty solid. Right before his touchdown catch he had a ball thrown to him in the endzone which he should have caught. The pass was perfect, he just slowed down for the ball...which he shouldn't have done. Reed is the biggest receiving threat we have at TE since Herian... he needs to see the field. period.

OL did a decent job for the most part. It is really hard to tell with these guys considering how they are split up. OL and DL saw a lot of guys playing and without the cohesiveness that a line develops it is tough to say. From what I could tell though, we looked pretty decent. Not mind blowing, not horrible. Before Suh came out though, our OL was getting beat up.

 

Whew, that was the offense...

Defense to come later if I find the time.

[carlfense]

My Take on the Offense

 

Quarterbacks

Zac Lee looks pretty decent. He seems to know where to throw the ball for the most part, has the timing for our methodical offense down. BUT he did throw some footballs in places that should have ended up as an INT. he was sneaking them over some of our more "inadequate" defensive players, pretty risky. All in all though, not too bad. Ganz will be missed a little bit.

 

Latravis Washington looked brilliant on a few plays and blew it on a few others (as to be expected from a LB convert QB) But there is reason to be excited about this guy. I think if he could run the ball you would have seen him with 75yds rushing on his scrambles alone. Passing the ball it is ALWAYS full power, very little touch. He missed a few receivers, and had a tendency to throw the ball nose down into the dirt. He stared down a lot of receivers, but also moved around a little bit and found some checkdowns at times. His arm strength is nuts.

 

Cody Green is a 17 year old guy that hasn't adjusted to the speed of college ball. Unless it magically clicks for him in fall, he really should redshirt. He threw the ball downfield several times, and every time the ball was underthrown. If anything they need to be out of reach for everyone. He was behind several receivers on routine throws for our offense. The ball looks nice though. I think he is going to be really good, just not this year unless he makes some major strides. He had some decent wheels from the few times he took off with it, didn't look to be hobbled at all.

 

Running Backs

Castille looked faster this year than last year. When Suh was playing, he disrupted the run game big time plugging up the middle, but as the game went on (and Suh came out) Castille started to look much better. For the second year in a row Thenarse got rocked by Castille (thenarse tackling with his head down). One play that surprised me was a sweep around the outside, I didn't think castille would make it to the corner but he really exploded and was able to cut it up field.

Lester Ward was impressive between the tackles. For his size it was really fun to watch him find a seam and squeak out 4 or 5 yards. He had a fumble (stripped). Wasn't really fast by any means, but was a very "natural" and smooth runner.

 

Austin Jones was pretty shifty back there. He complimented our style of play very well, looked good taking a draw and making a couple of cuts. He is a very serviceable backup. No complaints about him.

Collins Okafor really stepped up in this game and showed a couple of nice runs. Although he was playing later when the younger guys were out there, he hit the hole full speed. A lot of times guys are too tentative running the football when they could be breaking runs open, not Collins. I think this game helped his stock and I wouldn't be surprised to see him get some snaps early this year just to see what he can do in a game situation.

 

Receivers

Meno Holt... ??? didn't even seem like he was out there playing. He didn't play the whole game, but he didn't stick out while he was in there. Seemed a lot like last year I guess, I was just hoping he would shine more. A lot of the more "important" players were saved in this game, I hope that is the case with meno.

Will Henry, again... I really expected to see a couple lobs to him in the endzone on a fade, but not the case. He dropped a ball or two, and didn't have a whole lot thrown his way. He also was wide open in the endzone and the ball was overthrown to him. I'm not sure what it is about this guy, but I always just think he is going to be a big threat but never is.

Chris Brooks. This guy had his stock rise up a bunch in this game. He was catching latravis lasers all over the field in the first half, and many of the passes were off the mark. He seemed to be giving full effort out there and really impressed.

 

Mendoza looked quick out there, made some nice catches too. The more he gets the WR position the better, because he has some serious speed and his hands looked decent.

Antonio Bell didn't disappoint. This guy looked like a gamer out there. He made some nice plays. He stretched the field a couple of times for us, and returned a lot of kickoffs. He got the ball out past the 20 pretty much every time and showed some flash as well. I think as he adjusts more to the game and gets more comfortable with the offense he will look even faster, which is great. FINALLY someone that is a legitimate threat down the sideline.

Tim Marlowe is a stud punt returner... watch out for him. He was quick with the ball in his hands, had pretty good vision. I am happy that we have this guy for 4 years, he will end up making some big plays for us before all is said and done. Some people said that Ty Kildow is faster, quicker, and has more moves than Marlowe, we are going to have a great return game if this is true.

 

 

 

TE's all looked great. Getting open, we passed it to them quite a bit too. Ben Cotton impressed with his combination of size and speed. Not a burner (not Kyler Reed!) but pretty solid. Right before his touchdown catch he had a ball thrown to him in the endzone which he should have caught. The pass was perfect, he just slowed down for the ball...which he shouldn't have done. Reed is the biggest receiving threat we have at TE since Herian... he needs to see the field. period.

