Nothing new about this picture, really. I've seen similar photos of the stadium over the years. Oh..wait. All those other photographs were taken in the fall.This was a sold out Memorial Stadium in April. Yeah, Alabama packed their stadium last year, but admission was free. This was a sellout. In April. For a scrimmage.
Joe Ganz had plenty of time to find Curenski Gilleylen for a 77-yard bomb on this play. Good protection for the Huskers' returning quarterback here. Ganz even got a star from ESPN's "College Gameday Final" this evening, primarily for this play.
On Ganz's second touchdown pass, the defense got a little more pressure on Ganz. But Ganz still got the ball to Marcus Mendoza, who scored on a 24 yard reception. Husker defensive coordinator Carl Pelini had a great view of the pass rush generated by Barry Turner and Eric Hagg. Interesting that many of the coaches were on the field; they got a great view of what was happening, and were able to provide immediate feedback to the players.
Quentin Castille blew through the defensive line early in the second quarter on this run, and while he won the first battle with Prince Amukamara, Amukamara got the better of Castille when he stripped Castille of the ball a couple of seconds later.
Patrick Witt wishes he could have had this pass back. With :36 left in the 2nd quarter, Armando Murillo picked off Witt, giving the Red squad the ball at the White 38. The Red squad failed to capitalize as the clock ran out when Ganz completed a 20 yard pass to Nate Swift.
But from my perspective, the run of the day had to be my daughter's scamper from the end zone all the way out to midfield at halftime, as she attempted to escape her parents, who were in hot pursuit. With the relatively even split of talent between the two squads, today's game should be useful to the coaching staff in team in evaluating the progress of the team. But the biggest impact of the spring game is on youngsters, who get an opportunity to be introduced to Husker football. We'll have plenty of photos to remember today's game by.