It makes sense to me that in an offense with more of an emphasis on passing, that you would need a bit more room for your starters... who knows, i might be totally wrong.
Like I said earlier, why even suit them up? You know their not going to play because they don't even get to warm up.
You know they're not going to play how? What if injuries hit the same position through two deep? All of a sudden, a third-stringer is in there.
If the response to that is that Callahan should then run
all players through the warm-ups, that makes no sense, for a number of reasons:
1. While it could happen, the odds are generally low - but since it
could happen, he needs those players suited up. You're playing the percentages.
2. Assuming it
does happen, it will most likely happen far enough into the game that any benefit of warming-up will have been lost in terms of actually "loosing-up".
3. As for "warming-up" in the sense of getting those players a few reps and familiarity with the plays, your best hope of getting those players in the game in the first place is to put the game out of reach as early as you can. To do that, you need the starters to get most if not all those reps.
4. Given that NU is struggling in comparison to years past, a coach who wants to win now would want to get his starters the most reps and the most prepared to give the team the best chance to win.