OL did a decent job for the most part. It is really hard to tell with these guys considering how they are split up. OL and DL saw a lot of guys playing and without the cohesiveness that a line develops it is tough to say. From what I could tell though, we looked pretty decent. Not mind blowing, not horrible. Before Suh came out though, our OL was getting beat up.

 

Whew, that was the offense...

Defense to come later if I find the time.

 

Thanks Alex. Outstanding post.

[Husker Richard]

Henery's kick was pretty far right... looked like it had the distance, but I watched the snap and hold in the replay because he missed it so bad. It looked like the snap was low and the holder had to pick it up off the ground and set the ball... so that may have played into it.

 

Thank you Alex 4.0. I knew I wasn't seeing things.

[AR Husker Fan]

Thanks, Alex. Looking forward to your report on the defense!

[The Maudfather]

My Take on the Offense

 

Quarterbacks

Zac Lee looks pretty decent. He seems to know where to throw the ball for the most part, has the timing for our methodical offense down. BUT he did throw some footballs in places that should have ended up as an INT. he was sneaking them over some of our more "inadequate" defensive players, pretty risky. All in all though, not too bad. Ganz will be missed a little bit.

 

Latravis Washington looked brilliant on a few plays and blew it on a few others (as to be expected from a LB convert QB) But there is reason to be excited about this guy. I think if he could run the ball you would have seen him with 75yds rushing on his scrambles alone. Passing the ball it is ALWAYS full power, very little touch. He missed a few receivers, and had a tendency to throw the ball nose down into the dirt. He stared down a lot of receivers, but also moved around a little bit and found some checkdowns at times. His arm strength is nuts.

 

Cody Green is a 17 year old guy that hasn't adjusted to the speed of college ball. Unless it magically clicks for him in fall, he really should redshirt. He threw the ball downfield several times, and every time the ball was underthrown. If anything they need to be out of reach for everyone. He was behind several receivers on routine throws for our offense. The ball looks nice though. I think he is going to be really good, just not this year unless he makes some major strides. He had some decent wheels from the few times he took off with it, didn't look to be hobbled at all.

 

Running Backs

Castille looked faster this year than last year. When Suh was playing, he disrupted the run game big time plugging up the middle, but as the game went on (and Suh came out) Castille started to look much better. For the second year in a row Thenarse got rocked by Castille (thenarse tackling with his head down). One play that surprised me was a sweep around the outside, I didn't think castille would make it to the corner but he really exploded and was able to cut it up field.

Lester Ward was impressive between the tackles. For his size it was really fun to watch him find a seam and squeak out 4 or 5 yards. He had a fumble (stripped). Wasn't really fast by any means, but was a very "natural" and smooth runner.

 

Austin Jones was pretty shifty back there. He complimented our style of play very well, looked good taking a draw and making a couple of cuts. He is a very serviceable backup. No complaints about him.

Collins Okafor really stepped up in this game and showed a couple of nice runs. Although he was playing later when the younger guys were out there, he hit the hole full speed. A lot of times guys are too tentative running the football when they could be breaking runs open, not Collins. I think this game helped his stock and I wouldn't be surprised to see him get some snaps early this year just to see what he can do in a game situation.

 

Receivers

Meno Holt... ??? didn't even seem like he was out there playing. He didn't play the whole game, but he didn't stick out while he was in there. Seemed a lot like last year I guess, I was just hoping he would shine more. A lot of the more "important" players were saved in this game, I hope that is the case with meno.

Will Henry, again... I really expected to see a couple lobs to him in the endzone on a fade, but not the case. He dropped a ball or two, and didn't have a whole lot thrown his way. He also was wide open in the endzone and the ball was overthrown to him. I'm not sure what it is about this guy, but I always just think he is going to be a big threat but never is.

Chris Brooks. This guy had his stock rise up a bunch in this game. He was catching latravis lasers all over the field in the first half, and many of the passes were off the mark. He seemed to be giving full effort out there and really impressed.

 

Mendoza looked quick out there, made some nice catches too. The more he gets the WR position the better, because he has some serious speed and his hands looked decent.

Antonio Bell didn't disappoint. This guy looked like a gamer out there. He made some nice plays. He stretched the field a couple of times for us, and returned a lot of kickoffs. He got the ball out past the 20 pretty much every time and showed some flash as well. I think as he adjusts more to the game and gets more comfortable with the offense he will look even faster, which is great. FINALLY someone that is a legitimate threat down the sideline.

Tim Marlowe is a stud punt returner... watch out for him. He was quick with the ball in his hands, had pretty good vision. I am happy that we have this guy for 4 years, he will end up making some big plays for us before all is said and done. Some people said that Ty Kildow is faster, quicker, and has more moves than Marlowe, we are going to have a great return game if this is true.

 

 

 

TE's all looked great. Getting open, we passed it to them quite a bit too. Ben Cotton impressed with his combination of size and speed. Not a burner (not Kyler Reed!) but pretty solid. Right before his touchdown catch he had a ball thrown to him in the endzone which he should have caught. The pass was perfect, he just slowed down for the ball...which he shouldn't have done. Reed is the biggest receiving threat we have at TE since Herian... he needs to see the field. period.

OL did a decent job for the most part. It is really hard to tell with these guys considering how they are split up. OL and DL saw a lot of guys playing and without the cohesiveness that a line develops it is tough to say. From what I could tell though, we looked pretty decent. Not mind blowing, not horrible. Before Suh came out though, our OL was getting beat up.

 

Whew, that was the offense...

Defense to come later if I find the time.

 

Thanks Alex. Outstanding post.

That post was so good, I think I will use my 500th post on it.

 

Good post, fair assessment.

[admo]

Cool, thanks Alex

[papio2chi]

Great post...would love to read what you thought about the defense later.

 

Thanks for the hard work.

[mebeinme]

i'm new here and by no means an expert but i wnet to the game. this is what i saw. the qb are good real good. the rb were average with helu out (yes castille was faster but didn't dominate) the wr are real good i really like bell (wish people would stop comparing him to hardy his one catch on that post was a better catch then hardy ever had) and mendoza can be our harvin-type (not comparing talent just the all-purpose type) the te make up for that lack of super star wr (i'm hoping on kinnie his frame is insane just hope his 40 is close to being right) cause mcneil and reed are stars and cotton and young could start on half of the college teams in america. the ol needs a little work still but we have everything we need there to do it. all and all work is still needed but i see an offense that should average (around) 33ppg 485ypg imho

[mebeinme]

my observation of the defense

Dl allen and suh are even better than last year crick is starting to impress meredith is really coming along josh williams is bigger but just as fast that definatley should make the front four one of the best in the nation ( yes i said nation cause i didn't even mention T. Moore and steinkuhler)

LB i have been a fan of whaley since i first saw his highlight tape and he didn't let me down. good on the outside and inside (he stuff cotton i think on the edge right after the catch) fisher looked good and may is fast and aggressive. compton made a couple tackles even dillard was good (don't quite understand why he so low situation or not) the lb are young but very talented i expect them to hit their stride about game 5 ( whoever that is )

DB amukamara is going to be really good as long as he trust hisself (second guess hisself a couple time and it cost him) west to me just doesn't get his head around as fast enough but is very capable. thenarse is the same ol thenarse and same with asante (wether thats good or bad you decide) but smith is going to be a star (and soon if RT and LA don't kick it up a notch) o'hanlon is always going to be smart which keeps him in play. and hagg is just fine at s (starting to warm up to the idea of hagg and smith as starters) blue once he trust hisself to let go and play will be a starter cause he was right there on the majority of his assignments. dennard is going to play a whole lot and so will gomes. i like the defense alot espically being in the big 12 where it can shine and any bumps we would have are smoothed out by the schedule ( three cupcakes to gain confidence and vt which never has been an offensive juggernaut) then going in to conference we will play three new starting qb(ksu=win ttech=win misery=win) a rb in wr body playing qb(bu=win the only reason griffen passed so well was cause his coach only let him throw 5 yards or when a wr was wide open) then ou which i'll say is a loss and isu and cu which aren't good at all (don't believe the cu hype) so i look at our defense and see about (i mean about ) 18ppg 335ypg(110rpg225ppg) so when i look at the team i see a one loss team. man i can wait till fall

[tattooedhusker]

my observation of the defense

Dl allen and suh are even better than last year crick is starting to impress meredith is really coming along josh williams is bigger but just as fast that definatley should make the front four one of the best in the nation ( yes i said nation cause i didn't even mention T. Moore and steinkuhler)

LB i have been a fan of whaley since i first saw his highlight tape and he didn't let me down. good on the outside and inside (he stuff cotton i think on the edge right after the catch) fisher looked good and may is fast and aggressive. compton made a couple tackles even dillard was good (don't quite understand why he so low situation or not) the lb are young but very talented i expect them to hit their stride about game 5 ( whoever that is )

DB amukamara is going to be really good as long as he trust hisself (second guess hisself a couple time and it cost him) west to me just doesn't get his head around as fast enough but is very capable. thenarse is the same ol thenarse and same with asante (wether thats good or bad you decide) but smith is going to be a star (and soon if RT and LA don't kick it up a notch) o'hanlon is always going to be smart which keeps him in play. and hagg is just fine at s (starting to warm up to the idea of hagg and smith as starters) blue once he trust hisself to let go and play will be a starter cause he was right there on the majority of his assignments. dennard is going to play a whole lot and so will gomes. i like the defense alot espically being in the big 12 where it can shine and any bumps we would have are smoothed out by the schedule ( three cupcakes to gain confidence and vt which never has been an offensive juggernaut) then going in to conference we will play three new starting qb(ksu=win ttech=win misery=win) a rb in wr body playing qb(bu=win the only reason griffen passed so well was cause his coach only let him throw 5 yards or when a wr was wide open) then ou which i'll say is a loss and isu and cu which aren't good at all (don't believe the cu hype) so i look at our defense and see about (i mean about ) 18ppg 335ypg(110rpg225ppg) so when i look at the team i see a one loss team. man i can wait till fall

 

longest sentence EVER. I know there's a period or two in there, but still felt like one long sentence. Still a pretty nice analogy though.